Phi-Music Tunings

Phi-Music™ Microtone/Brainwave Generator
for Windows® 98, ME, XP

Here is a listing of some of the tunings that are included with Phi-Music:

ALPHA (W.CARLOS)*
This scale covers all 128 MIDI note numbers. It is a constant ratio scale based on the ratio 1.0460838

ALPHA PRIME (W.CARLOS)*
This 128 note tuning is based on the ratio 1.227824

ARABIC (AFTER ZALZAL)
This is a 128 note tuning was introduced by an Arabic lutenist around the end of the last millenium.

ARABIC (18 TONE OCTAVE)
This ancient scale was derived from a series of pure fifths. This scale starts on MIDI note 60 (middle C).

ATOMIC-HYDROGEN LOWEST TO PHOSPHORUS HIGHEST**
This 15 note tuning begins on MIDI note number 36 (C two octaves below middle C).

ATOMIC RECIPROCALS-RUBIDIUM LOWEST & HYDROGEN HIGHEST
This 37 note tuning begins on note number 36.

ATOMIC RECIPROCALS-LAWRENCIUM LOWEST & HYDROGEN HIGHEST
This scale contains the reciprocal frequencies of all 103 elements of the periodic table beginning at note number 0.

BARNES-BACH TEMPERAMENT
This tuning was developed by John Barnes in 1979 as a probable tuning used by Bach in the performance of the Well-Tempered Clavier. It is a full 128 MIDI note tuning.

BETA (W.CARLOS)*
This 128 note tuning is based on the ratio 1.0375393 BETA PRIME (W.CARLOS)* This 128 note tuning is based on the ratio 1.0185968

CHROMATIC GENUS
This is a seven note per octave ancient Greek tuning laid out on the white keys.

DIATONIC GENUS
This is a seven note per octave ancient Greek tuning laid out on the white keys.

EARTH HARMONICS (W.KIRBY)
This tuning was derived from the Schuman Resonance. This ever-fluctuating electromagnetic earth resonance was arbitrarily fixed at 7.83 Hertz for the purpose of this study. The first 128 harmonics of this fundamental frequency were calculated for this tuning. Starting MIDI note number is 0.

EIGHTH-TONE EQUAL TEMPERAMENT
This is a full, 128 MIDI note tuning based on the ratio 1.0145453, which yields 48 eighth-tones per octave.

ENHARMONIC GENUS
This is a seven note per octave ancient Greek tuning laid out on the white keys.

EQUAL TEMPERAMENT
This is the standard constant ratio tuning of 1.05946. This is the tuning most often used in contemporary Western music (this is the standard MIDI tuning).

GAMELON (EXTENDED PELOG)
This is a two octave Pelog scale laid out on the white keys starting on the C key two octaves below middle C. It extends to the E a tenth above middle C.

GAMMA (W.CARLOS)*
This 128 note tuning is based on the ratio 1.0204815

HARMONIC (AFTER W.CARLOS)*
This is one of several scales developed and discussed by Wendy Carlos in her 1987 Computer Music Journal Article, "Tuning: At The Crossroads." It starts on MIDI note number 0.

HARMONIC SERIES (48)
This is a tuning based on the harmonic series starting at 65.41 hertz assigned to MIDI note number 48 (one octave below middle C).

22 INDIAN SCRUTIS (NO Bb KEYS)
This is the 22 tones per octave tuning that serves as the basis for the Indian ragas. It starts on MIDI note number 0 and the tones are assigned to all but the Bb keys.

JUST INTONATION (MAJOR)
This 128 note tuning is designed so that the diatonic intervals of the major scale are pure.

JUST INTONATION (MINOR)
This 128 note tuning is designed so that the diatonic intervals of the minor scale are pure.

MEANTONE TEMPERAMENT
This tuning allowed the performer to play in a wider range of keys than earlier tunings. It is a 128 tone tuning beginning on MIDI Note Number 0.

