Re: midi micro tuning / Midi calibration

[Martin Tarenskeen]

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013, David Kastrup wrote:

> > > Midi, itself, is tuned in 440 and equal.

Midi, itself, is not tuned at all.

> > > However, there's a function
> > > known as "pitch bend" in midi parlance,  that works on some, but not all,

That's one way to do it. Make sure to set this for each of the Midi 
channels that you need.

> > I was sort of amazed - Midi being such a simple (so I imagined) format,
> > I thought that the calibration to 440 should be a mere variable, easy to
> > be adjusted. There's always more to it than it seems ...


> Tuning is not really well standardized in Midi.  Midi is focused on
> discrete notes, so the probability is quite high that the easiest way to
> deal with 442Hz tuning is to look at your Midi playing facility.

There are some "standards", but they will not always work.

Pitchbend probably has the largest support on hard- and software synths.
But it was not really meant to play a complete score in a different 
tuning. It was invented - like the name implies - to temporarily bend 
pitches, and then return to the normal tuning again. For synthplayers who 
always wanted to be a guitar hero but never learnt to play the guitar ;-)

But there is also this method:
http://www.midi.org/techspecs/ca25.pdf

and this:
http://www.midi.org/techspecs/midituning.php
http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com/MIDItuning.html

The specs are there, but they are not always supported.

The easiest way: play your MIDI file on a hardware synth or soundmodule 
and just push some buttons or turn a knob on the hardware to get the 
tuning right.

--

MT