PolyChromatic Music with the Lumatone
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- čas přidán 6. 05. 2020
- Exploring musical possibilities with the Lumatone keyboard. The polychromatic system integrates easily with the color implementation of this new MIDI controller. The Lumatone can also be split and programmed with multiple tunings and varieties of iso/polymorphic, colorized layouts!
An analogy is a painter’s selection of palette colors to mix within a work, as well as the ease of selecting unique color palettes for each composition. The polychromatic system is an attempt to create a simple framework with flexible assignments of pitch-color, relative to any tuning method, being built upon a consistent rainbow color series from (infra/flat) red to (ultra/sharp) violet. This makes transitions to different pitch-palettes easier for musicians and dovetails well with standard music and tab notation.
The Lumatone is based on a modified Terpstra design (circa 1980’s) which is, to my eyes, a variant of the Wilson layout (circa 1970’s) with the added innovation of a cascade key design (hex keys gradually ascend in height from front to back). The Lumatone design has further implemented per hex key LED color, Note# and Channel# assignment, velocity sensitivity, and has capacity for added firmware functionality like aftertouch implementation, as its keys can also render continuous control (MIDI CC) messages in addition to note on/off.
Lumatone keyboard: www.lumatone.io
Universal Tuning Editor: hpi.zentral.zone/ute
PolyChromatic system: polychromaticmusic.com/
More information:
more information: newmusicusa.org/nmbx/polychro...
Siemen Terpstra: siementerpstra.com/
Erv Wilson: anaphoria.com/wilson.html - Hudba
I’ve never been less sure of my ability to execute a C Major scale
Imagine Gb Diminished or Dorian b2 😂
seems like c major is used as the base here
You are not only a critically underrated youtuber, but underrated musician as well. Just watching this video alone allowed me to grasp concepts about Microtonal tuning, polychromatic music and just music theory in general. You are awesome, this is so cool.
This invention is deeply inspiring.
Seriously. Really shows you how unlimited the potential of musical instrumentation and it’s ability to change music is
This invention is actually relatively old. Search for Janko Piano.
@@Hvranq those are squares
this is one of the most mind blowing videos on music i’ve ever seen
This instrument is incredible
Thanks so much for this video! I'm eagerly awaiting a Lumatone! I can't wait to get it under my fingers. This was the first demonstration I've seen that illustrates moving around the instrument more. It looks like a joy!
I'm excited for you to have one too! :P I was lucky enough to try it at NAMM and I can't stress enough how nice the keys *feel* to play. That was one of my biggest concerns prior to trying it out, and it went well beyond my expectations.
This is so awesome. Thanks for making a video about it!
Loved the info and music. Didn’t want it to end
I’d love to connect this to a eurorack modular synth. Please do what you can to encourage them include some kind of CV out as well. Having a dedicated CV out for eurorack modulars would be extremely helpful because most of us don’t use standard 12 keyboards anyway. We mostly rely on the onboard 16 step sequencer. Some of us don’t even use a DAW. Also transparent labels to manually assign root/octive, 3rd, 5th, 7th, (9th), 11th and 13th harmonic overtones would be nice. You wouldn’t even need symbols for the overtones, just assign them by number value.
FAR OUT INTERFACE! It effortlessly incorporates theory without any translation. I think it’s very intuitive based on your demo.
A very nice and clear presentation ! Thank you, Dolores...
Happy to see more content from you dolomuse
Such a lovely well organised review. Thank you!!
So cool! I thought polychromatic music was mind blowing on its own and this controller really seems like a perfect fit. Thank you for showing it!
I love how the first thing you do when playing is just listen and appreciate all the different tones and colours :) the work you’re doing is amazing!!!!
Woah so exciting! I love your ideas and I can’t wait to see what you’ll do with this instrument! It’s also really pretty. And yes collaboration!!!
You make this all seem so accessible. Thank you soooo much! Your videos are not just calling into the void, we're LEARNING from you!!!
congratulations. so nice to explore the music this way
I am absolutely amazed with your work! Love from Brazil!
Just WOW !!! and thanx for this wonderful presentation! I'm so thrilled with the new Polychromatic Music Instruments who fit just perfect to my stage designs in creating costumes and shows! What a fantastic new option! Can't wait to see how this is going on ! And again, thanx for the introduction 🖒
A very efficient, synesthetic system, congratulations. a very insightful and detail explanation Thanks for sharing.
