First example of COFT-grounded adaptive tuning

I've posted a new file, bachcoft.zip, on my web site:

http://www.idcomm.com/personal/jadl/

Which contains the famous/infamous Bach/Busoni Chaconne in D minor,
MIDI sequenced by Bunji Hisamori, and tuned according to my latest
refinement, as hypothesized on the list back in February: first do a
Calculated Optimized Fixed Tuning calculation, then spring the
individual notes to that tuning rather than to 12-tET.

For comparison, the .zip also contains the original 12-tET, and a COFT
version without dynamic tuning.

Please note that grounding is done only to 12 notes, which some list
members (most vociferously Dave Keenan) feel is a mistake. I'm still
working on mapping pieces to 31-tET for purposes of grounding to MORE
than 12 notes in some (early) works. That effort is proving a bit of
a challenge, but more on that later!

I'm liking this refinement a lot, especially on some Mozart piano works
I've recently downloaded. Once the ear syncs in on the COFT-centered
values, the small deviations from those values needed for dynamic
tuning seem relatively painless, and the resultant chords are very
sweet.

JdL

Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe my equipment isn't reproducing your
MIDI as you have coded it, but ... well, I just don't hear a very dramatic
difference between the three versions. Is the effect that subtle?

I'd be interested in hearing what your tunings do with the Shostakovich
Preludes and Fugues, Opus 87. The complete work in MIDI can be found at

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5619/

If you're not familiar with this work, it is a modern descendant of Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier -- 24 preludes and fugues, one in each major and minor
key. Shostakovich, at least in his earlier years before Stalin clamped down,
was a master at using dissonance. Although this work is much later, it
retains some of the characteristic Shostakovich "bite". So I'm curious what
your tunings will do ... sharpen the bite or mellow it out?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John A. deLaubenfels [mailto:jadl@idcomm.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 2:55 PM
> To: tuning@egroups.com
> Subject: [tuning] First example of COFT-grounded adaptive tuning
>
>
> I've posted a new file, bachcoft.zip, on my web site:
>
> http://www.idcomm.com/personal/jadl/
>
> Which contains the famous/infamous Bach/Busoni Chaconne in D minor,
> MIDI sequenced by Bunji Hisamori, and tuned according to my latest
> refinement, as hypothesized on the list back in February: first do a
> Calculated Optimized Fixed Tuning calculation, then spring the
> individual notes to that tuning rather than to 12-tET.
>
> For comparison, the .zip also contains the original 12-tET, and a COFT
> version without dynamic tuning.

[Ed Borasky wrote:]
>Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe my equipment isn't reproducing
>your MIDI as you have coded it, but ... well, I just don't hear a very
>dramatic difference between the three versions. Is the effect that
>subtle?

It's fairly subtle. If you're in doubt regarding whether your equipment
is reproducing the sequences as intended, go toward the bottom of my web
page, just above the links to other tuners, and download the two small
MIDI files that diagnose and potentially correct your hardware's bend
range.

And/or, try downloading some of the 7-limit retunings (pre COFT
grounding): they're a LOT less subtle!

[Ed:]
>I'd be interested in hearing what your tunings do with the Shostakovich
>Preludes and Fugues, Opus 87. The complete work in MIDI can be found at

>http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5619/

>If you're not familiar with this work, it is a modern descendant of
>Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier -- 24 preludes and fugues, one in each
>major and minor key. Shostakovich, at least in his earlier years before
>Stalin clamped down, was a master at using dissonance. Although this
>work is much later, it retains some of the characteristic Shostakovich
>"bite". So I'm curious what your tunings will do ... sharpen the bite
>or mellow it out?

I'm not familiar with this, but have enjoyed the Shostakovich works I've
heard, and am somewhat familiar with his persecution at the hands of the
Soviets. I need to write to the sequencer, Jos‚ Oscar de Almeida
Marques, for permission to post retunings, but in the mean time, I could
send you one or two privately - do you have a preference?

JdL

John deLaubenfels wrote,

>I've posted a new file, bachcoft.zip, on my web site:

> http://www.idcomm.com/personal/jadl/

>Which contains the famous/infamous Bach/Busoni Chaconne in D minor,
>MIDI sequenced by Bunji Hisamori, and tuned according to my latest
>refinement, as hypothesized on the list back in February: first do a
>Calculated Optimized Fixed Tuning calculation, then spring the
>individual notes to that tuning rather than to 12-tET.

