Kurzweil K2661 Musician's Manual page 572

Other Editors
The Intonation Table Editor
Enter the Intonation Table Editor by pressing the Edit button. The Intonation Table Editor page
displays a graphic representation of a C octave, with the low C always representing the tonic.
The values for these parameters indicate the amount of detuning applied to each note relative to
perfectly equal intonation. If you look at the values for the intonation table 1 Equal (as
illustrated below), you'll see that the value of each parameter is 0. None of the notes is detuned,
so the intervals between each note are exactly the same. Take a minute to look at the values for
some of the other intonation tables, and listen to the effect on the tuning.
The top line of the display gives you the usual reminder of your location. The bottom line labels
the soft buttons for the Intonation Table Editor, which let you perform the usual librarian
functions of naming, saving, and deleting the currently selected intonation table, or dumping it
via SysEx.
Assume for now that the IntonaKey parameter is set to a value of C (which is the default). This
means that each C is the reference point for defining the intervals of all the other notes.
Let's say you want to create an intonation table that flats the 5th in each octave. Select the value
on the G note displayed by the Intonation Table Editor, and set its value to a negative number—
for example, -12 cents. This will reduce the interval between the tonic (C, in this case) and the
5th (G, in this case) by 12/100ths of a semitone. All the Gs will remain exactly an octave apart
from each other, but they'll be 12 cents flat from their normal pitches.
Press the Compare (Disk mode) button to hear the difference between the edited table and the
original. Press the Save soft button to begin the save dialog, where you can rename and save
your edited intonation table.
The changes we've discussed here are based on a value of C for the IntonaKey parameter. If you
were to select Master mode and change the value of the IntonaKey parameter, you'd change the
tonic note that the intonation table uses to define the intervals of the other notes. Let's say you
change IntonaKey from C to G. The tonic changes to G, and the intervals in each octave are
defined relative to G. The minor 2nd is now G#, the major 2nd is A, and so on. In the example
we gave above, all the Ds would now be 12 cents flat.
A good reference source for descriptions of various alternative intonations is a book by Scott R.
Wilkinson entitled Tuning In: Microtonality in Electronic Music, available from the Hal Leonard
Publishing Corporation.
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