Crude simulation of a generalized keyboard

For a while I've been playing around with different keyboard layouts for various temperaments. Trying to get an idea of the sorts of things that would work on a generalized keyboard. Drawing diagrams and seeing how the harmonic series in a particular case comes out is useful, but you can't really get a feel for how it would play. So I've had this crude program for about a year now. Not really usable as a musical instrument, in most cases, because of the limitations of computer keyboards, but it's enough to get a general idea of what a particular layout is good for.

http://www.io.com/~hmiller/music/keymidi.zip

It's a Windows program, and I don't know if it will work on anyone else's system or not, but it doesn't do anything really unusual, so I expect it should work on most recent Windows systems. I've included some sample keyboards with it.

I can run the program, play a loaded layout by pressing the keys on my PC
keyboard, but cannot see anything except a white background.

Is it possible to create an internet applet, with an optional 79/80-tone
layout?

Cordially,
Oz.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Herman Miller" <hmiller@IO.COM>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: 10 Haziran 2007 Pazar 5:23
Subject: [tuning] Crude simulation of a generalized keyboard

> For a while I've been playing around with different keyboard layouts for
> various temperaments. Trying to get an idea of the sorts of things that
> would work on a generalized keyboard. Drawing diagrams and seeing how
> the harmonic series in a particular case comes out is useful, but you
> can't really get a feel for how it would play. So I've had this crude
> program for about a year now. Not really usable as a musical instrument,
> in most cases, because of the limitations of computer keyboards, but
> it's enough to get a general idea of what a particular layout is good for.
>
> http://www.io.com/~hmiller/music/keymidi.zip
>
> It's a Windows program, and I don't know if it will work on anyone
> else's system or not, but it doesn't do anything really unusual, so I
> expect it should work on most recent Windows systems. I've included some
> sample keyboards with it.
>

Ozan Yarman wrote:
> I can run the program, play a loaded layout by pressing the keys on my PC
> keyboard, but cannot see anything except a white background.

That's all there is; just a couple of menu commands to create layouts and set up MIDI options on the Edit menu.

> Is it possible to create an internet applet, with an optional 79/80-tone
> layout?

Not with a 12x5 array of keys. That sort of thing would be possible with mouse clicks (e.g. http://monxmood.free.fr/bosanquet/bosanquet.html for an example of 31-ET with a Bosanquet layout), but I'm not familiar with Flash or Javascript or other sorts of applications that are typically used for writing web-based programs.

What might be more practical on a keyboard would be a simulation of your 79-tone qanun with one key assigned to each string and other keys for setting the mandals.

Dear Herman,

----- Original Message -----
From: "Herman Miller" <hmiller@IO.COM>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: 11 Haziran 2007 Pazartesi 1:59
Subject: Re: [tuning] Crude simulation of a generalized keyboard

> Ozan Yarman wrote:
> > I can run the program, play a loaded layout by pressing the keys on my
PC
> > keyboard, but cannot see anything except a white background.
>
> That's all there is; just a couple of menu commands to create layouts
> and set up MIDI options on the Edit menu.
>

I c.

> > Is it possible to create an internet applet, with an optional 79/80-tone
> > layout?
>
> Not with a 12x5 array of keys. That sort of thing would be possible with
> mouse clicks (e.g. http://monxmood.free.fr/bosanquet/bosanquet.html for
> an example of 31-ET with a Bosanquet layout), but I'm not familiar with
> Flash or Javascript or other sorts of applications that are typically
> used for writing web-based programs.
>
> What might be more practical on a keyboard would be a simulation of your
> 79-tone qanun with one key assigned to each string and other keys for
> setting the mandals.
>
>

Might I bring to your attention an excellent gadget programmed by my senior
Turkish colleague Ughur Kechecioghlu titled "Virtual Kanun":

http://www.ozanyarman.com/misc/79-tone_Qanun/79_ton_sanal_kanun.zip

Yes, it is based on 79-tones!

Oz.

Ozan Yarman wrote:

> Might I bring to your attention an excellent gadget programmed by my senior
> Turkish colleague Ughur Kechecioghlu titled "Virtual Kanun":
> > http://www.ozanyarman.com/misc/79-tone_Qanun/79_ton_sanal_kanun.zip
> > Yes, it is based on 79-tones!

