MicroToner by TAQS.IM

AliAhmet

I've been sent an early beta of a new app by TAQS.IM called MicroToner which was recently released for desktop users. It includes two versions, one to load as an AUv3, the other a standalone version which can host AUv3 synths/instruments.

There's no release date as this is an early beta. Check out the info on the desktop version to give you an idea of what it's about. https://taqs.im/downloads/microtoner/

shinyisshiny

looks cool, but are there no other apps that can already do this?

jonmoore

The better desktop and hardsware synths offer the ability to load Scala files (SCL) for alternative scaling to the western 12 tone system.

TAQS have spotted a gap in the market for those synths that don't offer Scala support.

https://usermanuals.garritan.com/ARIAPlayer/Content/tuning.htm

mikewb

When i saw this announced for the desktop I was hoping for an auv3 version. Looks great.

AliAhmet

@shinyisshiny said:
looks cool, but are there no other apps that can already do this?

I can't think of any for iOS.

shinyisshiny

awesome, seems like a great tool

nuno_agogo

this looks great. you could do something like that with ScalGen but not as simple and not as auv3.

edit: also there is a Mozaic script but it is quite complex.

Gravitas

Doesn’t the Wilsonic section in Synth One
do this and isn’t there something similar in
Taqs.im’s World synth and drum pad machine ?

nuno_agogo

@Gravitas said:
Doesn’t the Wilsonic section in Synth One
do this and isn’t there something similar in
Taqs.im’s World synth and drum pad machine ?

I think these are somewhat different. The microtoner translates the scales, with pitchbend commands i guess, via midi. So you could play the scales with any synth. The others have the microtuning built-in.

jonmoore

As @nuno_agogo states. Microscales exist outside the twelve semitone steps of traditional western scales, hence the need to hack the intermediate scale steps via pitch-bend messages.

Gravitas

@jonmoore said:
As @nuno_agogo states. Microscales exist outside the twelve semitone steps of traditional western scales,

I know about microscales and micro tuning and how they actually function on real world instruments.
Any composer worth their salt should know this.

hence the need to hack the intermediate scale steps via pitch-bend messages.

The video for MicroToner also states the same thing.

My questions where along the lines of what other apps have micro tuning
and alternative scales apart from the regular twelve note scale.

If you’ve noticed by now Synth One, Taqs.im’s World Synth and now this one MicroToner
share the same code and both Synth One and World Synth have micro tuning built in
based upon the Wilsonic app.

The separate Wilsonic app is a great reference for scales and tunings but it isn’t auv3
so agreed MicroToner does fill a much needed gap on the iOS platform.
Glad to see that Audiokit is filling that gap.

ghost_forests

Hopefully this isn’t another subscription-based app like World Synth

jonmoore

In an ideal world, every iOS synth should support the Scala microtuning format. Most of the best desktop synths support Scala, it's a real pity that iOS developers haven't followed suit.

This page details both Scala and the synths that support Scala .scl files for microtunings. Some of the software synths such as the TAL synths also exist on iOS so hopefully, if Scala isn't already implemented, it will be a relatively simple task to include it if the demand exists.

http://huygens-fokker.org/scala/

xraydash

Not iOS, but I just watched a video, posted yesterday, about using micro tunings and Scala files with Pigments.

Skyblazer

@nuno_agogo said:
this looks great. you could do something like that with ScalGen but not as simple and not as auv3.

edit: also there is a Mozaic script but it is quite complex.

As the creator of said script, the sequel is also "in beta", so if anyone wants to try it, they can PM me. My goal for the sequel is to make tuning a synth, as easy as tuning a guitar. But I still have yet to add presets, or record a tutorial. I'll make a topic for it when I do. Microtonal Maker was my "first big programming project", and it is a bit cumbersome to use.

sevenape

@Gravitas said:

@jonmoore said:
As @nuno_agogo states. Microscales exist outside the twelve semitone steps of traditional western scales,

I know about microscales and micro tuning and how they actually function on real world instruments.
Any composer worth their salt should know this.

hence the need to hack the intermediate scale steps via pitch-bend messages.

The video for MicroToner also states the same thing.

My questions where along the lines of what other apps have micro tuning
and alternative scales apart from the regular twelve note scale.

If you’ve noticed by now Synth One, Taqs.im’s World Synth and now this one MicroToner
share the same code and both Synth One and World Synth have micro tuning built in
based upon the Wilsonic app.

The separate Wilsonic app is a great reference for scales and tunings but it isn’t auv3
so agreed MicroToner does fill a much needed gap on the iOS platform.
Glad to see that Audiokit is filling that gap.

Fundamental supports scala scales. If that’s what you are asking!?

jonmoore

A quick search here shows there’s a reasonable number of iOS synths that support Scala microtuning.

https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/22367/apps-that-support-microtonal-tunings

Gravitas

@sevenape said:

Fundamental supports scala scales. If that’s what you are asking!?

Thank you for responding.
No, that isn’t what I was asking.
What I was actually doing was confirming that the MicroToner app does
indeed fill a gap and also showing the connection between Audiokit,
their code base which is used by other app designers who are
interested in other musics and not only the European twelve note scale and tuning.

Here’s the Wilsonic app.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/wilsonic/id848852071

and here’s the Fundamental app

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/fundamental/id1526745452

for those who don’t know of either.

palms

@jonmoore said:
In an ideal world, every iOS synth should support the Scala microtuning format. Most of the best desktop synths support Scala, it's a real pity that iOS developers haven't followed suit.

This page details both Scala and the synths that support Scala .scl files for microtunings. Some of the software synths such as the TAL synths also exist on iOS so hopefully, if Scala isn't already implemented, it will be a relatively simple task to include it if the demand exists.

http://huygens-fokker.org/scala/

absolutely. I do hope fully fledged apps like oddsound MTS-ESP and infinitone make their way to ios at some point.

https://oddsound.com/mtsespsuite.php

https://infinitone.com/

This taqsim microtoner thing doesn't look like it will do what I want it to do. Only octave based scales and scaled by cents, which are too coarse for many tuning systems.

MTS, scala and tun files are the way to go.

espiegel123

@Gravitas said:

@jonmoore said:
As @nuno_agogo states. Microscales exist outside the twelve semitone steps of traditional western scales,

I know about microscales and micro tuning and how they actually function on real world instruments.
Any composer worth their salt should know this.

hence the need to hack the intermediate scale steps via pitch-bend messages.

The video for MicroToner also states the same thing.

My questions where along the lines of what other apps have micro tuning
and alternative scales apart from the regular twelve note scale.

If you’ve noticed by now Synth One, Taqs.im’s World Synth and now this one MicroToner
share the same code and both Synth One and World Synth have micro tuning built in
based upon the Wilsonic app.

The separate Wilsonic app is a great reference for scales and tunings but it isn’t auv3
so agreed MicroToner does fill a much needed gap on the iOS platform.
Glad to see that Audiokit is filling that gap.

Synthmaster supports scala files.

Gravitas

@espiegel123 said:

Synthmaster supports scala files.

Good to know.
Thank you.