Timbre Param (Timbre Parameters) Scale
5
Timbre Param (Timbre Parameters)
Scale
Thisspecifiesthescaleusedbytheperformance.
Separatelyfromthissetting,youcanchoosetheʺScaleʺset‐
tingofeachtimbreʹsprogramtakepriorityifdesired.
Type [Equal Temperament...User Octave Scale 03]
Thisselectsthebasicscalefortheperformance.
Notethatformanyofthescales,thesettingoftheKey
parameter,below,isveryimportant.
EqualTemperament:Thisisthemostwidelyusedscaleby
far ,inwhicheachsemitonestepisspacedatequalpitch
intervals.
EqualTemperamentallowseasymodulation,soth
ata
chordprogressionplayedinthekeyofCsoundsroughly
thesameasthesameprogressionplayedinF#.Sacrificed,
however,issomeofthepurityofindividualintervals
offeredbythescalesbelow.
PureMajor:Inthistemperament,majorchordsofthe
selectedkeywillbeperfectlyintune.
PureMinor:Inthistemperament,minorchordsofthe
selectedkeywillbeperfectlyintune.
Arabic:Thisscaleincludesthequarter‐toneintervalsused
inArabicmusic.
Pythagoras:ThisscaleisbasedonancientGreekmusicthe‐
ory,andisespeciallyeffectiveforplayingmelodies.Itpro‐
ducescompletelypurefi
fths,withoneexception,atthe
expenseofdetuningotherintervals–thirdsinparticular.
AsmuchasPythagorasmighthavelikedtodoso,it’snot
possibletomakeallthefifthspurewhilealsokeepingthe
octaveintune.Forthesakeoftheoctave,oneofthefifths–
th
eintervalfromthesharpfourthdegreetothesharpfirst
degree–ismadequiteflat.
Werkmeister(WerkmeisterIII):Thisscalewasoneofthe
manytemperamentsystemsdevelopedtowardstheendof
theBaroqueperiod.These“Well‐Tempered”tuningswere
aimedatallowingrelativelyfreetransposition–although
you’llstillnoticethatthedif
ferentkeysmaintaintheirown
distinctcharacteristics,unlikeEqualTemperament.
J.S.Bachwasreferringtothesenewscalesinhistitle,“The
Well‐TemperedClavier.”Assuch,thisgroupareparticu‐
larlyappropriateforlatebaroqueorganandharpsichord
music.
Kirnberger(KirnbergerIII):Thisisasecond“Well‐Tem‐
pered”tuning,datingfro
mtheearly18thcentury.
Slendro:ThisisanIndonesiangamelanscale,withfive
notesperoctave.
WhenKeyissettoC,usetheC,D,F,GandAnotes.Other
keyswillplaythenormalequal‐temperedpitches.
Pelog:ThisisanotherIndonesiangamelanscale,withseven
notesperoc
tave.
WhenKeyissettoC,usethewhitekeys.Theblackkeys
willplaytheequaltemperedpitches.
Stretch:Thistuningisusedforacousticpianos.
UserAllNotesScale:Thisisauser‐programmedscalewith
differentsettingsforall128MIDInotes.Youcansetupthis
scaleinGlobalmo
de(page75).
UserOctaveScale00–03:Theseareuser‐programmed
scaleswithsettingsforeachofthe12notesinanoctave.You
cansetthemupinGlobal mode(page75).