Scale supports arbitrary octave divisions and ratios, and (in conjunction with Tuning) can generate pitch information in various ways, including as input to Patterns.
s.boot;a = Scale.major;a.degrees; // [ 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 ]a.semitones; // [ 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 ]a.cents; // [ 0, 200, 300, 500, 700, 900, 1100 ]a.ratios; // [ 1, 1.1224620483089, 1.2599210498937, 1.3348398541685, etc. ]Pbind(\scale, a, \degree, Pseq((0..7) ++ (6..0) ++ [\rest], 1), \dur, 0.25).play;// use non-standard tuninga.tuning_(\just);a.degrees; // no change; degrees are independent of tuninga.semitones; // [ 0, 2.0391000173077, 3.1564128700055, 4.9804499913461, etc. ]a.ratios.collect(_.round(0.001)); // [ 1, 1.125, 1.2, 1.333, 1.5, 1.667, 1.875 ]Pbind(\scale, a, \degree, Pseq((0..7) ++ (6..0) ++ [\rest], 1), \dur, 0.25).play;*major, *minor, *dorian, *chromatic, *todi, *hijaz, *partch_o1, etc.
Creates a scale from the library stored in the instance variable "all". Each scale comes with an appropriate default Tuning, but alternate tunings can be specified at creation time:
xxxxxxxxxxScale.phrygian(\pythagorean)If the tuning size does not match the scale's -pitchesPerOctave, a warning will be thrown, and the scale will use its default tuning.
For a complete list of available scales, execute
xxxxxxxxxxScale.directoryThe scale repository, to which new scales can be added.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.all.put(\catastrophic, Scale([0, 0.01, 0.04, 11.2]));Scale.at(\catastrophic); // access the scaleAccess from the scale repository.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.all.put(\catastrophic, Scale([0, 0.01, 0.04, 11.2]));Scale.at(\ionian);Scale.newFromKey(\ionian); // access a copy of the scale for modificationCreates a random scale from the library, constrained by size and pitchsPerOctave if desired.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.choose; // could be anythingScale.choose(7); // will be a seven-note scale in its default tuning (could be any)Scale.choose(7, 12); // will be a seven-note scale in a twelve-tone tuning (usually ET!2)// Random seven-note scale in random twelve-tone tuninga = Scale.choose(7, 12).tuning_(Tuning.choose(12));a.tuning.name;Creates a Scale from scratch. degrees should be an array of Integers or scale name. If pitchesPerOctave is nil, will guess the most appropriate number based on degrees. tuning can be an instance of Tuning or a symbol; if nil, will be equal temperament of pitchesPerOctave. Specify descDegrees if the Scale should play differently when descending than when ascending; otherwise it should be nil.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.new(#[0, 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 11], name: "My ET12"); // will be in ET12Scale.new(#[0, 3, 7, 10, 15, 19, 22], name: "My Quarter-Tone"); // will be in ET24Scale.new(#[0, 6, 17, 21, 30, 39], 43, \partch, "My Partch");Returns a chromatic scale for a specific tuning.
Sets or gets the tuning of the Scale.
| inTuning |
can be either an instance of Tuning or a symbol matching a library tuning. |
Returns a tuned array of semitone values. -as(Array) is equivalent; -as(List) returns it as a list, etc.
Returns a tuned array of cent values.
Returns a tuned array of ratios.
Converting. For example as(Array), as(List) and as(LocalBuf) which is useful for server-side work.
xxxxxxxxxx(r = { var scale = Scale.choose.postln; SinOsc.ar( ( DegreeToKey.kr( scale.as(LocalBuf), MouseX.kr(0,15), // mouse indexes into scale scale.stepsPerOctave, 1, // mul = 1 60 // offset by 72 notes ) + LFNoise1.kr([3,3], 0.04) // add some low freq stereo detuning ).midicps, // convert midi notes to hertz 0, 0.25 )}.play;)r.free;Returns the length of the scale.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.ionian.size; // 7Scale.minorPentatonic.size; // 5Scale.ajam.size; // 7Scale.partch_o1.size; // 6Returns the size of the pitch class set from which the tuning is drawn.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.ionian.pitchesPerOctave; // 12Scale.minorPentatonic.pitchesPerOctave; // 12Scale.ajam.pitchesPerOctave; // 24--this is a quarter-tone scaleScale.partch_o1.pitchesPerOctave; // 43Usually 12, but may be different if the current tuning has a stretched or compressed octave. Needed for degreeToKey.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.new((0..14), 15, tuning: \wcAlpha).stepsPerOctave; // ~ 11.7Scale.new(#[0, 3, 6, 9, 12], 13, tuning: \bp).stepsPerOctave; // ~ 19.02but note:
xxxxxxxxxxScale.ajam.stepsPerOctave; // 12 -- quarter-tone scales have normal octavesThese access the array generated by semitones.
xxxxxxxxxxa = Scale.major;a.wrapAt(4); // 7a.wrapAt(5); // 9a.wrapAt(6); // 11a.wrapAt(7); // 0Returns a frequency based on current tuning and rootFreq argument.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.major.degreeToFreq(2, 60.midicps, 1); // 659.25511...Scale.major(\just).degreeToFreq(2, 60.midicps, 1); // 654.06391...Returns a ratio based on current tuning.
xxxxxxxxxxScale.major.degreeToRatio(2, 1).round(0.001); // 2.52Scale.major(\just).degreeToRatio(2, 1).round(0.001); // 2.5xxxxxxxxxx(s.waitForBoot({ a = Scale.ionian; p = Pbind( \degree, Pseq([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, \rest], inf), \scale, Pfunc({ a }, inf), \dur, 0.25 ); q = p.play;}))// change scalea = Scale.phrygian;// change tuninga.tuning_(\just);// can also set tuning at creation timea = Scale.ionian(\pythagorean);// if you use a tuning with the wrong number of pitches per octave,// you get a warning and the scale reverts to default tuninga.tuning_(\partch);// random scale(a = Scale.choose(7, 12);[a.name, a.tuning.name].postln;)(// or make up your own arbitrary scales and tuningsa = Scale.new( #[0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10], 12, Tuning.new([0, 0.8, 2.1, 3, 4.05, 5.2, 6, 6.75, 8.3, 9, 10.08, 11.5]), "Custom");)// tuning has its own classt = Tuning.werckmeister;a = Scale.lydian(t);q.stop;// getting infoa.name;a.degrees;a.semitones;a.ratios;a.tuning.name;a.tuning.semitones;a.tuning.ratios;xxxxxxxxxx// for ascending/descending scales, use Pavaroh(Pbind(\note, Pavaroh( Pseq([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, \rest], 2), Scale.melodicMinor, Scale.melodicMinorDesc ), \dur, 0.25).play;)xxxxxxxxxx// note that the root pitch is not stored in the Scale (which should arguably be called a Mode for that reason)// instead you supply it at play time:// key of APbind( \degree, Pseq((0..7), inf), // your melody goes here \scale, Scale.major, // your scale goes here \root, -3 // semitones relative to 60.midicps, so this is A).play;