Tonality
Tuning
The same chord in equal temperament, then pure.
Listen forIn the first part the sound slowly swells and fades. In the second it no longer does: the notes stop beating against each other.
Synthesizer for iPhone and iPad
Tone Field.
An instrument to play by touch that is not tied to twelve notes. You stroke a surface, and it offers only the notes of your scale.
For iPhone and iPad · Currently in development
- 4instruments, each with its own sound
- 8scenes, every clip with its sound
- 16voices per instrument
- 80scales and tunings
Listen
Played by Tone Field
Every example is rendered by the app, not played again by hand. The pictures show each note above a keyboard, exactly where it lies.
Why this is special
Pianos, keyboards and most synthesizers divide the octave into twelve equal semitones. That is practical, but a compromise: thirds and fifths sound slightly out of tune in it, and music built on other intervals can only be played roughly — Arabic maqamat, Indian ragas, or Baroque music in its old tunings.
Tone Field tunes every note the way the chosen tuning asks, and shows on the surface how far it lies from the piano key. So you play pure chords, historical tunings or quarter tones without retuning anything or doing the arithmetic.
One lane per note
Each lane stands over the point of the keyboard where its note lies. When it lights up, the note is sounding.
Distance in cents
The number under a lane says how far the note lies from the piano key. 100 cents make a semitone; a few cents already change how a chord sounds together.
Amber for comparison
In some examples amber lanes show where the same note would lie on a piano.
Canon in D
Pachelbel's bass and upper line; the second voice is played by Tone Field's canon. In pure tuning every chord is tuned so that its notes do not beat against each other. For that the third, F♯, sits 16 cents below its piano key.
Minuet in G
From the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, in Werckmeister III of 1691. In Bach's time keyboards were mostly not tuned in equal steps, and each key sounded a little different. Here the piece sounds in a tuning of its time.
Arpeggio
The chords of Bach's Prelude in C, played by the arpeggiator, in adaptive pure tuning: Tone Field tunes each chord pure at the moment it sounds. The numbers show the same note moving by a few cents from chord to chord.
Meantone
How keyboards were tuned around 1600: the major thirds are pure, but only in some keys. The same cadence in C major, then in F♯ major; above the third stands its size, 386 cents, then 427. The difference is plain to hear.
Maqam Rast
One of the principal maqamat of Arabic music. Its third and seventh lie a quarter tone below the piano's, halfway between two keys. A piano cannot play them; in Tone Field each has a lane of its own. Then major, for comparison.
Harmonic series
The note of an instrument contains overtones, whole multiples of its frequency. The seventh lies 31 cents below the piano's seventh. Built from these overtones, the chord 4:5:6:7 does not beat; then the same chord in equal temperament.
Bohlen–Pierce
A scale without an octave: it divides the twelfth, an octave and a fifth, into thirteen steps, and its chords rest on the ratio 3:5:7. Worked out in the 1970s and 80s; a piano cannot play it.
More to hear
Short comparisons: the same thing each time, with one difference. The buttons under the wave jump straight to each part.
Beat
Drums by tempo
The same machine twice; the tempo chooses the style.
Listen forAt 124 a straight deep techno with a clap. At 152 hardtekk: the kick bounces on the off-beat, the snare takes the backbeat.
Beat
Beat character
One dial across the whole kit.
Listen forThe groove stays the same; only the sound of the drums changes, in four steps.
Sound
Delays
The same figure through four delays.
Listen forThe repeats: clear with Digital, darker with every pass and slightly wavering with Tape, alternating left and right with Ping-pong, long and filtered with Dub.
Beat
Width
The same kit in mono, then widened.
Listen forWith headphones: first everything comes from the middle, then the kit stands wide between left and right.
Best with headphones.
Features
At a glance
Play
Left to right the pitch, bottom to top the timbre, for every finger on its own.
Sound
Four instruments, filters, four delays and reverb, with an arpeggiator and a canon.
Record
Record any sound with the microphone and play it as grains or tape, tuned to its pitch.
Tonality
Scales from many traditions; pure, historical and equal tunings.
Scale workshop
Build scales of your own, starting from eighty.
Session
Clips that keep their sound, tuning and dial moves, also when you pass them on.
Beat
A beat that suits the tempo, and pads to play it in.
Mix and export
A mixer with the beat, recording, and stems for your DAW.
Plugin
Tone Field AU
The same instrument as an Audio Unit plugin for Mac and iPad, with the same projects.
In preparation, as a product of its own.
Good to know.
Can I download Tone Field yet?
The app is currently in development. Once it is released, this page will link to the official App Store listing. Pricing and a release date have not been set yet.
Do I need an account or an internet connection?
The instrument needs no account. Sound generation, scales and projects work locally. You can choose to use network MIDI connections and file sharing when you need them.
Can I use my own scales?
Yes. In the scale workshop, starting from eighty, or as a Scala file.
Can I take my ideas into a DAW?
Yes. A scene leaves as an archive with a MIDI file per track, and as audio if you want; single clips too. The MIDI files carry the tempo and the tuning of every note.
Can I share clips with others?
Yes. A clip leaves as a file with its sound, its tuning and, for GRAINS, its recording. Someone with Tone Field opens the file, and the clip is in their project.
Is Tone Field a complete DAW?
No. Tone Field is an instrument first, with a compact session workspace alongside it. It is designed to make musical ideas accessible, not to replace every tool in a large studio.
Contact and feedback
For technical questions, please include your device, iOS version and the affected feature.