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Illustration: Filip Fröhlich
Musicians have always pushed boundaries and questioned rules, but microtonality is about challenging entire foundations.
The Western music theory you might’ve learned is certainly a powerful tool for composing sounds with intention. Yet, it shouldn’t be looked at as the sole option—in fact, entire cultures around the world have found a way to expand on this approach: microtonality.
But what is microtonality? How can you begin experimenting with it using the instruments you already have, and how can it change the way you think about your creative process?
This guide is for the curious, open, and obsessed producers. We’ll explore how to look beyond the chromatic scale that’s at the heart of Western music theory, and how you can apply microtonality to your own music, whether as a defining element or an ornamental touch.
Feel free to use the table of contents below to easily navigate to a specific section.
What you’ll learn:
Let’s dive in!
What is microtonality?
Microtonality describes music that features intervals smaller than the standard semitones found in the 12-note chromatic scale.
In Western music theory, we’re provided with 12 notes that span an octave, with equal distance between each other. This is referred to as TET, or tone equal temperament, and Western equal temperament is only one tuning system among many.
The Western 12-note chromatic scale
| Step | Chromatic note |
|---|---|
| 0 | C |
| 1 | C♯ / D♭ |
| 2 | D |
| 3 | D♯ / E♭ |
| 4 | E |
| 5 | F |
| 6 | F♯ / G♭ |
| 7 | G |
| 8 | G♯ / A♭ |
| 9 | A |
| 10 | A♯ / B♭ |
| 11 | B |
| 12 | C (Octave) |
In microtonal music, we introduce additional pitches between the octaves. Rather than 12 notes in a chromatic scale, we suddenly have 24, 31, or even more.
The 24-TET scale (also known as the quarter tone scale)
| Step | 24-TET note |
|---|---|
| 0 | C |
| 1 | C half-sharp |
| 2 | C♯ / D♭ |
| 3 | D♭ half-sharp |
| 4 | D |
| 5 | D half-sharp |
| 6 | D♯ / E♭ |
| 7 | E♭ half-sharp |
| 8 | E |
| 9 | E half-sharp |
| 10 | F |
| 11 | F half-sharp |
| 12 | F♯ / G♭ |
| 13 | G♭ half-sharp |
| 14 | G |
| 15 | G half-sharp |
| 16 | G♯ / A♭ |
| 17 | A♭ half-sharp |
| 18 | A |
| 19 | A half-sharp |
| 20 | A♯ / B♭ |
| 21 | B♭ half-sharp |
| 22 | B |
| 23 | B half-sharp |
| 24 | C (Octave) |
The history of microtonal music
Microtonality is no modern invention. The deep musical traditions in regions like modern-day SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) have defined their sound by expanding past where Western nations set their notation limitations. Whether it be the viral Angine de Poitrine or users of the LinnStrument (launched in 2014), the rest of the world is beginning to catch on to the power, possibilities, and pure fun of microtonal music.
If you’d like to embark on your studies of different music theories that embrace microtonality, start with:
- Arabic maqamat / Turkish makams
- Indian ragas
- Indonesian gamelan tuning
How to make microtonal music
If you’d like to make your own microtonal music, there are plenty of instruments that have the ability to play more than 12 notes to an octave. Wind instruments, fretless stringed instruments, and the human voice aren’t limited to semitones. The simple bending of a guitar string can be microtonal, as can be a gradual slide with a woodwind. In electronic production, a riser is indeed touching upon the world of microtonality, but doing so in a transitional way rather than allowing these under-explored notes to sustain.
For further exploration, you can also browse microtonal samples on Splice to train your ear and incorporate with these sounds in your own productions.
Some microtonal percussion—get the sample here
Beyond acoustic instrumentation, there are a select few hardware instruments that make experimenting with microtonal music accessible. These instruments can give you access to quarter tones or even smaller divisions between octaves all in one place, allowing you to perform microtonally live.
If interested and your budget allows, you can start with:
- Dualo Equis (from $250)
- Haken Audio Continuum Series (from $1,000)
- LinnStrument (from $1,150)
- Synthstrom Audible Deluge (from $1,400)
- Lumatone Isomorphic Keyboard (from $4,250)
Many products that either center or better support microtonality will also brand themselves as MPE, or multi-polyphonic expression instruments. Both of these ways of rethinking traditional MIDI hardware represent some of the most unique ways to shape your sound.
There are also countless software instruments that allow you to detune the more affordable Ableton Move, or even the most basic MIDI keyboard. The unique challenge this introduces is experimenting using a combination of tracks: one in standard tuning and one tuned up or down a quarter tone.
The classical composer Ivan Wyschnegradsky famously did this by providing two separate staffs of sheet music for the piano: one tuned in standard, and one tuned microtonally. While this represents an outlier rather than a trend, it shows the lengths we as musicians go to manifest the sounds within our heads.
Today, we can use the same tricks using individual tracks within a DAW. You can start with the free and open-source Surge XT, or by checking out this list for ways to experiment without hardware.
Redefine your limits with Splice
Exploring microtonal music is only one of numerous ways that you can think beyond the “traditional” rules of music creation. For example, sampling entered popular music through hip hop only a few decades ago, and is now a standard across nearly every genre.
With Splice, you can access the world’s largest library of samples including microtonal, game audio, shoegaze, and much more. Only through constant experimentation and questioning can we expand our artistic horizons, as perhaps Angine de Poitrine have just shown us. Will you be next?
Explore royalty-free melodies, chord progressions, and grooves by key, BPM, genre, and more:
May 15, 2026
