3.5

674MainStage Instruments
MainStage Vintage Clav Pitch parameters
The Pitch parameters affect the tuning of the selected model.
Pitch parameters
• Tune slider and field: Adjust tuning in one-cent intervals. At a value of 0c (zero cents),
the central A key is tuned to 440Hz, or concert pitch.
• Stretch Tuning slider and field: Use to deviate from the default equal-tempered scale
by altering the bass and treble ends of the sound. This simulates the way stringed
keyboard instruments such as pianos are tuned (see information below).
Note: Use of both Warmth and Stretch may result in a detuned sound that is quite
similar to a heavy chorus effect. In some instances, this effect may be so extreme that
Vintage Clav sounds out of tune with your project or concert.
• Warmth slider and field: Set the amount of random deviation from an equal-tempered
scale. High values add life to sounds. The Warmth parameter can be useful when
you are emulating an instrument that has not been tuned for a while, or for slightly
thickening a sound. When you are playing chords, the Warmth parameter creates a
slight detuning or beating effect between notes.
• Pitch Wheel slider and field: Determine the pitch bend range in semitone steps. Use
your keyboard pitch bend wheel to control pitch bends.
• Pitch Pressure slider and field: Adjust aftertouch sensitivity. On an original D6, applying
pressure to a depressed key raises the pitch slightly. Pitch Pressure emulates this
behavior. Values to the left of the center position lower the pitch slightly with aftertouch
messages. Values to the right raise pitch.
Stretch tuning in acoustic instruments
The tones of upright pianos, and to a lesser extent grand pianos (due to their longer
strings), have inharmonicities in their harmonic structure. This also applies to other
stringed instruments, but it particularly affects pianos due to the length, density, and
tension of the strings. If a piano is perfectly tuned to equal temperament across the
keyboard range, the overtones of the low strings and the fundamentals of the high strings
sound out of tune with each other.