Welcome to MusicCreator

Click here to download MusicCreator 1.0 as a ZIP archive. To run, unzip the archive to a directory on your hard drive. Double-click on the MusicCreator.jar file, or run it from the command-line with the command java -jar "MusicCreator.jar".

Description

MusicCreator began as an Independent Studies project at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. For this project, we wanted to accomplish the following goals:

• Generate music that is random but within constraints. That is, the music is completely computer generated, but it uses the rules of Western Music Theory as a guide. Our guide for what constitutes music theory are Elementary Harmony, Theory and Practice and Advanced Harmony, Theory and Practice, both by Robert W. Ottman.
• MusicCreator uses the following method to generate music:
  1. Define available chords. (For example, I (tonic), iii (mediant), etc.) Click here to see more about the music theory used by MusicCreator.
  2. Place chords into equivalency groups. (For example, V and V7 are in a single group.) This is done to simplify the complicated "chord tree" of possible progressions.
  3. Define chord progression tree. Basically for each chord equivalency group, we define what groups may preceed that group. For example, the V/V7 group can preceed the I group. The I group can preceed any other group. We can also define preceeding "chains" of chord groups. For example, a possible preceeding chain for I is vi-ii-V.
  4. Choose a number of measures, a time-signature, and a key.
  5. Randomly the chosen number of measures of rhythm. Count how many chords are needed. (Click here for more on the rhythm-generation algorithm.)
  6. Start with I (tonic) as the last chord.
  7. Find a chord-group or chain that can preceed I and add it to the front of the list.
  8. Find a chord-group or chain that can preceed the chord just added; add it to the front of the list. Repeat this step until the list is complete.
  9. Go through the list in reverse order from the order it was created, writing it to the output file (MusicXML format).
• MusicCreator currently allows the following options to be selected by the user:
  • Time signature
  • Key
  • Tempo
  • Length (in measures)
  • Use any chord, or restrict to only diatonic chords (chords "in the key".

Samples

• Sample 1
• Sample 2 (only diatonic chords)
• Sample 3 (View in MusicXML format)

About the samples

At this stage, MusicCreator has the following limitations:

• Only Major keys are currently supported. However, this may be corrected by simply using a different chord file.
• All note-lengths are eighth-notes or multiples thereof.
• A very simplified music theory is used - many more "advanced" chords are not supported at this time. However, they may be added fairly easily.
• The music generated by MusicCreator is not optimized for printing.
• The song tempo is not saved properly when saving as a MIDI file.

About the software project

• Language: Java
• IDE: NetBeans 5.0
• Environment: GUI
• Output formats: MusicXML, MIDI
• Additional software: Xenoage MusicXML Player (free Java-based software that converts MusicXML to MIDI)

Future plans

• Done! Add support for MIDI. Currently music generated by MusicCreator cannot be played in MusicCreator - a third-party player is required. Support for MIDI will correct this deficiency.
• Done!Add support for loading alternate definition files. Currently the definition file is "hard-coded" into the program.
• Add validating XML parser to allow others to more easily create their own definition files.
• Add support for more complicated rhythm structures. Earlier releases supported "arpegiation" of chords, but I didn't write this feature into the Java version.
• Done!Convert MusicCreator to a Java Applet to allow web viewing.

Participants

• Student: Steve Roach, a Senior at UNO majoring in Computer Science.
• Dr. Bill Mahoney, faculty advisor