We're reaching an age where we can notate our sheet music with crayon. This is truly the future.
Looks incredible, love it!
I think ignoring the chromatic notes closes so so so many possibilities. It means your harmony will always have its centre at the major scale. At least using the chromatic scale opens you up to most global music.
The Lumatone can also render many varieties of minor, dominant and other scales. A good way to think about it is that, because the Lumatone accommodates a closer approximation to the pitch continuum, many more types of scales - Western/chromatic and other cultural scales - can be played on this keyboard.
Love your channel!!
Thank you for this video! Really insightful look at the instrument that makes me even more excited to get my own.
Hi Dolores, this is just what I’ve been looking for and from a fellow Canadian! Thank you
Fascinating!
Mind. Blown.
Excellent video
Jesus christ, this is so inspiring... my god thank you for researching and sharing this.
Thank Jesus Christ for Creating the GIFT of music. That’s just ONE of the gifts!
Am I in the Twilight Zone? Or you guy never heard of the pitch wheel? Also, perhaps I could appreciate this invention a bit more were I to hear actual consumable music, instead of just scales, using the lumatone.
Nonetheless, still interesting!
I'm having one of those moments where I've stepped through some sort of portal and can't go back - or be the same musician that I was yesterday after watching this. Mind blown 🤯 Thank You💯🌌
Fantastic stuff! - now I just need another lifetime to do music . .
That instrument looks so fucking awesome!
Still waiting for mine to arrive
I was just watching your old videos, glad your well and still micro!
I remember discovering Just Intonation through Wendy Carlos, and it was a musical epiphany...this video about polychromatic music ("and" the Lumatone) is equally fascinating .Thanks for introducing me to another level of music where the visual and the audible merge even more than traditional notation. Greetings from Memphis. Tennessee. .
Fascinating and inspiring. I love when I run across people who are studiously deep-diving with minimum restrictions into their passion. A very sharp mind and set of ears are at work here.
this is beautiful.
This makes me so happy!!!
Excellent demo and impressive playing! 😎👍
Fantastic video, thank You!
These things are so cool! I have one too.
czcams.com/video/L8zkQp4egp0/video.html
This is very interesting.
Let us not forget however that musical "interfaces" with continuous pitch (besides the human voice, obviously) have existed for eras under the form of fretless string instruments. That natural notion of continuity has been integrated for long into both North-African and Classical Indian music traditions, to name only two examples. In 2023, we definitely need both modern keybeds able to allow full access to that larger spectrum, and also a proper, unified notation system that gets away from the classical microtonal "accident" syste ( which is way too referential towards the diatonic tradition).
Such explorations as this instrument here and your music are great steps in that direction.
i cant wait to get my hands on one of these i might never put it away because i think i just fell in love with the most beautiful man made music maker ive ever seen in my life im die im die im die and im blessed and glad to do sooo
SO COOL!
This is so amazing
So cool....
The only instrument microtonal musicians are always in tune on. :D
- How would the room of your dreams look like?
- 2:40
I love it, I want it!!!
This looks cool with a dark lighting and shadow hands.
I’ve been playing this kind of music for years when I’m tuning my guitar 🙃
Jokes aside, this looks really fun to play music with!
why didn't they have you in their latest promo video? you're clear the most adept and thinking critically about intonation and technique and fusing tradition with innovation.
No way, if I'm gonna drop 3k on a keyboard I need at least three minutes of some guy tapping out farting synth noises.
You are making me want to spend serious time on the artiphon instrument 1 editor… :)
As always… your massive expansive mind is the coolest.
Wonderful stuff
So cool
Theese are so amazing I want one so much
very cool!
I haven't seen a video from this channel for a really long time
Man I really want one of those
Love your channel love it love it love it
Van Halen’s “1984” the track leading into “Jump” the synth intro that’s some polyphonic sounds and Eddie described a “Brown Sound” everyone thought it meant his amplifier and guitar He heard his brother Alex drum playing as a “Brown Sound”
Now I'd like a lumatone.
Maybe also there could be an instrument which either changes roughness of the texture of each note or height of each note, alongside the colors, or keeping one row a certain roughness or texture to distinguish a "home row" and keep the color aesthetic uniform.
as a finger drummer this is some very interesting stuff.
