Creating a MIDI controller, not with 12-key 8ves.

Hello, anyone!

Igliashon and I were trying to design some keyboard layouts, and other
kinds of musical interfaces, that contain other than 12 notes per
octave. We thought of some decent ones, but the obvious problem is
that we would have to build and encode them.

I've been looking all over the vast cyberscape and I haven't found
many DIY projects on how to build a MIDI keyboard controller. Either
that, or I haven't understood it when I've seen it (which is more
likely).

Does anyone have any MIDI project resources, or know any MIDI
geniuses? I think I may actually resort to learning electronics from
the ground up (I say "resort" even though I'd love to learn more about
electronics), until I could understand the projects out there.

After checking out things like Lil' Miss Scale Oven, I think this idea
would be possible -- I just need the right shape for the keyboard.
Crafting the keys and shell and whatnot would be fun, but it's the
electronics
that currently baffles me.

Thanks a bucket load to whoever can help!
-s

>Hello, anyone!
>
>Igliashon and I were trying to design some keyboard layouts, and other
>kinds of musical interfaces, that contain other than 12 notes per
>octave. We thought of some decent ones, but the obvious problem is
>that we would have to build and encode them.
>
>I've been looking all over the vast cyberscape and I haven't found
>many DIY projects on how to build a MIDI keyboard controller. Either
>that, or I haven't understood it when I've seen it (which is more
>likely).
>
>Does anyone have any MIDI project resources, or know any MIDI
>geniuses? I think I may actually resort to learning electronics from
>the ground up (I say "resort" even though I'd love to learn more about
>electronics), until I could understand the projects out there.
>
>After checking out things like Lil' Miss Scale Oven, I think this idea
>would be possible -- I just need the right shape for the keyboard.
>Crafting the keys and shell and whatnot would be fun, but it's the
>electronics that currently baffles me.
>
>Thanks a bucket load to whoever can help!
>-s

Hi Steve,

I've never done it, but I've got friends who've built MIDI
stuff...

http://www.well.com/user/smalin/organproject.html

To understand MIDI, everything you could ever want is here...

http://www.midi.org/

And to buy switches and stuff, the place is...

http://geocities.com/midiboutique/

Have fun!

-Carl

Go to the Doepfer site and look up their CTM64 Contact To MIDI Interface.
This is a DIY kit that provides interfacing up to 64 switch contact points.
You would just have to build the switch array to interface to it,
simplifying your design effort immensely.

http://www.doepfer.de/home_e.htm

MIDIBox provides a similar product:

http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp.html

The biggest limitation is MIDI's limit of 128 notes per channel. You very
quickly run out of keys in mappings that have much more than 12 notes per
octave. You end up having to span instruments across MIDI channels. This
is what the Starrlabs Microzone does.

http://catalog.com/starrlab/

John Loffink
The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site
http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com
The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site
http://www.wavemakers-synth.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stevie Hryciw [mailto:codroid@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 5:18 AM
> To: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MMM] Creating a MIDI controller, not with 12-key 8ves.
>
>
>
> Hello, anyone!
>
> Igliashon and I were trying to design some keyboard layouts, and other
> kinds of musical interfaces, that contain other than 12 notes per
> octave. We thought of some decent ones, but the obvious problem is
> that we would have to build and encode them.
>
> I've been looking all over the vast cyberscape and I haven't found
> many DIY projects on how to build a MIDI keyboard controller. Either
> that, or I haven't understood it when I've seen it (which is more
> likely).
>
> Does anyone have any MIDI project resources, or know any MIDI
> geniuses? I think I may actually resort to learning electronics from
> the ground up (I say "resort" even though I'd love to learn more about
> electronics), until I could understand the projects out there.
>
> After checking out things like Lil' Miss Scale Oven, I think this idea
> would be possible -- I just need the right shape for the keyboard.
> Crafting the keys and shell and whatnot would be fun, but it's the
> electronics
> that currently baffles me.
>
> Thanks a bucket load to whoever can help!
> -s
>
>
>

An excellent site! Though they seem to have exceeded their bandwidth
limitation...

