McClain toy piano tuning

The McClain toy piano tuning is an empirical tuning with flat pseudo-octaves.

McClain toy piano tuning was discovered by Levi McClain, who found a toy piano which had been accidentally tuned to it instead of to the intended 12edo diatonic scale.

He measured the tuning of each key on the piano and described the scale he measured. He documented his findings in the video Discovering a NEW MODE Through This Microtonal Defect (Jan 2024). It includes audio examples.

Table of intervals

Interval (cents)	Note name	13-limit intervals	17-limit
-819	C‡	-8/5
-689	D	-3/2
-499	E	-4/3
-290	F#	-13/11
-95	G#	-21/20	-18/17
0	A	1/1
215	B	9/8, 8/7	17/15
400	C#	5/4
509	D	4/3
700	E	3/2
912	F#	5/3
1100	G#	15/8	17/9
1158	Ad	49/25
1358	Bd	11/5
1561	C‡	22/9
1665	Dd	13/5
1874	Ed	44/15
2131	F⩩	24/7	17/5

Scala file

! McClainToyPiano.scl
! Created using Scale Workshop 3.0.2
!
! https://scaleworkshop.plainsound.org/scale/zbmiWVXV7
!
The McClain toy piano tuning
 17
!
 130.0
 320.0
 529.0
 724.0
 819.0
 1034.0
 1219.0
 1328.0
 1519.0
 1721.0
 1919.0
 1977.0
 2177.0
 2380.0
 2484.0
 2693.0
 2950.0

Relationship to other tunings

31edo

The McClain toy piano tuning can be closely approximated using a heptatonic subset of 31edo, repeating on the 30\31 (30th degree of 31edo).

This reminded McClain of the 31edo double Lydian scale, described by Zhea Erose.

McClain was then inspired to describe the double Phrygian scale - the McClain toy piano tuning tempered to 31edo - along with the entire family of Erose-McClain double modes.

Ed11/2s

The entire width of McClain's toy piano tuning is almost exactly 11/2. Less than 2 cents off.

This lends itself to the use of ed11/2 tunings to approximate it.

Some ed11/2s with outstanding approximations for their size of McClain's toy piano tuning are:

• 72ed11/2
• 83ed11/2
• 89ed11/2
• 94ed11/2
• 118ed11/2
• 183ed11/2
• 197ed11/2
• 228ed11/2
• 252ed11/2

Music

JUMBLE

• Sleep (2024)