Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup makemicromusic VSTi's and microtonality?

Hi,

New member here, hello all! I'm an engineer making my thesis on microtonal music. At the moment I'm just looking for software to test some things with and later on I'll program my own application for my purpose...

Does anyone know of a software (preferrably a VST-plugin/synth) where one could map the midi keys with one's own arbitrary frequencies (or supply the synth with a tuning file).
I'm new to this area of music, but I think that can be done....just finding the right software...

And how about VSTi's capable of frequency analysis...FFT with graphics?

Thank you very much,

Timo

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🔗Jonathan M. Szanto <JSZANTO@...>

Hi Timo,

Sorry for the late reply!

{you wrote...}
>New member here, hello all! I'm an engineer making my thesis on microtonal >music. At the moment I'm just looking for software to test some things >with and later on I'll program my own application for my purpose...

Ooooh - just what I've wanted: someone with the time/desire/skill to program a microtonal app! :) (more on that some day...)

>Does anyone know of a software (preferrably a VST-plugin/synth) where one >could map the midi keys with one's own arbitrary frequencies (or supply >the synth with a tuning file). I'm new to this area of music, but I think >that can be done....just finding the right software...

Yep - Rick already mentioned a few, and you *definitely* want to start out by getting a hold of Scala, which will allow you to work with a lot of the others. I took a look at quite a few micro/soft apps, and settled on two to use (for the time being). They both are very musical and useful:

1. rgc audio's z3ta+
http://www.rgcaudio.com/z3ta%2B.htm

The z3ta+ softsynth uses Scala .scl files directly, which gives you access to zillions of tunings already and all the new ones you'll create. It has a great interface, a lot of support and additional files in the KVR community, and a couple of people around here are using it as well. Specifically, check out Alison Monteith's musical examples, using z3ta+ (and other software) to do mock-ups and sketches for her (acoustic) microtonal ensembles:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/slowtones/music.html

2. LinPlug CronoX
http://www.linplug.com/Products/CronoX/cronox.htm

A really nice cross-breed synth, that can utilize samples as part of the sound creation. You should check out the microtonal example on the site by Jacky Ligon, who is a good friend of ours. CronoX utilizes the .tun format, which is, in at least one way, recommended over the basic .scl format, in that it not only specifies tunings for each pitch, but also a *base* pitch, which means that a scale that might center on a particular pitch as it's base reference pitch will transpose the entire range accordingly. Instruments like the z3ta+ are still useable, but you might need to adjust the master pitch to follow other instruments (I hope that is semi-clear...)

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!

Cheers,
Jon

🔗Gene Ward Smith <gwsmith@...>

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Jonathan M. Szanto"
<JSZANTO@A...> wrote:

> 2. LinPlug CronoX
> http://www.linplug.com/Products/CronoX/cronox.htm

An annoying feature of most web pages describing softsynths (and many
other things) is incredible vagueness. They turn the design over to a
design "expert", who neglects to tell us what the product can do or
even how much it costs, and expect people to pay hundreds of dollars
anyway. This page doesn't tell us it uses tun files or can handle
samples. The z3ta+ page hints that it renders midi files, but it is
hardly clear. When describing such things here, getting all the basic
information out there (What are its microtonal capabilities? Does it
render midi or some other score, or is it realtime only? What kinds
of sounds can it produce or soundfonts employ?) and giving any web
pages with actual information on them would be nice.

🔗Jonathan M. Szanto <JSZANTO@...>

Gene,

{you wrote...}
> > 2. LinPlug CronoX
> > http://www.linplug.com/Products/CronoX/cronox.htm
>
>An annoying feature of most web pages describing softsynths (and many >other things) is incredible vagueness. They turn the design over to a >design "expert", who neglects to tell us what the product can do or even >how much it costs, and expect people to pay hundreds of dollars anyway.

Since this was written after the link on the CronoX synth, readers should note the following:

1. As to what the product does: "Most synthesizers offer various waveforms. CronoX offers you an endless source of waveforms. Load any sample you like and process it in realtime like you've never done before.
- Time Sampler with realtime, full modulate- able separate time stretching and pitch shifting
- Loop Sampler with individually modulateable loop points and start point Schrader, unique Oscillator that offers wavetable like operation on any sample for all VST 2.0 hosts on PC and Mac OS X..."

...and etc. There is quite a bit of information right there on the page.

2. It specifically says the licensing fee is $59. And that is obviously less than "hundreds of dollars". More on pricing in a minute...

>This page doesn't tell us it uses tun files or can handle samples.

As to your second statement, please read #1 above, which is directly from the page in question. As for the first statement, if you look at the "What's New" page which tracks changes to the program, you'll see "- support for alternative scalings (Scala TUN-files)", among many other fixes and improvements.

One must very well keep in mind that ANY mention of non12 support is not only an incredibly small niche, but something that is being developed within just the last couple of years (at best). More below...

>The z3ta+ page hints that it renders midi files, but it is hardly clear.

I find nothing that hints at that. It does say the following:
"Included converter to create arpeggio patterns from Standard MIDI files."

If you check it out, it is a very nice implementation for those people (lots of them in current electronica scenes) that can develop a nice arpeggiation pattern in a midi sequencer, import it, and they have a new arpeggiation template.

>When describing such things here, getting all the basic information out >there (What are its microtonal capabilities? Does it render midi or some >other score, or is it realtime only? What kinds of sounds can it produce >or soundfonts employ?) and giving any web pages with actual information on >them would be nice.

The z3ta+ page has a *lot* of information. Including a fairly clear blurb about the implementation of Scala files. But in a sense, yes, you're right. In a perfect world, we'd know all there is to know.

However, both of these instruments cost well below "hundreds of dollars" and are products of very small companies. Both include fully functional demos, either dimming the sound or emitting a beep occasionally; they can be tried out at any length to see if they meet your needs, and both contain comprehensive documentation in the downloads. Downloading a softsynth, setting it up in a host, and trying it out answers many more of my questions than most pages could.

As always, more information is better. But having dealt with the developers of both of these products, I know this for a fact: when I had questions, I wrote them, and they answered almost immediately. A large part of the microtonality support came from requests from our members. And speaking for the z3ta+, while the price may be a little over $100, Rene is a loyal developer: you never pay for an upgrade - your purchase price gets you any new version without paying anything more.

Please note that both of these products host support/discussion forums at the following site, where you are free to post questions and get them answered by users and, more importantly, the developers themselves:

http://www.kvr-vst.com/

Cheers,
Jon

VSTi's and microtonality?

🔗Timo Toivonen <indigopoika@...>

🔗Jonathan M. Szanto <JSZANTO@...>

🔗Gene Ward Smith <gwsmith@...>

🔗Jonathan M. Szanto <JSZANTO@...>

🔗Rick McGowan <rick@...>

🔗indigopoika <indigopoika@...>