Like the pitch bend wheel that you can control. Fascinating. I bet the intervals can be mid blowing. Is the world ready for this? This is an evolved approach.
i love your set up lol wish i had the all black controller
Nobody:
Piano companies during pride:
I really appreciate your methodical approach to exploring this instrument - looking forward to some inspiring new music! I know you like the focus to be on the harmonic interactions, but I wonder if you’ve thought about mapping the polychromatic dimension to other parameters besides pitch to create variations in timbre as well?
That is an amazing area to explore! I guess at this point, I'm still trying to work out and explore the possibilities of polychromatic keyboard technique and an adaptable system for notation and learning. The Lumatone's keys are continuous controllers and as new features are implementaed in future firmware updates (and MIDI 2.0), we might be able to assign an overlay of CC messages to each key as well (i.e. modulation, filter sweep). With MIDI (1.0), I have run into 'buffer overload' type problems with using 16 channels of CC (pitchbend) messages simultaneously. Very exciting possibilities ahead!
I want to see Jacob Collier in this room
I tried to report your comment but there is no option for "The world is not ready for Dolores, much less Dolores x Collier"
I was about to comment this exact comment lmao
@@PacificBird Mee too lol
Jacob turning Lumatone into his new harmonizer
I made this EXACT comment on another dolomuse video, mad bro
you are a wizard! let me know when these hit the streets?
Loving finding Lumatone, the Bosanquet-Wilson isomorphic keyboard, and your presentation! Would be helpful to flip the video from above when you are playing to show keyboard from your perspective (i.e. right side up) to also see the patterns as you do ;)
Fancy!
very cool :-)
omg gives me motivation to work to bad im broke this is my life and the one instrument that was disigned for someone that only sees spectrums
It seems a little odd that each column has 8 keys, except the B columns, which have 7. Why is that? Is it related to the limitation on the number of different notes in MIDI? Also, I would have thought an odd number would be better anyway, so that there is always a central key. It's an amazing controller though! Did Elaine Walker have anything to do with it? I know she has advocated in the past for hex keyboards that light up and can be configured to arbitrary patterns.
Bruh this needs to be used to make the most epic edm/trance music. Please Please Please
ableton live's max for live community might be really helpful in terms of microtonal midi devices
Is this what Bobbi Krilc is doing with the Midsommar soundtrack, except he's just fluctuating the frequency of a mono synth?
Trippy!
Fantastic video Dolores. I have several questions about why you chose the layout you did, but I think I know some of the answers. I was one of the backers for the Terpstra campaign back in 2013, so good to see this keyboard is finally (almost) ready for the world, and so excited to get my hands on one this year! I am actually writing a book about generalised hexagonal keyboard layouts, using the Lumatone to display coloured shapes and layouts on, and writing about exploring microtonal intervals, scales and chords in a generalised (key agnostic) manner.
I see that although you have your natural row as usual in a single chain of fifths from F-B, with the 12:30 (almost horizontal) axis mapped to the major second, 196c in 55EDO, and the 2:30 (down-right) axis mapped to the minor second, 109c in 55EDO, across the central (white) natural row. I can understand your wanting to get rid of "black" key pentatonic sets, although I find they are incredibly useful in helping you find your way around without thinking or working anything out, with sharps above and flats below the central natural row, and they help transfer knowledge across keyboard instruments, as well as incorporating standard music theory, across many tunings.
One of the problems I see with your layout of using a single degree vertically (where the sharp would normally sit, we instead have 1\55=22c), is that the isomorphic nature of the keyboard is broken, and so you need very slightly different shapes for different keys, as I can see with your "major" (actually a little supermajor) scales on white C (C natural) and red A (one degree above Ab). Another problem I can see is that while you get a few doubled keys (blue E, two keys above white E = red F, three keys below white F = 20\55 = 436c above C, indigo E = orange F = 21\55 = 458c above C, violet E = yellow F = 22\55 = 480c above C, ditto indigo B = orange C, etc), you actually lose 5 pitches per octave, the regular flats Db Eb, Gb Ab and Bb in 55EDO, which I believe are pretty important for performing a lot of music. My solution that also incorporates colour is to maintain both heptatonic (natural) and pentatonic (sharp/flat) groups, but to colour each differently. I have managed to colour most EDOs featuring a fifth in the range [686c, 720] up through about 60, plus a few other higher EDOs I really like, and I would love to hear your ideas on that too, though I can understand wanting to get rid of "black key" groups. I believe there might also be a better solution for you that gets rid of those groups but also lets you keep the isomorphicism which is one of the generalised keyboard's strong features, and allows you more freedom with less thinking and counting of keys.
