http://www.h-pi.com/images/h-pi_newspaper.jpg News from H-Pi Instruments http://www.h-pi.com http://www.h-pi.com en-us Copyright 2011, H-Pi Instruments contact@h-pi.com music 120 If you’ve just downloaded some of my software on your new Mac, it might crash when you open it. The reason is that I have yet to issue updates for the latest version of Mountain Lion. But have no fear, these updates are on the way, along with some improvements to the software. Thanks for your support, everyone. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=214 Mon, 6 May 2013 11:41:54 EST Melle Weijters is a guitarist of a different stripe … or maybe we should say different color? Namely, yellow! As you may already know, he has been very busy now for some years now in the field of alternative tunings. Recently, he was appointed duties at the Fokker Foundation concerning the famous 31-tone pipe organ. He also has commissioned a special 41-tone guitar of his own design, which is yet unfinished. A year or so year ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=194 Thu, 7 Feb 2013 11:51:53 EST Devoted readers, you both may already know that the tuning-geek community eagerly welcomed new software versions earlier this month from H-Pi Instruments. Updates for Custom Scale Editor (CSE) and Tonal Plexus Editor (TPXE) were released on Jan. 10, 2013. It turns out that there was a minor problem with the TPXE release; that is, specifically, trying to do anything in the application made it crash immediately. Among others, TPXE user Juhani Nuorvala noticed this and sent me ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=183 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:7:8 EST Five years ago, I began selling Tonal Plexus keyboards online. I started doing this mainly just to bring the instruments into existence, so that musicians (including myself) could use them. As many of you know, all the circuit boards are manufactured in Bulgaria by my friend Jordan Petkov of MIDI Gadgets Boutique, and the finished products are constructed manually by me. Needless to say, if I hadn’t decided to do all this, these keyboards would not ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=167 Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:1:27 EST Leave it to Aria-engine designer and sample expert David Viens of Plogue to give a fantastic year-end gift to all of us. This free player loads a bank of SFZ samples, and lets you retune them with scala files. This is another great opportunity to design your scales with Custom Scale Editor (CSE) and export them to the player to start hearing the tunings you want to explore. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=163 Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:55:55 EST Many people have been asking, when will Tonal Plexus keyboards be available again? Although I had planned to resume building keyboards in 2013, I may not be able to do that after all. I can however tell you about some planned changes to the product lineup. The TPX line will receive minor improvements in design, and major improvements in building materials. The keyboards will be built using less plywood and plastic, and more finished solid wood and ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=156 Thu, 27 Dec 2012 0:41:59 EST Do you like music? Then listen to this hour-long retrospective radio program of music and words by Finnish composer Juhani Nuorvala. I have listened to this program at least four times now, and I can tell you, the music is wonderful, and I want you to hear it. And, act fast, because this link will expire on Dec 25: http://areena.yle.fi/radio/1695941 http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=137 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:35:17 EST Multiinstrumentalist and Tonal Plexus devotee Dolores Catherino has been hard at work again, this time reworking her composition Toward the Continuum for Tonal Plexus, tuned in in 106ET using a special layout of her own design. Check out the score which features colorcode and shapenote notation. The video can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB-MSUahx6I http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=129 Sat, 1 Dec 2012 11:25:18 EST In late 2009, I was asked by musicologist (and Harry Partch expert) Bob Gilmore to write an article about the Tonal Plexus for the second volume of the Fokker Institute’s Journal: Thirty-One, a microtonal series, the first volume of which had appeared in 2004. I submitted my article in 2010 and it was accepted for publication, but the journal has not published its second volume yet, some two years hence. Since so much time has passed, ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=118 Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:13:31 EST After a long absence, TBX1 is scheduled to be back in stock by January 13, 2013. Thanks for your patience! Orders are open now for shipping in January if you would like to make sure you get yours before they are gone again. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=113 Thu, 22 Nov 2012 20:9:12 EST The second MegaPlex in existence is on its way to the New England Conservatory.The keyboard will be used by students in microtonal music classes taught by composer Julia Werntz. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=100 Sat, 15 Sep 2012 11:10:32 EST Since the introduction of Tonal Plexus keyboards in 2007, the most requested feature has been velocity sensing keys. After years of development, with the help of funding provided by Tonal Plexus devotee Dolores Catherino, I’m proud to announce a new line of velocity sensing Tonal Plexus keyboards called MegaPlex. