The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music – even when using unconventional t... more The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music – even when using unconventional tunings – more intuitive, more logical, more expressive, and better sounding. The X_System allows for: different temperaments to be chosen at the flick of a switch; tunings to be dynamically altered at the push of a lever; the use of a special hexagonal button-field that allows for any given interval or chord always to have the same shape on that button-field; consonant chords to have their consonance maximised, whatever the tuning actually chosen; radical changes to be made to the timbral character of tones using a minimal number of controls; a choice of keyboard mappings, which enable for the balance between number of intervals and octaves to be altered.
A continuous parameter generates a continuum of syntonic tunings that can be mapped to a button f... more A continuous parameter generates a continuum of syntonic tunings that can be mapped to a button field so that the geometric shape of each musical interval is the same across all keys and throughout all tunings in the continuum. This has three advantages. First, having a single set of interval shapes within and across all keys of one given tuning (such as 12-tet) makes it easier to visualize the underlying structure of the music. Second, having this same single set of interval shapes across the entire syntonic tuning continuum makes it easier for musicians to explore the use of alternative tunings such as 1/4-comma meantone, Pythagorean, and 19-tet. Third, assigning the continuous parameter to a control interface enables a unique form of expression: dynamically (re)tuning all sounded notes in real time. There are two mappings: one tempers from an arbitrary regular tuning to one that can be represented by a finite number of generators. The second mapping, from the generators to the bu...
The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music–even when using unconventional tun... more The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music–even when using unconventional tunings–more intuitive, more logical, more expressive, and better sounding. The X_System allows for:• different temperaments to be chosen at the flick of a switch;• tunings to be dynamically altered at the push of a lever;• the use of a special hexagonal button-field that allows for any given interval or chord always to have the same shape on that button-field;• consonant chords to have their consonance maximised, whatever the tuning ...
Page 1. Sight-Reading Music Theory: A Thought Experiment on Improving Pedagogical Efficiency Jim ... more Page 1. Sight-Reading Music Theory: A Thought Experiment on Improving Pedagogical Efficiency Jim Plamondon iGetIt! Music 6911 Thistle Hill Way Austin, Texas 78754 USA jim@igetitmusic.com Andrew J. Milne Department ...
This paper describes Dynamic Tonality, a system of realtime alterations to tuning and timbre that... more This paper describes Dynamic Tonality, a system of realtime alterations to tuning and timbre that extends the framework of tonality to include new structural resources such as polyphonic tuning bends, tuning progressions, and temperament modulations. ...
This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals... more This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals of a given scale remain the “same” over a range of tunings. This requires that the frequency differences between intervals that are considered the “same” are “glossed over” to expose underlying similarities. This article shows how tuning invariance can be a musically useful property by enabling (among other things) dynamic tuning, that is, real-time changes to the tuning of all sounded notes as a tuning variable changes along a smooth continuum. On a keyboard that is (1) tuning invariant and (2) equipped with a device capable of controlling one or more continuous parameters (such as a slider or joystick), one can perform novel real-time polyphonic musical effects such as tuning bends and temperament modulations—and even new chord progressions—all within the time-honored framework of tonality. Such novel musical effects are discussed briefly in the section on dynamic tuning, but the bulk...
This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals... more This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals of a given scale remain the “same” over a range of tunings. This requires that the frequency differences between intervals that are considered the “same” are “glossed over” to expose underlying similarities. This article shows how tuning invariance can be a musically useful property by enabling (among other things) dynamic tuning, that is, real-time changes to the tuning of all sounded notes as a tuning variable changes along a smooth continuum. On a keyboard that is (1) tuning invariant and (2) equipped with a device capable of controlling one or more continuous parameters (such as a slider or joystick), one can perform novel real-time polyphonic musical effects such as tuning bends and temperament modulations—and even new chord progressions—all within the time-honored framework of tonality. Such novel musical effects are discussed briefly in the section on dynamic tuning, but the bulk...