John Loffink
The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site
http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com
The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site
http://www.wavemakers-synth.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carl Lumma [mailto:ekin@...]
>
> And to buy switches and stuff, the place is...
>
> http://geocities.com/midiboutique/
>
> Have fun!
>
> -Carl

Hi Stevie,

I'm developing a wind controller that would be capable of microtonal playing. Right now it's research, but I hope it may be a product someday. It's described on my website here: http://members.shaw.ca/photonwind/

Specifically, for microtonal playing, the 8 finger keys detect not just being pressed, but the location they are pressed, or alternatively the tilt after they are pressed. They also detect pressure or aftertouch. Octaves are selectable either with your lip/tongue from the mouthpiece or with your thumb on a controller. All this is highly customizable - initially only through changing the embedded code, but in the future there may be a PC/Mac hosted user interface for it. I may offer the hardware controller for sale, and make the software open source if there is enough interest.

The fingering system is designed to be able to emulate the fingering patterns of wind instruments - sax, clarinet, flute, trumpet, etc, as well as the mouthpiece control, on the same hardware platform, all customizable just by changing software. It would also be possible to create "alternative fingerings" for the desired number of notes within an octave. These would then repeat for other octaves using an octave selection system (lip/tongue, or thumb). I also have a method in mind that could allow the 8 keys to be played sort of like a melodica, but with the possibilities of bending between notes or selecting specific microtonal pitches between notes.

One would have to come up with a way of mapping pitches to midi either with pitch bends associated with microtonal notes, or by mapping to note numbers where the synth is not tuned in octaves. I'm also thinking of providing a non midi way of connecting it to a PC to send raw controller actions to softsynths such as max/msp or Reaktor or Perry Cook's midi toolkit, which would bypass the limitations of midi.

I've been working on this for about four years, and have now prototyped and tested all the subcomponents of the instrument, sometimes attached to commercial wind controllers. I'm now in the process of building a complete instrument.

- Chris Graham

Buchla has a company that sells some unusual midi
controllers these days:
http://www.buchla.com/

pricy, but it may still be cheaper than trying to do
your own electronics. There's a book called "Midi
Projects For Musicians" that helps to explain the
electronics side of midi.
--- Stevie Hryciw <codroid@...> wrote:

>
> Hello, anyone!
>
> Igliashon and I were trying to design some keyboard
> layouts, and other
> kinds of musical interfaces, that contain other than
> 12 notes per
> octave. We thought of some decent ones, but the
> obvious problem is
> that we would have to build and encode them.
>
> I've been looking all over the vast cyberscape and I
> haven't found
> many DIY projects on how to build a MIDI keyboard
> controller. Either
> that, or I haven't understood it when I've seen it
> (which is more
> likely).
>
> Does anyone have any MIDI project resources, or know
> any MIDI
> geniuses? I think I may actually resort to learning
> electronics from
> the ground up (I say "resort" even though I'd love
> to learn more about
> electronics), until I could understand the projects
> out there.
>
> After checking out things like Lil' Miss Scale Oven,
> I think this idea
> would be possible -- I just need the right shape for
> the keyboard.
> Crafting the keys and shell and whatnot would be
> fun, but it's the
> electronics
> that currently baffles me.
>
> Thanks a bucket load to whoever can help!
> -s
>
>
>
>

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

Lots of interesting suggestions already, but here are a few more
things to know.

Starrlabs is now at http://www.starrlabs.com/

I had the good fortune to get the Institute of Sonology at the Royal
Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands to build (more or less) my
vision of an alternate keyboard well suited to microtonalities in
1994. I've performed on this instrument, the Clavette, at a variety
of venues, but regret that the Institute itself is not interested in
building more of 'em.
http://www.geocities.com/harold_fortuin/clavett.htm (sorry its not
yet linked to)
http://www.geocities.com/harold_fortuin/clav2w19.jpg

However, I probably can still reach the Dutch engineer who build my
instrument should that be of interest. The keyboard alone was about
US $800 a few years back, and I mapped it to MIDI with a SensorLab
from STEIM, a small institute in Amsterdam:
http://www.steim.org/steim

The whole Clavette, keyboard + aluminum footpedals + SensorLab,
would run a few thousand dollars to reproduce exactly.

