Authors: Andrew Bernstein & Ben Taylor
Overview: Tune.js is a web audio tuning library of microtonal and just intonation scales. Tune.js supports over 3,000 historical tunings and temperaments, ported from Microtuner TIDoc files compiled and documented by Victor Cerullo from 2003-2010.
List of Tunings: Tuning Archive
Demo: Microtonal Piano
Download tune.js and include it in a script tag at the top of your page.
<head>
<script src="tune.js"></script>
</head>Create a Tune.js instance.
var tune = new Tune();Load your scale of choice with the loadScale('scale-name') method.
tune.loadScale('mean19');Pass MIDI note numbers to the note() method. By default, note(midi-note-#) returns the corresponding frequency in Hertz. You can use note() to set the frequency of an oscillator.
osc.frequency.value = tune.note(60);Set the output mode of tune.note(). Choose between
- frequency:
tune.note()will return a hertz value, e.g. 392.43834 for a pure G4 over C4 - ratio:
tune.note()will return a ratio value, e.g. 1.5 for a pure G over C - MIDI:
tune.note()will return an adjusted MIDI pitch, e.g. 67.0195 for a pure G4 over C4
// Set the output mode to 'ratio', e.g. the ratio 3/2 will output 1.5
tune.mode.output = 'ratio';The default output mode is 'frequency'. Currently the only available input mode is 'MIDI'.
Returns the current key of a Tune instance. To set the key of a Tune instance use the setKey() method. The default key is set to 60 (middle C).
var myKey = tune.key;Read only. An array containing the ratio values of the current scale loaded with the loadScale() method.
// Returns the length of the current scale
var scaleLength = tune.scale.length;Returns a microtonally tuned note value for any MIDI integer input. By default, Tune.note returns a frequency value in hertz.
// If the key we are in is C4 (60), this will return the frequency for 7th scale degree of our scale
var note = tune.note(67);Depending on Tune.mode, the Tune.note method may return a frequency value in hertz (default, e.g. 392.43834 for a pure G4 over C4), a ratio value as a float (e.g. 1.5 for a pure G over C), or a MIDI float value (e.g. 67.0195 for a pure G4 over C4). See Tune.mode.
Sets the key and base frequency of a scale with the setKey(midi-note-#) method.
//sets the base (tonic) frequency to G4 or 392Hz
tune.setKey(67);Returns an array of note values. Like Tune.note(), Tune.chord() returns values according to the current output mode (Tune.mode).
// returns a three note chord with the specified scale degrees
var myMicrotonalChord = [60,67,71];
tune.chord(myMicrotonalChord);Searches through the scale archive for scales that match the query.
//returns an array of scale names that contain the word "partch"
tune.search("partch");| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| ji_12 | Basic just instonation with 7-limit tritone |
| harm30 | First 30 harmonics and subharmonics |
| pyth_31 | 31-tone Pythagorean scale |
| ptolemy | Intense Diatonic Syntonon, also Zarlino's scale |
| couperin | Couperin modified meantone |
| helmholtz_pure | Helmholtz's two-keyboard harmonium tuning untempered |
| partch_43 | Harry Partch's 43-tone pure scale |
| johnston_81 | Ben Johnston's 81-note 5-limit scale of Sonata for Microtonal Piano |
| young-lm_piano | LaMonte Young's Well-Tempered Piano |
| xenakis_chrom | Xenakis's Byzantine Liturgical mode, 5 + 19 + 6 parts |
| slendro | Observed Javanese Slendro scale, Helmholtz/Ellis p. 518, nr.94 |
| harrison_5 | From Lou Harrison, a pelog style pentatonic |
| malkauns | Mode of Indian Raga Malkauns, inverse of prime_5 |