Author: Sytars.com-administrator

On may 2017, by thinking about how to construct sonic spaces related by elements other than tones or semitones, I began to implement some research ideas using conventional applications as a spreadsheet program. Little by little I was able to integrate some basic functions as for example, relating frequencies with their respective musical note names and calibrating the cents constants factors.

Then I realised that the spreadsheet program was too limited for the purpose of reaching more complex tasks. So I decided to develop a more appropriate platform to continue the research. At that point, I turned my research into an object-based computer language, offering the possibility to use many different types of objects as buttons, windows, fields, graphics, etc. In doing so, I created the application Which note is it?

Which note is it?

        Figure 2: Which note is it? as a part of the Escalador platform

Since the application was ready to do some basic calculations, my idea was to extend the research into the possibility of making scales. That was the beginning of the Escalador platform. For more information about how does Which note is it? work, please click here.

The Escalador

Escalador is a Spanish word. The sense I give to it is on the meaning of a music scale maker. So with Escalador we can make musical scales but also some other important calculations. For more information about how does Escalador work, please click here.

One of the most exiting things that can be done with Escalador is to make tempered and not tempered scales. For example a scale of 44 elements (notes or frequencies) divided say, for example, by 34 cents.

Or a tempered scale of 24 notes from C3 to C5

It was very good to see the results of these operations, but one problem emerged, how to hear the sounds?
As an answer of this crucial question, I thought to implement an application by which we could hear the sounds of the scales produced by Escalador.

At the beginning it was interesting to hear the scales, but then I transformed the application on a sort of (electronic) musical instrument. So the result is the Escalador Audio. 

Escalador Audio

Now with Escalador Audio we can hear the scales, also play chords finally to make music. For more information about Escalador Audio, please click here.

Welcome to the Escalador page (version 2.01)

The Escalador is an application suitable for Mac, Windows and Linux.

• Escalador has three main functions:

1. Production of scales of any type.
2. Recognition of any frequency (from 0.000581 [C-6] @ diapason on 1 Hz) to n showing its respective musical notation value, named as Which note is it.
3. Escalador Audio, a web application suitable to hear and explore sounds from the scales made by the Escalador application.

• Main features:

General parameters

• Origin frequency in Hz: The origin frequency for the calculations. This frequency is also the first sound of the new scale.
• Limit: This field is related with the musical ‘octave’ or double of frequency notion. For example, number 2 will produce a scale (of n elements) from the chosen frequency (Origin frequency in Hz field) to its double frequency or ‘octave’. When constructing scales reaching to the ‘octave’ value, in this case the Limit field is closed related with the binary logarithm concept and functionality. So, for example, 4 will make a two octave scale (of n elements). And so forth to numbers 8, 16, 32, etc. (powers of 2: a(n) = 2^n).
But when using numbers other than powers of 2, for example, 3, 5, 2.5, etc. then the logarithm associated with that operation, will be a natural logarithm.
• Scale’s element from: With this device, we can choose which element to put at the beginning on the scale’s list, or simply highlight it.
• Elements: The number of sounds of the scale.
• Cents constant (decimals): The cents constant between each sound (note) of the produced scale.
• Calculate scale button: Once the data is entered on the fields: Origin, Limit and Elements, the result can be obtained by clicking that button.

• The created scales are shown here.

• Elements means the number of sounds of the scale
• Note: The names of the notes
• Octave: The note’s octave
• Cents: The note offset value in cents
• Cents const.: The cents constant of the scale. For example, 100 means a scale divided by semitones
• Frequency: The frequency of each scale element
• Global index: It is related with the cents attributed to each sound or element from the Origin Frequency.

• Coarse and fine limit: The limit index can also be controlled with these two scrollbars. 

• Save scale data: The scales created, can be saved and ready to be heard on the Escalador Audio application.
The structure given for these scales is [Esca].txt. Only sclaes with this structure are usable for the Escalador Audio application.
An example of a scale created can be: Myscale[Esca].txt.

Finally, the Scrapbook useful for putting ideas, notes. etc.

By clicking the Open button, the scrapbook can be viewed on a wide window and also the text font on it can be adjusted as desired.

The menu

With the About Escalador menu, you can have information about the version of the application. By clicking on the link Escalador version you are informed, via the website, about the current version.

By clicking the Pianissimo cantabile 1 link you can hear the whole work Pianissimo cantabile 1 used when opening the window. Pianissimo cantabile 1 is a work made with the Escalador Audio.

With the Frequency space calculator it is possible to create a frequency space range of your choice.
That space will be visible on the scale list.

With Using the Escalador menu, you can have important information about Which note is it, Escalador and the Escalador Audio.

With the License menu you can read important information on the website concerning all details of the Escalador License. 

Using the Uninstall Escalador menu, you can uninstall one license of the Escalador application from one computer to be used on another one. The process will ask you some information to proceed with the task. At the end of that process you will able to use your (actual) license on a different computer.

With the Which note is it? menu, you can open the homonym application.

By clicking the Escalador Audio menu, you can choose one server to connect to the Escalador Audio application.

Finally the About the author menu, will bring you to the developer’s website.

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Escalador version 2.2

In the version 2.2, we included several new features:

The diapason, the standard and real cents index.
Two new calculators and a new version of Which not is it? calculator

• With the diapason feature the scales produced will be related with diapason chosen. The range in frequencies for the diapason can be from 20 Hz to n.
When a frequency for the diapason is chosen, the device will compute the note C -5 related with the diapason’s frequency. The calculations are made internally using this C -5 for the calculations. This is why it is also showed.

• The standard index button will recompute the scale from the C -1. The C -1 index is used on most electronic devices, midi instruments, etc.
• The real index button will recompute the scale from the C -5.
All two indexes are produced with the chosen diapason.

The menu

With the Harmonic Calculator it is possible to create scales using the harmonic structure of a fundamental frequency.

• On the field Harmonic structure, by using the number 1, it will produce a harmonic scale with the ‘natural’ structure, that is to say, with integers multiple of the fundamental frequency. By putting other number, for example, (1.20), the harmonic series are not associated with the ‘natural’ integer multiple of the fundamental frequency.

• On the field Number of harmonics, any number can be used to control the number of elements of the new scale.

The main function of the Xva Calculator consist in the agencement of magnitudes or spaces, be they contrated or dilated. These spaces are created from an extrapolation of the octave concept.

• The Xva calculator is a device by which the scales are computed using the logarithm as a main principle for the production of the new scales. The four arithmetic operations of the Logarithmic Base Calculator section of the calculator, can be used also to create new scales.
• Also the original new scales can be bifurcated to new ones, and so on.
The Xva Calculator was inspired by some formulas developed by Williams Montesinos. It is a sort of tribute to the colleague and friend.

The new version of Which note is it?

• The Diapason feature and the Computed and Standard indexes are included.

Escalador version 2.3

In the version 2.3, we included some new features:
The Save inverted scale data button

By using the Save inverted scale data button, a scale can be inverted. That is to say, suppose a scale of ten elements.
The common order made by the Escalador is : 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, lower frequency to upper frequency.
By using the Save inverted scale data button, the scale is saved in the inverted order : 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0, that is to say, upper frequency to lower frequency.