Window 157

=  Pitch bend Options =

Allow PITCH BENDS FROM MIDI IN to adjust pitch
Ignore any pitch bends in the file you are retuning...

Normally this is unselected, so that if the file has pitch swoops and glissandi in it, the retuned notes will get pitch inflected in the same way.

However, if the midi clip has already been retuned to some twelve equal temperament, say, you may wish to ignore the original tuning in order to try it out with other tunings. If so, select this to ignore the original tunings.

If you don't do this, FTS will treat the pitch bends in the file as additional pitch bends on top of your desired tuning.

====

Pitch bend ranges, adjust scale as you play, pitch bend ripples, etc

Recognise pitch bends for exact JI
Intended for use with midi clips already tuned to just intonation...

The thing is that such clips will only be tuned exactly to within the midi pitch bend resolution. Though this resolution is very fine, it isn't enough to make it clear that the result is a ratio rather than some very good equal temperament approximation with many notes to an octave, for instance.

This adjusts any pitch bends to make the result exact JI if nearly exact. When you do this, the intervals will be displayed as exact ratios in Out | More | Notes Currently Playing, and they can also be used in the Gene Ward Smith transformations that you get if you select the Transform option.

Test pbr
This tests whether your device responds to pitch bends correctly...

Your device must pass this test to play the notes correctly tuned.

Some devices can't respond to pitch bends at all. Others may use a different range instead of the midi standard.

The midi standard range is up / down by a whole tone (200 cents). FTS sends the appropriate midi messages to set up the device in this way. See Out | Options | Resets | Set Pitch Bend Range. But not all devices accept this message. It may be possible to set the pitch bend range by hand in the configuration settings for the device itself.

An alternative is to vary the range used by Tune Smithy to match the device from Out | Options | Tuning | Pitch bend and Retuning Opts window (Ctrl + 156)

If your current soundcard can't respond to pitch bends, then you may need to get a soft synth or sound card. There is lots of software available that can do so.

You can also use the new waveform player in FTS - Voices | Waveform Player

Multiply Midi In pitch bends by
Large for pitch swoops, or reduce for increased sensitivity

Multiply Midi In pitch bends by - SPIN
Adjust the pitch bend multiplier

More Pitch Bend Opts...
Pitch bend options needed for special situations or devices

Auto retune to just intonation harmony, with pitch shifts
This retunes chords to pure harmonies in any scale with pitch shifts...

The chords will all be pure but the consequence of this in many scales is that notes shift about as you move from one chord to the next. You can configure how this works.

Example, if you play a C then an E a pure 5/4 above it (i.e. pitched in tune with the fifth harmonic) then it will be about 14 cents flat in equal temperament. If you then play a G# above that then the C a 5/4 above that, it will then be very noticeably flat compared with the original C (nearly a quarter tone flat).

Try that out with this option switched on - and overlap each note with just the next one - and you will hear how it works. Be sure to overlap each note only with the next one, and not leave the first C sounding throughout.

Then, when you get to the final C, listen to its pitch. Then release it and play it again after a pause of a second or two and it will play at its original pitch which is very noticeably sharper. This works because this option is set up to reset notes to the original pitch during pauses of half a second or more - configured from the J.I. opts window.

JI retuning Opts.
Options for the just intonation retuning with pitch shifts

Adjust tuning of individual scale degrees using pitch bend wheel, as you play
Lets you change the tuning of any scale degree using pitch bend wheel...

To adjust the tuning of any scale degree, first play it from the music keyboard (in any octave or scale repeat).

Then, with the keyboard key held down, you will find that as you vary the posiiton of the pitch bend wheel, the tuning of the scale degree changes.

For visual feedback about what you are doing, just look at the scale in Tune  Smithy - you can watch the scale change as you vary the pitch bend wheel position. Either look at the scale numbers, or show one of the music keyboard pictures and watch one of the blue dots move as you change the position of the wheel.

