I’ve tried Cubase 12 Pro and used it with Melodyne 5. However, melodyne can not be used smoothly. So then, I returned to VariAudio. Dear developers, please add micro scale tunings to VariAudio (called maqam in Turkish.) For example, I should be able to set every segment in “cents” as well as this cents should be seen numerically. That’s a huge lack of VariAudio. There are so many scales (Persian, Turkish, etc.) Please develop VariAudio. I really need this.
Thanks.
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I would also like to be able to work more easily with microtones. It’s possible to shift move events to exactly where I want them, but this has to be done for each and every event. It would be nice to have a starting point, and then just fine tune some events for more color.
(Question to @fatalite. Are those scale degrees always rigidly tuned regardless of melodic movement, or is there some personal “interpretation” to it?)
It does that – with twice the precision of Cents.
But I suppose you are asking for presets, which would be pretty cool, but I would not get my hopes of for this in Variaudio.
Since a Turkish Maqam Comma is 1/53 of an octave, in Variaudio 22% is approximately the value of one Comma.
But pitches in DAWs are organized in 12-tone Equal Temperament.
So you can’t really use cents to tune Maqam, at least from 12-TET anyway. You have to select a reference pitch and calculate from that.
Plus, unless this for an academic writing, the actual pitches depend on regional differences, so it comes down to ears anyway. (i.e., in Arab maqam context anyway, mi in Rast is not a 1/4 tone interval from re, even though it’s frequently referred to as such.)
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Thanks for replies. I am not an active user of this forum so I will comment upon both replies.
I know that when you change the pitch snap mode (especially to “off”) you can freely drag VariAudio notes. But there is no maqam preset and you cannot see how many cents are changed. There is a Fine Tune segment in the upper screen but this applies to all of the sound.
I am a newbie to maqam world so I am not sure how can it be universal. But especially when you listen Turkish, Arabic, Greek emotional songs (called arabesque in Turkey generally) you see how can it touches to the emotions.
By the way, I am only a hobbyist amateur musician. And university student but not an academic student related to music. If you want to listen an example you may give a try to Hüsnü Şenlendirici performances. The last new song I discovered on music platform is “Dayanamıyorum” by Kerim Araz featuring Sevgim Yılmaz, it’s better to listen this first. There are maqam-like ascendings/descendings in singing.
In conclusion, I want to mix up middle east and Western musical styles.
Better to read some musical theory book and “edvar” (Turkish music) book. Anyway, thanks guys. And if anyone know a good musical theory and “edvar” book I am open to suggestions. (rather prefer Turkish book to understand better.)
Yes you can. Open the Info line and observe how it changes when you tune the note.
100% value in variaudio equals a half step, but 100 cents in common tuning terminology equals a whole step. So you can translate the variaudio values yourself.
But if you’re just starting out, this is not the approach to take. Either you must learn the modes by learning many melodies, like the musicians who you are listening to, or use a midi instrument that does maqam modes, instead of audio. Then you have much better control.
A virtual instrument like any of the ones in the World Instruments included with Cubase in Halion Sonic would be a good place to start.
Also Cubase provides the Microtuner Midi Insert.
Please consider that the people who responded to you here are already familiar with the most famous (and best) Roma clarinetist alive. Myself, I have transcribed and performed music for example from his album Bergama Gaydasi with the group Laço Tayfa.
While you’re falling in love with the artists you mentioned, also have a listen to Nedim Nalbantoglu, great violinist in Istanbul, and the old guys too, like Kemani Haydar Tatliyay.