The Minor Scales module produces pitch voltages representing the notes in minor scales.
There are several different minor scales.
The natural minor scale is represented by the main column on the left. The natural minor scale is also known as the Aeolian modal scale.
The pattern of intervals is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7.
The pattern of semitone steps between notes is 2 1 2 2 1 2 2.
The harmonic minor scale differs from the natural minor scale by using a major 7th rather than a minor 7th pitch.
The pattern of intervals is 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7.
The pattern of semitone steps between notes is 2 1 2 2 1 3 1.
The ascending melodic scale is like the harmonic minor scale except it also uses a major 6th rather than a minor 6th pitch. It is essentially a major scale but with a flattened 3rd.
The pattern of intervals is 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7.
The pattern of semitone steps between notes is 2 1 2 2 2 2 1.
The descending melodic minor scale is the same as the harmonic minor scale.
The small yellow numbers show the number of semitones difference in pitch between the outputs.
A regular 1 V/Octave control voltage fed to the module’s KEY IN socket controls which key is used. If nothing is connected then the key defaults to C.
The KEY IN signal is used to transpose the scale by simple addition so will handle octave offsets and non-standard tuning, but it’s also used to update the helpful yellow note value labels. So the module is expecting the KEY IN voltage to be relatively stable. For clarity (and to a lesser extent from an efficiency point of view) it’s therefore best if things like vibrato or glides are added after this module .
In a small number of situations you will see a yellow note name with a double sharp symbol, for example Fx. This is used to ensure that each note in the scale has the correct letter. So should an F# needs to be sharpened while still using the letter F rather than G then a double sharp (x) symbol is used.
Individual pitch outputs can be used for transposition, to build chords or be used in generative music patches.
The commonest application is perhaps to connect an S-Poly signal from one of the OUT sockets to Adroit modules that utilize scales.
Availability
The Minor Scales module is part of LSSP XL.