Rich - Pure-Intonation Synth (M4L device)

Rich – Is a Max4Live fully featured experimental synthesizer that tries to harness the pureness of pure intonation (just-intonation) with the help of Equal-Temperament. It uses a system of dynamically changing the reference of the tuning to get all the possible chords and scales.

How does it work?

Well, Just-intonation in it-self is quite impractical – the inconsistent distances between notes, makes it impossible to play complicated harmonies. When tuning an instrument to Just-Intonation, you’re bound to only one base note that all the other notes depend on.

But what if you could have a digital instrument with a slider that can dynamically switch the base note of the tuning in real-time? And even more practical, what if those base-notes will be set to Equal-Temperament?

Rich is doing exactly that. It tries to find a middle ground between pure-intonation and Equal-Temperament.

For Example: when you play C-major chord, it’s a pure C-major that is based on an Equal-Temperament version of the note C. If you’d like to play a pure E-major, you can use Rich to switch the base note to the Equal-Temperament E, and you’ll have a pure E-major. That makes Rich partially fit to play with other “Equal-Tempered” instruments.

Why “partially”?

Because playing in pure-intonation and switching base-notes, requires the pitch to be inconsistent.

For example, playing a pure G-major chord with a base note of G, and having another bass-instrument to play the note G will be no-problem, but If you’d like the bass to play a B over Rich’s G, the B found in the chord will not be the same as the bass-instrument’s B.

I invite you to try this instrument yourself and come up with your own creative ways of using it.

Enjoy. (To support me, consider donation)