Kelfar Technologies has raised the bar to the highest level with this app. As a Master-Chanter (“Protopsaltis”) of Byzantine Music and instructor of the psaltic art, this tool has become invaluable to me in various aspects of my field. First and foremost, it is an excellent aid in teaching the various scales and modes of Eastern Orthodox hymnology. The app is able to faithfully replicate the intricate microtonal intervals of the Byzantine scales, allowing the student to hear how tetrachords are “built” within the octal diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic scales. In this respect, as a teaching tool, it is second to none. Second, this app produces a true accompaniment of the ison drone that is characteristic of Byzantine chant. Developed and digitized with recordings of human voices, World Scales faithfully produces a more authentic audio result than other similar tools available. I stress that HUMAN VOICES were used as the basis of making the sound output, and not by some other artificial “electronic” means. When properly transmitted through a high-quality speaker, the audio output of this app is the closest sound to a group of human “drone-holders” (i.e. “isokrates”) that one will hear in an actual Byzantine Choir. And third, although I am very hesitant yet selectively cautious in using this app in an actual church setting (the tradition of Orthodox hymnology allows only ONE instrument to be used in worship, and that instrument is the human voice), I do support its use in audio recordings and concert settings to help actual assistants and choir members in faithfully rendering the ison notes, which are the “decoration” to the melodic executions of the hymns. I applaud Kelfar Technologies in the development of this tool, and in its constant efforts to modify, improve, and further develop this app to make it the best of its kind. Thank you, Karim! Much continued success!
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Ma83707
Apostolos C.
Rick Hanson 42