Amazing of course that you've gained the virtuosity you have in such a short time, and fantastic explanations otherwise. Would love to connect either here or over on Facebook.
Thanks, and love your work.
Cam
Also, I do think that even though this controller has 55 keys per octave, you would probably find 46EDO, 53EDO or 58EDO would suit your purposes better than 55, which is a meantone tuning without the excellent approximations to higher harmonics and interval regions I often hear in your other work. Sure the approximations are close, but I think the general intonational bent leans the other way, and you'd really love the virtually pure (2:3) or slightly (1-3c) sharp fifths of those systems better than the mellow flat fifths of meantone. I know you know 106EDO well so I imagined you would be playing in 53EDO here, but 55 surprised me. Cool to see nonetheless, and the approximations are close enough not to disturb your soundworld too much, but I think the tuning system should go even further in enhancing that soundworld!
Best,
Cam
@Cam Taylor Thanks Cam, it would be great to hear more about your approach! My approach is more practical than theoretical in the sense that I want to explore the maximum pitch-resolution ergonomically possible on any keyboard design. I think of the natural state of pitch as being a continuum, so any method of pitch division is a “temperament”, based on one of many possible numerical perspectives. Because the many methods for creating micro-pitch scales are so complex in their musical possibilities, I keep things basic in this area by using equal divisions of the octave as a framework.
Isomorphism is an interesting area. I appreciate the polymorphism of the piano, especially in the way that each scale/chord/arpeggio feels and looks different. Because of this, you can play by the feel of these patterns without having to look at which key you are in. The guitar/bass has an isomorphic quality to it, but it also has multiple position patterns which are different-and yet the same for each key. Isomorphism is definitely a great technical perspective… I guess the best analogy I can think of at the moment is the steepness of the the ‘learning curve’.
55 EDO was just the limitation of the Lumatone key layout. I enjoy exploring the way the pitch-colors and micro-intervals interact in these large pitch sets. I just look at it as blending colors like a painter, hearing the interactions of sound and space, and am not very oriented in the numerical relationships involved.
Thanks so much Dolores for your detailed reply. I totally see where you are coming from, and things like getting the maximum resolution, keeping a unique shape and feeling for each key seem at first to fit with your musical goals, however considering how much time it often takes a musician to master 12 keys as well as they have learnt 1 or 2, cutting the time taken to really master 55 keys with different shapes and "feel" under the hand is really going to come in handy for most people. For me, I feel the different look and the same shape goes a long way, so one uses the isomorphic nature of the keyboard mapping and the multicolour layout to see the key relationships and the sets of (in my case 7+5, in your case 7) similar coloured keys per octave to guide the way, more than memorising the shape and feeling of individual scales. While I like the idea of equal divisions of the pitch space, and using all varieties of intervals equally, every division has certain biases, and while I think 53 (106) and 72 suit your aesthetic they also provide fantastic approximations of the lower primes that I think make the biggest impact on your musical sound, 2, 3, 5 and 7, but also opening the doors for good approximations of higher primes too. Under many metrics, 55 doesn't do nearly so we'll, and also its melodic step sizes are not quite so appealing as those in or close to Pythagorean intonation. When I get my hands on my own Lumatone I'd love to try to convince you that 46 or 53-equal (in a fully isomorphic fashion), or 58-equal (as two separate isomorphic rings of 29-equal, itself a closed chain of fifths, and so moving between the rings breaks isomorphism) would serve you even better than 55 on the Lumatone.
