tonica-fugata

Daniel FreyDominik Hörnel

tonica Chord theoryMusic theoryComposition

Versiontonica fugata 11.0

capella-software

2 tonica

tonica fugata version 11.0

Authors

Daniel Frey, Dominik Hörnel

Copyright © 1999 – 2013capella-software

Publishercapella-software AGAn der Söhrebahn 4D-34320 Sö[email protected]

tonica is a registered trade mark of capella-software AG

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ContentIntroduction................................................................................................................6

Welcome to tonica fugata..........................................................................................6D7 – T or V7 – I or C7 – F?...............................................................................................6

Hardware and software..............................................................................................6Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/Windows7....................................................................6

Install and start tonica ................................................................................................7Licence, activation, demo version..............................................................................7Document structure................................................................................................... 7

Key............................................................................................................................................ 8Time signature...................................................................................................................... 8Layout ..................................................................................................................................... 8Parallels................................................................................................................................... 8Zoom........................................................................................................................................ 8Print view size....................................................................................................................... 9

Working with tonica .................................................................................................10Single note entry with the mouse, PC keyboard and Midi keyboard.........................10

The cursor............................................................................................................................ 10To enter notes and rests................................................................................................10Editing................................................................................................................................... 12Barlines................................................................................................................................. 12Beams.................................................................................................................................... 13Ties......................................................................................................................................... 13Triplets.................................................................................................................................. 14Volta brackets.................................................................................................................... 14Placeholders....................................................................................................................... 14

Rhythmic playing in (Real Time Entry)......................................................................15Editing (deleting, cutting, copying, pasting)..............................................................17The Undo Function ..................................................................................................18Chord description..................................................................................................... 18Evaluating chord descriptions ..................................................................................21Opening and closing a file, saving a file, importing and exporting a file...................22

Your personal tonica folder..........................................................................................22Open a piece of music....................................................................................................22Saving a file ........................................................................................................................ 22

4 tonica

Importing a file.................................................................................................................. 22Exporting a tonica file.....................................................................................................26

View in capella......................................................................................................... 27Printing..................................................................................................................... 28Score playback.......................................................................................................... 28

Setting up music entry and playback........................................................................28Selecting instruments...................................................................................................... 29Selecting a playback tempo..........................................................................................30Midi-Reset........................................................................................................................... 30

Automatic composition.............................................................................................31Fermata................................................................................................................................. 31To determine the composition section....................................................................32To harmonize a melody..................................................................................................33To realize chords............................................................................................................... 33Composition and analysis options.............................................................................33

Figured bass realization............................................................................................34Realizing a figured bass-line........................................................................................34Figured bass notation in tonica...................................................................................36

Voice duplication...................................................................................................... 38Duplicate a voice............................................................................................................... 38

Automatic Phrase variations.....................................................................................39How to vary a melody or phrase ...............................................................................39How to create variations with the dialog „Variation Model“............................41

How to compose a canon.........................................................................................41Hints for canon composition........................................................................................42

How to compose a fugue .........................................................................................43Hints for fugue composition........................................................................................44The fugue composition kit............................................................................................46

Set the vocal range...................................................................................................50Creating a harmonic style ........................................................................................50

The Style assistant............................................................................................................ 51Editing a harmonization style.......................................................................................53Using, copying and changing a harmonization style..........................................53Automatic style analysis.................................................................................................54Automatic style training.................................................................................................55Style import........................................................................................................................ 55Style import options........................................................................................................ 56Style export ........................................................................................................................ 56

Automatic harmonic analysis...................................................................................56

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Analysing a score.............................................................................................................. 56The automatic examination of compositions............................................................57

Examine a composition..................................................................................................57Voice leading rules in tonica .......................................................................................58Chord realization rules.................................................................................................... 59Chord progression rules.................................................................................................63

Automatic cadences.................................................................................................65tonica example files.................................................................................................. 66

Index.........................................................................................................................67