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=99 Sun, 9 Sep 2012 13:29:56 EST In 2009, I received an order for a TBX1 unit from Michigan-based sound artist Mitchell Walcott. Two years later, another order from Mitch appeared, this time for a custom finish two-octave U-Plex keyboard — all white (shown above) — similar to the Moby Plexus TPX unit I had made for color-blind composer Jesus Lopez in 2010. Little did I know what Mitch had in mind for that keyboard. Shortly after I shipped the white U-Plex, I received ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=98 Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:51:50 GMT Many have noticed that Tonal Plexus keyboards and TBX1 units have been sold out for over a month now. So what gives? When will the keyboards and tuning box be available again? I have been answering this question a lot, and it’s about time I wrote something about it here. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=97 Wed, 23 May 2012 23:19:28 EST While most software synthesizers give little or no control over tuning, I’m pleased to announce the release of a new app that’s different than the rest. It’s a microtonal SoundFont synthesizer simply called microsynth, now available on the Mac App Store in two versions: 16-tracks multi-timbral, and single-track mono-timbral. This synthesizer gives you exactly the tuning control you need. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=96 Thu, 10 May 2012 0:54:44 EST Multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Dolores Catherino has been busy since giving this interview back in December of 2010. I don’t know how many hours she has spent practicing the Tonal Plexus, but you’ll see from this video that she’s definitely got a handle on playing it. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=95 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 7:19:15 EST Thanks to all the feedback I received for Custom Scale Editor 2.8.0, released in January, I’m pleased to announce the release of CSE 2.8.7 today, March 15, 2012. This update fixes many bugs found in 2.8, improves several features and also adds a couple of new features you have requested. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=94 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:59:44 EDT Custom Scale Editor 2.8.0 is released today, January 29, 2012. This update fixes many bugs which have plagued the app during the last year, mostly having to do with octaves, but also with Hz tunings and working in Keys other than C. Windows users will notice that the Preferences window and layer switching stalling has finally been fixed. Mac users will notice more native Mac app behavior, with sheet dialogs rather than detached popup windows. This update ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=93 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:6:21 EDT I’ve said many times, that one of the great things about this business is coming into contact with so many interesting people all over the world. Back in 2009, I was contacted by Mark Lane Vines, of Austin, Texas. Mark started asking about the Tonal Plexus, and how well it works with tunings other than its default master tuning of 205ET. Our correspondence continued through 2010 ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=92 Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:48:40 EDT Turkish composer and musicologist Dr. Ozan Yarman has organized a ground-breaking event to be held at two universities in Turkey during the first weeks of December, 7-14, 2011. Microtonalist Entrepreneurs International Meeting (MELM), the first conference of its kind, will bring together computer programmers, performers, and researchers working in the field of microtonal music. While the majority of the participants will be from Turkey, several guests have been invited from the US and the UK ... http://www.h-pi.com/press.html Wed, 23 Nov 2011 1:7:38 EDT I was honored to be contacted by the well-known German organist Hans-Andre Stamm some months ago. Stamm had found my website and was interested in buying a TPX4s Tonal Plexus keyboard to take with him on a trip to France, to demonstrate to some filmmakers the kind of music he is writing for films these days. The time frame was very tight - two weeks ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=91 Fri, 9 Sep 2011 14:12:21 EDT In response to my last blog post, I received a request to have a closer look at the keyboard Alf plays. So here it is! You may recognize the music, which is composed by me, and is called "A Dream: The H-Pi Instruments Theme Song". Needless to say, the fancy camera work in this video may win me a major award. http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=89 Wed, 15 Jul 2011 15:32:44 EDT Alf (a.k.a. Gordon Shumway) is an alien from the planet Melmac. Everyone knows that. What you may not know is that Alf is also a musician who plays Tonal Plexus keyboards. You don't believe me? Consider the evidence. In an early episode of the 1980's television series called 'Alf', a situation comedy which gave millions of humans a glimpse into the life and times of Alf, there is a scene in which Alf is found playing an ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=88 Fri, 10 Jul 2011 15:21:13 EDT