Ableton Forum

Does anyone know how to get the tuning feature in Ableton Live 12 to work on root notes other than C? I can change the reference pitch/freq. on the tuning tab but it doesn't alter the root note/reference pitch to which the tuning is applied.

Here is the .ASCL tuning file being used:

Just Intonation
12
25/24
9/8
6/5
5/4
4/3
45/32
3/2
8/5
5/3
9/5
15/8
2/1
! @ABL REFERENCE_PITCH 4 9 432.0

We can see that the reference pitch is for A@432Hz, however this doesn't work out as A being the root note if you look at the specific frequencies of each note. Here is a data which we should get if A is the root/reference pitch:

432Hz*(1) = 432Hz
432Hz*(25/24) = 450Hz
432Hz*(9/8) = 486Hz
432Hz*(6/5) = 518.4Hz
432Hz*(5/4) = 540Hz
432Hz*(4/3) = 576Hz
432Hz*(45/32) = 607.5Hz
432Hz*(3/2) = 648Hz
432Hz*(8/5) = 691.2Hz
432Hz*(5/3) = 720Hz
432Hz*(9/5) = 777.6Hz
432Hz*(15/8) = 810Hz
432Hz*(2/1) = 864Hz


HOWEVER, these are the actual pitches populated by Ableton when our reference note is A@432Hz

432Hz*(1) = 432Hz
432Hz*(25/24) = 467Hz
432Hz*(9/8) = 486Hz
432Hz*(6/5) = 518Hz
432Hz*(5/4) = 540Hz
432Hz*(4/3) = 583Hz
432Hz*(45/32) = 622Hz
432Hz*(3/2) = 648Hz
432Hz*(8/5) = 691Hz
432Hz*(5/3) = 729Hz
432Hz*(9/5) = 778Hz
432Hz*(15/8) = 829Hz
432Hz*(2/1) = 864Hz


We can see that the applied ratios do not line up (discrepancies underlined) with what would be expected for our reference pitch. It appears that the pitch assignment is permanently anchored to C as the root/reference pitch. Here is a list of frequencies if [email protected] as derived from 432Hz*(3/5)

259.2Hz*(1) = 259.2Hz
259.2Hz*(25/24) = 270Hz
259.2Hz*(9/8) = 291.6Hz
259.2Hz*(6/5) = 311.04Hz
259.2Hz*(5/4) = 324Hz
259.2Hz*(4/3) = 345.6Hz
259.2Hz*(45/32) = 364.5Hz
259.2Hz*(3/2) = 388.8Hz
259.2Hz*(8/5) = 414.72Hz
259.2Hz*(5/3) = 432Hz
259.2Hz*(9/5) = 466.56Hz
259.2Hz*(15/8) = 486Hz
259.2Hz*(2/1) = 518.4Hz
518.4Hz*(25/24) = 540Hz
518.4Hz*(9/8) = 583.2Hz
518.4Hz*(6/5) = 622.08Hz
518.4Hz*(5/4) = 648Hz
518.4Hz*(4/3) = 691.2Hz
518.4Hz*(45/32) = 729Hz
518.4Hz*(3/2) = 777.6Hz
518.4Hz*(8/5) = 829.44Hz
518.4Hz*(5/3) = 864Hz
518.4Hz*(9/5) = 933.12Hz
518.4Hz*(15/8) = 972Hz
518.4Hz*(2/1) = 1036.8Hz

As can be seen in the above span of two C octaves, the pitches are the same as when A@432Hz was selected as the reference pitch. No matter what root/reference pitch is selected, the frequencies always adhere to a reference of C.

I need to know how to effectively apply tuning to a key other than C. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

Looks like you would need to create a custom tuning and change the reference pitch in the Scala file:

https://tuning.ableton.com/make-your-own-tuning/

That is a custom tuning file that I created. Note the "@ABL REFERENCE_PITCH 4 9 432.0". It doesn't matter what reference pitch I try and command through it, the tuning is always in reference to key of C.

Probably an obvious suggestion, but have you tried changing the global key to A major? I have no idea if that has an effect.

Yeah, even with the tuning set to A major on the control bar, the same tuning problem persists.

Check out the spec for Ableton's tuning files: https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... cification, your zero-eth note in the octave will always be your root note. You need to change the reference pitch to:

! @ABL REFERENCE_PITCH 4 0 432.0

This will make A your root note, but also means your note names will be messed up unless you reorder the note names to reflect the change in root.
To do that, you need to include:

! @ABL NOTE_NAMES A A♯/B♭ B C C♯/D♭ D D♯/E♭ E F F♯/G♭ G G♯/A♭

That should work for you.

transientstatic wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 06, 2025 6:57 am

Check out the spec for Ableton's tuning files: https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... cification, your zero-eth note in the octave will always be your root note. You need to change the reference pitch to:

! @ABL REFERENCE_PITCH 4 0 432.0

This will make A your root note, but also means your note names will be messed up unless you reorder the note names to reflect the change in root.
To do that, you need to include:

! @ABL NOTE_NAMES A A♯/B♭ B C C♯/D♭ D D♯/E♭ E F F♯/G♭ G G♯/A♭

That should work for you.

Keep in mind that the root note will still be mapped to the C on your keyboard, so this will also mess up your keyboard mapping, e. g. you would have to play C-D-D# to hear the notes A-B-C. But this is the only quick and simple solution - you would have to re-calculate all the intervals and build a new scale to have the C note actually mapped to the C key.

transientstatic wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 06, 2025 6:57 am

Check out the spec for Ableton's tuning files: https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... cification, your zero-eth note in the octave will always be your root note. You need to change the reference pitch to:

! @ABL REFERENCE_PITCH 4 0 432.0

This will make A your root note, but also means your note names will be messed up unless you reorder the note names to reflect the change in root.
To do that, you need to include:

! @ABL NOTE_NAMES A A♯/B♭ B C C♯/D♭ D D♯/E♭ E F F♯/G♭ G G♯/A♭

That should work for you.

Wow, thanks, it does seem to work here.

Not seeing the "offsetting" problem resident_m mentioned, Korg Microkey's (and MIDI computer keyboard's) C plays C here.