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Would it be possible for an electronic piano to dynamically adjust the temperament based on the keys currently being played? In such a piano, the C and G keys c

Would it be possible for an electronic piano to dynamically adjust the temperament based on the keys currently being played? In such a piano, the C and G keys could be precisely 3/2 when they're played together, and the E♭* and G could be precisely 5/4 when they're played together at some other time. Assuming an algorithm could be worked out, would it end up sounding worse due to notes shifting around ever so slightly to make all the ratios work? * Edited.

TylerE 12y ago
That's doable. You'd probably want to use something Luke organ pedals to set the active tuning rather than try to guess.
quadrangle 12y ago
It's already been done and tried by many folks in many different contexts. Search for adaptive Just Intonation. Anyway, there's fundamental issues this approach can never solve. An E and G should NEVER EVER be 5/4. That would be E and G-SHARP (or E-flat and G). But this is a good example of the issue. E and G could be 6/5 or 7/6 or 19/16 or… (the first two make the most sense). So, how is the keyboard to know when I play E and G that I wanted it to be part of a C-major 4:5:6 chord versus part of an A7 4:5:6:7 chord? There's no way other than some input that can tell me or the thing adapting after-the-fact when I later add the rest of the chord. I think the best overall tuning software for keyboards is http://www.tallkite.com/alt-tuner.html http://www.tallkite.com/alt-tuner.html by the way, although adaptive stuff isn't the focus. There's many others though. Cheers
- baddox 12y ago
  You can still certainly do adaptive JI with manual composition, particularly with electronic music production.
bweitzman 12y ago
I actually worked on an iPad app when I was in school that does this: https://github.com/benweitzman/retune https://github.com/benweitzman/retune (please excuse the terrible code/project layout, I was just learning iOS at the time)
rubberbandage 12y ago
This exists in a few synths, and is included in Apple’s Logic Pro for software (MIDI) instruments as “Hermode Tuning” (http://www.hermode.com/html/hermode-tuning_en.html http://www.hermode.com/html/hermode-tuning_en.html) It’s a really unusual experience using it, because the never-quite-tuned sound is part of a piano’s character. With Hermode tuning engaged, every chord has a ringing pure bell-like quality, especially with 7th/diminished chords (which sound immensely satisfying). Since few instruments in the real world can tune so precisely, Logic amusingly has a slider to make the Hermode tuning “less perfect” if desired.

TylerE 12y ago

That's doable. You'd probably want to use something Luke organ pedals to set the active tuning rather than try to guess.

quadrangle 12y ago

It's already been done and tried by many folks in many different contexts. Search for adaptive Just Intonation. Anyway, there's fundamental issues this approach can never solve. An E and G should NEVER EVER be 5/4. That would be E and G-SHARP (or E-flat and G). But this is a good example of the issue. E and G could be 6/5 or 7/6 or 19/16 or… (the first two make the most sense). So, how is the keyboard to know when I play E and G that I wanted it to be part of a C-major 4:5:6 chord versus part of an A7 4:5:6:7 chord? There's no way other than some input that can tell me or the thing adapting after-the-fact when I later add the rest of the chord. I think the best overall tuning software for keyboards is http://www.tallkite.com/alt-tuner.html http://www.tallkite.com/alt-tuner.html by the way, although adaptive stuff isn't the focus. There's many others though. Cheers

baddox 12y ago
You can still certainly do adaptive JI with manual composition, particularly with electronic music production.

bweitzman 12y ago

I actually worked on an iPad app when I was in school that does this: https://github.com/benweitzman/retune https://github.com/benweitzman/retune (please excuse the terrible code/project layout, I was just learning iOS at the time)

rubberbandage 12y ago

This exists in a few synths, and is included in Apple’s Logic Pro for software (MIDI) instruments as “Hermode Tuning” (http://www.hermode.com/html/hermode-tuning_en.html http://www.hermode.com/html/hermode-tuning_en.html) It’s a really unusual experience using it, because the never-quite-tuned sound is part of a piano’s character. With Hermode tuning engaged, every chord has a ringing pure bell-like quality, especially with 7th/diminished chords (which sound immensely satisfying). Since few instruments in the real world can tune so precisely, Logic amusingly has a slider to make the Hermode tuning “less perfect” if desired.