Rev. 5 – Jun 2020 Page 55 of 91
refer to the procedure listed in following sections about
Project Management or Firmware Update (§§10.3-10.4).
If no .csv file is found into the SD card, or if the file
loaded is not readable by USTA, the four user scales will
be replaced by chromatic scales, which is also the condi-
tion of USTA at its first boot.
SET THE REFERENCE NOTE
Traditionally 0V –in the V/oct tracking reference– is
intended to be a C. Since the V/oct standard is not abso-
lute but relative, and since that voltage reference truly de-
pends on the tuning frequency at 0V of the oscillator you
are using, it seems that some people prefer the C at 0V,
while some others prefer the A: in the end, it’s just per-
sonal taste, even here at Frap Tools we are divided. We
decided for this reason to put a setting item in the project
menu to define that per each project. This is only a visual
reference, but it is fair that everyone can maintain their
preferred way of seeing things, to ease the creation and
arrangement. The only thing that changes selecting the
one or the other is the visualization on the display of the
name value of the last edited stage and the current play-
ing stage in a track that uses a Pitch mode for their CV A
or CV B.
In order to set the reference note, open the Project
Menu, scroll to the item 0v is and select C or A.
CUSTOM TEMPERAMENTS
USTA by default divides an octave in equal tempera-
ments, which means that the distance between each in-
terval is the same across the whole scale, regardless of
how many intervals per octave are chosen. It is possible,
however, to create custom tunings to fine-tune certain
scale intervals and obtain, for instance, more “perfect”
intervals such as thirds or fifths.
The procedure is similar to the one just described for
custom scales: a .csv file is required for each of the octave
divisions (12, 15, 19, 22, 24 intervals) and the custom
scales will be available as option in the TonesPerOct menu
item.
By default, no file is loaded into the SD card, and these
menu items will be a copy of their respective EDO tem-
peraments. The .csv file must be made of four lines, one
per each custom temperament. Each line must have a
succession of digits, which represent the tuning offset
from EDO, expressed in cents, and whose values can be
anything from −50 to +50. They must be separated by a
semicolon ( ; ) and there must be 12 for the 12-tone scales,
15 for the 15-tone scale and so on, up to the 24-tone scale.
No space must be used between digits and semicolons,
and no semicolon must be placed after the last digit.
Please note that the custom temperaments will not be audi-
ble in Composition mode, where they are replaced by the
default EDO. Temperaments are audible when USTA is play-
ing the sequence either in Edit or Playback mode.
Here is an example of how a single line of the .csv file
for a custom 12-tone temperament will look like.
0;0;5;0;-7;0;0;11;0;-2;0;0
In this example, the major second is raised by 5 cents,
the major third is lowered by 7, the fifth is raised by 11
and the sixth is lowered by two.
Please note that the four lines must be completed in full
for the file to be properly read by USTA: if you need to
create less than four custom temperaments, consider fill-
ing the other lines with 0s.
If a value is missing at the end of each line, it will be
replaced with a 0. Values after the last one will be ig-
nored. Once your file is ready, you must save it as follows:
Table 13: Custom temperaments le names.
Once the files are correctly saved, copy them to the SD
card and insert the card into the card holder in the back
of USTA. On startup, USTA will automatically read
them and the temperaments will be available as 12User1,
12User2, 12User3, 12User4, 15User1, 15User2 and so on,
within the TonesPerOct item in the track menu. To un-
mount the SD card and connect it to your computer, re-
fer to the procedure listed in following sections about
about Project Management or Firmware Update (§§10.3-10.4).
9.5.1 Absolute or Relative Temperaments
After defining your tuning, it is possible to choose
whether quantization is calculated by USTA on the basis
of the 0V note (absolute) or in relation to the Root note
selected for the respective octave division (relative).
The reason for doing so is that one may need a given
temperament for different compositions in different keys.
To set this option, enter the Project Menu, scroll until the
Temperament item and select Relative or Absolute as default
behavior. Again, this setting affects USTA as a whole,
and does not belong to a specific project.
Important note! The .csv les created for Scales and Temper-
aments are global parameters, just like the trimming le. It
means that they are not saved in each project, but they are
recalled every time. If you need a specic scale or tempera-
ment for a project, make sure not to replace it on the .csv le!
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