PARTCH (43-TONE SCALE)
The great microtonal pioneer Harry Partch devised this 43-tone scale (the 44th tone is an octave above the starting tone). This tuning starts on the D key an octave and a seventh below middle C. I extends to the A key an octave and a sixth above middle C.

PELOG & SLENDRO COMBINED
The seven-tone Indonesian Pelog scale is laid out on the white keys beginning at middle C. The pentatonic Slendro scale is laid out on the black keys in the same octave.

PELOG OCTAVE
The seven-tone Indonesian Pelog scale is laid out on the white keys beginning at middle C.

PHI (1.6180339)

This is the “Mother” of all Phi scales! All the other Phi Scale presets are derived from this one. The fundamental frequency is multiplied by Phi (1.618). Then that resulting product is multiplied by Phi, and so on. You will notice that there are only a few notes in this scale. That’s because the large ratio (1:1.618) defines very wide intervals.

PHI-Square Root of Phi (1.2720)

This scale is generated by multiplying the lowest frequency by the square root of. Phi. Then, as described above, the resulting product is also multiplied by the square root of Phi.

PHI-Pentatonic (1.1010259)

This scale is generated by multiplying the lowest frequency by Phi to the power of 0.2. Then, as described above, the resulting product is multiplied by the same ratio, and so on. This scale is the same as the “Fifth Root of Phi,” a scale used by some alternative therapists and health practitioners because of some various esoteric properties it is believed to possess.

PHI-Decatonic (1.0492978)

This scale was generated by multiplying the lowest frequency by Phi to the power of 0.1.

PURE FIFTHS CYCLE (48)
This is a 20-note tuning derive from a cycle of pure fifths starting at 32.7 hertz assigned to the C below middle C.

PURE FIFTHS SCALE WITH PYTHAGOREAN COMMA
This chromatic octave, derived from a cycle of pure fifths begins on middle C (at 261.6 Hz.). Notice the "out of tune" Pythagorean comma between the fundamental and the octave!

PYTHAGOREAN
This is the traditional Pythagorean tuning derived from pure fifths (the fourth is calculated a perfect 5th below the fundamental then transposed up an octave). The octave is a 2:1 ratio from the fundamental. This 128-note tuning starts at MIDI note number 0.

QUARTER-TONE EQUAL TEMPERAMENT
This full-keyboard equal temperament tuning yields a 24 note-per-octave scale derived from the constant ratio of 1.0293022.

QUARTER-TONE SHIFTED EQUAL
This is a traditional 12 note-per-octave equally tempered scale that has been shifted up a quarter tone.

SCHOLAR'S LUTE
This 7-note ancient Chinese tuning is laid out across the keyboard with the notes of each octave assigned only to the white keys.

SLENDRO OCTAVE
The pentatonic Slendro scale is laid out on the black keys beginning on the C# above middle C.

VALLOTTI AND YOUNG
This is a variation on the Pythagorean tuning, devised to allow modulation to any key.

WERCKMEISTER
This is one of Andreas Werckmeister's (a contemporary of Bach)tunings designed to allow performance in any key (each with its own unique tonal character).

You can create any tuning imaginable with Phi-Music! Just type the frequencies you want to hear into a text file and load them up! You can also create new tunings by simply entering a ratio in the "Enter Constant Ratio" selection under the "Tunings" menu.

*SPECIAL THANKS to Wendy Carlos for permission to include these scales which she invented and discusses in her 1987 Computer Music Journal article,"Tuning: At The Crossroads."

**These atomic tuning systems were derived from a list of frequencies based on the periodic table of the elements. Created from a table of the X-ray atomic energy levels of the elements expressed in ev/s, Dr. Wayne Kirby calculated the desired frequencies by dividing these values by Planck's Constant in ev/s. After transposing these values into the audible spectrum, text files of these frequencies were created. The "reciprocal" scales invert the frequencies so that hydrogen is the highest note.

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