Tuning Playfully: Composed and Adaptive Tunings in bitKlavier

Abstract

Abstract Combining a new software system with the familiar interface of the MIDI keyboard, bitKlavier is a versatile instrument for exploring the nature of tuning and temperament. We describe a number of approaches it facilitates, including composed tunings, moving fundamental systems, and a novel system for adaptive tuning. All of these are characterized by the overarching design priority for bitKlavier to be a context for musical play and exploration, as opposed to finding singular, “correct” solutions to particular tuning “problems,” as has often been the case historically.