Even though I don't have an instrument big enough, my favourite equal division of the octave is probably into 94 parts, and that is not because of simply maximum resolution, but also the consistency of all ratios up to the 23-odd-limit (primes very well tuned up to 23), and how their approximations are inter-related. While 55edo for me is chiefly ruled by its meantone temperament (suggested by Mozart's father as a sort of master tuning with each whole tone divided into seven parts, and the difference between a standard C# and Db a single part or comma) and its division into 5 parts (equal pentatonic 0-240-480-720-960-1200c), 94edo tempers out the schisma so that the most sonorous 4:5 major thirds are mapped on the keyboard as diminished fourths (-8 fifths), but the fifths are just very slightly sharp of a just 2:3, so super sonorous, great Pythagorean diatonic intonation, plus the syntonic, Pythagorean and septimal commas are all equated, as they are in 41 and 53-equal. Plus the sizes of seconds and thirds for example just all feel musically useful for me, while some of the sizes in 55 for example don't feel quite right, even if you're not using any kind of JI, rational, or concordance reference. Hard to say exactly what I mean without the keyboard in front of me.
@@camtaylormusic That sounds amazing Cam! I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing your pitch layout implementations on the Lumatone. It is groundbreaking that the Lumatone can accommodate so many layout methods. They are planning on establishing a library of iso/polymorphic presets as users develop them. I hope the simplicity of the polychromatic system will replace the complexity of microtonal notation symbology/terminology, so we can focus our time on implementing any conceivable scale method (pitch palette) and quickly focus on creating/performing new micropitch music!
@@camtaylormusic Do you have any idea why the Lumatone is designed with (only) 55 keys in the repeating geometry instead of, say, 72, with more vertical rows like the MicroZone? Might the creators eventually come out with one that has more keys in the vertical direction to allow for higher EDO's more easily?
Two things strike me as intriguing here. I’m not suggesting that these are “bad” choices, by any means; just “curious” ones. You’re making intriguing music, and that’s all that ultimately matters, so “keep it coming”!
First, it’s interesting that it appears at least (9:30) that you’re not mapping an upward whole step to the key directly to the right (and slightly above). Instead, you appear to be mapping it to the key directly above that. Again, not necessarily good or bad, but interesting.
Second, 55TET strikes me as a … curious … choice. To whatever degree it’s about approximations to small harmonic ratios (2:1, 3:2, 5:4, 7:4, etc.), 41TET and 53TET get a lot closer. Of course, Just-Intonation approximations are just one dimension of the question. They’re not necessarily a goal, but are a factor.
Wonderful video. Can I become your student and learn more about the interaction between a controller and software in terms of microtonal music and in general?
Hexagons are the bestagons
you should find a way to make a visualization that blends the colours that you use!
@dolomuse are there patches/samples of traditional instruments like piano sounds/horns etc that can be used with the Lumatone?
Could you try using the whole tone scale or the chromatic scale in the middle?
I would like to do some heavy shredding with this thing
Wow thank you! Really struggling to write in 24 edo. Just can’t feel natural chord progressions, unsure of which part of the chords to raise or lower in pitch. Any ideas for song writing?
I wonder if the secrets are demonstrated in the video? I'm starting to think dolomuse's practice regime might help unlock the potential. Which input system/control surface are you using to play? I'm really interested in this type of thing at the moment.
pick 5 tones randomly, try to make anything randomly and then remove the parts you don't like.
I would start with flatting Maj 7th’s and then work off chord extensions based on that. That interval kind of feels like the entry point
9:22 i thought the major scale was played by playing a colored row (eg the white row) left to right without moving up and down? is it just a different way of filling out the octave? im so confused now
Can you put Wicki-Hayden layout on it? Looks as if you can’t unless you tilt the keyboard sideways
Hi Dolores, thank you for the música and your explanations. Maybe I just didn't dig in all of your videos but I mostly saw you using sounds/banks with long or even infinity sustain. Is that your choice/taste or is something related with polychromatic music? What about silences in this kind of music. Thanks and greatings from Uruguay!
Hi Andres. The phase and harmonic interactions take a while to emerge and interact, so slower and sustained intervals are necessary. Silence is a beautiful contrast of stillness, as is ‘just’ intonation (intervals minimizing phase pulsations/beating). These are elements I look forward to integrating. I am still in a very early stage of exploring polychromatic music, and these new auditory phenomena are a bit over exaggerated so I can demonstrate and reveal them more clearly. This is also the reason I have been using a synth sound with prominent higher harmonics and not yet integrating the infinite possibilities of sound design. So much to explore…!
@@dolomuse thanks for your answer!
Are the chromatic sharps and flats you'd find on a traditional keyboard on the default Lumatone configuration?
