Scale Sets

Multiple scales bundled together

The notion of Scale Set was introduced by Cognitone specifically for Music Prototyping in order to support a computational model for the theory of harmony.

A Scale Set bundles one or more scales, all of them starting from a common root note. Synfire resembles traditional Major/Minor keys with predefined Scale Sets, the basis for the so-called Standard Palettes that you can navigate in the Circle Of Fifths.

Major Scale Set

major + harmonic major + melodic major

Minor Scale Set

natural minor + melodic minor + harmonic minor

Reference Scale

The first scale in a Scale Set is called Reference Scale. It is the one most frequently used for building chords and melodies. It influences the order of additional scales and the spelling of notes. For example, whether a note is written Eb or D# depends on the reference scale.

Additional Scales

The additional scales are thought of being variations of the reference scale, enriching the harmonic material with additional notes. You can make every additional scale become the reference scale, using the Palette Editor.

Note: Synfire automatically creates additional Scale Sets as needed, using its knowledge of relationships between scales, chords, and keys.
Note: Every Palette is based on a Scale Set.