[PD] Synths! (Please Read)

[Chuckk Hubbard]

On 3/31/06, Mathieu Bouchard <matju at artengine.ca> wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Mar 2006, Chuckk Hubbard wrote:

> > There are also scales out there that *don't* have octave symmetry.
>
> It's (very) rare.

I suppose, but Pd is a big draw for people who want to do rare things.
This 12-tET piece doesn't have octave symmetry:
http://engineerc.com/~chuckk/Waking.mp3
If I'd had the resources I'd have loved to make it something other than 12-tET.
Gamelan tunings almost *never* have octave symmetry.  Of course, they
have inharmonic overtones as well, but that's nothing Pd couldn't do.


>
> > Wendy Carlos, among others, has experimented with this.  There is also
> > Georgian "quintave" singing, which uses the perfect 5th instead of the
> > octave.  And gamelan tunings are notorious for wandering octaves.
>
> Then you get nicer numbers if you multiply the MIDI note by
> N*log(3)/12*log(2).

You can get pretty nice numbers by not using MIDI note numbers, too.

>
> > Someone who's interested in alternate tunings is more likely to be
> > interested in 19-, 31-, or 53-tone equal temperament than 24.  If 12
> > midi notes is still an octave, this will make some pretty inscrutable
> > note numbers.
>
> Multiply the MIDI note number by 19/12, 31/12 or 53/12.

I guess it's not that big of a drawback, but it will be harder to tell
by looking what  note of the scale you have.  For MIDI input, it would
make more sense to multiply the incoming number by 12/19.


>
> > If each whole note number is assigned to a different pitch of the scale,
> > there's barely more than 2 octaves in 128 notes.
>
> You don't have to limit yourself to 0-127 in Pd. You also are not limited
> to integer note numbers.

Right, but I'm discussing the possibility of using an external
sampler.  I've done this in the past, simply created pre-tuned samples
for those note numbers.  It's one possibility, if using a sampler. 
The only other option with an external sampler is pitch bend, which
limits you to 16 notes (seldom  is there a 16-note chord, but 16
instruments or pedal points are common requirements), and requires
program changes and pitch bends for each note.
In my experience, external synths, hardware or software, are
completely useless for any sort of polyphonic alternate tuning use,
since they don't use Hz.


>
> > For my purposes, frequency in Hz is the only way to go.  MIDI is useful
> > sometimes,
>
> Understand the difference between Pd's MIDI note numbers and ordinary MIDI
> note numbers.

I don't see why MIDI note numbers are necessary, when you can simply
calculate frequency directly.  They always presume that Note + 12 =
Frequency * 2.  For musicians who don't work that way, I see no need
for it.