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Hi,

presumably it would be best if someone with an Alpha adapts the script (I could do it based on assumptions but I couldn't test it).
If you want I can give you a short introduction (e.g. via Google+ Hangout) about playing techniques and how you can make your life easier (e.g. you can use the inherent 6-6 pattern of courses 1+3 and 2+4 to immediately see how to play scales etc.)

Greetings,
NothanUmber

Hi keyman&Pat,

@keyman: thanks for offering to help out with testing and adapting, you are welcome to join in any idea exchanging hangouts - or whatever :)

Here an adapted script that "might" work for the Alpha - just loaded the standard Alpha 1 setup and did a short investigation how the scale talker is set up there.
As said I could not test anything so chances that something does not work as expected are pretty high. Especially check the assumptions list and adapt the script if those should proove to be wrong.
Additionally I optimized the GBevin user scale - without testing on my Tau ;) Normally the continuation of the number sequence "should" automatically be adapted...
Is there a scheme to do a similar auto-adjusting number sequence for the horizontal tuning? I definitely wanted to have the low notes below and the high ones above but EigenD counts upwards if you don't explicitly write down all key tunings (having high->low tuning from top->bottom is very helpful for the horizontal layout as fast melody lines and per-key vibrato are easier to play in the upper half while chords are easier in the lower one - and usually accompanying chords are below the melody..)
If you have some questions don't hesitate to ask. If everything works as expected we can give a short explanation to Pat how to apply everything on his setup - won't be difficult then.

Greetings,
NothanUmber

User Scales.txt:

[ZaPPZion chromatic]
; used for a layout with 3x5 blocks of chromatic keys. The blocks have a relative tuning of an octave
intervals= 0 1 2 12

[horizontal chromatic]
; intended for the "horizontal" chromatic layout that uses 24 rows that have a relative tuning of a major 3rd and contain 4 chromatically tuned keys each
intervals= 92 88 84 80 76 72 68 64 60 56 52 48 44 40 36 32 28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0

[GBevin chromatic]
; when used with a course offset of 4 semitones this scale can be used to mimik the 4x5 blocks layout used by Geert Bevin
intervals= 0 1 2 3 20

[17-tone equal temperament]
;This is the 17-tone equal temperament scale. If the intervals of your scale do not all fit on one line, you need to indent your line by;putting at least one space or tab at the beginning of the line.
intervals=0 0.7059 1.4118 2.1177 2.8236 3.5295 4.2354 4.9413 5.6472 6.3531 7.0588
7.7649 8.4708 9.1767 9.8826 10.5885 11.2944 12


description
use scale control keys 6-11 in kgroup 1 to chose 3 different kinds of chromatic key layouts (for Alpha):

6: horizontal
7: Wicki 1
8: Wicki 2
9: Wicki 3
10: GBevin: 4x5 blocks
11: ZaPPZion: 3x5 blocks
13-20: standard scales

#assumptions:
# 1) keys 6-11 in kgroup 1 are not already occupied in the scale chooser mode
# if assumption is wrong: find free keys :) In the worst case replace the existing scales on keys 13-20 if you nonetheless do not use these
# 2) mapping of user scales to user scale numbers is as following (can be checked via "eigenbrowser hey scale manager scale browse"):
# user 1 => 17-tone equal temperament
# user 2 => GBevin chromatic
# user 3 => ZaPPZion chromatic
# user 4 => horizontal chromatic
# if assumption is wrong: the "scale to user X set" phrases below have to be adapted

script
empty join
scale talker 1 listen
kgroup 1 listen
interpreter listen

all phrase cancel

#horizontal chromatic
scale to user 4 when 6 set
" scale talker 1 hey 6 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 6 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 1 semitone when 6 set
course 3 offset to 1 semitone when 6 set
course 4 offset to 1 semitone when 6 set
course 5 offset to 1 semitone when 6 set

#Wicki chromatic
scale to whole tone when 7 set
" scale talker 1 hey 7 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 7 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 5 semitone when 7 set
course 3 offset to 5 semitone when 7 set
course 4 offset to 5 semitone when 7 set
course 5 offset to 5 semitone when 7 set

#Wicki chromatic 2
scale to whole tone when 8 set
" scale talker 1 hey 8 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 8 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 7 semitone when 8 set
course 3 offset to 7 semitone when 8 set
course 4 offset to 7 semitone when 8 set
course 5 offset to 7 semitone when 8 set