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Stevie Hryciw"
<codroid@y...> wrote:
>
> Hello, anyone!
>
> Igliashon and I were trying to design some keyboard layouts, and
other
> kinds of musical interfaces, that contain other than 12 notes per
> octave. We thought of some decent ones, but the obvious problem is
> that we would have to build and encode them.
>
> I've been looking all over the vast cyberscape and I haven't found
> many DIY projects on how to build a MIDI keyboard controller.
Either
> that, or I haven't understood it when I've seen it (which is more
> likely).
>
> Does anyone have any MIDI project resources, or know any MIDI
> geniuses? I think I may actually resort to learning electronics
from
> the ground up (I say "resort" even though I'd love to learn more
about
> electronics), until I could understand the projects out there.
>
> After checking out things like Lil' Miss Scale Oven, I think this
idea
> would be possible -- I just need the right shape for the keyboard.
> Crafting the keys and shell and whatnot would be fun, but it's the
> electronics
> that currently baffles me.
>
> Thanks a bucket load to whoever can help!
> -s

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Chris Graham"
<chris_e_gr@y...> wrote:
> Hi Stevie,
>
> I'm developing a wind controller that would be capable of
microtonal
> playing. Right now it's research, but I hope it may be a product
someday.
> It's described on my website here:
http://members.shaw.ca/photonwind/
>
> Specifically, for microtonal playing, the 8 finger keys detect not
just
> being pressed, but the location they are pressed, or alternatively
the tilt
> after they are pressed. They also detect pressure or aftertouch.
Octaves
> are selectable either with your lip/tongue from the mouthpiece or
with your
> thumb on a controller. All this is highly customizable - initially
only
> through changing the embedded code, but in the future there may be
a PC/Mac
> hosted user interface for it. I may offer the hardware controller
for sale,
> and make the software open source if there is enough interest.
>
> The fingering system is designed to be able to emulate the
fingering
> patterns of wind instruments - sax, clarinet, flute, trumpet, etc,
as well
> as the mouthpiece control, on the same hardware platform, all
customizable
> just by changing software. It would also be possible to create
> "alternative fingerings" for the desired number of notes within an
octave.
> These would then repeat for other octaves using an octave selection
system
> (lip/tongue, or thumb). I also have a method in mind that could
allow the 8
> keys to be played sort of like a melodica, but with the
possibilities of
> bending between notes or selecting specific microtonal pitches
between
> notes.
>
> One would have to come up with a way of mapping pitches to midi
either with
> pitch bends associated with microtonal notes, or by mapping to note
numbers
> where the synth is not tuned in octaves. I'm also thinking of
providing a
> non midi way of connecting it to a PC to send raw controller
actions to
> softsynths such as max/msp or Reaktor or Perry Cook's midi toolkit,
which
> would bypass the limitations of midi.
>
> I've been working on this for about four years, and have now
prototyped and
> tested all the subcomponents of the instrument, sometimes attached
to
> commercial wind controllers. I'm now in the process of building a
complete
> instrument.
>
> - Chris Graham

Hi Chris,

You may be interested in a plan for valved brass instrument that I
proposed in this spreadsheet:

/makemicromusic/files/secor/Brass.xls

A detailed explanation of this may be found in these two messages:

/tuning/topicId_45684.html#45966
/tuning/topicId_45684.html#45990

This is for 4-valve *multi-tuning* acoustic brass instruments
consisting of three 2-position finger valves and one 3-position thumb
valve (with rest position at the center of travel). The thumb valve
may alternatively be analog (similar to a small trombone slide),
approximately +70/-50 cents. An additional 2-position valve (for the
little finger) would be used on instruments in which combinations of
valves would be required to lower the pitch up to an octave (tuba &
piccolo trumpet).

Just as a generalized keyboard permits a keyboard player to play a
synthesizer in multiple tunings with uniform fingering patterns, two
significant features of this plan are that:

1) A brass player could play in many different tunings with a single
instrument, thus eliminating the need for multiple instruments for
multiple tunings;

2) The valves retain the same general functions across all tunings,
with the first and second valves retaining the *very same function*
they have in 12-ET brass instruments (lowering the pitch a major 2nd
and minor 2nd, respectively), regardless of the tuning, thus
simplifying the learning curve.

I hope you will consider making the brass version of your controller
compatible with what I have outlined above, so that the fingering
habits acquired by a brass player using your product could eventually
be transferred to an acoustic instrument.

Best,

--George Secor

Hi George,

Good ideas. I hadn't thought through the details of fingering for
brass like microtonal fingering, so I would be happy to adopt your
proposals if you don't mind. I may even leave this for someone else
to implement using my eventual planned user customization scheme.
There are so many possibilities I will not have time to explore them
all myself.

