[HN Gopher] Microtonal Spiral Piano
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       Microtonal Spiral Piano
        
       Author : phoenix_ashes
       Score  : 54 points
       Date   : 2025-12-26 08:30 UTC (5 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (shih1.github.io)
 (TXT) w3m dump (shih1.github.io)
        
       | phoenix_ashes wrote:
       | inspired from a few years of travel, i built something that aims
       | to bridge the gap between modern western music with historical
       | and global tunings.
       | 
       | the modern western mode of 12 Tones Equal Temperament (12-TET) is
       | the default and likely the one you are most familiar with. once
       | comfortable with the ui, i recommend exploring other N-TET
       | versions to see what what harmonies your intuition guides you
       | towards!
       | 
       | to better help you understand these N-TET modes, there is a 2D
       | geometric visualizer that will computes the geometric shape of
       | your chord and match it against common chord classes (major,
       | minor, 7ths, 9ths, etc.)
       | 
       | the 2D version uses a realtime 2D convex hull algo.
       | 
       | there is also a 3D Tower version that hacks around the 3D convex
       | hull algo (looks accurate but not accurate)
       | 
       | there is also some basic synth sound design implemented as well.
       | 
       | please enjoy!
       | 
       | ~yoshih
        
       | zahlman wrote:
       | This should be in Show HN.
        
       | throwawayk7h wrote:
       | If anyone is unclear on how to switch to microtonal mode (okay,
       | if you're pendantic, "xenharmonic" would be the right term), use
       | the gear at the top-right and change the Tuning system from
       | 12-TET to something else.
        
       | 29athrowaway wrote:
       | I played this piano and it reminded me of Twilight Zone (1959).
        
       | observationist wrote:
       | It's unusable on mobile browsers - centers the page, can't scroll
       | left or right.
       | 
       | On desktop it's awesome. Very cool!
        
         | xnx wrote:
         | Almost fits in horizontal layout, but not quite.
        
       | gatkinso wrote:
       | Very cool. May i suggest making the keys pizza-slice-shaped so
       | they are slightly easier to press?
        
       | xnx wrote:
       | Very delightful even just to run a finger back and forth across a
       | row on the keyboard.
       | 
       | Why doesn't clicking on the key spiral trigger the same
       | visualization in the right panel that using the keyboard does?
       | 
       | I wonder if "shift" would be a good modifier to some of the key
       | behavior (reverb?)
        
       | DavidPeiffer wrote:
       | This reminds me of a neat piece of computer keyboard -> audio
       | software I found on what had to be an "old internet" site 15-20
       | years ago. For lack of a better phrase, it was relative tone
       | keyboard. I've looked but have not been able to find the
       | software, not remembering any hint of the name, but it was fun to
       | play with.
       | 
       | It worked one of two ways, I'm not positive which.
       | 
       | --------
       | 
       | You stared with musical note C. One note could be played at a
       | time. G would go down a half note, H up a half note. F down a
       | whole note, J up a whole note. Repeatedly pressing G would go
       | down the chromatic scale. Playing a Diatonic scale up would be a
       | combination of pressing H and J.
       | 
       | --------
       | 
       | Pretend the keyboard letter G is the base note, mapped to C in
       | music. F would give a half note lower, H a half note higher, and
       | so on across the home row of the keyboard. Then you could adjust
       | the base note (perhaps T to go down a half note, Y to go up a
       | half note).
       | 
       | In essence, you could transpose a song from the key of C to D by
       | doing a modifier, and your fingers could complete the exact same
       | sequence. In a jazz application, something on Spiral Synth like
       | "FSA, GDS, HFD, K" might have been
        
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       (page generated 2025-12-31 23:00 UTC)