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Aim and basic operation of Melody Generator II


Aim

Melody Generator is a tool for the creation of tonal melodies. It is also an aid to gain an in-depth, hands-on understanding of tonal melody and its generation by allowing the manipulation and exploration of the basic factors involved in the construction of tonal melodies.
Melody Generator II can be downloaded freely at http://www.socsci.ru.nl/%7Epovel/Melody/index.html

Operation

The interface of Melody Generator comprises a number of panes serving its main functions:
  1. Melody GENERATION includes the construction, re-arrangement, transformation and editing of (Parts of) the Melody, based on the setting of
  1. the Time Parameters
  2. the Pitch Parameters
  1. Melody DISPLAY/PLAY based on the settings of
  1. the Display parameters
  2. the Play parameters
  1. Melody STORAGE
                                 LayoutMGII4.2.1                                
                                click to enlarge

 The program is largely self-explanatory. Its operation can easily be discovered by varying the parameters and examine the resulting melodies. Moreover, detailed information about the various aspects of the program and the models is shown upon pressing the blue i buttons on the interface.

Melody generation

Melody generation proceeds in a few phases: Construction, Editing, (Re)arrangement, and Transformation

Construction is performed in the Melody construction pane, shown above. Each aspect of a Part can be generated repeatedly after which other aspects may have to be generated again (indicated by red bullets). By pushing the 'Done' button the construction of a Part is terminated.

Editing Notes can be added by right-clicking on an empty slot, notes can be removed or modified by right-clicking on a note:
                              
                                Controls2.png    click to enlarge

Moreover, a melody can be elaborated and transposed. Elaboration may again be removed:

                                 Controls1.png     click to enlarge

Arrange After one or more Parts have been generated, Parts can be removed, moved and duplicated (right-click in the Part):

                               ChordBasedModel2.png


Transform After a Part has been finished you can apply one or more transformations. These are are most useful for making variations of a Part. The Transformation panel is opened either by right clicking on the Part and selecting 'Transform Part', or by left-clicking and pushing the 'Transform?' button:

                                Call%20TransFormPane.png

The Transform pane will be shown and the Part you are transforming will be highlighted in red:

                                 ChordBasedModel4

At present the following transformations can be applied:

  1. Increase elaboration. Each time the button is pushed the number of tones in the Part is increased.
  2. Reduce elaboration. Idem, but decreased
  3. Transpose 1. Applies a transformation of 1, 2, or 3 steps within the current harmony
  4. Transpose 2. Applies a transformation of 1-7 degree steps up or down, thereby adjusting the harmony
  5. Change pitch. Changes the pitches of the Part while keeping rhythm and harmony intact
  6. Change rhythm. Changes (only) the rhythm of the Part.
In the future more options will be added.

Three models

At present three models of melody generation have been implemented (completed to different degree), each one capitalizing on specific aspects of the construction of melodies:
  1. Attraction model: creates multi-part melodies taking into account the attraction between tones and chords in the tonal system. More
  2. Chord-based model: creates multi-part melodies based on chord tones. More
  3. Scale-based model: creates multi-part melodies based on scale fragments (under construction). More
Aparts from these 3 models there is a 'Basic' model, generating single melodies, which is mainly meant to demonstrate the effects of the tonal context on melody generation. More
Moreover there is a Drum model that creates multi-part drum patterns (Mac only). More
Melody Generator opens with the Attraction model. You can select another model by means of the pop-up menu on the Melody construction pane (and by means of Menu:Model).

Display/Play

Each step of the construction of a melody (Part) is shown in the Melody pane.
A Melody will be played upon clicking the Play button with the parameters set in the Play parameters pane:

                                 PlayParameters.png  more

Storing and saving Melodies

A melody can be stored temporarily on the Melody store pane (right click in the Melody, cmd S). See information flow in MGII here.

Below is shown the interface after 2 melodies have been stored in the Melody Store pane:

                                 SavedMelodies.png
                                click to enlarge

A melody can also be exported in Midi format (right click in the Melody).

The melodies stored in the Melody Store pane are saved to Disk in so-called mg2 format by clicking the 'Save to File' or 'Save to File As' buttons.
They are stored to Disk in MIDI format by clicking the 'Export as MIDI' button.

Melody Generator is based on the following research. For a theoretical introduction click here


Note: the program is under permanent construction; changes are made all the time.

Intro1.html (last update 31.12.2010)
Created in SeaMonkey
© D.J. Povel, 2009

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