Download - Motivation Palestrina Pal - University of Southern California · PDF file1 Palestrina Pal a grammar checker for music compositions in the style of Palestrina by Anna Cheng-Zhi Huang

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Palestrina Pala grammar checker for musiccompositions in the style ofPalestrinaby Anna Cheng-Zhi Huang([email protected], junior in CSCI-MUCO)(Faculty mentor Professor Chew). Anna Huang: ISE599: 2004 Palestrina Pal

Motivation• Make composers more aware of their

Palestrina rule violations and to focuson higher level aesthetic issues.!

• Extend creative technologies to CACto improve musical communication.

Anna Huang: ISE599: 2004 Palestrina Pal

Objective• a JAVA application• OOP and GUIDO• checks for rule violations in

compositions in the style ofPalestrina.

• automatically recognizes andhighlights errors in a GUI


16th century counterpoint

• the art of combining two or moremelodic lines which are independentyet coordinate in feeling.

• foundation for western music infollowing centuries.

• Italian Palestrina (1525 – 1594)brought this style of music to itspeak.

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Why are these “tedious”rules necessary?• based on “The Craft of Modal

Counterpoint” by ThomasBenjamin.

• a grammar to define meanings,in music.

• harmonic, melodic and rhythmicrules


Input, output

• What is GUIDO? (example shown)

• Input:• GUIDO text file• piano keyboard

• Output:• GUIDO text file• MIDI


Composition rulesimplemented.

• harmonic:• parallelism, treatment of dissonance, etc

• melodic:• leap intervals compensation, etc

• rhythmic:• choice of note values and placements, etc.


Harmonic rules:

• Perfect parallelism• avoid parallel fifths, octaves and unisons.

• Direct/Contrary parallelism• avoid fifths and octaves approached by

leaps in the same direction or by contrarymotion.

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(Dissonance treatments)

• Passing Tone• a half note or quarter note dissonance on

the weak beat approached and resolved bystep and in the same direction.

• Neighbor Note• a quarter or eighth note dissonance on the

weak part of a beat approached andresolved in opposite directions.


Continued Harmonic rules

• Suspension• this idiom involves a consonant preparation,

dissonance (a half note) on the same pitch on astrong beat, and resolution down by step to aconsonance.

• Anticipation (consonant or dissonant)• a quarter note on the weak part of any beat that

anticipates the pitch of the coming consonantvertical interval.


Melodic rules:

• Range• soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices must operate

within well-specified ranges.

• Melodic leaps• use only m2, M2, m3, M3, P4, P5, m6(ascending

only), and P8(rare).

• Uncompensated leaps• melodic leaps are to be compensated

(approached and left in opposite direction as leap).


Rhythmic rules:

• Note values• Basic note values are limited to double whole

notes to eighth notes.

• Dotted note values• Any values other than the quarter and eighth

notes may be dotted.

• Dotted note Positions• Dotted whole notes may begin only on beats 1 or

3, and dotted half notes must start on thebeginning of a beat.

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Example

• Use Finale music notation software to input notes.

• Use GUIDO plugin to convert the Finale file.

• Enable the rules wanted and run Palestrina Pal software

• Error display and detection explained.

• Correct wrong notes by modifying the GUIDO code or by

keyboard interface.

• Save composition as MIDI, and play.


Manual analysis


GUI with all the stops.


Sicut Cervus byPalestrina

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Sicut Cervus: Result


Source code design

• classes resemble real life musiccomposition objects.

• evaluation procedure mimicshow composers actuallyproofread work.


Applications ofPalestrina Pal• proofread compositions, not just

Palestrina style

• identify and analyze characteristics ofC16th counterpoint.

• evaluate computer-generatedcounterpoint in CAC.

• music education, counterpoint theory


Relevant Work BeingConducted• first system for automated

evaluation of Palestrina stylecompositions.

• potential for practical use in themusic classroom.

• Farbood and Schoener [2] focus onsynthesis of Palestrina stylecompositions using Markov models.

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Future Goals

• improve the user interface:piano roll to show imitations.

• Conduct user studies

• incorporate secondary level

rules and suggestions forcorrections