Skip to Content

Seeing Music

Software maps Chopin.
September 1, 2006

Technology has arrived that lets us see why, exactly, we like or dislike a piece of music. A Princeton University composer, Dmitri Tymoczko, says traditional Western music is attractive partly because it obeys basic music-theory rules of “voice leading”–the way notes move from one chord to the next. (The rules say the steps should be fairly small.) He created a computer program that vividly shows how far a piece of music diverges from these rules.

A new computer model can create an image of the structure of music. (Courtesy of Dmitri Tymoczko)

In the image, generated by Tymoczko’s program, each ball represents a three-note chord. The farther apart the balls are, the farther the voices have to jump between chords. As a song plays, another ball moves around the cone. If it moves in a circle, a chord pattern is repeating. If it moves from the cone’s tip to its base, a piece is progressing toward dissonance.

Tymoczko says the technology could be a valuable teaching tool for musicians–showing them, for example, how a pop song is structurally similar to a Chopin prelude. And since the moving balls also allow users to watch any song “play,” the program could be fun at parties, too.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google

Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.