The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music – even when using unconventional t... more The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music – even when using unconventional tunings – more intuitive, more logical, more expressive, and better sounding. The X_System allows for: different temperaments to be chosen at the flick of a switch; tunings to be dynamically altered at the push of a lever; the use of a special hexagonal button-field that allows for any given interval or chord always to have the same shape on that button-field; consonant chords to have their consonance maximised, whatever the tuning actually chosen; radical changes to be made to the timbral character of tones using a minimal number of controls; a choice of keyboard mappings, which enable for the balance between number of intervals and octaves to be altered.
A continuous parameter generates a continuum of syntonic tunings that can be mapped to a button f... more A continuous parameter generates a continuum of syntonic tunings that can be mapped to a button field so that the geometric shape of each musical interval is the same across all keys and throughout all tunings in the continuum. This has three advantages. First, having a single set of interval shapes within and across all keys of one given tuning (such as 12-tet) makes it easier to visualize the underlying structure of the music. Second, having this same single set of interval shapes across the entire syntonic tuning continuum makes it easier for musicians to explore the use of alternative tunings such as 1/4-comma meantone, Pythagorean, and 19-tet. Third, assigning the continuous parameter to a control interface enables a unique form of expression: dynamically (re)tuning all sounded notes in real time. There are two mappings: one tempers from an arbitrary regular tuning to one that can be represented by a finite number of generators. The second mapping, from the generators to the bu...
The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music–even when using unconventional tun... more The X_System makes the playing, writing, and learning of music–even when using unconventional tunings–more intuitive, more logical, more expressive, and better sounding. The X_System allows for:• different temperaments to be chosen at the flick of a switch;• tunings to be dynamically altered at the push of a lever;• the use of a special hexagonal button-field that allows for any given interval or chord always to have the same shape on that button-field;• consonant chords to have their consonance maximised, whatever the tuning ...
Page 1. Sight-Reading Music Theory: A Thought Experiment on Improving Pedagogical Efficiency Jim ... more Page 1. Sight-Reading Music Theory: A Thought Experiment on Improving Pedagogical Efficiency Jim Plamondon iGetIt! Music 6911 Thistle Hill Way Austin, Texas 78754 USA jim@igetitmusic.com Andrew J. Milne Department ...
This paper describes Dynamic Tonality, a system of realtime alterations to tuning and timbre that... more This paper describes Dynamic Tonality, a system of realtime alterations to tuning and timbre that extends the framework of tonality to include new structural resources such as polyphonic tuning bends, tuning progressions, and temperament modulations. ...
This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals... more This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals of a given scale remain the “same” over a range of tunings. This requires that the frequency differences between intervals that are considered the “same” are “glossed over” to expose underlying similarities. This article shows how tuning invariance can be a musically useful property by enabling (among other things) dynamic tuning, that is, real-time changes to the tuning of all sounded notes as a tuning variable changes along a smooth continuum. On a keyboard that is (1) tuning invariant and (2) equipped with a device capable of controlling one or more continuous parameters (such as a slider or joystick), one can perform novel real-time polyphonic musical effects such as tuning bends and temperament modulations—and even new chord progressions—all within the time-honored framework of tonality. Such novel musical effects are discussed briefly in the section on dynamic tuning, but the bulk...
This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals... more This article introduces the idea of tuning invariance, by which relationships among the intervals of a given scale remain the “same” over a range of tunings. This requires that the frequency differences between intervals that are considered the “same” are “glossed over” to expose underlying similarities. This article shows how tuning invariance can be a musically useful property by enabling (among other things) dynamic tuning, that is, real-time changes to the tuning of all sounded notes as a tuning variable changes along a smooth continuum. On a keyboard that is (1) tuning invariant and (2) equipped with a device capable of controlling one or more continuous parameters (such as a slider or joystick), one can perform novel real-time polyphonic musical effects such as tuning bends and temperament modulations—and even new chord progressions—all within the time-honored framework of tonality. Such novel musical effects are discussed briefly in the section on dynamic tuning, but the bulk...
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