this is a synth that lets you see musical relationships visually. ~ Click on a tile to activate its sound !~ The notes increase by +1 and +3 for adjacent squares in the \\ and // directions. I chose +1//+3 because it makes the neighboring tiles to a tile be intervals of {1,2,3,4} semitones or musically, also known as: {half-step, whole-step, minor third, major third}. every interval up to the octave is reachable from up to 3 'steps' away, which is small enough to easily visually locate. From this, it is easier to visualize the symmetries of pitch space. Each interval is like a set of moves for a chess piece. I am a very visual / geometric / tactile thinker, so associating the sounds of an interval with a chess-like relationship rather than with a word or name improves my recall. When I start creating chords and chord changes, it will be possible to associate every chord with a geometric pattern, and the intervals present in the chord will be obvious. The geometric relationship of one chord or scale to another will be visually obvious. I have further plans for this project but for now, just enjoy playing around on this!
I made this synth based on one called 'HOWL' that I tried out on my iPhone -- http://protonome.com/apps/howl/ thanks to them for the inspiration!
