Justonic Tuning, Inc. Announces Pitch
Palette Retuning Software
December 31, 1996
Maybe you don't have a tin ear after all.
Even the world's best musician's have been playing out of tune, because
they simply didn't have a choice. For complex reasons having to do with
the fundamental structure of musical sounds, for over 300 years we have
been limping by with an imprecise musical scale, called the equal tempered
scale. In the equal tempered scale, every note is slightly but noticeably
off. The result is that we have been living with music that simply does
not sound as harmonious as it should.
Justonic Tuning Inc.'s patented solution changes this, finally bringing
the world into tune and restoring the beauty of pure harmony to music.
The new Justonic software, Pitch Palette, which the developers describe
as ending the search for music's holy grail, is expected to revolutionize
the music industry. The software retunes notes from electronic keyboards
and guitars as they are played. Music studios may also use it to retune
digitally sequenced recordings.
When properly sounded, notes are actually different depending on the
musical key or tonal center in which they are played. Properly sounded,
an "F," for example, is a different tone in the key of "C" than in the
key of "B" or "G," and even within the key of "C" the "F" note may change
pitch as the chords change. The best choirs, singing a cappella, instinctively
adjust for this, performing music in pure intonation and producing pure,
clean chords. The very best musicians, playing continuously-tuned instruments
like violins do also. But fixed tuned instruments like pianos and guitars
are locked into pre-tuned notes, as are singers and orchestras accompanied
by these instruments, making pure intonation impossible.
Musicians have grappled with this problem for thousands of years (the
Greek scholar Pythagoras noticed it in the sixth century BC). After exploring
and discarding alternative after alternative, the equal tempered scale
was developed as a compromise in 1685. In the equal tempered scale, every
note, except the octave, is slightly false. As a result, harmonies in
the equal tempered scale lose their full brilliance, clarity, and power.
Until the release of Justonic Tuning's revolutionary software breakthrough,
the problem was considered insurmountable. Undaunted, Justonic Tuning,
Inc., following fifteen years of research, has developed a solution previously
unavailable to musicians. Using a patented technique, which harnesses
the computational power of modern computers, the software analyzes the
harmonic content as the music is played and corrects the tuning of each
note.
"This is a breakthrough in both concept and implementation," said Rex
Weyler, co-founder and president of Justonic. "We took the scale and changed
it from one dimensional to three dimensional. Every time you change a
key, and every time you change a chord within that key, we adjust the
tuning based on the harmonic relationships of the notes.
Instead of the one dimensional 12-note-per-octave scale, Pitch Palette
produces a scale with three dimensions based on the scale, key and chord.
The result is a scale with 12 times 12 times 12 or 1,728 notes per octave.
The software selects the proper note in milliseconds. The difference between
a perfect chord created with Pitch Palette and a tempered chord is dramatic
to even the most untrained ear. "Limiting musicians to a twelve-note scale,"
says co-founder Bill Gannon, "is like limiting painters to only twelve
colors, with no mixing."
Musicians who have heard music played through Pitch Palette are taken
aback. Comments include: "All chords sound better..." "The Justonic tuning
is more mellow..." "This opens up a whole new world of chord progressions.
Bravo Justonic Tuning..." "Everyone is going to want to do this..."
In a typical installation, Pitch Palette takes an input from a keyboard
or guitar through a MIDI interface. The processed (and in-tune) output
is fed to a sound system. A second keyboard can be used to provide the
musician with artistic control over the tonal center of the processed
notes. Pitch Palette lends itself to more elaborate installations as well.
Besides recording modern music in pure harmony, the software is expected
to see significant usage in re-recording classical music in the correct
intonation. For the first time in centuries, we will be able to hear historic
music composed by such great masters as Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi played
the way they intended.
Pitch Palette also opens new musical horizons. "We've historically limited
ourselves to one scale," Rex Weyler noted. "There are hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of interesting scale choices available, including historical,
international, and modern. Most of these scales are based on pure harmonics,
and the only way to use them with full harmonic freedom is to use them
with the Justonic software. "For example, Arabic music based on traditional
harmonic scales has been limited in its development of harmony because
of the modulation problem. By using Pitch Palette, Arabic and other international composers will be able to employ western style harmony with these traditional
scales."
Justonic's Pitch Palette is priced at $189. It requires a 486 or better
with at least 8MB of RAM and a MIDI interface.
In addition to the software package, Justonic Tuning is currently developing
a state-of-the-art synthesizer which they expect to introduce in January,
1997.
Justonic Tuning Inc. was founded in 1993 after more than a decade of
research into the tuning dilemma. The founders combine a background in
music, mathematics, physics, computer programming, business management,
and both have served as heads of successful companies. For more information, visit their web site at www.justonic.com. |