Sevish needs a crack at one of these
In this layout, since there's one "column" in each of the main octaves that has one fewer key (7 instead of 8), how did you decide to assign the B's to those abbreviated "columns"? Was it more a matter of having the rightmost column be C?
From my practice with other micro-pitch keyboards like the Tonal Plexus and Microzone, I found a simple orientation by beginning from ‘C’. From here, comfortable technical anchors for the thumb exist at the root/octave and the fourth. For maximal pitch-resolution, I think of adjacent micro-pitches as being oriented on a rightward ascending axis on the Lumatone. From this basic pattern the rest of the modal A-G pitches were laid out.
It is fascinating that pitch-colors seem to effectively replace accidentals and key signatures (a major problem with the many incompatible microtonal methods and symbols). The result is increased simplicity in this sense, along with immense new melodic/harmonic complexities possible within very minute divisions of the octave.
The Lumatone layout was derived from the Terpstra, with a modification that eliminated the 8th key from certain columns. Within the color layout used here, this resulted in a missing 'B' violet in each octave.
@@dolomuse Thank you so much for your reply! Your layout here really IS fascinating and has my mental gears turning! In your basic layout here, I can imagine several logical reasons for even right-or left shifting your layout, such as having the first full rightward column on the left be "C," having it be "A," or having the abbreviated 7-key columns be "G" so that the last column before each new "A" column is the one that "ran out of keys" before starting fresh with "A," etc. It occurs to me that if you were to start with the first full rightward column on the left as "C", it would shift everything to the right by one column, and then your new "A" columns would then be the ones with only 7 keys and would then be the "odd-man-out" in each octave BOTH in terms of color AND number of keys!
I had a similar one by “C-thru music”
how would you compare this to a LinnStrument programmed to have a similar pitch layout?
They are both great controllers, but quite different in specs and design. The LinnStrument has square shaped silicone keypads (multidimensional sensors). They are color-programmable and can render MIDI data in the X (left/right), Y (front/back), and Z (pressure) dimension. The keypads have no movement with playing. It is an amazing instrument with open-source firmware. The LinnStrument has 128 or 200 color/tuning assignable keypads.
The Lumatone has lever-action, color assignable plastic hex keys, so there is motion of the key when played. Each key has a Hall-effect sensor (like the Continuum), so it can, with firmware updates, render precise position and pressure data (Z dimension). No X or Y data can be rendered with the keys on the Lumatone, but you have more keys to assign pitch values to. The Lumatone has 275 LED color/tuning assignable keys and an editor for programming.
Did you ever try this type of mapping layout on your MicroZone? I found a high-res image of the MicroZone keyboard online and was counting the keys in rightward columns. It still would be 72 EDO; the C and F rightward columns would have 11 keys each, and the other 5 columns would have 10 keys each. Could you have customized the MicroZone key colors for such a mapping to be, say, all white with your color dots in the centers except black keys for the "A" rightward columns? Maybe adding the colors chartreuse and indigo for the 10-key columns and magenta for the 11th key in the C and F columns!
That's an excellent idea! I'm looking forward to exploring this when time permits. Although, in terms of demonstrating different approaches, I wonder if the traditional black key pattern is preferable for some keyboardists as a point of departure into micro-pitch music. Either way, it is remarkable that the polychromatic system seems to be easily applied to iso/polymorphic key layouts and micro-pitch scale creation methods, and can remove the difficult hurdle of learning new notation symbols and terminology for each scale method.
@@dolomuse The idea of using color notation to do away with various symbols is really intriguing! In a way, harps could be said to be the first instruments to operate in a quasi-polychromatic manner. In modern concert grand pedal harps, there are only 7 strings per octave, but there are 7 pedals (one for each note letter); each pedal puts the strings of that letter in flat, natural, or sharp position by "fretting" the strings with rotating discs at the top. While harpists read traditional key signatures and accidentals, harp notation could just as easily be in a polychromatic style, though the resolution is still only 12 unique pitches to the octave.
I would be really interested to hear you take a stab at creating a Melody like in "resonance" or an arpeggiation progression along the lines of the song "Hold" both by the artist Home.
Is it released yet? Very exiting!
So anyway I play the honeycomb
I want to practice already! When does it release?
yay :)
Do you have a composition where you combine and layer all your microtonal instruments?