Hello everyone,
I've been using MPT since 2004 but had a break for many years and now I notice there are a bunch of exciting new (?) features such as alternate tunings... however, nowhere quite explains how do I set a different tuning, the manual is very limited about this, I don't know how to set a tuning myself note by note.
My question is: is there any database of alternate tunings where I can just import it? or that's not how it works? I was expecting to find presets that I could just switch between various types such as 12-tone equal temperament, just intonation, arab 19-tone scale etc.
Thanks.
I fear the alternative tuning feature isn't all that popular, and apparently not used by people who like to share their experiments. However, you can try looking for Scala scale files on the web, as they should work with OpenMPT as well. If you have any cool findings, feel free to share them here so that others don't have to go through the same hassle.
The official Scala distribution at http://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/ (http://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/) comes with loads of bundled tunings. Direct link here: http://www.huygens-fokker.org/docs/scales.zip (http://www.huygens-fokker.org/docs/scales.zip) .
OpenMPT should in general be able to handle them. Tunings with 12 notes per octave should work without any major glitches as these map very cleanly to the default behaviour.
But, as Saga Musix noted, the whole feature is probably not exercised that much. Thus, if you encounter any strange behaviours or problems, please do report a bug.
The tuning feature indeed has a dubious experimental origin and the usability is far from optimized, so it may quite likely not fulfil the practical needs even if it in some sense provides desired functionality.
EDIT: Wow, you guys are fast. So there it is, manx answered my question which I had just erased when I figured it out myself after some minutes with it. :p
Now that the tunings are working, I now reckon that their behaviour is indeed strange: some scales aren't always Lowest-->Highest pitch, sometimes it breaks the sequence, depending on the tuning. :-\
In any case, thank you all for the help!
When importing, the tunings get added to the "Sandbox" in the tree on the left. Just drag them with the mouse onto the "Tune specific tunings" and select "Move here" from to then appearing popup menu. After that, they should appear in the "Alternate Tunings" section of the instrument parameters.
Granted, it's confusing and unintuitive.
Yes, thanks manx. I am really glad we have an active forum for this wonderful and generally unknown piece of software. ;D