Scales

Scales are very fluid on Atrium, supporting different tuning systems such as twelve-tone equal temperament (12-TET), Just Intonation, and microtonal adjustments between values. While a scale can be defined traditionally as a list of ascending pitches, Atrium is equally comfortable with electronic / computer music traditions by using scales to hold sequences of pitch.

Template Scales

Atrium's template patch contains a collection of scales for your initial explorations.

Press scale to advance forward through the list of scales.

The template will cycle through just four chords. Explore each one with notes and chord before advancing. A harmonic sequence will unfold leaving space for you to stitch together each tonality.

When you're ready to explore further afield, extend the sequence! The pre-defined scales are:

C major
A dorian
D diminished lydian (roughly)
G dorian (with C in the bass)
C diminished 6th
C major pentatonic (over a C bass pedal)
C major scale in 5-limit just intonation
Sama Gana in C
C lydian arpeggio (over two octaves)
Bb major 7th arpeggio (with detune)
C major 7th arpeggio (with detune)

Quite an assortment! Don't fear the academic names though (I had to look them up in many cases), just sweep around notes and hear the different tonalities and effects embedded within.

While we're here, pay special mind to scale 6 which bounces back to the root note between every ascending scale tone. If this scale is selected & chord is spread out, you'll still hear the tonality of the scale, but the sound will be deeply rooted to the fundamental C pedal tone.

Scales 7 and 8 are a demonstration of Atrium's microtonal tuning, where scale tones are adjusted in pitch to create more deliberate consonances and dissonances.

Scale 9 shows how scale tones can go outside of the one-octave range. As you move notes you'll hear the arpeggio reset at each octave.

Scales 10 and 11 have many copies of each scale tone, each subtly detuned from the rest. As such, a simple 4-note arpeggio becomes far more interesting. Try adding just a little chord spread to hear the detune flow across the voices.

The Scale Editor

While the above scales are fun, they're also somewhat esoteric! A good time now then, to define your own:

Double-tap the alt key at the top-right of the instrument. Notice the message of encouragement on the panel: tap! tap!
A broken S will appear in the extension window.

With a "tap! tap!", the notes & gestures sections of the interface will change, indicating that you are in the scale editor. In this mode, the hardware and interface work a bit differently, providing a different perspective on pitches:

The gesture controls navigate the scale
notes and the controls adjacent are used to define a single tone in your scale.
scale allows global control of all notes in a scale

While the Scale Editor is active, the remainder of Atrium continues to function as normal! Continue to play with the timbral controls, and shape your contours while editing. This helps keep editing fun, and opens up performative options.

Press alt at any time to exit the Scale Editor.

Navigating

The linear gesture display (above the keys) will show a preview of your scale - One light per scale tone. The currently focused note will be brightly lit.

press beat to move focus right by one.
press step to move focus left by one.
Focus will wrap to the other end if we move past the maximum or minimum.

As you move focus, the newly selected note will be heard on all five voices.

Train your muscle memory here a little. Resting your middle-finger on len is the intended technique (you'll need that key shortly), which should make the 'left' and 'right' movement feel more natural.

Editing Notes

After you've found a note you want to change (perhaps a major 3rd should become minor), leave it focused and try out these options:

Move notes up and down to adjust the current value in semitones from its current position.
Press octave up and down to add and subtract semitones manually.
Hold glide and move notes to set the value to the absolute position of notes.
Touch voicing to add microtonal offset to the value.

To remove any microtonal adjustment, hold clear and press voicing.

The notes display will give you context for what exactly you're editing. The brightly lit note is being modified presently, while the dimmer notes illustrate all selected tones in the scale.

Adding Notes

To extend your scale, by adding a note:

hold len and press beat.

You'll see the gesture light-meter extend one light to the right. New notes are always added to the end of your scale, and will default to the note C.

Conversely, shorten your scale by removing a note:

hold len and press step.

The note to be removed is always the last note in the scale.

Each scale supports from 1 to 25 notes.

Transpose a Scale

So far we've just edited single notes, but you can easily adjust the entire scale at once.

Press scale and notice the pulsing lights that appear on either side of the selected scale number. When you see these lights, you are editing all steps simultaneously. Try transposing the scale by pressing octave up a few times.

Toggle this whole-scale editing off by pressing scale again.

Arpeggiator

While editing a scale, you may find yourself wanting to hear the focused note in context of the full scale. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly which pitch you're after without also stepping through the rest of the scale.

To automate this movement, press the black gesture key and a clock-synced arpeggiator will be activated. Try turning the tempo knob as it plays!

While the arpeggiator is running, you'll see the playhead advance in the gesture display (indicated by a solid light). Meanwhile the focused note (the one you're editing) will stay in place and its light will pulse gently.

Toggle the arpeggiator on and off by pressing the black gesture key, or simply exit the scale editor by pressing the alt key.

scan modifier

Stepping back from the precise editing of the above, we can opt for a more dynamic and playful style of editing using the scan modifier.

Press scan to toggle on the coupled mode.

Now the focus will also follow the playhead of the arpeggiator.

Experiment with adjusting notes as they cycle through the arpeggiator, or add some dynamic wiggles by moving notes. For the adventurous, try holding glide to "draw" in a scale shape as it plays. Many fortuitous accidents await — luck is the residue of design!

If you find something that's almost right, it's often helpful to disable scan and perform your finishing touches with a more methodical approach.

Performing

This bit's important!

In the Scale Editor, the remainder of Atrium's parameters remain accessible as normal. Additionally, chord remains active, while being extended somewhat:

Hold chord and move notes to spread the chord.
Hold chord and press glide to enable portamento.
Hold chord and press the octave keys to transpose the sound (but not the scale).
Hold chord and press scale to select the next scale for editing.

In particular, notice how adding some chord spread is an another tool to hear your scale tones in context, while editing.

All combined, the Scale Editor provides much more than simple data management — it’s a fully-featured performance interface! Keep in mind that any existing mappings will continue to be applied while editing. This can be confusing, but also rewarding.

When you're done:

Press alt to exit the Scale Editor.

The arpeggiator is turned off, the chord spread is disabled, and notes returns to wherever it was set before entry.

If you've found a great sound that you want to carry with you outside the Scale Editor, you can exit by:

Holding chord, press alt to exit, and latch current settings.

Get Unquantized

To disable scale quantization altogether, hold clear and press scale. Now notes will freely articulate pitch through all the microtonal in-betweens. Pressing the octave keys still jumps down or up from the current value.

Try holding chord and spreading a microtonal chord. Applied subtly, each of the five voices receives a slight shift in pitch, creating a classic detuned sound that increases the perceived ‘massiveness’ of the instrument.

The notes slider provides about 13 cents of granularity. For more precise microtonal settings, it's best to configure custom scales.