Similar Systems
Notation that appears to be scientific pitch notation may actually be based on an alternative octave numbering. While they are still note-octave systems, if they are called "scientific pitch notation", this is certainly an error. For example, MIDI software and hardware often uses C5 or C3 to represent middle C (note 60). This is because the MIDI standard does not specify a particular octave numbering.
This creates a linear pitch space in which octaves have size 12, semitones (the distance between adjacent keys on the piano keyboard) have size 1, and A440 is assigned the number 69. Distance in this space corresponds to musical distance as measured in psychological experiments and understood by musicians. (An equal-tempered semitone is subdivided into 100 cents.) The system is flexible enough to include microtones not found on standard piano keyboards. For example, the pitch halfway between C (60) and C♯ (61) can be labeled 60.5.
Read more about this topic: Scientific Pitch Notation
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