Microtonal Drone Wheel
A 24-tone equal temperament drone wheel. Click normal notes and the quarter-tone notes between them to build strange chords, modal drones and beautifully unsafe sonic furniture.
Microtonal Drone Wheel 24-TET
Explore microtonal harmony, quarter tones, experimental scales, and 24-tone equal temperament directly in your browser with this interactive Microtonal Drone Wheel.
Unlike standard Western tuning systems based on 12 notes per octave, this tool divides the octave into 24 equal steps, introducing quarter-tones between traditional notes. These extra pitches open the door to exotic scales, cinematic tension, Middle Eastern-inspired intervals, experimental harmony, ambient sound design, progressive rock textures, and entirely new emotional colours in music.
This interactive drone generator allows you to:
- Select and combine multiple notes on a 24-tone wheel
- Create custom microtonal drone chords
- Explore quarter-tone harmony and dissonance
- Practise scales against continuous tonal centres
- Experiment with neutral intervals and unconventional tuning systems
- Hear how different note combinations interact in real time
- Build atmospheric drones for composition, improvisation, meditation, or sound design
What Is 24-TET?
24-TET stands for “24 Tone Equal Temperament”.
In standard Western music, the octave is divided into 12 semitones:
C, C#, D, D#, etc.
In 24-TET, each semitone is split into two equal parts, creating quarter-tones between the standard notes. These notes are 50 cents apart instead of the normal 100-cent semitone spacing.
This creates entirely new harmonic possibilities that do not exist in conventional tuning systems.
How To Use The Microtonal Drone Wheel
- Select a root note from the dropdown menu.
- Click notes around the wheel to add or remove tones from the drone chord.
- The larger notes are standard Western notes.
- The smaller purple notes are quarter-tones between the standard notes.
- Press “Start Drone” to hear the chord continuously.
- Experiment with scales, bends, melodies, and intervals over the drone.
- Try unusual note combinations to discover new moods and textures.
Presets Included
The Microtonal Drone Wheel includes several preset harmonic structures:
- Major
- Minor
- Power Drone
- Neutral Third
- Quarter-Tone Cluster
- Hijaz-inspired colour
- Quarter-tone suspended tension
These presets are designed to help musicians quickly hear the emotional impact of different interval structures.
Great For
- Guitarists
- Progressive rock musicians
- Ambient composers
- Film scoring
- Experimental music
- Ear training
- Sound design
- Microtonal exploration
- Modal improvisation
- Psychedelic music
- Middle Eastern-inspired harmony
- Jazz fusion experimentation
Tips For Guitarists
Try playing:
- Major scales over neutral-third drones
- Blues scales against quarter-tone clusters
- Slide guitar over microtonal drones
- Whammy bar bends into quarter-tones
- Modal improvisation against static tonal centres
You’ll quickly hear how strongly your ear is conditioned by standard Western tuning.
Some combinations sound haunting, ancient, unstable, emotional, alien… or strangely beautiful.
That’s the fun part 😄