Custom Scale Editor (CSE) is now updated to version 2.7.3. In this update you'll find many bug fixes, in particular if you are in a non-US location. Support for non-octave scales is much improved, and many enhanced editing features have been added to the Freehand Editor, to assist in data exchange between CSE and other applications. Programming-oriented users will apprciate that Code Snippet support has been fixed in this update (it was broken in a previous ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=80 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:43:45 EDT It's been quite some time since the initial release of the H-Pi Lo-Fi Microsynth for Mac OSX. Today I'm pleased to announce HPLF2 - a full-featured microtonal recording studio! http://www.h-pi.com/HPLFsoftware.html Mon, 28 Feb 2011 0:11:43 EDT Contrary to some internet rumors, the current location of H-Pi Instruments headquarters, Muncie, IN, is not an indication that H-Pi products are crafted by the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Today I'd like to set the record straight, to explain why H-Pi Instruments is where it is, and to share a bit with you about someone who is very special to me, who I have always admired, to whom indeed I owe my ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=79 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 0:19:37 EDT In March of 2009, I received a few questions by email concerning TBX1 from Gordon Self, who lives in Manchester, UK. A few months later, he ordered a unit. Fast-forward a year and a half later … an email appears in my inbox from Gordon, opening with the following annoucement: "I've at last managed to get my own microtonal keyboard built to go with the Tuning Box." This eye-popping photo was attached: http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=78 Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:48:39 EDT A new version of Xentone microtonal ear trainer is released today. This update features an exciting new user contracted feature called Dynamic Xone Arrays, with which you can flexibly and quickly arrange arbitrary scales in dynamic arrays of buttons for practice and testing. This comes in handy when you want to train your ears to distinguish between tones that would otherwise fall onto the same Xone button in the default array, for example the tones 10/9 and 11/10. If you want to get your ears in tune, there is simply no other software like this; download it and ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=77 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:44:34 EDT It's been quite a while since the initial release of the H-Pi Lo-Fi Microsynth for MacOSX, and high time for an update. Not only has overall output and performance been improved in HPLF2, but many new features have been added to make HPLF a much more versatile and useful tool for microtonal composition. New features include a filter bank, multi-delay reverb unit, and a bank of assignable LFO modulators. Basically, this means that HPLF is no longer just a ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=75 Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:9:4 EDT HAPPY NEW YEAR! Get a U-PLEX for $100 off and make some new music in 2011! THIS SALE WILL NOT BE REPEATED! U-PLEX $100 off! Hurry! Offer ends Janurary 2, 2011 at 5:00 PM EST. http://www.h-pi.com/TPX28buy.html#U-PLEX_buy Sat, 1 Jan 2011 0:0:0 EDT Dolores Catherino is a multi-instrumentalist based in Anchorage, Alaska. She has owned a TPX6 Tonal Plexus keyboard since July, 2008, and dedicates significant time to the study of the instrument. I recently posed the following interview questions to Dolores by email. Your work combines interests in music and medicine. Can you say a bit about that and how you've come to be doing what you're doing? Almost as early as I can remember, I was aware of a ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=74 Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:18:7 EDT Composer Jesus Lopez recently contacted me from Australia with an interesting request: would it be possible for me to make a Tonal Plexus keyboard without colored keys - only black white and grey? And could the controls also be white? And the body, could that also be white? A white Tonal Plexus. It would certainly be striking! Of course; yes, I said; I can do that. Since I make every keyboard by hand, I have no problems ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=73 Tue, 7 Dec 2010 22:35:22 EDT Well, it's time to be thankful in America, and I would like to thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. Before you fall asleep from the tryptophan, I hope you'll take a moment to download and try out the new Custom Scale Editor. For the uninitiated, CSE is a full-featured tuning editor for Mac OSX and Windows which allows you to create any tuning you can imagine. Tune any MIDI key to any pitch ... http://www.h-pi.com/CSEsoftware.html Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:0:52 EDT Today marks the release of new software updates for all major H-Pi software, including bug fixes, improved features, and new features. Autoupdating of all applications is now routed to the new server space inhabited by the H-Pi website. Custom Scale Editor 2.5.0 features a number of improvements concerning the ScratchPad and Units windows, and now allows unlocking the Live Input window via direct purchase of a license ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=71 Mon, 4 