Xen tunings for beginners

This is a quickstart guide. Information on how to start composing or playing can be found here.

First pick a tuning system. Small edos tend to be good choices; some interesting common ones to try are:

• 17edo
• 19edo
• 22edo
• 24edo
• 27edo
• 31edo
• 34edo

Then pick one of the many microtonally-capable DAWs for working with, get familiar with it (if you aren't already) and look up how to retune to your tuning system of choice, or if you want to take a more direct approach, you can try various scales in Scale Workshop online with essentially no set-up required, by using your keyboard as a rough MIDI input. The layout and sound and many other things can be configured in Scale Workshop; check the other tabs!

Then make music and share it! (For example, on the XA Discord.)

Need inspiration? Try listening to music made by others in your tuning system of choice and trying to recreate parts you like. Or try inventing your own scale — one that doesn't sound too familiar to you — and then challenging yourself to compose in it.

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