Arabic Quarter Tone

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aimmoth
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Joined: 07 Jan 2019

07 Jan 2019

Hello, I was watching this nice Arabic scale lesson and wanted to add a quarter TONE (not note). How do I do that?

Thanks

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MrFigg
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07 Jan 2019

aimmoth wrote:
07 Jan 2019
Hello, I was watching this nice Arabic scale lesson and wanted to add a quarter TONE (not note). How do I do that?

Thanks
This: https://shop.propellerheads.com/rack-ex ... microtune/
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jam-s
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07 Jan 2019

If the synth/sampler you're using has an automatable cent tuning knob you could use it to change the pitch by +/-25 cents in the corresponding direction.

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WeLoveYouToo
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Location: portland, or

08 Jan 2019

what i do whenever i need microtonal music, and i dont know that this is the beat way to do it, but i just duplicate my instrument, and adjust the pitch (cent) knob in the copy, then in the sequencer draw in the octave notes in the 1st instrument’s lane, and draw in the between-notes in the duplicates insteument’s track.
i’m sure theres a better way, but inseldom need to do this and it works.

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jam-s
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08 Jan 2019

Another approach would be to create a sample set of the notes that you need for your scale and then load those into NNXT or Kong and play them from there. That way you can also play chords. If you do a combinator patch with keyswitches you could also play live quite easily.

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fieldframe
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09 Jan 2019

Ochen K’s Microtune looks like a good option, but this also looks like a perfect use case for a player RE. Perhaps Robotic Bean or Lectric Panda have considered something like this?

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jam-s
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09 Jan 2019

As quarter tone notes are no standard midi notes I don't think a player RE could handle this.

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16161d
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Joined: 26 Jan 2015

10 Jan 2019

fieldframe wrote:
09 Jan 2019
Ochen K’s Microtune looks like a good option, but this also looks like a perfect use case for a player RE. Perhaps Robotic Bean or Lectric Panda have considered something like this?
I would buy it in an instant if anyone could bring OchenK's microtune RE to player format, but I'm not sure it's possible, and even then it's still basically a hack rather than actual retuning, so the player would only be making it a bit more easier to hook up to stuff, unless theres some other way to hack in polyphonic re-tuning (I had an idea of some complicated setup using virtual midi, external midi bus, EMI, and distributor but I don't think it's possible). I think we'll need to see a major update to Reasons MIDI capabilities before we see this, and hopefully MPE, I get so excited thinking of all the possibilities.

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selig
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10 Jan 2019

Pure quarter tones are easy with any synth that as keyboard tracking, such as Thor. Simply set the knob to 64 and you're playing quarter tones. For Europa and Grain use 50% on the Keyboard knob.

Another option with Thor would be to use the mod matrix to assign the pitch bend level to a quarter tone. Then you could flatten or sharpen ANY note by a quarter tone as you play.
Simply set the pitch bend range to zero, then assign Pitch Bend as a source in the Mod Matrix with a depth of 18 (assign to each oscillator used).

For Europa and Grain, use a depth of 8 in the mod matrix for Pitch Bend (for each engine used), remembering to also change the default pitch bend range from 2 to zero.
Selig Audio, LLC

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MrFigg
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10 Jan 2019

What about a combi with 12 Microtunes one for each note going into cv tap and going out to 12 Thors one for each tone wheel? Would that work?
I know nothing about cv or programming combinators by the way ha ha.
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MrFigg
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10 Jan 2019

Was that a completely stupid idea?
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16161d
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Joined: 26 Jan 2015

11 Jan 2019

MrFigg wrote:
10 Jan 2019
What about a combi with 12 Microtunes one for each note going into cv tap and going out to 12 Thors one for each tone wheel? Would that work?
I know nothing about cv or programming combinators by the way ha ha.
If you use a combinator, and map individual keys to 12 Microtunes (receive note enabled) + your instrument (eg. microtune 1 + thor 1, key range C3 to C3, microtune 2 + thor 2, key range C3# to C3# etc.), and hook them up, you can get it working polyphonically. But then you only have 12 notes and have to continue duplicating devices to be able to play more than that, I don't think theres a way to do this without duplicating devices as Microtune work with polyphonic CV. Using NNXT is probably the easier option but you have to sample your sound into it.

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MrFigg
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12 Jan 2019

16161d wrote:
11 Jan 2019
MrFigg wrote:
10 Jan 2019
What about a combi with 12 Microtunes one for each note going into cv tap and going out to 12 Thors one for each tone wheel? Would that work?
I know nothing about cv or programming combinators by the way ha ha.
If you use a combinator, and map individual keys to 12 Microtunes (receive note enabled) + your instrument (eg. microtune 1 + thor 1, key range C3 to C3, microtune 2 + thor 2, key range C3# to C3# etc.), and hook them up, you can get it working polyphonically. But then you only have 12 notes and have to continue duplicating devices to be able to play more than that, I don't think theres a way to do this without duplicating devices as Microtune work with polyphonic CV. Using NNXT is probably the easier option but you have to sample your sound into it.
So it works in theory in any case. Phew!!! I thought everybody was just holding their heads in despair at my suggestion. Thanks.
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aimmoth
Posts: 2
Joined: 07 Jan 2019

16 Jan 2019

Thank you for your great answers! I'm new to Reason and will try out your suggestion.

There are "oriental keyboards" that can tune the keys. Do you know how those tones are recorded in Reason? I assume the MIDI is recorded correctly but how are they displayed in Reason for editing? Thanks

Example of keyboard
https://se.yamaha.com/sv/products/music ... index.html

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ScuzzyEye
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16 Jan 2019

aimmoth wrote:
16 Jan 2019
Thank you for your great answers! I'm new to Reason and will try out your suggestion.

There are "oriental keyboards" that can tune the keys. Do you know how those tones are recorded in Reason? I assume the MIDI is recorded correctly but how are they displayed in Reason for editing? Thanks

Example of keyboard
https://se.yamaha.com/sv/products/music ... index.html
The English page for the same instrument: https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/m ... tures.html

This particular keyboard simply tunes notes played by it. You can basically take a D note and tune it with a range of -64/+63 semitones. Then when you play a D, it'll have a different pitch. But the MIDI sent by it is still a straight D.

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