Fwd: Metasynth discussion in microtonality forum

Hi all:

I am a U&I Software user, including Metasynth. I've had a lot of fun as well as very productive and unique sound creations with their tools. One thing I have not explored in depth are the custom scales, so I asked Edward Spiegel, of U&I Software, if he could expand. He did and asked that this information be shared/posted here:

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Edward Spiegel <edward@...>
> Date: Fri Sep 06, 2002 01:25:43 PM US/Eastern
> Subject: Re: Metasynth discussion in microtonality forum
>
> Hi Eddy,
>
> Here are my comments which you can feel free to post to the list.
>
> MS is not intended as a soft-synth. It is a composition tool whose > capabilities exceeds the realtime capabilities of the fastest desktop > CPUs which is why it is not currently a realtime system.
>
> Its microtonal capabilities are pretty astounding and it is the tool of > choice for a number of composers whose work focuses on microtonality. > Because scales can have up to 1024 steps, it is not in practice > restricted to repeating scales. Scales can be defined in terms of > either cents or ratios (expressed as either fractions or decimal > numbers); scales can be either linear or non-linear. A freeware > ScaleComposer was created by Kenneth Newby to simplify the creation of > new scales. The CD comes with a library of over 3,000 scales and the > simple text-format of scale files, makes it easy to generate complex > scales or scales with large numbers of steps. MetaSynth also includes a > number of built-in utilities for creating scales.
>
> In addition, metaSynth can generate a scale from a sound sample by > performing an FFT analysis and treating the harmonics as scale steps.
>
> The creators recognize that MetaSynth is a beast of a different color, > and it may not be for everyone. Composers interested in exploring > microtonality should definitely check out the downloadable demo.
>