When you are satisfied with the new pitch of that scale degree, just release the key, then the pitch bend wheel. Then from then on that scale degree will remain permanently at its new tuning. Repeat this process as often as needed while you play.

When sustain is on, only bend notes held down
Lets you individually change pitch of any note in a sustained chord...

When this is switched on, then sustained notes won't respond to the pitch bend wheel after you release the key. So you can play a chord, sustain it, release all the keys - then play another note, and keep it held down - and the pitch bend wheel will only affect the new note - not the sustained notes since they have been released, even though the sustained notes continue to sound.

This for instance can be a way to play a steady drone accompanied by a part with pitch glides all on the same keyboard - and to vary the drone to any note you like as you play, while still retaining the possibility of letting any other note of the keyboard you like glide in pitch.

More generally, this option may also sometimes be used to play a steady chord, - then while it is held down, adjust not just the lead note - but any notes in the chord individually.

To use it like that, you need a way to hold a key down again without resounding it, so you can hold the key down just as a way to enable pitch bend retuning for that individual note withouth resounding it.

Depending on how you want to use this option, it may help to switch on: "Sustained notes held down a second time continue to sustain, don't resound", or just switch off "Repeated sustained notes can coexist".

Do sustain in FTS
Let FTS handle the sustain pedal by postponing note offs...

This temporarily ignores any note offs for notes that should be sustained. When you release the pedal, all these ignored note offs then get played so releasing the sustained notes.

The way FTS does this means that you can only have one copy of any note in play at once. Usually synths will let you play the same note many times with sustain, so you can build up many copies of the same note sounding simultaneously.

If you don't want repeated sustains, the FTS sustain may be quite useful, also useful if you need sustain for a particular synth which doesn't have it implemented.

This option may also be useful for the pitch bend option to only bend notes held down in sustained chords, which is best without repeated sustained notes. For that option see the Pitch Bend Options window (Ctrl + 156).

FTS can handle sostenuto in a similar fashion by postponing note offs - for that option see More Midi In Options 2 - for rarer occasions (Ctrl + 207).

Help = F1
Click for help for this window. Or F1. Other opts: Shift, Alt, Ctrl + click...

F1 or click shows the help for the current window in your web browser.

Some windows may have no help yet in which case the help icon is shown crossed out with a red line.

Shift + F1 or Shift + Click brings up the tool tips extra help window (this window) to show any extra help for a tool tip.

You can tell if a tool tip has extra help if it ends ... like this one.

Ctrl + F1 or Ctrl + click takes you to the list of keyboard shortcuts for Tune Smithy.

Alt + F1 or Alt + click (alternatively Caps lock physically held down + F1 or Click) takes you to the on-line page at the robertinventor.com web site about the current main window task - which gives a short introduction to it for newbies to the program. If there is no on-line page specific to a task, takes you to the main tune smithy page on the web site.

Since the help for Tune Smithy is currently a bit out of date and needs to be redone completely for the new 3.0 release, then you may find the on-line page for some of the newer tasks particularly useful.

Organise Windows = F2
Or F2 - Reset / save / open for individual windows, right click for cat. list...

Shows the Organise windows window - which you can use to reset all the parameters for the current window - or save them all, or open previously saved parameters for just this window. Also has a drop list of all the windows and their shortcuts.

You can also right click on this icon as a quick way to get the floating drop menu of all the Tune Smithy windows organised by category

Theremin Dialog Star
Show tip of the day - Theremin category - right click for neighbouring windows...

So far there is only one tip for the theremin, more to come.

So it isn't a bug if you always see the same one when you click here.

Left click for a tip of the day in this category.

Right click to see a menu of neighbouring windows.

The neighbours are the ones you most often move to after this one or within a minute of this one, arranged by popularity.

So as you continue to use FTS, it will learn your habits, and the neighbouring windows listed here, should be the ones you most often visit after this one.