6 tonica

IntroductionWelcome to tonica fugataTo simplify matters, we will call tonica fugata „tonica“ in this manual.

tonica is a powerful composition aid as it will harmonize your melodies. It comes with three basic styles. The Baroque style of JS Bach (there are two variations on this), the Romantic style of Max Reger and the Jazz style. You can realize figured basses in the fi-gured bass style. A new feature allows you to create your own composition programs. All you need to do is import 10 to 20 MIDI scores which represent a composer’s style. tonica reads these examples and uses a sophisticated neural network program to learn what rules are required to reproduce the composer’s harmony styles. tonica also recog-nizes cadences in the sample works and will add to your score complete cadences when they fit the flow of the music. This adds significantly to the realism and fluency of the composition.

Furthermore tonica analyzes each four-voice melody according to the Functional Theo-ry or the Roman Numeral Theory. Violations of composition rules can be displayed and are corrected by tonica.

tonica varies your melodies so that a Partita or a Prelude is generated. tonica composes beautiful canons according to the melodies you define. And finally, tonica composes en-tire fugues in several versions for the theme you choose.

D7 – T or V7 – I or C7 – F?Three different methods of describing chords are built into tonica. Function Theory which is primarily used in Germany, Roman Numeral method primarily used in Great Britain and Chord Theory. Should you want to compose in the Jazz style we recommend that you make tonica display the harmonies according to Berkeley standard.

Hardware and softwareMinimum requirements

For tonica to run you will need

• a Microsoft Windows PC.

• Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/Windows7Useful accessory

7Introduction

• A Midi keyboard will speed up note entry.

Install and start tonica Licence, activation, demo versionWhen you start tonica for the first time, the program will prompt you to licence the software. You will find the serial number in the email we sent you. Transfer the serial number to the license dialog which appears at the program start. You now have 30 days to use tonica with all its features. Within these 30 days you must activate your product for your PC. The activation dialog appears every time you start the program, until it is activated. The easiest way to activate is as follows:

Make sure that your PC is connected to the Internet. Start the program to display the activation dialogue. Enter your email address and click OK.

Your software will immediately connect to our server and transfer your licence serial number and a hardware code. In return, our server will calculate an activation code and transfer it back to your PC.

You will then see an on-screen confirmation of the successful activation. You program is now permanently activated on your installation PC.

If the product activation fails, you can contact the distributors by phone. Please dial the number displayed in the activation dialogue. If you do not have any Internet connec-tion, you are lead through the manual activation procedure. Please follow the instruc-tions displayed in the activation dialogue.

For 30 days after installation you can use your program without any limitations. After that period it will revert to demo mode, unless it is activated. So there is no hurry. Even if the automatic activation should fail, you have sufficient time to get in touch by phone.

After reinstalling your operating system, or after a major hardware upgrade of your PC, you will have to reactivate the software.

You need administrator rights for activation. If you are the person that set up and in-stalled Windows, or if you are the only user on a personal computer system, then you will almost certainly have administrator rights.

Document structure

Each tonica score consists of two staves. The upper stave with the treble clef contains the soprano and alto voices, the lower stave line with the bass clef contains the tenor

8 tonica

and bass voices. Below the lower stave is one more line (two if modulated) to accom-modate the chord description. If no chord description is shown, a blue square will dis-play.

TitleEach score can be given a title. You can do this through the Document menu or you can press the ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍFÍ2É key combination. Alternatively you can double-click the Title.

KeyYou can change the key through the Document menu or you can press the ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍFÍ3Ékey combination. A dialogue box will open with all the major and minor keys. Click on the radio button alongside the key you wish to use. Any notes which are already in your score will be transposed into the new key, and you can choose whether they are trans-posed upwards or downwards. A note which will need more than five ledger lines will automatically be shown in the octave above or below.

