Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [quarter-tones]

A quarter-tone step is a microtonal interval, half the size of the smallest step in western music culture.

Quarter tones (usually 3/4 steps) are prominently featured in arabic music, which is nowadays often played in a 24-edo scale using quarter steps as its raster, analogously to how the 12-edo tuning uses half steps.

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Are there any MIDI extensions that allow quarter tones?

It'd be nice to be able to use MIDI for more diverse music than just that based on western scales. Are there any MIDI extensions that support quater tones, or other sub-semi-tone pitch divisions? I know things can be done with pitch bend automation,…
naught101
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Calculating the frequency of quarter tones

I have several questions on the subject of note frequencies and their ranges: First Question How should I calculate the frequency of a quarter tone, such as the half-flat (half-bemol) that is found in Arabic/Eastern music such as for the Oud? I have…
Majd Mahajenah
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What is the name for the tuning D E F+1/3 G A B C+1/3?

I've retranscribed a piece of music whose original transcription was made around 1800 during Napoleon's Egypt expedition. The original transcriber describes the following tuning for the Arabic Rast mode in D: D E F+1/3 G A B C+1/3 This…
infojunkie
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Sending microtuned MIDI notes to audio software

I know about the possibility to microtune softwares such as Logic or Pianoteq, connect a regular midi keyboard and be able to play microtuned scales. My question, however, is if I connect an Oriental Keyboard which has the scales already microtuned…
nakhle
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Quarter tones/middle eastern scale in Logic Pro

Is it possible to set some of the tracks in Logic Pro to be quarter tones i.e. Middle Eastern sounding, while some other tracks are Western sounding?
Physics_maths
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How many cents comprise a quarter-tone in 15-EDO?

My question is from my MUS 204 course, which is the following: How many cents comprise a quarter-tone in 15-EDO? I believe I am missing one piece of knowledge to answering such a seemingly simple question. First, I understand a quarter-tone is 50…
Renée
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What does a neutral 7th lead to (in maqams or in general)?

A dominant 7th leads to a major 6th and a major seventh leads to the tonic, but what does the note in between the two lead to? If you could tell me what the maqam rules for that are, that'd be fine, or in general, but maqams are the only traditional…
Musicguy
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How to input quarter tones in Garageband

How can one play an instrument in Garageband but with quarter tones instead of the usual ones? On my keyboard I can change the scale and it works, but this is not recognized by Garageband and it seems that I cannot find how to change scale to…
Physics_maths
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Music recomendations to get my ear used to non-western scales

As the title says: I’d love to know about bands, orchestras, artists, etc. that use non-Western scales [1]. The reason is that whenever I try to listen to examples of music out of the 12-note temperament it sounds horribly out of tune but I know…
P. C. Spaniel
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