Re: Composing microtonally

Hi Clemens,

You may be interestd in trying out the approach I use for
my tunes at
http://www.tunesmithy.netfirms.com/tunes/tunes.htm

Though not perfect it is a lot easier than most methods
and comes close to the ideal of a truly microtonal sequencer
or notation software.

Just use your notation software to compose as usual.
But instead of playing directly through your soundcard,
play via retuning software.

This lets you assign any pitch you like to any
of the notes on the standard twelve tone score so
you can choose to assign one pitch to c, another to
c# etc, and as you enter the notes in your notation
software you will actually hear them played at the
desired pitch _as you enter them on the score_.
It is really easy and intuitive to compose this way.

Of course this is a plug for my own program fractal
tune smithy as it can be used to retune the output of
your notaiton software, but I think the method itself
is so good, can't think why so few use it. So much easier
than calculating pitch bends yourself.

If your music requires no more than 12 distinct pitches
per octave it is ideal. If it requires more than that or
uses non octave scales, you can still use it, and
then you need to treat it as a scordatura score,
so that the score shows what notes you would play
from a suitably retuned music keyboard.

Anyway the tunes page gives plenty of examples and if
interested and more details are needed be sure to ask.

Robert