Oct 2010 0:46:21 EDT I was recently invited to be part of an article on electronic instruments and microtonality in the German language publication called Virtuos, released by GEMA, a European society for music performance and mechanical reproduction rights similar to ASCAP or BMI. With a circulation of 60,000, GEMA reaches a wide audience of composers, songwrites, and music publishers in Europe and elsewhere ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=70 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:42:21 EDT In case you didn't catch the latest from WikiLeaks, the H-Pi software web pages have been updated with new layouts and graphics, and the software purchase pages have been consolidated into one new software uber-page. Also, if you tried to view the H-Pi website between about 7:30 PM EST July 27 and 5:30 PM EST July 28, you would have been greeted with a 404 Error. The website was unavailable during that time interval, about 22 hours ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=69 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:38:26 EDT I get a lot of questions by email. Sometimes for tech support I've used Yahoo Messenger chat. A problem with that is, people who don't already use Messenger have to download the software, set up an account, etc., and not everyone wants to do that. So, I decided it would be useful to have a custom web-based chat that would be easy to use for anyone who is online. The result is H-Pi Live Chat ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=68 Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:17:00 EDT It was recently brought to my attention that the H-Pi website had some serious navigation and display issues when viewed on Windows machines running Internet Explorer, and I'm happy to hereby proclaim that those issues have been resolved. Even though IE works now, I recommend PC users switch to Safari for Windows. It looks better and ... http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=67 Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:25:00 EDT Researchers in psychoacoustics often refer to a model of pitch as shown at left. This is a two dimensional model in which the vertical axis shows the height of a pitch, while the radial position on the spiral shows the chroma of the pitch. The pitch height corresponds to octave placement or register. The word chroma literally means color in Greek, and in this model as the term is intended to correspond to the chromatic set of twelve pitches known in traditional Western music theory; hence, the names of these twelve tones are shown around the base of the model, and enharmonic equivalents show that the assumption is twelve tone equal temperament. http://www.h-pi.com/theory/huntsystem7.html Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:48:00 EDT Bug Fixes: Live Input window size is now correct, Live Input MIDI lists now require selections, U-PLEX hot swapping no longer causes the bug report window to appear on Mac, Accessing the file archive now opens the correct webpage, Missing Key Map help item has been added | Improved Features: Live Input parameters are now stored in the Preferences | New Features: Split Keyboard features added to Live Input, Mac version now has 2 Virtual MIDI outputs http://www.h-pi.com/TPXEsoftware.html Sat, 03 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EDT Bug Fixes: Fixed crash at launch for new users | Improved Features: 1/1 is now automatically removed from Scala files created in CSE when saving http://www.h-pi.com/downloads.html Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EDT Taken at a Board of Trustees presentation at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, June 14, and sent to me from renowned experimental guitarist and head of the Berklee microtonal music club, David Fiuczynski, we see in the above photo, pictured from left, David Fiuczynski (a.k.a. Fuze), Berklee President Roger Brown and keyboard student [...] http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=66 Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EDT I was pleased recently when Tonal Plexus owner Aaron Wolf alerted me to Automat, a free Audio Unit synthesizer for Mac OSX which has implemented full dynamic retuning support for Tonal Plexus TPX keyboards, as well as .tun 1.0 support for compatibility with CSE and conventional keyboards. Tonal Plexus owners can open Automat as a plugin [...] http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=65 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EDT Fast on the heels of completing full tuning support for Tonal Plexus keyboards, Modartt has just announced a new, more affordable version of Pianoteq called Pianoteq Play, selling for 99 Euros, or about 120 USD (about one third the price of the full version of Pianoteq). This version does come with some limitations, so the [...] http://www.h-pi.com/wordpress/?p=64 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EDT Bug Fixes: Mac PPC Scale Import window no longer freezes, Chord files now load properly from the User Chords directory, Font installation no longer sometimes shows 'plugin unregistered' message, checking Show Notes no longer corrupts the 'repeat' function | Improved features: Mac crash reporter updated for Snow Leopard | New features: Search function added to the Help files, added menuitem to open Help in a browser http://www.h-pi.com/XENTsoftware.html Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EDT