Time signatureYou can change the time signature by using the Document menu, or you can press the ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍFÍ4É key combination. A dialogue box will open, giving you the choice of time sig-natures and also the option of the Common time and Alla Breve symbols. Further time signature can be selected by clicking on the drop down list arrows in the dialogue box. Barlines will be entered automatically when notes are played rhythmically into the score, but if you are entering notes with the mouse or the keyboard you will need to enter the barlines manually.

Layout The distance between the staves in each line of music can be changed by using the Do-cument menu. With the dialogue box that appears you can change the distance bet-ween soprano/alto and tenor/bass within a stave and also the distance between the li-nes of music (the pairs of staves).

ParallelsIn Analysis – Show parallels you determine which parallels are displayed in the docu-ment.

ZoomOn the Commands toolbar you will see a drop down list with a percentage. This is a zoom percentage that affects the size that the staves are shown on the screen. The de-fault is 100%. You can select: 300%, 200%, 150%, 100%, 75%, 50%. Deviating values can be entered manually.

9Install and start tonica

Print view sizeFrom the Document menu you can select a range of print sizes. 100% means that your page is completely filled. You can determine a size or select one of the defaults: 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%.

10 tonica

Working with tonica Composing begins with note entry. You can enter notes in tonica with the mouse, the PC keyboard or Midi keyboard.

Single note entry with the mouse, PC keyboard and Midi keyboard

The cursor

You can move the cursor in several ways: • With the direction arrow keys to move along the voice note at a time.

• With the direction arrow keys to move up or down to the next voice or to thechord description line.

• With ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ + the direction arrows to jump one beat to the right or left, re-spectively one stave up or down.

• With ÁÍHÍoÍmÍeÉ and ÁÍEÍnÍdÉ to the beginning or end of the current voice.

• With the mouse: select any note or rest from the toolbar, also click on the bar-line, fermata, or placeholder icon to add these. Move the mouse pointer towhere you want to enter your selection and click. You should click above thestave centre line to insert into the soprano or tenor and below the centre lineto insert into the alto or bass.

You can scroll around the score window using the direction arrows providing you do not have the Windows scroll lock on. If the light below the scroll lock label at the top right of your keyboard is lit this signifies that the scroll lock is on.

To enter notes and rests capella users will notice that note entry and many other operating controls are identical with tonica and capella.

1.

Select the voice that you want to enter notes into either by moving the cursor (see above) or by clicking on one of the icons on the toolbar, shown below.

11Working with tonica

icon key voice

ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍFÍ5É soprano

ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍFÍ6É alto

ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍFÍ7É tenor

ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍFÍ8É bass

2. Select the duration of the note/rest that you want to enter.

notekeys:ÁÍ1É ÁÍ2É ÁÍ4É ÁÍ8É ÁÍ6É

restkeys:

ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍ1É ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍ2É ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍ4É ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍ8ÉÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍ6É

3. To dot a note or rest click on this symbol: (key: ÁÍ.É). The setting is automat-ically cancelled after the dotted note is entered.

4. Add any accidentals required:

key: ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍ#É

key: ÁÍ#É

key: ÁÍNÉ

key: ÁÍBÉ

key: ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍBÉ

Note: Accidentals also affect other voices that have notes within the same bar at the same pitch. The effect of the accidental only applies within the current bar. When the composition is analysed, enharmonic transpositions are toler-ated.

12 tonica

5. Finally click on the specific stave line in the position where you want to insertthe note or rest.

5.1. Press one of the following keys to set the respective note at the cursor po-sition.ÁÍAÉ, ÁÍHÉ, ÁÍCÉ, ÁÍDÉ, ÁÍEÉ, ÁÍFÉ, ÁÍGÉ

(ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ enters the note an octave higher.)

Pressing ÁÍSÍpÍaÍcÍeÉ or ÁÍPÉ enters a rest.

5.2. Play a note via a connected Midi instrument. This instrument must have been selected in the dialogue box for Music entry and playback.

