12 tones?
No...that isn't right.
An octave is 12 semitones, or 6 whole tones (ever heard a song played in a whole tone scale? it is creepy!). The gem sounds in JJ2 go up\down by one semitone at a time.
A normal major scale is 7 skips from the starting note: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone.
The actual frequencies of the tones are an exponential curve. The frequency of a note one octave higher than a note is exactly double the one before. As there are 12 semitones in an octave, you multiply or divide by the 12th root of 2 (1.05946...) to go up or down a semitone. Generally the "standard" note is "concert A", which is 440Hz, and all other frequencies are determined by dividing or multiplying it
Bah...I don't know why I said all that, but it is interesting stuff, music 
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With our extreme gelatinous apology,
We beg to inform your Imperial Majesty,
Unto whom be dominion and power and glory,
There still remains that strange precipitate
Which has the quality to resist
Our oldest and most trusted catalyst.
It is a substance we cannot cremate
By temperatures known to our Laboratory.
~ E.J. Pratt
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