- Chris

> I hope you will consider making the brass version of your controller
> compatible with what I have outlined above, so that the fingering
> habits acquired by a brass player using your product could eventually
> be transferred to an acoustic instrument.
>
> Best,
>
> --George Secor

Hi Stevie!
you might want to look at the following pages as an approach to basic laying out of keyboard designs.
there is a consistant logic regardless of what tuning one uses and from personal experience i have found going from one tuning to another hqaving 'logical' connctions to different layout helpful
http://www.anaphoria.com/wilson.html

Stevie Hryciw wrote:

>Hello, anyone!
>
>Igliashon and I were trying to design some keyboard layouts, and other
>kinds of musical interfaces, that contain other than 12 notes per
>octave. We thought of some decent ones, but the obvious problem is
>that we would have to build and encode them.
>
>I've been looking all over the vast cyberscape and I haven't found
>many DIY projects on how to build a MIDI keyboard controller. Either
>that, or I haven't understood it when I've seen it (which is more
>likely).
>
>Does anyone have any MIDI project resources, or know any MIDI
>geniuses? I think I may actually resort to learning electronics from
>the ground up (I say "resort" even though I'd love to learn more about
>electronics), until I could understand the projects out there.
>
>After checking out things like Lil' Miss Scale Oven, I think this idea
>would be possible -- I just need the right shape for the keyboard.
>Crafting the keys and shell and whatnot would be fun, but it's the
>electronics
>that currently baffles me.
>
>Thanks a bucket load to whoever can help!
>-s
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
> >
>
>
>
> >

--
Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU <http://www.kxlu.com/main.html> 88.9 FM Wed 8-9 pm Los Angeles

George,

I took a closer look at these posts, and can only hope that you will
find a way to get at least one proof-of-concept horn built. Great
idea!

I'm not sure about the state of Patrick Ozzard-Low's effort, but
that might be one place to start. But it might be quicker to build
yourself, or if you're not yourself mechanically inclined, to find
some interested people who are.

I bet you could build such a horn with PVC plastic pipe (only a Home
Depot away ;) ; this might be a cheap & effective way to get
started. You could always attach a real brass instrument mouthpiece
to such tubing--they don't cost much. (I know someone who put a
mouthpiece on some garden hose and made at least a rather ugly tone
with it.)

And do fix your generalized keyboard Scalatron,
Harold
A former trumpet player, amongst other things:
www.geocities.com/harold_fortuin

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "George D. Secor"
<gdsecor@y...> wrote:
>
> --- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Chris Graham"
> <chris_e_gr@y...> wrote:
> > Hi Stevie,
> >
> > I'm developing a wind controller that would be capable of
> microtonal
> > playing. Right now it's research, but I hope it may be a
product
> someday.
> > It's described on my website here:
> http://members.shaw.ca/photonwind/
> >
> > Specifically, for microtonal playing, the 8 finger keys detect
not
> just
> > being pressed, but the location they are pressed, or
alternatively
> the tilt
> > after they are pressed. They also detect pressure or
aftertouch.
> Octaves
> > are selectable either with your lip/tongue from the mouthpiece
or
> with your
> > thumb on a controller. All this is highly customizable -
initially
> only
> > through changing the embedded code, but in the future there may
be
> a PC/Mac
> > hosted user interface for it. I may offer the hardware
controller
> for sale,
> > and make the software open source if there is enough interest.
> >
> > The fingering system is designed to be able to emulate the
> fingering
> > patterns of wind instruments - sax, clarinet, flute, trumpet,
etc,
> as well
> > as the mouthpiece control, on the same hardware platform, all
> customizable
> > just by changing software. It would also be possible to create
> > "alternative fingerings" for the desired number of notes within
an
> octave.
> > These would then repeat for other octaves using an octave
selection
> system
> > (lip/tongue, or thumb). I also have a method in mind that could
> allow the 8
> > keys to be played sort of like a melodica, but with the
> possibilities of
> > bending between notes or selecting specific microtonal pitches
> between
> > notes.
> >
> > One would have to come up with a way of mapping pitches to midi
> either with
> > pitch bends associated with microtonal notes, or by mapping to
note
> numbers
> > where the synth is not tuned in octaves. I'm also thinking of
> providing a
> > non midi way of connecting it to a PC to send raw controller
> actions to
> > softsynths such as max/msp or Reaktor or Perry Cook's midi
toolkit,
> which
> > would bypass the limitations of midi.
> >
> > I've been working on this for about four years, and have now
> prototyped and
> > tested all the subcomponents of the instrument, sometimes
attached
> to
> > commercial wind controllers. I'm now in the process of building
a
> complete
> > instrument.
> >
> > - Chris Graham
>
> Hi Chris,
>
> You may be interested in a plan for valved brass instrument that I
> proposed in this spreadsheet:
>
> /makemicromusic/files/secor/Brass.xls
>
> A detailed explanation of this may be found in these two messages:
>
> /tuning/topicId_45684.html#45966
> /tuning/topicId_45684.html#45990
>
> This is for 4-valve *multi-tuning* acoustic brass instruments
> consisting of three 2-position finger valves and one 3-position
thumb
> valve (with rest position at the center of travel). The thumb
valve
> may alternatively be analog (similar to a small trombone slide),
> approximately +70/-50 cents. An additional 2-position valve (for
the
> little finger) would be used on instruments in which combinations
of
> valves would be required to lower the pitch up to an octave (tuba
&
> piccolo trumpet).
>
> Just as a generalized keyboard permits a keyboard player to play a
> synthesizer in multiple tunings with uniform fingering patterns,
two
> significant features of this plan are that:
>
> 1) A brass player could play in many different tunings with a
single
> instrument, thus eliminating the need for multiple instruments for
> multiple tunings;
>
> 2) The valves retain the same general functions across all
tunings,
> with the first and second valves retaining the *very same
function*
> they have in 12-ET brass instruments (lowering the pitch a major
2nd
> and minor 2nd, respectively), regardless of the tuning, thus
> simplifying the learning curve.
>
> I hope you will consider making the brass version of your
controller
> compatible with what I have outlined above, so that the fingering
> habits acquired by a brass player using your product could
eventually
> be transferred to an acoustic instrument.
>
> Best,
>
> --George Secor

