quantize_color: Find a scale mod k that matches a given color

In musicMCT: Analyze the Structure of Musical Scales

Find a scale mod k that matches a given color

Description

Modal Color Theory is able to analyze scales in continuous pitch-class space, but sometimes irrational values can be inconvenient to work with. Therefore it's often quite useful to find a scale that has the same color as the one you're studying, but which can be represented by integers in some mod k universe. See "Modal Color Theory," 27.

Usage

quantize_color(
  set,
  nmax = 12,
  reconvert = FALSE,
  ineqmat = NULL,
  target_edo = NULL,
  edo = 12,
  rounder = 10
)

Arguments

set	Numeric vector of pitch-classes in the set
nmax	Integer, essentially a limit to how far the function should search before giving up. Although every real color should have a rational representation in some mod k universe, for some colors that k must be very high. Increasing nmax makes the function run longer but might be necessary if small chromatic universes don't produce a result. Defaults to 12.
reconvert	Boolean. Should the scale be converted to the input edo? Defaults to FALSE.
ineqmat	Specifies which hyperplane arrangement to consider. By default (or by explicitly entering "mct") it supplies the standard "Modal Color Theory" arrangements of getineqmat(), but can be set to strings "white," "black", "gray", "roth", "infrared", "pastel", "rosy", "infrared", or "anaglyph", giving the ineqmats of make_white_ineqmat(), make_black_ineqmat(), make_gray_ineqmat(), make_roth_ineqmat(), make_infrared_ineqmat(), make_pastel_ineqmat(), make_rosy_ineqmat(), make_infrared_ineqmat(), or make_anaglyph_ineqmat(). For other arrangements, this parameter accepts explicit matrices.
target_edo	Numeric (expected integer) determining a specific equal division of the octave to quantize to. Defaults to NULL, in which any potential edo will be accepted.
edo	Number of unit steps in an octave. Defaults to 12.
rounder	Numeric (expected integer), defaults to 10: number of decimal places to round to when testing for equality.

Value

If reconvert=FALSE, a list of two elements: element 1 is set with a vector of integers representing the quantized scale; element 2 is edo representing the number k of unit steps in the mod k universe. If reconvert=TRUE, returns a single numeric vector measured relative to the unit step size input as edo: these generally will not be integers. Values may be NA if no suitable quantization was found beneath the limit given by nmax or in target_edo (if specified).

Examples

qcm_fifth <- meantone_fifth()
qcm_lydian <- sort(((0:6)*qcm_fifth)%%12)
quantize_color(qcm_lydian)

# Let's approximate the Werckmeister III well-temperament
werck_ratios <- c(1, 256/243, 64*sqrt(2)/81, 32/27, (256/243)*2^(1/4), 4/3, 
  1024/729, (8/9)*2^(3/4), 128/81, (1024/729)*2^(1/4), 16/9, (128/81)*2^(1/4))
werck3 <- z(werck_ratios)
quantize_color(werck3)
quantize_color(werck3, reconvert=TRUE)

quantize_color(j(dia))
quantize_color(j(dia), target_edo=22)

musicMCT documentation built on June 21, 2026, 9:06 a.m.