Temperament Bench TB—01 No microphone · local audio only

A listening instrument for tuning compromise

Hear the distance between right answers.

A pure ratio and an equal-tempered note can both be useful. Put them in the air together, watch their disagreement breathe, then carry your own set of pitches into another instrument.

Two ways to land

chosen pitch + nearest working grid
Chosen interval

5/4

275.000 Hz
12-tone equal temperament

400¢ grid

277.183 Hz
Combined pressure · envelope in brass1.00 seconds shown
Chosen position 386.314¢ above the base
Tuning distance −13.686¢ chosen minus 12-TET
Audible beating 2.183 Hz one swell every 0.458 s

Audio is off by default. The trace and every measurement above are the complete silent version.

275.000 − 277.183 = −2.183 Hz

02 / assemble

Make a temperament, not a spreadsheet.

Pin intervals from the bench to a one-octave rail. Exact ratios stay ratios; fine offsets and direct cents stay exact decimal degrees.

6 written degrees + implicit 1/1. Select a marker to remove it; 1/1 and the 2/1 period stay fixed.

Ordered degrees

    Portable result

    deterministic signature —

    What the bench is showing

    Ratio

    5/4 means the upper vibration completes five cycles while the lower completes four. At a 220 Hz base, that is exactly 275 Hz.

    Compromise

    12-TET divides an octave into twelve equal logarithmic steps. Its major third is 400 cents, useful everywhere but 13.686 cents above 5/4.

    Beating

    When nearby tones sound together, their difference becomes a slow change in loudness. The trace is calculated even when audio is off; no microphone is requested.