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Important Resources for Making Microtonal
Music
We list here some of the tools useful for the modern musician interested
in microtones. Use one, use them all, use them as starting points
to use things we don't even have listed here. If nothing else, this
may give you an idea of what can be.
Product/Tool: Scala
Home/Download: http://www.xs4all.nl/~huygensf/scala/
Author: Manuel Op de Coul
Information: Scala is a very complete freeware editor/librarian/analysis tool for tunings. It allows scales to be created, heard, manipulated and combined in many ways. There is a large library of scales available. Various different synthesizers and samplers can be tuned via standard MIDI-files. (Windows/DOS/[Linux])
Product/Tool: Fractal Tune Smithy
Home/Download: http://members.tripod.com/~robertinventor/ftsbeta.htm
Author: Robert Walker
Information: Originally an algo-comp program, Fractal Tune Smithy is now often used for microtonal composition / improvisation as well. Retunes to scale entered as cents, ratios or whatever. Uses pitch bends and re-mapping of midi channels to do this rather than tuning tables - so it will work with any GM compatible synth or soundcard. Includes many of the SCALA scales and modes, and one can use it to make a searchable drop lists of all the SCALA
scales and all the SCALA modes. (Windows)
Product/Tool: Midi Relay and MidiConv
Home/Download: http://www.microtonal.co.uk/software.htm
Author: Graham Breed
Information: Midi Relay allows you to tune MIDI synthesisers by pitch bends; MidiConv processes MIDI files and adds pitch bends to implement tunings. Graham also has pointers to a couple of other useful tools. (MR: Windows / MC: DOS)
Product/Tool: micro.CAL
Home/Download: http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/micro/micro.htm
Author: Joe Monzo
Information: micro.CAL is a little microtonal user-input program for the popular Cakewalk music sequencer software. It allows the user to input ratios as fractions, right at the computer, to indicate the pitches using the step-time method (i.e., putting the notes in one at a time, as opposed to playing live). It also allows the user to specify note-durations in the way musicians are ordinarily used to doing it: as fractions of a metrical unit. This also gives the ability to input any kind of tuplet and have the computer do the timing calculations.
Joe is also the author of a great Encyclopedia of Microtonal Music Theory, invaluable when doing work in these areas. Finally, he is also working on a Just Intonation software program, JustMusic, which has it's own discussion group.
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