Congratulations, John! I feel that this version represents a major advance
in the field of tuning Bach. The JI quality of the chords is quite evident,
yet all audible traces of drifts and shifts have been eliminated. One
readily believes that the piece was played on a fixed-pitch keyboard, yet it
would be impossible to approach this level of smoothness in a true
fixed-pitch rendition. People like Johnny Reinhard, who have dismissed the
idea of JI Bach, need to listen to this version! Bravo! (My only complaint
is that the dynamics should be narrowed down quite a bit.)

[Paul Erlich:]
>The JI quality of the chords is quite evident, yet all audible traces
>of drifts and shifts have been eliminated. One readily believes that
>the piece was played on a fixed-pitch keyboard, yet it would be
>impossible to approach this level of smoothness in a true fixed-pitch
>rendition.

Woo-hoo!! Can it really be I've pleased your ears? There've been
moments when I felt that was an impossible task, but trying has
certainly pushed me harder!

[Paul:]
>(My only complaint is that the dynamics should be narrowed down quite a
>bit.)

I agree. Bunji, the sequencer, makes heavy use of dynamic range in all
his sequences, more than I prefer. I actually make a .wav file, then
run it through Anita, my .wav-to-.wav compressor program, but it would
be preferable to pre-process the MIDI file and do the compression THERE.
I'll add that capability to my list of things to do!

JdL

Where's this piece, I'd like to get my ears on it :)

Music, Magick, Love, and Sex
Alexander Azi Vajravai
the
ChaosMonkey

...[Paul Erlich:]
>The JI quality of the chords is quite evident, yet all audible traces
>of drifts and shifts have been eliminated. One readily believes that
>the piece was played on a fixed-pitch keyboard, yet it would be
>impossible to approach this level of smoothness in a true fixed-pitch
>rendition.

John deLaubenfels wrote,

>Woo-hoo!! Can it really be I've pleased your ears? There've been
>moments when I felt that was an impossible task, but trying has
>certainly pushed me harder!

Sorry I made you feel that way before. I'd be curious if others with
sensitive ears (Ken Wauchope, etc.) would feel as excited about your latest
version as I do.

Alex wrote,

>Where's this piece, I'd like to get my ears on it :)

Go to http://www.idcomm.com/personal/jadl/, download bachcoft.zip, and
listen to b-b-bcs5.mid.

>Congratulations, John! I feel that this version represents a major
>advance in the field of tuning Bach.

Ditto that. This is the first version that makes it through the
difficult section at 2:44.

>>(My only complaint is that the dynamics should be narrowed down quite a
>>bit.)
>
>I agree. Bunji, the sequencer, makes heavy use of dynamic range in all
>his sequences, more than I prefer. I actually make a .wav file, then
>run it through Anita, my .wav-to-.wav compressor program, but it would
>be preferable to pre-process the MIDI file and do the compression THERE.
>I'll add that capability to my list of things to do!

I'm sure that exists already. Maybe on the latest version of Cakewalk.

Read Spanish? http://www.music-center.com.br/midicomp.htm

-Carl

[Paul Erlich:]
>>>(My only complaint is that the dynamics should be narrowed down quite
>>>a bit.)

[JdL:]
>>I agree. Bunji, the sequencer, makes heavy use of dynamic range in
>>all his sequences, more than I prefer. I actually make a .wav file,
>>then run it through Anita, my .wav-to-.wav compressor program, but it
>>would be preferable to pre-process the MIDI file and do the
>>compression THERE. I'll add that capability to my list of things to
>>do!

[Carl Lumma:]
>I'm sure that exists already. Maybe on the latest version of Cakewalk.
>Read Spanish? http://www.music-center.com.br/midicomp.htm

Portuguese, actually, and I don't read that any better than Spanish! It
seems to be a brief description of what compression IS, then a
description of how to use the compression feature in Cakewalk.

I don't have Cakewalk, but as far as I can tell from this page, it only
compresses note velocity. What really needs to be done is a bit more
complex, and represents a weakness in my existing tuning program: many
sequences begin life on different channels, each with its own channel
volume, perhaps one for the left hand, one for the right hand, for
example. Because I use pitch bends, I need to reshuffle the channel
assignments, and a C from the left hand joins a C from the right hand on
channel 0, etc. That channel can have only one channel volume! So,
whatever channel volume I assign to the final sequence, I need to adjust
the note velocities when notes came from an original channel with a
different volume! What a mess!

And, channel volume is an important part of a complete compression
process, especially when a sequence uses varying volume in addition to
varying note velocities.

JdL