Reduce Synthesizer Master Tuning lower limit from 300Hz down to 220Hz.
I would like to be able to set the MuseScore Synthesizer’s Master Tuning as low as 220 Hz (an octave lower than A4=440Hz)
This would allow most Turkish classical maqam and folk music scores to be played at lower pitches (suitable for male and female singers) without having to transpose the score.
If implemented, this new feature (Allowing master tuning adjustment down to 220Hz) will allow me adjust playing at lower diapasons such as “Sipurde= Second Lower (than-Bol Ahenk)=293.33”, “Kiz Neyi= Fourth Lower= 247.51Hz”, “Mansur Neyi=Fifth Lower = 220Hz”.
Already very useful feature with MuseScore (v3.6.2.548) is that I can lower the master tuning to 330 Hz 😊
This capability allows me to transcribe existing Turkish maqam music scores one-to-one to MuseScore (Most Turkish maqam/classical and folk music scores are written at 5 semitones lower than Western music) …
This facilitates MuseScore to play scores written like this at the “Bol Ahenk” diapason (5 semitones lower = 330Hz).
Looking forward to this feature being implemented soon.
Thanks in advance
Comments
Are you saying that A4 is actually considered to be 247.51Hz for Kiz Neyi?
Because this description is very much sounding as if those instrument actually are transposing instruments.
In reply to Are you saying that A4 is… by jeetee
Hi Jeetee,
The answer to your question takes us into Turkish music theory and practice. See (2) below
Before that, let me clarify/reiterate what I am asking for to be modified in MuseScore.
I hope you or someone else in the know can help with "how, by whom, when" such a modification can be implemented in MuseScore :
1a) Currently the Master Tuning parameter (reached through menu View/Synthesizer > Tab=Tuning) is set to 440 Hz (Concert pitch for A4). That parameter can be changed to values in the range 300 to 600 Hz. Practically, this allows changing the pitch of the melody without changing the score written on the staff. In other words transposing the sound Musescore synthesizer generates without affecting the way score looks on the staff. Which is a valuable feature in MuseScore All I want is to be able to reduce its lowere limit to “as low as 220 Hz – even lower to 200”. Do you know who, how, when can this change be implemented? Can you help?
1b) Another way I can explain this is:
For a musical note shown on the space above the second line of the staff, if “Treble Clef AND Concert Pitch”, the MuseScore synthesizer generates a sound at 440Hz. For that same note position, I want the synthesizer to be able to generate lower pitched sounds at frequencies as low as 220Hz. (Currently by adjusting the Master tuning that sound/pitch can only be reduced to 300 Hz) (Can also be increased to 600Hz)
1c) I haven't studied the internals of the MuseScore software however, because it can already be tuned to as low as 300Hz, it is likely to require a simple change to bring the lower limit to 220 Hz.
2) As for your question: “Are you saying that A4 is actually considered to be 247.51Hz for Kiz Neyi?”
The answer is yes but there is more to it which takes us into Turkish Music theory. Just the short bits relevant to this conversation are:
There are 12 different diapasons. (24 including the semitones) in Turkish music. The diapason named “Mansur Nisfiyesi” corresponds to Western music where A4=440Hz.
Most of today's Turkish music practice is in one of four diapasons:
1. “Bol Ahenk” where A4=330Hz (5 semitones lower than Western A4=440Hz)
2. “Sipurde= Second Lower than Bol Ahenk, A4=293.33
3. “Kiz Neyi= Fourth Lower, A4= 247.51Hz,
4. “Mansur Neyi=Fifth Lower, A4= 220Hz.
Note: For anyone who wants to practice and learn more about Turkish music theory, I would highly recommend this great piece of software “Mus2Okur- Multimedia Encyclopedia of Turkish Music @ http://musiki.org”
Thanks in advance if you or someone else can help :-(
Haluk K.
In reply to Hi Jeetee, The answer to… by HalukK
The difference here is (and likely explains the limit to an already fairly liberal retuning of A4) is that showing a written pitch of A4, but having a different sounding pitch on that instrument is exactly what transposing instruments are for.
What happens when retuning the Synth is that the actual A4 sound sample is being used, and then stretched/retuned. The more you deviate from 440, the more likely sound distortion/artifacts are.
But if you use a transposing instrument, then the written A4 will actually use the sound sample from a different note (A3 for octave transposing instruments, for example) and no other sound manipulation is required.
So my approach would be:
1. Configure the instrument to be a transposing one in it's properties (create a custom instruments.xml file for future reuse of those instruments).
2. If you had music already entered at written pitch counter the transposition to restore written pitch.
For my own education, I am trying to understand this request. I had to do some digging to try to understand your usage of "diapason".
1.Are you referring to a scale or mode rather than an instrument?
1a.If we are talking "flute" like instruments, I can't tell that they are chromatic. If not, it would make sense that scales starting on different notes would would be different. I.E. a scale starting A would have different sequential intervals than one starting on F.
1b.Or are the intervals in a diapason that starts on 330 hz different from those in one that starts on 440hz?
2.What is the need for being able to playback at a lower pitch, but not change the score?
3.How would real players play at a lower pitch.
4.How different or similar is all this to the situation with recorders? Alto, tenor and bass can all ply F5. But they finger it differently?