Tunings Notebook
A web workbook where music theory students play the same melody in 12-TET, Pythagorean, Quarter-Comma Meantone, and 5-limit Just Intonation side by side, with annotated scores that flag where the commas diverge.
Music theory undergraduates and musicology professors teaching comparative tuning systems
- Side-by-side playback of one melody across four tunings with synchronized cursor
- Annotated score highlighting comma differences (e.g., Pythagorean vs Just third)
- Lesson templates for Renaissance, Byzantine, Gamelan, and Indian classical modules
- Export of tuning comparisons as audio or video clips for lectures
New releases in xenharmlib and Scala now support the full cosmos of regular temperaments, making a comparative teaching tool finally buildable without a research grant.
Undergraduate music theory curricula focus on fundamentals and 12-TET; the HN trigger post only got 9 points and tools like Artusi/uTheory center on Theory I-IV with no tuning-comparison content, signaling a very small addressable audience.uTheory: Online music theory, rhythm and ear training ↗Artusi: Pricing ↗
Several standalone tuning-calculator/player tools exist (AudioCalcs, Calcimator, web Intonation, Sacrifunk Lab, Scale Workshop) but none offer a side-by-side annotated workbook for comparative pedagogy, leaving a narrow but real gap.Tuning System Calculator | Calcimator ↗Scale Workshop — Grokipedia ↗
Music-theory EdTech competitors (Artusi, uTheory) lean freemium or institutional licensing; academic customers have notoriously tight discretionary budgets, and the tuning-comparison niche is too small for consumer subscription pricing.Artusi: Pricing ↗Music Theory Test Prep Pricing | Worldwide ↗
Tuning theory is a centuries-stable academic subject and the xenharmonic community is gradually growing with mature library support (Scala, xenharmlib), supporting long-term relevance for a teaching tool.Scala Home Page ↗
Tuning math is handled by xenharmlib/Scala and web audio synthesis is mature, but combining synchronized playback across systems with annotated score rendering (VexFlow/OSMD) and comma-flagging UX is non-trivial.Scale Workshop — Grokipedia ↗