There seems to be a file missing: I get a run-time error '429' when I try to run kanun.exe. It says "ActiveX component can't create object".

Eh, sorry for the late reply. Again.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Herman Miller" <hmiller@IO.COM>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2007 9:23 PM
Subject: [tuning] Crude simulation of a generalized keyboard

> For a while I've been playing around with different keyboard layouts for
> various temperaments. Trying to get an idea of the sorts of things that
> would work on a generalized keyboard. Drawing diagrams and seeing how
> the harmonic series in a particular case comes out is useful, but you
> can't really get a feel for how it would play. So I've had this crude
> program for about a year now. Not really usable as a musical instrument,
> in most cases, because of the limitations of computer keyboards, but
> it's enough to get a general idea of what a particular layout is good for.
>
> http://www.io.com/~hmiller/music/keymidi.zip

It's fun to play with, and it's helping me more than you might think.

You should add one more scale to the archive:

Ref Key (y): 2
Ref Key (x): 0
Pitch: 60 (if you want 1/1 = middle C, of course)
Across: 7
Down: 2
Steps per octave: 72

and that gives you MIRACLE, 72-edo version. Blackjack on two rows, canasta on three, studluco on four. Unison is Q; the fourth is G, the fifth is U, and the octave is apostrophe/quotes. I'll let you guess what chord QFUL produces...

~D.

Danny Wier wrote:
> You should add one more scale to the archive:
> > Ref Key (y): 2
> Ref Key (x): 0
> Pitch: 60 (if you want 1/1 = middle C, of course)
> Across: 7
> Down: 2
> Steps per octave: 72
> > and that gives you MIRACLE, 72-edo version. Blackjack on two rows, canasta > on three, studluco on four. Unison is Q; the fourth is G, the fifth is U, > and the octave is apostrophe/quotes. I'll let you guess what chord QFUL > produces...

I'm working on a set of key mappings for the temperaments in Paul Erlich's _Middle Path_ paper, and then some. My miracle mapping is a little different from this, but this one is better in some ways since you can use larger MOS scales with it. So I think I'll use this one. Thanks for the suggestion!

For TOP miracle:
Across: 116.7206423
Down: 33.424591
Steps per octave: 1200

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:

> I'm working on a set of key mappings for the temperaments in Paul
> Erlich's _Middle Path_ paper, and then some. My miracle mapping is a
> little different from this, but this one is better in some ways since
> you can use larger MOS scales with it. So I think I'll use this one.
> Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm afraid I don't understand what is being suggested.

Gene Ward Smith wrote:
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:
> >> I'm working on a set of key mappings for the temperaments in Paul >> Erlich's _Middle Path_ paper, and then some. My miracle mapping is a >> little different from this, but this one is better in some ways since >> you can use larger MOS scales with it. So I think I'll use this one. >> Thanks for the suggestion!
> > I'm afraid I don't understand what is being suggested.

The zip file (http://www.io.com/~hmiller/music/keymidi.zip) comes with a text file that explains how to set up the keyboard. Here's the relevant section:

"One of the keys on the keyboard is set to be the reference key, relative to which all the other keys are defined. The reference key is identified by row (Ref Key Row) and column (Ref Key Column) according to the chart. The pitch produced by this key is defined as a MIDI note number. The pitch of the other keys is defined by the horizontal step size (Across) and vertical step size (Down). For convenience in calculating these step sizes you can set the number of steps per octave (which defaults to 12)."

So Danny Weir's suggestion was to include a keyboard mapping for miracle temperament, where the horizontal step is 7 steps of 72-ET, and the vertical step is 2 steps of 72-ET, and middle C (MIDI note 60) is assigned to the Q key (row 2, column 0).

Hi Herman,

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:
>
> Danny Wier wrote:
> > You should add one more scale to the archive:
> >
> > Ref Key (y): 2
> > Ref Key (x): 0
> > Pitch: 60 (if you want 1/1 = middle C, of course)
> > Across: 7
> > Down: 2
> > Steps per octave: 72
> >
> > and that gives you MIRACLE, 72-edo version. Blackjack on
> > two rows, canasta on three, studluco on four. Unison is Q;
> > the fourth is G, the fifth is U, and the octave is
> > apostrophe/quotes. I'll let you guess what chord QFUL
> > produces...
>
> I'm working on a set of key mappings for the temperaments
> in Paul Erlich's _Middle Path_ paper, and then some.

