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 | 17-limit approximation |
|---|---|---|
| -819 | C‡ | -8/5 |
| -689 | D | -3/2 |
| -499 | E | -4/3 |
| -290 | F# | -13/11 |
| -95 | G# | -18/17 |
| 0 | A | 1/1 |
| 215 | B | 17/15 |
| 400 | C# | 5/4 |
| 509 | D | 4/3 |
| 700 | E | 3/2 |
| 912 | F# | 5/3 |
| 1100 | G# | 17/9 |
| 1158 | Ad | 35/18, 39/20 |
| 1358 | Bd | 11/5 |
| 1561 | C‡ | 22/9 |
| 1665 | Dd | 13/5 |
| 1874 | Ed | 44/15 |
| 2131 | F⩩ | 24/7 |
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 (2950 cents) is almost exactly 11/2 (2951 cents).
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 (19c error)
- 89ed11/2 (13c error)
- 118ed11/2 (9c error)
- 197ed11/2 (7c error)
- 252ed11/2 (5c error)
For comparison, 31edo’s approximation has 20c error.
Scala files
Made with Scale Workshop. Work with any instrument or software that supports Scala.
- Original
! 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
- Tempered to 31edo
! 31edoMcClainToyPiano.scl ! Created using Scale Workshop 3.0.2 ! ! https://scaleworkshop.plainsound.org/scale/zbmiWVXV7 ! 31edo McClain toy piano tuning 17 ! 116.1 309.7 541.9 735.5 812.9 1045.2 1200.0 1316.1 1509.7 1703.2 1935.5 1974.2 2167.7 2361.3 2477.4 2709.7 2941.9
- Tempered to 118ed11/2
! 118_ed_11_2_McClainToyPiano.scl ! Created using Scale Workshop 3.0.2 ! ! https://scaleworkshop.plainsound.org/scale/zbmiWVXV7 ! 118ed11over2 McClain toy piano tuning 17 ! 125.1 325.1 525.2 725.3 825.4 1025.5 1225.5 1325.6 1525.7 1725.8 1925.9 1975.9 2176.0 2376.1 2476.1 2701.2 2951.3
Music
- Sleep (2024)