MusicReasonProduction, Synthesis, and Audio Math
What frequency does this detune amount give me?
Enter a base frequency and a signed cents detune amount. This tool converts that detune to a frequency ratio and the resulting frequency, using the same cents formula used throughout the site. It does not predict beating, phase relationships, or how a specific oscillator implementation actually behaves when detuned.
Answer
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Understand
A cents value is a logarithmic unit: 100 cents always equals one equal-tempered semitone, regardless of the starting frequency, so the same cents value produces a larger absolute Hz shift at a higher base frequency than at a lower one. Detuning is deliberately different from tuning: a small negative or positive cents offset applied to an oscillator is a stylistic choice, not a correction toward standard pitch.
Worked examples
A detune of +100 cents produces a ratio of exactly 2^(1/12), the same ratio as one equal-tempered semitone, applied to any base frequency. A 440 Hz base detuned by +1200 cents (a full octave) yields exactly 880 Hz, and the same base detuned by -1200 cents yields exactly 220 Hz.
Method and limitations
The ratio is 2^(cents/1200), and the resulting frequency is the base frequency multiplied by that ratio; the semitone-equivalent figure is simply the cents value divided by 100. This tool performs the arithmetic only; it does not model how any specific oscillator, synth engine, or plug-in actually implements a detune control, and it makes no prediction about beating or phase interaction between a detuned voice and its undetuned counterpart.
The inverse cents figure, simply the negation of the entered value, is useful when stacking two detuned voices symmetrically around a center pitch: entering +7 cents for one voice and reading off -7 cents for its partner keeps the pair balanced without retyping the sign by hand. A detune of exactly 0 cents always yields a ratio of exactly 1 and a result frequency identical to the base, the plain no-detune case.