LearnJazzPiano.com archives: What software would you want?
jwtulp -- 08/03/2004, 02:05:24 -- #6205
Hi there,

just wondering, if you would want to use a software application which has some knowledge about (jazz) music theory and that would assist you in music making, what should that software application be able to do for you? Would you like it to generate solo scale patterns for you? Or would you like it to reharmonize a certain chord progression? Or would you like it to generate different versions of the same chord for you?

Thanks for your response!!!

Jan Willem Tulp

Gordon -- 08/03/2004, 04:32:20 -- #6206
It would be nice to play or draw in some music, then select a chord or two, then have the program going round and round changing the selected notes according to certain parameters. (pitches / timing etc) When it comes up with a particularly pleasing combination of chords and melody, I will be able to claim them as my own, and I think my computer doesn't know how to sue me (yet).

Mike -- 08/03/2004, 06:43:47 -- #6209
I would not use software for any of those things.  
I would like software for the application that NASA is working on now.
a program to hook up to the vocal chords and hook directly into a voice
program simulating other peoples voices so I could sound like someone
who can sing.  Other than notation software and recording software I cant imagine much else of musical interest.

docz -- 08/03/2004, 06:54:55 -- #6211
A music software with a build in "Trainer" or "Teacher" would be cool. In PGMusic's Band in a Box you can generate solo's over virtually every chord pattern imaginable, and in every style imaginable. But you don't have something that tells you what is going on, your best shot is to turn the tempo down and watch the keyboard or notes and try to get it right. What would be killer would be an application that generated a solo over a set of input chords, and then broke  it down into piezes and tried to teach you each piece. And it would play piece by piece and really show you which notes are played, and you would have to play them back at the software, then the software would move onto the next piece once you've got it right. Now that would be cool. If you could have the same ability with chords, melodies, solo's, scales, styles, rhythm etc. it would be an ap I most certainly would purchase.

Doc-Z

jmjelder -- 08/03/2004, 14:48:20 -- #6226
PG's BIAB has solo/melody creation features but they follow the selected chord input.  It would be interesting to see lines created by a user selected scale or mode independent of the chord structure (if the user desired).  And with the  added feature that the scale/mode be not just the tradional ones but also user created ones.

This would be very interesting for those of us of can't just walk into a live band situation and say "Here's a chord structure guys, but use these scale notes only and let's see what happens."

Joe

jmjelder -- 08/03/2004, 14:57:12 -- #6227
JW,

You might check out http://reglos.de/musinnum/ for a music generating program.


Joe

jwtulp -- 08/04/2004, 01:15:32 -- #6240
Thanks for your replies sofar! I am not necessarily looking for a software application that generates music for you. To my opinion the drawback of such applications, especially for musicians, is that when the computer generates a piece of music  for you, is that you as a musician don't have the feeling that YOU created the piece of music. What I am looking for is what software you guys would want in order to enhance your compositional ideas, like shifting with parameters to modify an idea you have, or software that generates something based upon certain parameters or something, and then tells you what's going on so that you can learn from it.

I looked into the link Joe gave me in his post, and even though it is really an interesting piece of software, I am not too enthusiastic about the results, and also that it is not giving me the idea that the generated song is what I really wanted to create.

Maybe you can compare the software requirements I am looking for  with some sort of graphical application, like Photoshop or something. You can enhance your photo or image the way you like it. You have control over what will happen, just like a real painter also 'tweaks' his painting until he's got what he wants.

sid -- 08/04/2004, 02:17:38 -- #6241
Maybe what you want is something like the JT Orchestrator by Ntonyx - though when I loaded the demo on my PC it crashed spectacularly, so I can't say whether it really does what it seems to claim.

sid

Beverly Redding -- 08/05/2004, 11:02:35 -- #6280
Mike

That was just great.

 If there was such a program that hooked up to people's vocal chords so they could sing good-----Wow----I'd give them as presents to some people----trouble is------they think they can sing----- when they can't----- well enough---- to ever pick up a microphone and record anything------so they would be offended by my gift-----totally!!!!

if this was your creative sense of humor----SUPER!

 If NASA actually was working on such a program------real singers would have to think of something else to do for a living as it would depend on how good one was with "tweeking" the program---as to vocal tracks.
 
If that program had been available earlier---Tiny Tim could have aced out Sinatra and Pavarotti too. Whoa----!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah---- perception-----the greatest gift----right? BR

Scot -- 08/05/2004, 14:03:18 -- #6286
Interesting discussion. I'm currently in the outlining stage of software that does what BIAB does much stronger and more musically, and there is a training section to it.

I even have most of the logic figured out. Now I just have to learn Java :)

jwtlp- are you thinking of coding something for learning purposes?

Mike -- 08/05/2004, 14:47:13 -- #6287
Nasa really is working on it.  They are working on it because there has been problems with astronaunts talking in space... So they want to make it so they can talk with out actually making sound... hence the develope ment of the software...

docz -- 08/06/2004, 00:57:23 -- #6303
Have you heard about the Antares Autotune? Available as a hardware rack effect box, or a dsp plugin for the computer, works live and in studio. www.antares.com

Doc-Z

jwtulp -- 08/06/2004, 02:54:50 -- #6310
That last link should be: http://www.antarestech.com/

Scot, what exactly are you outlining? How are you making BIAB much stronger and musically? Are you generating musical parts from scratch? Or are you, like BIAB, connecting existing lines to fit them over a chord progression?

What I am thinking of is trying to create a software application that gives the user the feeling of creating the music by himself instead of having the idea that the computer does it all for you. It can be used to enhance your compositional ideas, possibly even if you don't have advanced musical and theoretical knowledge. I want to give the user some tools to tweak musical parts to his needs, just like a painter, who adds some here, removes some  there. You can think of parameters like: create wider chords here, folow the bassline melodically there, subsitute this chord for another, develop this motif slightly. I don't want to hard-code music into the program, but have it generate possibilities based upon the parameters given by the user and also based upon the context of the song (motifs or rythms or whatever that have already been played could be used as input to generate new stuff, so that the music contains some structur). And since this application uses rules to generate pieces of music, these rules can be used to dynamically analyse the piece of music, so the people can learn from it.

docz -- 08/06/2004, 04:50:04 -- #6313
jwtulp like eJay?

Doc-Z

Gordon -- 08/06/2004, 05:03:10 -- #6315
I'm not too sure what you mean either Scott... I'm interested in the training section you're creating.

I was thinking of making something to train me up on various musical tasks. For example,
It would flash up the name of a chord (or chord sequence), and it times how quickly I find it on my midi keyboard.
This could also be done with the user having to transpose the chord.
You called also be trained in finding the 2 5's before the 1 chord (or other such combinations)
It could see how quickly you find certain scales to go with certain chords etc etc
The program could test your speed at reading musical notation
The program could test your consistency in input velocity (volume) when playing various motifs, scales, or practise pieces etc - or ability to very gradualy increase / decrease volume


It would then tell you which were your weak keys, how quickly you're progressing etc etc

There must be something like this already out there ?



...Would it be possible for a program to test the tightness of your timing - perhaps comparing it to certain grooves you input yourself - (just brainstorming now)

jwtulp -- 08/06/2004, 05:36:06 -- #6316
Hee Gordon,

if it does not exist yet, it sure is an interesting concept!!

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