Ableton Live 12: Tuning Systems

Live 12’s new Tunings system is your invitation to explore alternative tunings and microtones.

Tunings are available from the Tunings menu and filterable by type; changes made in the table below the list can be saved and the ‘link’ button will take you to the online manual which will load extensive information about the selected tuning.With Live 12 came the ground‑breaking Tunings feature that has the potential to change the sound of modern music. A bold claim perhaps, but the ability to easily try different tuning systems means it’s now simple to experiment. Despite the ease of changing tunings, the feature can seem daunting at first and that can be off‑putting, which would be a shame, as in my opinion, alternative tunings lend themselves particularly well to electronic music.

It’s true that some artists have been doing this for years. I’ve always felt that one of Aphex Twin’s ‘secret sauces’ is his liberal use of detuned melodies, creating a frisson against more conventionally tuned elements. Experimental artists like Wendy Carlos, Pauline Oliveros and La Monte Young have also been composing in alternative tunings for decades. And users of vintage analogue synths have inadvertently been dabbling in microtones for many years!

To use the old cliché, the standard western tuning system is like the water we musical fish swim around in. We might notice when singers are ‘out of tune’, but we barely think about what that ‘in tune’ is referencing. In comparison to equal temperament (the western default), all of these new Live 12 tunings are ‘out of tune’... but if you immerse yourself in them, they can be as refreshing as a wild swim in new harmonic waters!

In this article I will outline the main categories of tunings available in Live 12, and the uses to which the creative musician might put them — from the simple‑but‑effective to the outright wild and bizarre. Perhaps the future of music may lie somewhere within these systems... and there’s only one way to find out!

Implementation & Use

Simply browse to the Tunings menu under ‘Library’, and double‑click on any one of the 152(!) different tunings available. Once selected, all MIDI parts will conform to that tuning system (and the ‘Scale Aware’ feature will disappear for those that are non‑compatible).

The ability to bypass the current Tuning and extended keyboard control settings are available in MIDI tracks.It must be said that 152 tuning options is completely overwhelming and one would be forgiven for simply giving up at this point! One saving grace is the fact that they are organised into 11 categories, which can be thought of as belonging to four main types as described below.

When rolled over with the mouse, each tuning comes with informative notes in the Help box, but if you don’t happen to know your quintal syntonic comma from your quarter comma meantone, I’m not sure it’s going to help you very much....