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Note: the following assumes that the MIDI note number for C3 is 48, which corresponds with Wikipedia. However, most software, including Ableton Live and GarageBand assumes that the Midi note number for C3 is 60.
The well-tempered tuning allows calculation of a frequency (f) from a note number (n) and an octave (o):
,
where n = 0 for a C, and the o = 3 for the middle C (approx. 261.6 Hz)
Ruby example, calculating C3:
n=0;o=3;2**(0.25)*27.5*2**(n/12+o)
In MIDI, C-1 is 0, and C3 is 48, so a midi frequency calculator could look like this:
n=48;2**(0.25)*27.5*2**(n/12.0-1)
Since
, we can simplify:
n=48;32.7031956625748*2**(n/12.0-1)
In Python:
note(note, octave): return 32.70319566257483 * 2**(note / 12. + octave)
In C:
double freqFromMIDI(int note, int octave) {
return 32.70319566257483 * pow(2, note / 12. + octave);
}
Frequency table:
C3 C#3 D3 D#2 E3 F3 F#3 G3 G#3 A3 A#3 B3 261.62 277.18 293.66 311.12 329.63 349.23 370.00 392.00 415.30 440 466.18 493.90
See the Python Music example. Note that this example uses o = 0 for the middle C.