Topic by Tablabroke

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  • Tablabroke
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  • Registered: 16-07-2014
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Topic: List of tuning frequencies

Hi.

Is there a way to generate lists of the frequencies (in Hz) that Pianoteq assigns to each note for each of the built-in tuning and keymap presets (e.g., Carlos super just; 12 out of 19-tone mapping)? What I have in mind is a list or table that starts with the lowest note within the range of each tuning preset, and gives the frequency in Hz that is assigned to that note by the given preset, then works its way throughout the range. It's probably too much to hope that such a list would indicate any unison-width differences that are built into those presets. I'm not even sure you can specify unison-width in these presets or whether these are a function of the piano preset itself, but the more information, the better.

If there's no built-in way of doing this, can anyone suggest a way of generating such a list, apart from playing each note individually into a pitch identification app of some sort, or investigating the mathematics of each tuning preset (if that information is even available) and calculating what each pitch *should* be?

The reason I'm interested in this is to help me to compose and realise a sequence of piano pieces that progress through increasingly dissonant tunings (according to a number of different ways of defining "dissonance." Any advice greatly appreciated!

Reply by Arkanda

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  • Arkanda
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  • Registered: 17-07-2016
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Re: List of tuning frequencies

Scala should do this what you want:

http://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/

And Pianoteq at least is able to import scala scale/temperament files.

I'm not sure if the frequencies alone are the best parameter, normally you work with cents when specifying intervals and tuning scales.
The frequencies of course depend also on the standard pitch used ("diapson" in Pianoteq)
and also on the base note used for the temperament (if not an equal temperament)

Reply by Tablabroke

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Re: List of tuning frequencies

Thanks Arkanda, that looks like a really amazing collection. I've just downloaded the Scala library, and it certainly covers a vast number of temperaments. But I'm not sure how to correlate these with Pianoteq's built-in temperaments, to get a clear idea of the tuning that those presets assign to each note. Any suggestions about how I could narrow down the 4,500 plus tunings to see which ones relate to Pianoteq's own tunings? Thanks