Carlos Alpha & Friends

Microtonal — Scala tunings · Phase 32

Carlos Alpha & Friends Press play to listen

Microtonality as a first-class Flow value. `(loadScala "x.scl")` parses any of ~5300 community Scala tunings into a `Tuning`, applied via the `tuning t { ... }` musical-context block. This piece renders four sections under four tuning systems — Partch’s 43-tone just intonation, Wendy Carlos’ non-octave-repeating Alpha, a 5-limit JI arpeggio, and a return to Partch — so each is audibly distinct. The hero audio is a just-intonation sketch. (The source reads `.scl` files off disk, so it runs on the desktop CLI, not in the browser playground.)

Source

enable justIntonation;

use "@std"
use "@audio"
use "@composition"

Note: ============================================================
Note:  Chapter: Scala Microtonal Tunings (Phase 32)
Note:  Run: dotnet run --project flow-interpreter examples/scala/intro.flow
Note: ============================================================
Note:
Note:  Flow ships three named tunings out of the box: justIntonation,
Note:  pythagorean, and equalTemperament (the default). Phase 32 extends
Note:  this to ~5300 community-curated tunings via the Scala (.scl) file
Note:  format: load any of them with (loadScala "path.scl") and apply via
Note:  the tuning t { ... } musical-context block.

(print "")
(print "=== Scala Microtonal Tunings ===")
(print "Top-of-file pragma `enable justIntonation;` is active (the JI baseline).")
(print "")

Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: 1. Load a tuning + describe it
Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: (loadScala "path.scl") parses the .scl file at call time and returns
Note: a first-class Tuning value. (str t) prints the description + step count + period.
Tuning partch = (loadScala "flow-lang.Tests/fixtures/scala/partch_43.scl")
(print $"Loaded: {(str partch)}")

Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: 2. Apply via the tuning { ... } block (identifier form)
Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: section a renders under Partch — the Tuning variable is referenced by name.
tempo 120 {
    timesig 4/4 {
        tuning partch {
            section a {
                Sequence mel = | C4q D4q E4q F4q |
            }
        }

Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: 3. String-literal sugar (the D-15 ergonomic form)
Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: `tuning "x.scl" { ... }` desugars at parse time to `tuning (loadScala "x.scl") { ... }`.
Note: section b renders under Wendy Carlos' Alpha (a non-octave-repeating scale).
        tuning "flow-lang.Tests/fixtures/scala/carlos_alpha.scl" {
            section b {
                Sequence mel = | C4q E4q G4q B4q |
            }
        }

Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: 4. Last-wins: pragma + block interact (SPEC-6 acceptance)
Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: section c is OUTSIDE any tuning block -> renders under the file-scope JI pragma.
Note: section d is inside `tuning partch { ... }` again -> the inner block wins.
        section c {
            Sequence mel = | C4q E4q G4q C5q |
        }
        tuning partch {
            section d {
                Sequence mel = | C4q E4q G4q C5q |
            }
        }
    }
}

Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: 5. Render the four sections to a single WAV
Note: -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: Each section uses a distinct active tuning, so the four arpeggios are
Note: audibly distinct -- a Partch JI fan, a Carlos Alpha non-octave run,
Note: a 5-limit JI arpeggio, and a return to Partch.
Song song = [a b c d]
Buffer audio = (renderSong song "sine")
(writeWav "/tmp/p32_intro.wav" audio)

(print "")
(print "Rendered: /tmp/p32_intro.wav")
(print "Listen for the four distinct timbres -- each section uses a different tuning system.")
Note: For reference: `(loadScala "path")` builtin + `tuning t { ... }` block
Note: are documented in CLAUDE.md (Music Types Quick Reference + Music-Specific Language Features).

examples/scala/intro.flow

This piece reads files off disk or registers content at engine init, so it runs on the desktop CLI rather than in the browser playground.