5.3.Enter the note with the mouse piano. It is activated with this icon:

6. Notes following the inserted note are moved to the right. Barlines and chorddescriptions are not.

7. You can repeat notes in front of the cursor by pressing [Shift]+[7].

8. Notes that have already been entered can be shifted up or down by placing thecursor in front of the note and then holding down [O] (not zero) and repeatedlytouching the arrow keys up respectively down. Using the letter [O] will shift thenotes diatonically, while holding down [P] will shift the notes chromatically.

9. Increase / decrease the value of notes: Position the cursor in front of the relev-ant note and press [>] to increase its value or [<] to decrease its value.

EditingYou can delete notes, rests and chord descriptions by placing the curse to the left of the note and pressing ÁÍDÍeÍlÉ. The note to the right is deleted. Pressing the back delete key (the left facing arrow above the Enter key) will delete the next object to the left of the cursor. You can also use the menu command Edit and the delete option.

Barlines

➔ Inserting and deleting barlines with the mouse

1. Click one of the icons , (key: ÁÍ|É for plain barline) to en-ter barline mode.

2. Set the barline by clicking between two notes with the left mouse button.

3. Delete a barline by right mouse clicking on it with the barline icon lit.

4. Click again one of the icons to switch off barline entry.


➔ Inserting and deleting barlines with the PC keyboard Press key ÁÍTÉ to enter a barline at the cursor and ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍTÉ to delete the barline nearest to the cursor.

Barlines will disappear at the end of a line when they coincide with the end barline. Barlines are not anchored to notes, they are recorded as being a specific number of semiquavers (sixteenth notes) from the start of the line.

Beams

➔ Quavers and semiquavers can be joined with beams:1. Place the cursor between two quavers or semiquavers.

2. Click this icon to set a beam.

3. Click this icon to delete a beam.

4. You can set and delete beams also within marked groups of notes.

TiesNotes where the duration should extend beyond a barline are split across the barline by means of a tied note. See the following example:

Which results in

The division of the note is only done for visual purposes. The note is still recorded at its full value. If the barline is removed the full value note reappears.

➔ Ties can also be set manually: 1. Position the cursor between notes of the same pitch.

2. Click this icon to set a tie.

3. Click this icon to remove a tie

or

1. Position the cursor behind a note.

14 tonica

2. Press ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍ0É to insert a note of identical pitch and tie it with the precedingnote.

Triplets

➔ Notes and rests can be combined as triplets:1. In a voice, choose notes and rest with a total length of 3/16, 3/8, 3/4 etc.

2. Click this icon to create a triplet or press ÁÍRÉ.

3. Click this icon to remove a triplet or press ÁÍRÉ again.

Volta bracketsRepeat (volta) brackets at the end of a repetition determine which final bar is to be played in the first or second place.

1. Place the cursor in front of the note where you wish to set the repeat bracket.

2. Click this icon to set a repeat bracket.

PlaceholdersPlaceholders are particularly useful for moving barlines to the end of the stave. This is not necessary when barlines are entered automatically by tonica.

➔ To insert individual placeholders 1. Select the voice.

2. Click this icon .

3. Click on the stave where you want to insert the placeholder. Alternatively, youcan insert a placeholder without clicking on the icon by pressing ÁÍLÉ

➔ To automatically insert placeholders1. From the Edit menu click on the option Insert placeholders or click this symbol

.

2. Setting the placeholders may take several seconds. Each stave will then be clo-sed by a barline at the right-hand side. Placeholders set before this action willnot be kept.

Placeholders are shown as small red boxes. They are hidden on the screen by pressing (key: ÁÍSÉ) and are never visible when printed.


Rhythmic playing in (Real Time Entry)If you have a Midi keyboard you can play the notes in rhythmically.

➔ To play the notes in rhythmically• From the Music menu select rhythmic playing in.

• From the resulting dialogue box choose the voice the notes are to be playedinto.

You will now see a further dialogue box.

• Tap the [Tab] key on your PC keyboard to set the pulse for the music. As you dothis you will see the time in milliseconds between taps. The gap between thelast two taps will be used for the pulse of the music. If you do not use the [Tab]key then the gap between the first two notes will be used to set the pulse.

