Making microtonal music using free software

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fernandoamartin
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Making microtonal music using free software

Post by fernandoamartin »

All softwares below are free softwares and have versions for Windows and Linux. Additionally if you have trouble installing some of them in Linux you can run the Windows version via Wine.

Musescore
You can select one or more notes, open inspector (F8), scroll down to tuning option and tune selected notes by cents. You can also create customized key signatures using the master palette (F9) but they are only visual. They do nothing at all to the tuning of notes. So you'll have to manually flat, sharp and re-tune them. If you have some symbol that you want to be played without being visible, select it and press V.

Huygens Scala
First of all go to options, synth and in tuning model select 107, now new equal temperament (shift+alt+E), edit (ctrl+E), here you can change the tuning of notes by cents and then export synth tuning (ctrl+shift+T) and put the name of your file. The tuning you created will be exported as a midi file. Additionally you can save your tuning in Scala format to edit it later.

Rosegarden (using Timidity as output)
Open the midi file you exported from Scala. You'll see a single measure segment. It contains the tuning information. Copy it and paste it in your piece at the point you want tuning to be changed. From that point on notes will be re-tuned. If you need to change tuning during the same composition all you have to do is to copy and paste another tuning segment exported from Scala and the tuning will be changed on the fly.
If you are not able to connect Rosegarden to Timidity you can still follow the procedures above. Probably you won't be able to hear the new tuning inside Rosegarden, but at the end export your composition as midi and play it using Timidity that you'll be able to hear your micro-tunings and render them as audio.
(Note: Some versions of Rosegarden released during 2014-2015 had a bug that prevented users from hear new tunings even using Timidity, but they could export the file as midi correctly. This bug is already fixed in 2016 versions.)

Here are two examples of music created using the methods above. The scores were typed in Musescore and the audio was produced using Rosegarden and Timidity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS1dGXW6T98

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6v1we5z6NQ
varpa
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Re: Making microtonal music using free software

Post by varpa »

Thanks for you tips and music which I find quite interesting and enjoyable. Despite being made from a score it comes across as quite human. I'm impressed that you are able to write this kind of music. I might also mention that yoshimi and non-free Pianoteq and Sforzando (Windows SFZ/SF2 host which works well in carla, actually Sfozando is "free" but closed-source) can use scala files directly.
fernandoamartin
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Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:13 pm

Re: Making microtonal music using free software

Post by fernandoamartin »

Thank you varpa for all the commendations and for the interest on this subject and on my music.
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