This project consists of a variety of educational and interactive tools for learning about just intonation, xenharmonic music, and tuning theory more broadly. The primary goal of this project is to provide anyone interested in the subject with accesible and explorative tools, such that they can learn through play, and further solidify their musical intuition in tuning theory by connecting it to practice.
NOTE: jinx was developed as supplementary teaching and study material for the 2024 Spring course Special Topics in Composition: Alternate Tuning Systems at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. As such, not all included tools and examples are self-explanatory, and rely on the assumption that users will already have some context and theoretical foundation prior to using jinx.
This project was developed and has only been tested in macOS, but should also be functional in Windows computers. To use it, the following software is required:
- Max programming environment. A commercial license is not required to use this project.
- The bach and ears libraries, which can be installed through the Max Package Manager.
Once these packages are installed, you will have to manually install the fonts included in the jinx/fonts folder: Microtonal.ttf and HEJI2.otf. To install the font in MacOS, double-click on each font file to open the Font Book, and then click on the install font button.
NOTE: In MacOS, installing Microtonal.ttf might open a font validation window, in which case you'd check the font box and click on Installed Checked. This should properly install the font.
Once all software requirements are installed, open the jinx.maxproj file, located in the jinx folder. This will open the main menu, where all available interactive tools are listed and can be accessed from.
Many of the examples and tools in jinx are inspired by and based on ideas from Tuning, timbre, spectrum, scale [2nd Edition] (2005) by William Sethares. Prospective users are encouraged to read it if interested in further understanding the functionalities of and motivations behind jinx.
Moreover, two fonts developed by Marc Sabat & Wolfgang von Schweinitz were needed for the pitch notation example: the Extended Helmholtz-Ellis Just Intonation (HEJI) and Johnston's Microtonal notation fonts.
Lastly, this project would not be possible without the bach library. If you are able to, please support their work through Patreon.
This project is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPL-v3.0).