Studio J: John deLaubenfels' basement project



Project Retune: the retuning of General MIDI files to adaptive quasi-Just Intonation (qJI).

Warning: the tunings presented here are unauthorized by the original composers if they have died before I was born. Permission has been received from any composers currently living.

Basic tuning theory
Basic tuning math
My spring method
Calculated Optimum Fixed Tuning (COFT)
Working details of tuning program
Message to parents


Hardware requirements: to play the following files, you need General MIDI (GM) capability. Most computer sound cards made in the last five years have this, as do most stand-alone modules in the same time period. If in doubt, give one of the tuned files a try. If notes are missing, you probably don't have GM. If notes seem poorly tuned, see below.


November 4, 2001: some lovely Debussy: Estampes number 3 (Jardins sous la pluie), sequenced by Jeruen E. Dery, in 5-limit and 7-limit adaptive tunings:
debest03h.zip Corrections by Herman Miller
debest03.zip As originally recorded by J. E. Dery

June 27, 2001: new results using "melodic springs":

Gershwin "Rhapsody in Blue" (2-hand piano reduction), sequenced by Gary D. Lloyd:
rh-n-blum.zip Positive, negative, and zero-strength melodic springs with 7-limit adaptive tuning.

Chopin "Fantaisie-Impromptu", Op. 66, sequenced by Larry Ellis:
lechi4jm.zip Positive, negative, and zero-strength melodic springs with 5-limit adaptive tuning.

May 23, 2001: David J. Finnamore "Romantic Sixth Chords Experiment", sequenced by David J. Finnamore, copyright (c) 2001 David J. Finnamore.
Rmtcsixt.zip

May 8, 2001: Chopin "Fantaisie-Impromptu", Op. 66, sequenced by Larry Ellis:
lechi4j.zip Original and some tunings
lechi4jx.zip More tunings

Feb 8, 2001: Bach/Busoni "Chaconne in D-", sequenced by Bunji Hisamori, with chorus commands removed:
b-b-bj.zip

Jan 31, 2001: Mozart Sonata No.2 in F, K.280, sequenced by F. Raborn.
wamk280.zip
wamk280es2.zip

Here's some of the recent (December 2000) multi-voice stuff I've been doing:
caravan.zip
pearls.zipA String of Pearls"
KeyedSeqs.zipKeyed instruments restricted in tuning.
verk-nac2.zip:Monz's sequence of Schoenberg's "Verklarte Nacht", 01-06-01




Having trouble with these sequences: do they sound badly out of tune? You might have a different pitch bend range. Try downloading this to check your bend range; you should hear E, F#, and D. Try downloading this to fix the problem. Send me e-mail and let me know how it goes...

Other, related web sites:

  • John Starrett's Microtonal Music Page
  • Graham Breed's New Microtonal Website
  • The Tuning Punks
  • Paul Hirsh's web site
  • adaptune.com


    And now for something completely different:
    Political rants


    The following is version 1.000 of JI Relay, April 4, 1999... A newer version, containing some of the tuning in Project Retune, above, was hoped for by this time, but has been postponed, sorry!

    Download JI Relay for Windows 95