• The notes that you play in will be inserted from the cursor position. Barlineswill be entered automatically for the time signature derived from your settingof the pulse.

• To ensure that the last note has the correct duration it must be held on care-fully. Alternatively you can play an extra note, and this may help continue yourplaying over the penultimate note. The last ’dummy’ note can then be deleted.

16 tonica

• To end playing in click on the Exit button in the dialogue box or press theÁÍEÍnÍtÍeÍrÉ key. Now you can see the notes on the screen. You can abandon yourplaying in by clicking on Cancel.

Tips for rhythmic playing in

Don’t play chords (i.e. several notes at a time). You can improve the accuracy of your playing in by adjusting settings in the Music entry and playback option under the Mu-sic menu. This menu will allow you to specify sharps. For example, ticking the right hand check box will produce A# and leaving it unticked will produce B flat. More con-sistent note lengths will be achieved if you understand the two settings described be-low:

Absence of a played note can be taken to be unintentional, inaccurate playing rather than a deliberate rest. For example if you set a crotchet value here then gaps in your playing of a crotchet or longer will be taken as rests and below a crotchet the gap will be added to the preceding note length.

For similar reasons to the above - because it is difficult to reliably distinguish in your playing between dotted and undotted note lengths for very short notes – tonica al-lows you to set a note value below which all notes will be assumed to be undotted.

Play as slowly as possible. You do not need to stick to the original tempo reading. Be-fore you start you can click the PC Tab key at a slow tempo to tell tonica the crotchet beat. Use a metronome. Do not vary your tempo.

Play the piece a second time and compare the two for the best possible result.

Using the PC keyboard to play in rhythmically

You can play music in rhythmically using specific keys on your PC keyboard. Whilst this is not easy, some users may wish to use this method. After setting up tonica for playing in (as described above) use the PC keys shown below. The top row are the black keys and you can use whichever of the two sets you prefer.

ÁÍ2É ÁÍ3É ÁÍ5É ÁÍ6É ÁÍ7É ÁÍ9É ÁÍ0É ÁÍ´É Higher notesÁÍQÉ ÁÍWÉ ÁÍEÉ ÁÍRÉ ÁÍTÉ ÁÍYÉ ÁÍUÉ ÁÍIÉ ÁÍOÉ ÁÍPÉ ÁÍÜÉ ÁÍ+É

ÁÍSÉ ÁÍDÉ ÁÍGÉ ÁÍHÉ ÁÍJÉ ÁÍLÉ Lower notesÁÍZÉ ÁÍXÉ ÁÍCÉ ÁÍVÉ ÁÍBÉ ÁÍNÉ ÁÍMÉ ÁÍ;É ÁÍ:É

tonica should automatically map the keys above to the notes of the scale. If it does not it is because it is assuming the wrong national keyboard standard. This is referred to as the code page setting. If you are using an English language version of Windows you will have either the US or UK keyboard set, both of which may need you to tick the check


box next to Swap Z and Y in Music entry and playback. This is because the German key-board for which tonica was developed has the Z and Y swapped.

Editing (deleting, cutting, copying, pasting)The above instructions work in the same way in tonica as in other Windows programs. For example you can cut or copy a section of score from one area and paste it into an-other.

➔ To mark a section to be edited with the mouse1. Move the mouse pointer to the start of the piece to be marked.

2. Press and hold down the left mouse button.

3. Drag the mouse pointer to the end of the piece. Unlike other Windows pro-grams, the music content in tonica restricts the flexibility of marking to the fol-lowing:

To mark a single voice: The pointer must only move over one half of the stave. For example for soprano or Tenor (Alto or Bass) the black background must only appear behind the top half of the stave.

Soprano and Alto or Tenor and Bass: The black background must cover the whole of the appropriate stave.

All voices: The black background must cover both stave lines.

4. Release the mouse button.

➔ To mark a section to be edited with the keyboard 1. Move the cursor to the start of the section to be marked (use the direction ar-

rows or the mouse).

