Midi

Jird can output midi files to use with other music programs.

With scala files

If we have have music in text file music.txt, running

$ jird -m music.txt

will produce a midi file music.midi along with scala files music.scl and music.kbm defining the tuning. Together these can be used to load the music and tuning into a digital audio workstation (DAW). This needs a synth which supports tuning with scala files, for example Surge XT.

With pitch bends

To use synths which don’t support scala files, we can retune with MIDI pitch bends. Running

$ jird -m --tuning_method pitch_bend music.txt

will output a midi file music.midi which uses pitch bends to retune each note. If the synth uses Midi Polyphonic Expression (MPE), you may need to set the pitch bend range to 48 semitones (48 is the MPE default; jird by default uses two semitones):

$ jird -m --tuning_method pitch_bend --pitch_bend_range 48 music.txt