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "harold_fortuin" <harold@m...>
wrote:
>
> George,
>
> I took a closer look at these posts, and can only hope that you
will
> find a way to get at least one proof-of-concept horn built. Great
> idea!

Hi Harold,

Nice to hear from you again after so many years, and thanks for your
words of encouragement!

This is just one of several ideas for alternative-tuning
instruments. You already know about the Scalatron with generalized
keyboard, which became a reality in 1975. Other ideas I have had
over the years include a "decimal" keyboard (for 31, 41, and 72-
divisions) based on the Miracle geometry,
/tuning-math/files/secor/kbds/KbDec72.gif
a microtonal accordion with a triple-purpose (19+3) tuning that's far
more versatile than 19-ET,
/tuning/topicId_38076.html#38287
metallophones in various tunings (including the 19+3 tuning),
/tuning/topicId_38076.html#38356
plus recorder fingerings for the 19+3 tuning (which I have been
experimenting with, off and on):
/makemicromusic/topicId_5829.html#5903
plus ideas for other microtonal woodwinds (in process, somewhat
intermittently).

There is simply not enough time (either hours or years) for me even
to attempt to follow through with all of these, so I just pass the
information on to others whenever it seems appropriate. My highest
microtonal priorities now are to work on the Sagittal notation
documentation and to devote more time to composing (now that I have a
notation that does much, much more than I ever needed).

> I'm not sure about the state of Patrick Ozzard-Low's effort, but
> that might be one place to start.

Patrick's efforts have so far resulted in Steve Altoft's 19-tone
trumpet, which uses a thumb-controlled slide to lower the pitch a
single degree of 19-ET. Steve and percussionist Lee Ferguson perform
in "duo Contour":
http://www.duocontour.com/
Also see /tuning/topicId_46541.html#46541

> But it might be quicker to build
> yourself, or if you're not yourself mechanically inclined, to find
> some interested people who are.
>
> I bet you could build such a horn with PVC plastic pipe (only a
Home
> Depot away ;) ; this might be a cheap & effective way to get
> started. You could always attach a real brass instrument mouthpiece
> to such tubing--they don't cost much. (I know someone who put a
> mouthpiece on some garden hose and made at least a rather ugly tone
> with it.)

That's an inexpensive way to get microtonal woodwinds, but
with "brass" instruments, if the bore and bell are not manufactured
to a certain precision, the overtones will not be close enough to
true harmonics to be usable. Just for fun, I tried it once with a
long piece of tubing with a French horn mouthpiece at one end and a
funnel at the other. I got a better tone from the mouthpiece alone,
along with the freedom to produce any microtonal pitch within my
range. Hmmm, I thought, why not just get a kazoo? ;-)

> And do fix your generalized keyboard Scalatron,

I hope to, eventually. At present it works well enough for me to
compose with it. I'm currently working on a couple of compositions
using Cakewalk (until I can get something better that's dedicated to
microtonality, such as Monz's Tonalsoft software).