2. Press and hold down the ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ key.

3. Move the cursor to the end of the piece to be marked. The restrictions onmarking a section are as for the mouse (see above).

4. Release the ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ key.

If you want to mark the entire document use the keys ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍAÉ.

Note: If you mark a voice you include notes belonging to that voice that are outside the black marked area. For example the marked lower half of the top stave, for the alto, includes alto part notes in the unmarked upper part of the stave.

You can cancel the marking by clicking anywhere in the window.

18 tonica

Copy (Key: ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍCÉ) leaves the notes in the score and takes a copy to the clipboard.

Cut(Key:ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍXÉ) removes the notes from the score and takes them to the clipboard.

Both instructions overwrite anything currently on the clipboard.

Delete (Key: ÁÍDÍeÍlÉ) removes the notes from the score and does not take them to the clipboard, so the clipboard’s previous contents remain.

Paste (Key: ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍVÉ) pastes the notes from the clipboard at the cursor position. It can be into the same score or another tonica score. You can paste the notes into any voice. If you paste into a different clef the notes are transposed by an octave.

If all four voices are copied then the barline is also copied, otherwise it is not.

The Undo Function This function (key: ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍZÉ) cancels the preceding action. Pressing it again reinstates the action. You can undo and redo (key: ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍYÉ) up to 40 actions.

Chord descriptionChords can be described using one of three methods: Function theory, Chord theory or Roman Numeral method. The first two are commonly used in Germany and the latter in Britain and the USA. The methods are interchangeable. You can select which will be used through the Documents menu. Existing descriptions will be displayed in whichever method is currently selected.

➔ How to insert chord descriptions• To enter a new description follow the steps above and when the pop up menu

appears select the option Insert chord description.

• To edit an existing description either right mouse click on the description orpress Enter when the cursor is to the left of the chord description. A pop upwindow appears. Select Chord description.The correct name for the chord description that you enter will be shown inblue under the notes.

Function theory descriptions:


a: T, S, D, Tp, Sp, Dp, Tg, Sg, Dg, t, s, d, tP, sP, dP, tG, sG, dG, DD (Double do-minant), SS (Double subdominant)

b, c: Numbers 1 to 9, upper voices or n (for Neapolitan sixth)

d: S, D, Tp, Sp, Dp

e: Numbers 1 to 9

Chord theory descriptions:

a: Degree of the scale: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII in upper or lower case. Note: Similar to Roman Numeral Method but upper case letters define major and lower case letters minor.

b, c, d: Numbers 1 to 13, upper voi-ces b or #

d: # or space symbol

20 tonica

Roman Numeral descriptions:

a: # or b, to signify a sharpened or flattened bass of the chord.

b: Degree of the scale: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII in upper or lower case.

c, d: Numbers 1 to 9, upper voices or n (for Neapolitan sixth).

e: # or b, to signify a sharpened or flattened third of the chord.

f: b, c, d, e denoting which inversion of the chord is used. i.e. which note is ap-pearing in the bass.

Jazz descriptions:

a: Keynote: C, D, E, F, G, A, B or B-flat, additionally # or b to signify a sharpened or flattened keynote.

Left dialogue box: Chord fa-mily (such as maj, m, add, sus, dim, aug) including ad-ded notes.

Right dialogue box: additio-nal added or modified notes in brackets (such as (b5 #9)).

b: Bass note (if differing from keynote): C, D, E, F, G, A, B or B-flat, additionally # or b to signify a sharpened


or flattened bass note.

Figured bass descriptions:

Every edit field:

1-14 Figure number

0 Tasto solo

/ Chord anticipation

- No chord

Modulations

Click on Modulation in the chord description dialogue box. From the resulting pop up window select the key to which you wish to modulate. Click on the new key. Enter the chord description for the chord in the new key. If you enter a chord which is not consist-ent with the modulation you will see a notice to this effect. Chord descriptions for the new key are shown lower on the page than chord descriptions in the previous key.

