I agree that quantized pitches are a great waste of a synth's potential. William Sethares did some very interesting research on consonance perception, which can

I agree that quantized pitches are a great waste of a synth's potential. William Sethares did some very interesting research on consonance perception, which can be used to construct microtonal tuning systems without the dissonance usually associated with them. Here's an good demonstration of what you can do with arbitrary pitches: http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/mp3s/three_ears.html http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/mp3s/three_ears.html "As each new note sounds, its pitch (and that of all currently sounding notes) is adjusted microtonally (based on its spectrum) to maximize consonance. The adaptation causes interesting glides and microtonal pitch adjustments in a perceptually sensible fashion. "