--George

It's great that you've had so many interesting concepts for
instruments, and of course you're lucky to have had a generalized
keyboard at your disposal for 3 decades! I of course should be glad
to have the Clavette and more recently a Microzone for myself (both
of course are generalized keyboards), but I wish I had more time
for 'em these past several years.

Maybe it would be simpler to modify an existing brass instrument
with the appropriate lengths of valve-triggered tubing perhaps made
from PVC or some other cheap material (these tubes could have a
constant diameter, right?). And of course additional holes would
have to be bored into the valve mechanisms to open up the additional
lengths of tubing required too.

Anyone on this list with the mechanical knowhow? Or know someone
with it who has access to the right equipment? Or could we convince
an instrument manufacturer to build one, as was once done with
Motorola and the Scalatron?

As an ex-trumpeter, hoping to hear the generalized horn in my
lifetime,
Harold

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "George D. Secor"
<gdsecor@y...> wrote:
>
> --- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "harold_fortuin"
<harold@m...>
> wrote:
> >
> > George,
> >
> > I took a closer look at these posts, and can only hope that you
> will
> > find a way to get at least one proof-of-concept horn built.
Great
> > idea!
>
> Hi Harold,
>
> Nice to hear from you again after so many years, and thanks for
your
> words of encouragement!
>
> This is just one of several ideas for alternative-tuning
> instruments. You already know about the Scalatron with
generalized
> keyboard, which became a reality in 1975. Other ideas I have had
> over the years include a "decimal" keyboard (for 31, 41, and 72-
> divisions) based on the Miracle geometry,
> /tuning-
math/files/secor/kbds/KbDec72.gif
> a microtonal accordion with a triple-purpose (19+3) tuning that's
far
> more versatile than 19-ET,
> /tuning/topicId_38076.html#38287
> metallophones in various tunings (including the 19+3 tuning),
> /tuning/topicId_38076.html#38356
> plus recorder fingerings for the 19+3 tuning (which I have been
> experimenting with, off and on):
> /makemicromusic/topicId_5829.html#5903
> plus ideas for other microtonal woodwinds (in process, somewhat
> intermittently).
>
> There is simply not enough time (either hours or years) for me
even
> to attempt to follow through with all of these, so I just pass the
> information on to others whenever it seems appropriate. My
highest
> microtonal priorities now are to work on the Sagittal notation
> documentation and to devote more time to composing (now that I
have a
> notation that does much, much more than I ever needed).
>
> > I'm not sure about the state of Patrick Ozzard-Low's effort, but
> > that might be one place to start.
>
> Patrick's efforts have so far resulted in Steve Altoft's 19-tone
> trumpet, which uses a thumb-controlled slide to lower the pitch a
> single degree of 19-ET. Steve and percussionist Lee Ferguson
perform
> in "duo Contour":
> http://www.duocontour.com/
> Also see /tuning/topicId_46541.html#46541
>
> > But it might be quicker to build
> > yourself, or if you're not yourself mechanically inclined, to
find
> > some interested people who are.
> >
> > I bet you could build such a horn with PVC plastic pipe (only a
> Home
> > Depot away ;) ; this might be a cheap & effective way to get
> > started. You could always attach a real brass instrument
mouthpiece
> > to such tubing--they don't cost much. (I know someone who put a
> > mouthpiece on some garden hose and made at least a rather ugly
tone
> > with it.)
>
> That's an inexpensive way to get microtonal woodwinds, but
> with "brass" instruments, if the bore and bell are not
manufactured
> to a certain precision, the overtones will not be close enough to
> true harmonics to be usable. Just for fun, I tried it once with a
> long piece of tubing with a French horn mouthpiece at one end and
a
> funnel at the other. I got a better tone from the mouthpiece
alone,
> along with the freedom to produce any microtonal pitch within my
> range. Hmmm, I thought, why not just get a kazoo? ;-)
>
> > And do fix your generalized keyboard Scalatron,
>
> I hope to, eventually. At present it works well enough for me to
> compose with it. I'm currently working on a couple of
compositions
> using Cakewalk (until I can get something better that's dedicated
to
> microtonality, such as Monz's Tonalsoft software).
>
> --George