Development of a Method for Analysis of Musical Compositions Using an Electronic Digital Computer

Abstract

vent of newer methods of programing (i.e., preparing sets of instructions for the computer) and greater accessibility, particularly at our great university centers, opens new opportunities for the musician to use the computer. The fantastic speed and near-absolute accuracy of these machines suggest that they may be of assistance in the tedious, time-consuming task of musical analysis. The method of harmonic analysis most used today combines Roman and Arabic numerals. However, this combination method is inadequate for the analysis of most contemporary music, and there seems to be no universally accepted means for analyzing the music of all periods. For this reason an all-Arabic numeral analysis method which is applicable to all regular, staffnotated music and which can be handled by the digital computer was evolved for use in this study. This means that the coding of music into numbers, and their manipulation by the computer, afforded a new method of musical analysis. Of the various phases of a musical analysis, the following were processed through a Control Data 1604 Computer at Michigan State University: (a) harmonic intervals, with rhythmic, octave, and instrument locations; (b) frequency of chord repetition; (c) repeated chord progressions; (d) Hindemith roots; (e) melodic intervals (also for Hindemith roots); and (f) frequency of melodic intervals (also for Hindemith roots). The selections involved from four to twenty-two voices, and composers from Mozart to Webern. The main purpose of the research was the development of the methods for analysis, rather than to obtain conclusions drawn from the analysis of single compositions or from comparisons of a great number of compositions.