The compromises of the tempered tunings, can also be regarded as features. They provide more or less ‘pure’ intervals that can be contrasted with less pure ones that can also be used for their own particular ‘colour’.
Kali Malone’s Litanic Cloth Wrung is a nice example in which the beatings of the more or less out of tune intervals create a rhythmic element against the backdrop of the slow moving chords: The pure intervals provide moments of stasis contrasted with the vertical combinations that cause beating.
That is a lovely piece… That’s how I have understood the use of these tunings in the simplest terms, to explore the beatings of tones together. That example is such a clear demonstration, I really appreciate you posting it.
Now that Audulus version 4.0.5 is coming out, I’ll see if I can assemble the work here into a clean version. The concepts/combinations do get complicated rather quickly…
Another thought on the tunings – the tonnetz controller layout currently in the library using the touch node was set up imagining exploring these areas. I would imagine that different tunings could require significantly reworking the layout, I don’t know. Anyway, there’s an idea for a possible interface within Audulus, esp. for ipad with poly…
Ok, this version has a couple things.
First, the cleaned up Tuning and Quantizer modules – please have a look. It has the centered text so you need Audulus version 4.0.5, you’ll see the Lua error otherwise. (Apparently, 4.0.5 is about 13 hrs old now. ).
One important detail – I also removed Channel Count nodes because of a bug. (Anything in the library using the A4 quantizer uses Channel Count – it can cause a glitchy little hiccup, annoying.)
The Touch Keys module in this patch is also fixed – it also uses the quantizer.
Yes, I saw the tonnetz controller a while back (works beautifully!) and that got me thinking that it could be nice to recreate the Partch overlay that I created for the Sensel Morph, in Audulus. Another thing on my list of things to get round to .
Having that kind of keyboard layout in combination with the Partch Scale makes for a wonderful Just Intonation playground – it’s really helped me get grasp on these tunings.
Ah, haven’t visited your site in a while – the tunings, I see now the depth of your pursuits, Partch, Sensei Morph, Gamelan, et al… Your site is a joy – really sparks something for me… I got sidetracked with the Ubuweb Terry Riley video, the interview by Robert Ashley. (I have a personal connection to the little corner of the world where some of those folks convened – Mills College – with my own work…)
If you need any help I could be game for collabing on tearing apart that tonnetz module and reassembling it in some new ways. Let me know. By the way, I like the little meter you made with the shift register module, clever…
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