Yoshimi User Manual ~ Scales

## Microtonal Scales

Yoshimi fully supports the Scala microtonal scale and keymap standard and can import these files directly. These are combined with Yoshimi specific tuning controls, and can then be saved and reloaded in our own XML format.

(controls)

- Enable Activates the whole of microtonality.
- Ref. Freq. The actual frequency of 'Ref. Note'. Usually 440Hz. You must hit the 'Return' key, or click on the arrow to set any change.
- Ref. Note The MIDI value for the reference note. Usually 69 (A4).
- Invert Keys Reverses the incoming MIDI note numbers. i.e. Note 0 becomes note 127 and vice-versa.
- Center Sets the actual reversal point if the keys are inverted. Usually 60 (C4).
- Shift Changes the octave start position. The effective shift (per key) is then dependent on both the scale and the keymap.

- ON (keymap) Enables key mapping.
- First note The lowest note in the mapping. Lower values are ignored.
- Middle note The mapping centre point. Represents the actual octave start point.
- Last note The highest note in the mapping. Higher values are ignored.

Map Size is the number of notes actually mapped before a wrap around. This can be different to the number of map entries. If it is greater, the unmapped ones are regarded as silent. If it is smaller, the extra entries are ignored. If it is zero, then no mapping is performed but all the above controls are still active.

- Import .scl file Imports the Scala-compatible tuning elements of a scale.
- Export .scl file Exports the Scala-compatible tuning elements of a scale.
- Import .kbm file Imports the Scala-compatible keymapping for a scale.
- Export .kbm file Exports the Scala-compatible keymapping for a scale.
- Clear All Sets all controls to their default settings - including disabling microtonal tuning.
- Retune When changing either the tunings or the keyboard map you must click on this button to fix the changes. However, this is done automatically when exporting either the Tunings or Keymap.

(text fields)

- Name The name for this scale.
- Description An optional description of the scale.
- Tunings Lines of tunings either in cents as floating point numbers, or ratios such as 5/4.
- Keyboard Map The mapping of the tunings to actual keys. They can be in any order. Two keys can have the same tunings, and an 'x' denotes the key not being used at all.

As of Yoshimi V 2.3.1 you can add comments to the text fields. These will be included in any exports, and also in saved scales (as shown in the example). They are not recognised by earlier versions.