HISTORIC SCALES IN APPLE'S LOGIC PRO X

Dallin Durfee and John Colton do a very nice job of describing compromises that are made while striving toward the impossible goal of making a musical instrument consonant when played in any key.¹ Their entertaining program Temperament Studio allows intervals and chords to be played using six tunings that their article discusses. I am writing to point out the existence of another very useful program with similar capabilities. Logic Pro X, which can be purchased for $199 through Apple's App Store, is a more comprehensive version of GarageBand, the music composition program that is included with all Apple computers. With Logic Pro X, it is possible to play a MIDI keyboard in real time using about 100 different tunings. First create a new project and select a software instrument. Historic scales must be enabled, which can be done through Logic Pro X/Preferences/Advanced Tools/Advanced Editing. A particular tuning can then be chosen by selecting Project Settings/Tuning from the File menu. Selection of Show Musical Typing from the Window menu makes it possible to experiment with the selected tuning without the use of an external MIDI keyboard.