scales

[pievo]

Hi,
I "rediscovered" Numerology and I am realy hooked. Only setback until now... ;) is the lack of user-defined scales or at least more scale to choose from. As I am more into classical composition it reduces the usability quite a lot although with arranging different modules there are possibilities...
Thanks a lot for this nice composition tool - and for that price it's realy still a gift.

[jim]

I'm working on it... I expect to have 'custom scale' module for 2.1, followed later on by a full 'library' for scales and tunings.

Cheers,
Jim

[mitch]

great call on the scales idea. two thoughts come to mind:

1) the ability to modulate the scale steps just as one would modulate any other parameter would be fantastic, so one could work with automating changing harmonic fields, for instance. That idea is extremely exciting to me.

2) have the user-defined scale be not limited to one octave would be created. I'm thinking especially of Xenakis' 'sieves' that span multiple octaves.

I don't know if these features are trivial or not, but I certainly would find them really stimulating.

best,

-mm

[jim]

Your first item will definitely happen -- the 'offset' for non-scalar notes will be adjustable +/- 2 octaves (for creative mangling), and modulate-able. You'll also be able to selectively mute specific notes. Finally, you'll be able to specify bi-directional scales (e.g. melodic minor ascending, natural minor descending).

The second item (scales that cover more than 12 chromatic notes) will not be implemented at first, but may appear later. In the meanwhile, you could use NoteFilter / NoteQuantiser modules in pairs to setup something very similar.

Cheers,
Jim

[adamj]

great call on the scales idea. two thoughts come to mind:

1) the ability to modulate the scale steps just as one would modulate any other parameter would be fantastic, so one could work with automating changing harmonic fields, for instance. That idea is extremely exciting to me.


Mitch,
Probably not quite what you are looking for, but you can already modulate scales (switch from Major to minor to ...).
I have an example of controlling scales and keys with presets over here: http://five12.net/showthread.php?t=247
You should be able to adjust the keychanges_advanced.nmp example to control things with LFOs or another modulation source.

But I guess you want more fine-grained control since you said "modulate scale steps".

In any case, looking forward to what Jim has in store for 2.1. Custom scales will be a great addition to Numerology.

Adam

[mitch]

correct, adamj, that's not quite what I'm looking for - though the type of modulation you mention [scale type] could achieve interesting results depending on the input material [for instance, mapping excessively chromatic material onto different scale types, to see what results...]

Anyway, thanks Jim, for the info. Not sure how I'd implement the Note Filter/Quantiser thing, though I imagine I'll figure something out - I'm really just scratching the surface so far.

Have to say, in general I'm pretty impressed with how much you indulge feature requests. This is some truly unique software that I'm super-excited to delve further into. I've waited literally years for something like this to surface!

best,

-mm

[pievo]

Scale which encompass at least 2 octaves would be great to have.