[OSC_dev] OSC replacement for MIDI

[Nick Rothwell]

On 30 Jan 2009, at 21:44, Jeff Glatt wrote:

> It's an abstraction for frequency. In other
> words, MIDI note number 60 is supposed to produce a pitch at
> 261.63 Hertz.

I'm not sure that's true, and I'm not sure as a statement it makes  
sense.

I'd need to check the MIDI spec., but I suspect (and please, by all  
means prove me wrong) that MIDI note event 60 doesn't say anything  
about frequency; it just informs a keyboard or module to remotely  
press down the middle C key.

Any interesting tone will have large numbers of harmonics, many of  
which will be detuned, so we can only really talk about the  
"frequency" of a triggered note in terms of the fundamental or some  
main harmonic. When it comes to samplers and drum machines, there is  
no tonal semantics attached to the MIDI note numbers at all; they're  
just (velocity-sensitive) switches.

	-- N.


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