Hmm, what a coincidence! I've been creating Tonescape files
for every one of Paul's TOP temperaments, including some
DES's bigger than the ones in his horograms.

It's very nice to see the lattice which is represented
by these temperaments, and have them available for composing.

> My miracle mapping is a little different from this, but
> this one is better in some ways since you can use larger
> MOS scales with it. So I think I'll use this one.
> Thanks for the suggestion!
>
> For TOP miracle:
> Across: 116.7206423
> Down: 33.424591
> Steps per octave: 1200

I downloaded your keyboard software this morning and
played around with it a little before i had to got to work.
I anticipate finding it very useful, to try out stuff in
real-time which i can then enter into Tonescape.

Ken Fasano and i did exactly the same thing back in 1999
when we were working on my now-defunct JustMusic software,
the predecessor of Tonescape. I don't think i have the
webpage available anymore, but here's a version archived
on the Wayback Machine ... look at the graphic at the bottom:

http://web.archive.org/web/20041121105915/http://sonic-arts.org/monzo/justmusic/introtojm.htm

And in the Encyclopedia, my Canasta page still has my
mapping for that tuning, again at the bottom of the page:

http://tonalsoft.com/enc/c/canasta.aspx

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

monz wrote:

> I downloaded your keyboard software this morning and
> played around with it a little before i had to got to work.
> I anticipate finding it very useful, to try out stuff in
> real-time which i can then enter into Tonescape.

That's also the sort of thing I've been using it for (not with Tonescape but with the Cakewalk piano roll). Yulegu Island at Twilight (http://teamouse.googlepages.com/yulegu-twilight.mp3) is the most successful use so far of this program as a pre-compositional aid, and I've also got an incomplete sample using bug temperament (http://home.comcast.net/~teamouse/bug9.mp3). I've been hoping to do more of these, but I haven't had the time and inspiration.

> Ken Fasano and i did exactly the same thing back in 1999
> when we were working on my now-defunct JustMusic software,
> the predecessor of Tonescape. I don't think i have the
> webpage available anymore, but here's a version archived
> on the Wayback Machine ... look at the graphic at the bottom:
> > http://web.archive.org/web/20041121105915/http://sonic-arts.org/monzo/justmusic/introtojm.htm
> > > And in the Encyclopedia, my Canasta page still has my
> mapping for that tuning, again at the bottom of the page:
> > http://tonalsoft.com/enc/c/canasta.aspx

Hmm, too bad it's not a regular mapping; I haven't got my program set up to store a separate pitch for each key (although it could be a useful addition, especially for larger or irregular scales).

Herman, I would urge you to re-download an updated package. Hopefully, this
one will work if you have MS Excel installed.

(Donations are welcome.)

Oz.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Herman Miller" <hmiller@IO.COM>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: 17 Haziran 2007 Pazar 5:08
Subject: Re: [tuning] Crude simulation of a generalized keyboard

> Ozan Yarman wrote:
>
> > Might I bring to your attention an excellent gadget programmed by my
senior
> > Turkish colleague Ughur Kechecioghlu titled "Virtual Kanun":
> >
> > http://www.ozanyarman.com/misc/79-tone_Qanun/79_ton_sanal_kanun.zip
> >
> > Yes, it is based on 79-tones!
>
> There seems to be a file missing: I get a run-time error '429' when I
> try to run kanun.exe. It says "ActiveX component can't create object".
>
>

Ozan Yarman wrote:
> Herman, I would urge you to re-download an updated package. Hopefully, this
> one will work if you have MS Excel installed.

I have Excel installed on my laptop, so I copied it over and tried it out. Very nice! I like how it shows you the notation of each pitch.

I've been thinking lately that visual simulations of an instrument like this would be useful for writing instrumental music with different tunings. Specifically, I had in mind a fretted string instrument, like a guitar or a ukulele, with adjustable frets. That sort of thing could also be useful for experimentation for someone who's planning to design a fretboard for a stringed instrument. But you could also simulate other kinds of instruments this way.