NAME

scalemogrifier - generate notes of named or arbitrary scales

SYNOPSIS

  $ scalemogrifier
  c d e f g a b c'

The list of accepted lilypond note names and other elements include:

  c cis des d dis ees e f fis ges g gis aes a ais bes b   nl

Available named modes include:

  aeolian amdorian dorian hminor hunminor ionian locrian lydian
  major minor mixolydian mminor phrygian

DESCRIPTION

Generates notes of arbitrary scales (subsets of the Western 12-tone chromatic system) from a specified starting note in a specified direction and so forth from other options.

The output is in lilypond absolute format. The default scale is The Major Scale, but that's easy to adjust to say C Minor:

  $ scalemogrifier --minor --flats

By default, scales loop back to the starting note. If this is not the case, suffix nl to a custom interval series:

  $ scalemogrifier --intervals=c,cis,dis,e,g,nl --length=15
  c cis dis e g gis ais b d' dis' f' fis' a' ais' c''

The output is based on the assumption that c equals 0. The output can be transposed via:

  $ scalemogrifier --mode=mixolydian --transpose=-5

Integer interval numbers can be used instead of note names or the --mode option, for example the Major Scale:

  $ scalemogrifier --intervals='2 2 1 2 2 2 1' --raw

Or to form a -P4,+P5 sequence:

  $ scalemogrifier --intervals=-5,7 --len=24

Or just plain made up:

  $ scalemogrifier --intervals=1,2,3,5,7 --dir=53 --relative --len=24

Scales can also be rendered backwards:

  $ scalemogrifier --dir=-1

Or with the interval order reversed:

  $ scalemogrifier --rev

The scale generated can be fed back into a different output scale (the direction and reverse options only apply to the --intervals option scale, not the --ois scale):

  $ scalemogrifier --intervals=c,cis,dis,e,g,nl --ois=aes,bes,ces,ees,fes \
     --len=48 --flats --rel

Practical application of the results to music theory or composition left as an exercise to the user. The output can be fed to ly-fu for playback and display, for example:

  $ ly-fu --abs -l --open $(scalemogrifier ...)
  $ ly-fu       -l --open $(scalemogrifier --relative ...)

OPTIONS

This script currently supports the following command line switches:

--direction=integer

Positive, the scale goes up, negative, down. Magnitudes greater than 1 multiply the interval.

--flats | --noflats

Use flats instead of sharps in the output note names. Prefix with no to disable flats, in the event an alias has set them on by default.

--help

Displays help and exits program.

--intervals=interval list

List (comma or space delimited) of intervals (integers) or notes of the scale (lilypond note names) or nl for non-loop-back-to-start- pitch scales.

--length=positive integer

How many notes to generate in the output.

--listmodes

List available named scale modes and then exit. Used by ZSH compdef script.

--mode=mode

Specify named scale mode instead of using --intervals. Available modes can be listed with the --listmodes option.

--ois=interval list

"Output interval sequence" -- the custom scale or interval set that the output will be mapped into.

--ors=string

"Output record separator" -- text to print between each output element. Defaults to a space character.

--raw

Emit raw pitch numbers instead of note names.

--relative

Generate relative lilypond output (default: absolute). Good fun can be had by using absolute in relative mode, or otherwise letting the chance of the lilypond algorithm take the music in unexpected directions.

--reverse

Reverses the order of the intervals.

--transpose=pitch or note

Value by which to transpose the output by (integer) or to (note name).

FILES

A ZSH completion script is available in the zsh-compdef/ directory of the App::MusicTools distribution. Install this to a $fpath directory.

BUGS

Reporting Bugs

If the bug is in the latest version, send a report to the author. Patches that fix problems or add new features are welcome.

http://github.com/thrig/App-MusicTools

Known Issues

None at this time but probably lots.

SEE ALSO

http://www.lilypond.org/

Consider http://oeis.org/ to lookup interesting interval series; for example, search by the major interval sequence for numeric sequences that contain it: http://oeis.org/search?q=2,2,1,2,2,2,1

Music::Canon contains routines for mapping series of pitches via arbitrary scales or interval sequences to produce new material.

AUTHOR

Jeremy Mates

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2012-2013 by Jeremy Mates

This script is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.16 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.

cpanm App::MusicTools

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install App::MusicTools