[sdiy] confused about keyboard ranges

[ChristianH]

Hi,

there is some kind of a standard, assigning C3 to what is known as
"middle C" on the piano, that is the C below the 440 Hz A. On a 5
octaves keyboard this is usually the C two octaves up from the left, so
the lowest key is C1.
Compared to that, Roland usually has an offset of 1 octave (don't
remember which direction).

But - this can be varied by relative tuning of the oscillators. So, C3
will only sound as a middle C if the oscillators are set to normal
pitch, which sometimes is called 8', just like with organs. Sometimes
it's hard to tell what is to be considered as "normal osc tuning", e.g.
on a Prophet, which has just a tuning knob without any octaves
indications.

With digital sound generation, it can be even more confusing. A master
keyboard (or one of its zones) can transpose on transmitting, a multi
channel performance can transpose on reception, the performance's parts
can transpose, the patch can transpose, and finally again there's
oscillator/sample tuning within a patch.
And if that's not confusing enough, sometimes you can spice up the whole
dilemma with a nice user tuning table...

Christian



On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 01:45:31 -0500 Mark Romberg wrote:

> im confused about what octave refers to what.  in the synth world i 
> hear keys/notes referred to as "C0" or "Gb3".  can i assume that C0==8' 
> range from an organ, or the same key a piano is in, or is it calibrated 
> differently?
> 
> have nice days.
>