Timbre Param (Timbre Parameters) Scale

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Timbre Param (Timbre Parameters)

Scale

Thisspecifiesthescaleusedbytheperformance.
Separatelyfromthissetting,youcanchoosetheʺScaleʺset‐
tingofeachtimbreʹsprogramtakepriorityifdesired.
Type[Equal Temperament...User Octave Scale 03]
Thisselectsthebasicscalefortheperformance.
Notethatformanyofthescales,thesettingoftheKey
parameter,below,isveryimportant.
EqualTemperament:Thisisthemostwidelyusedscaleby
far,inwhicheachsemitonestepisspacedatequalpitch
intervals.
EqualTemperamentallowseasymodulation,sothata
chordprogressionplayedinthekeyofCsoundsroughly
thesameasthesameprogressionplayedinF#.Sacrificed,
however,issomeofthepurityofindividualintervals
offeredbythescalesbelow.
PureMajor:Inthistemperament,majorchordsofthe
selectedkeywillbeperfectlyintune.
PureMinor:Inthistemperament,minorchordsofthe
selectedkeywillbeperfectlyintune.
Arabic:Thisscaleincludesthequarter‐toneintervalsused
inArabicmusic.
Pythagoras:ThisscaleisbasedonancientGreekmusicthe‐
ory,andisespeciallyeffectiveforplayingmelodies.Itpro‐
ducescompletelypurefifths,withoneexception,atthe
expenseofdetuningotherintervals–thirdsinparticular.
AsmuchasPythagorasmighthavelikedtodoso,it’snot
possibletomakeallthefifthspurewhilealsokeepingthe
octaveintune.Forthesakeoftheoctave,oneofthefifths–
theintervalfromthesharpfourthdegreetothesharpfirst
degree–ismadequiteflat.
Werkmeister(WerkmeisterIII):Thisscalewasoneofthe
manytemperamentsystemsdevelopedtowardstheendof
theBaroqueperiod.These“Well‐Temper ed”tuningswere
aimedatallowingrelativelyfreetransposition–although
you’llstillnoticethatthedifferentkeysmaintaintheirown
distinctcharacteristics,unlikeEqualTemper ament .
J.S.Bachwasreferringtothesenewscalesinhistitle,“The
Well‐TemperedClavier.”Assuch,thisgroupareparticu‐
larlyappropriateforlatebaroqueorganandharpsichord
music.
Kirnberger(KirnbergerIII):Thisisasecond“Well‐Tem‐
pered”tuning,datingfromtheearly18thcentury.
Slendro:ThisisanIndonesiangamelanscale,withfive
notesperoctave.
WhenKeyissettoC,usetheC,D,F,GandAnotes.Other
keyswillplaythenormalequal‐temperedpitches.
Pelog:ThisisanotherIndonesiangamelanscale,withseven
notesperoctave.
WhenKeyissettoC,usethewhitekeys.Theblackkeys
willplaytheequaltemperedpitches.
Stretch:Thistuningisusedforacousticpianos.
UserAllNotesScale:Thisisauser‐programmedscalewith
differentsettingsforall128MIDInotes.Youcansetupthis
scaleinGlobalmode(page75).
UserOctaveScale00–03:Theseareuser‐programmed
scaleswithsettingsforeachofthe12notesinanoctave.You
cansetthemupinGlobalmode(page75).