On Thu, 30 Mar 2006, Chuckk Hubbard wrote:
MIDI note numbers are kind of inherently logarithmic. If you want a just scale, even the decimal note numbers are kind of arbitrary.
Indeed they look like that. For that it's better to use Hz.
There are also scales out there that *don't* have octave symmetry.
It's (very) rare.
Wendy Carlos, among others, has experimented with this. There is also Georgian "quintave" singing, which uses the perfect 5th instead of the octave. And gamelan tunings are notorious for wandering octaves.
Then you get nicer numbers if you multiply the MIDI note by N*log(3)/12*log(2).
Someone who's interested in alternate tunings is more likely to be interested in 19-, 31-, or 53-tone equal temperament than 24. If 12 midi notes is still an octave, this will make some pretty inscrutable note numbers.
Multiply the MIDI note number by 19/12, 31/12 or 53/12.
If each whole note number is assigned to a different pitch of the scale, there's barely more than 2 octaves in 128 notes.
You don't have to limit yourself to 0-127 in Pd. You also are not limited to integer note numbers.
For my purposes, frequency in Hz is the only way to go. MIDI is useful sometimes,
Understand the difference between Pd's MIDI note numbers and ordinary MIDI note numbers.
_ _ __ ___ _____ ________ _____________ _____________________ ... | Mathieu Bouchard - tél:+1.514.383.3801 - http://artengine.ca/matju | Freelance Digital Arts Engineer, Montréal QC Canada