Hexatone

An isomorphic keyboard for microtonal music. Play any tuning with the built-in sampler, or drive select capable synths with microtonal pitch.

Hexatone is an isomorphic hexagonal keyboard and microtonal instrument for iPad. Every interval keeps the same shape anywhere on the grid, so scales and chords are easy to learn and transpose, in any tuning. It makes its own sound, in tune, with built-in voices and a sampler, and no extra apps required.

PLAY ANY TUNING

• Any equal temperament (N-EDO): 12, 19, 22, 24, 31, 53 and beyond
• Import your own scales as Scala (.scl) files, and keys show their ratios
• Manage your imported scales, and adjust octave, concert pitch (A4), and key density

A SOUND OF ITS OWN

• Two built-in voices that play in tune out of the box: a struck bell and a sustaining glass tone
• Load a single audio file and play it across the whole board, perfectly in tune
• Or import full multisample instruments (SFZ), as a folder or a .zip: pianos, kalimbas, pads, anything
• Name, rename, and manage your instrument library, and reclaim space, right in the app
• Choose how many voices play at once
• No external synth needed, though you can still send MIDI at the same time

PLAY HANDS-FREE

• Hold mode sustains a chord after you lift your fingers, so you can layer and let it ring
• Tap a held key to drop it; turn Hold off to release everything

ISOMORPHIC LAYOUTS

• Bosanquet, Wicki-Hayden, Harmonic Table, Fourths, Accordion, or a Custom layout

BEAUTIFUL, READABLE KEYS

• Glassy, glowing keys that light up as you play
• Four colour palettes (Pastel, Inferno, Turquoise, Campfire). Hue shows pitch class and brightness shows octave, so you can read the keyboard at a glance

WORKS EVERYWHERE

• Standalone, or as an AUv3 plugin in AUM, Logic Pro, GarageBand, Cubasis, Loopy Pro, Drambo
• MPE pitch: each note plays on its own channel with its own pitch bend, so MPE-capable synths sound every microtonal interval in tune
• Note velocity, a velocity curve, and an adjustable pitch-bend range

A note on MPE: Hexatone uses MPE for per-note microtonal pitch (the X axis). It does not send the continuous Y (CC74 timbre) or Z (pressure) expression of touch controllers like the Seaboard, because a flat screen has no native way to sense those. It is a microtonal playing and routing instrument first.