#Wicki chromatic 3
scale to whole tone when 9 set
" scale talker 1 hey 9 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 9 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 1 semitone when 9 set
course 3 offset to 1 semitone when 9 set
course 4 offset to 1 semitone when 9 set
course 5 offset to 1 semitone when 9 set

#GBevin chromatic
scale to user 2 when 10 set
" scale talker 1 hey 10 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 10 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 semitone when 10 set
course 3 offset to 4 semitone when 10 set
course 4 offset to 4 semitone when 10 set
course 5 offset to 4 semitone when 10 set

#ZaPPZion chromatic
scale to user 3 when 11 set
" scale talker 1 hey 11 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 11 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 3 semitone when 11 set
course 3 offset to 3 semitone when 11 set
course 4 offset to 3 semitone when 11 set
course 5 offset to 3 semitone when 11 set

scale to major when 13 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 13 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 13 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 13 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 13 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 13 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 13 set

scale to harmonic minor when 14 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 14 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 14 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 14 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 14 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 14 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 14 set

scale to melodic minor when 15 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 15 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 15 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 15 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 15 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 15 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 15 set

scale to chromatic when 16 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 16 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 16 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 16 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 16 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 16 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 16 set

scale to blues when 17 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 17 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 17 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 17 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 17 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 17 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 17 set

scale to pentatonic when 18 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 18 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 18 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 18 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 18 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 18 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 18 set

scale to diminished when 19 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 19 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 19 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 19 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 19 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 19 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 19 set

scale to whole tone when 20 called 1 set
" scale talker 1 hey 20 to 1 from 2 colour ify " when 20 called 100 do
course 2 offset to 4 interval when 20 set
course 3 offset to 4 interval when 20 set
course 4 offset to 4 interval when 20 set
course 5 offset to 4 interval when 20 set

empty join

Time permitting... Now I'm checking /diving in!

Not the easiest area of Belcanto to play with - SCALE manager and talker kgroup 1... ultra scale talker 101... at least in the ALPHA setup

you're #assumptions:
# 1) keys 6-11 in kgroup 1 are not already occupied in the scale chooser mode

On the ALPHA - SCALES (k13 to 20) and TONICS (1 to 12) so no room there...
stuck

My Google+

keyman

As this submenu thing would need additional investigation here a short description for an intermediate solution how to get just the horizontal 4xn layout working:

* Copy the following text at the top of your Eigenlabs\Scale Manager\User Scales.txt file which resides in your user's folder (to test: perhaps 22 numbers should be sufficient as there are "only" 22x5 playing keys on the Alpha, added 26 here to be sure that the 4 semitones course offset don't lead to a "gap" at the bottom end):

[horizontal chromatic]
intervals= 100 96 92 88 84 80 76 72 68 64 60 56 52 48 44 40 36 32 28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0

* Open both the EigenBrowser and the EigenCommander
* type the following Belcanto phrase into the EigenCommander window:

eigenbrowser hey scale manager scale browse

* Look at the EigenBrowser window, you should find the "horizontal chromatic" scale somewhere at the bottom, presumably it is mapped to either "user 1" or "user 2". Remember the user number.
* Now type the following Belcanto phrases:

kgroup 1 hey scale to user X set

replace X with 1 or 2 (or whatever number the horizontal user scale has in your setup)
Continue to type Belcanto phrases:

kgroup 1 hey course 2 offset to 1 semitone set

kgroup 1 hey course 3 offset to 1 semitone set

kgroup 1 hey course 4 offset to 1 semitone set

kgroup 1 hey course 5 offset to 1 semitone set 

* Your Alpha should have a horizontal layout now
* Use the transpose keys at the bottom to tune the keygroup in a comfortable tonal range
* save your setup as a "horizontal layout" user setup
* if you want to go back to the standard layout just load the standard setup again

You can use the infos from the script above to build similar setups for the other custom layouts that you might want to try out.

Have fun,
NothanUmber

Hi, NothanUmber
Huge thanks for staying on this, I'm sure everyone can follow with such detail !!
In the end I did come up with the "possible" intermediate solution here...
I'm evaluating things...

keyman

Sure, hopefully it works (otherwise just ask).
Presumably the best way to show the possibilities would be to learn pieces well enough that it's worthwile to record them. Did not have the necessary practice continuity to reach a musically pleasing, beyond-technological-interesting level, want to work on that... Can show technical demos (scales, concepts etc.) if desired though.

Greetings,
NothanUmber