Quarter tone
Quarter tones (and other microtones) occur in Eastern and Arabic music, but sometimes also in modern classical music. You enter them in MusiCAD using the accidental menu.
half sharp quarter-tone raise half sharp half flat quarter-tone lower half flat three-quarter sharp three-quarter-tone raise three-quarter sharp three-quarter flat three-quarter lowering three-quarter flat
Consecutively
- C - Cih - Cis - Cisih - Cisis | D - Deh - Des - Deseh - Deses
To get a quarter raised c# or cisih you have to raise a cis by a quarter tone. A three-quarter lowered d or deseh is made by lowering a D flat by a quarter tone; with quarter tones (in equal temperament) there can also be enharmonic exchange:
C = Deses Cih = Deseh Cis = Des Cisih = Deh Cisis = D
You enter quarternotes using the accidental menu (doubleflat <alt-F11>)
Quarter tones are played as such by MusiCAD, but not included in the mechanism for automatically placing sharps and flats (in fact, a half sharp and a half flat are treated as an embellishment sign, as are the three-quarter sharp, three-quarter flat)
Quarter tone increases can be found on the status line with %#, decreases with %b. A three-quarter tone increase of a c (or csih) then becomes C# %#, a c sharp that has been raised by a quarter tone.
To suppress a quarter tone sign, you can use <shift-W>.
When using quarter tone signs, remember that in, for example, Turkish music notation, notes are assumed to be pure, and the increments/decrements are intended relative to the pure ratios. However, MusiCAD plays quarter tones relative to modern equal temperament.