➔ Deleting a modulationTo delete a modulation place the cursor to the left of the last chord in the old key. Call up the Chord Description dialogue box and click Modulation. Select the original key.

Click on the <= or => to step forward or back to the next chord description. Click OK to end input.

Evaluating chord descriptions

➔ You evaluate the correctness of a chord description as follows: • Right mouse click on the chord description or with the cursor to the immediate

left of the description press ÁÍSÍhÍiÍfÍtÉ+ÁÍEÍnÍtÍeÍrÉ.

• From the pop up menu choose Evaluate.

• The evaluate dialogue box gives the following information:

Notes in the chordWhich degree is in which voiceNotes that are foreign to the chord

22 tonica

Whether the bass is correctWhether the third is doubledWhether an enharmonic mistake is present

• Click <= or => to evaluate the next chord, or click OK to end.

Opening and closing a file, saving a file, importing and exporting a file

Your personal tonica folderDuring installation of tonica a tonica folder is created in the „Documents“ directory. In this folder you can save your tonica documents. This folder also contains further folders and files which are needed for the use of tonica and should not be altered. These fol-ders are interesting for you:

• The folder „Example“ contains pieces of music with note examples.

• The folder„Demo“ contains many pieces of music which demonstrate harmoni-zation styles and functions available in tonica. The folder „Bach“ for examplecontains chorals of J. S. Bach and the folder „Fugue“ contains fugue themeswhich can be used as basis for fugue composition in tonica.

Open a piece of music

You can select Menu and Open, click on the Open icon or use the keys ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍOÉ. A standard Windows file opening dialogue box will appear.

Saving a file tonica saves a file using the standard Windows dialogue boxes.

Importing a fileFrom capella

You can import capella files of the type capx. The first four voices of the file are impor-ted.

➔ How to import a capella file1. From the tonica File menu select Import...

2. From the resulting dialogue box select capella (*.capx).

3. Find the capella file from the standard Windows dialogue box.

From Midi


You can import standard Midi files of the type Midi-1.

➔ How to import a Midi file1. From the tonica File menu select Import...

2. From the resulting dialogue box select Midi (*.mid).

3. Find the Midi file from the standard Windows dialogue box.

4. A large window opens showing all the important Midi information. More de-tails are given below with an example of Midi import :

Meaning of the terms:

• File: Midi file name including the folder path

• Copyright: If available

24 tonica

• Format: 0 (one track, several channels), 1 (several tracks with a channel pertrack) or 2 (several independent tracks)

• Key, time signature: set by the Midi file but can be changed in tonica.

• Anacrusis (upbeat): Counted in 32nds of a note value from the start of thescore.

• Factor by which all imported note lengths are multiplied. Values 2 or 4 are useful to uniformly increase very small note lengths to make them more readable as notation. Values 3 or 5 are useful if the Midi file contains triplets.

• Line for each track and/or channel. Each line contains:

- Track number

- Track name

- Channel number

- Start point (starting point for the first note played expressed in 32nds of awhole note)

- stave lines showing the first 100 notes of each track/channel. You can scroll horizontally in quarter-note steps to see more notes.

- Four check boxes. You must tick one of the boxes for each stave to tell ton-ica which voice to put the stave’s notes into. Above the first set of boxes is the heading S A T B, showing which voice the boxes underneath relate to.

Strategy

Tracks/channels in Midi can be multi-voiced, however tonica can only contain one voice per stave. The check boxes above make it possible to redirect tracks/channels contain-ing a single voice to a specific tonica voice. The dropdown boxes at the bottom of the import window underneath the strategy heading allow you to strip out a single voice from a multi voiced track/channel. Do this by using one of the strategies described be-low:

• highest: If several notes occur at the same time the highest is selected.

• 2nd highest: If several notes occur at the same time the 2nd highest is selec-ted. If only one note occurs it is skipped and a rest substituted. If you used thison a single voice stave you would only import rests!

• 3rd highest and 4th highest logic as above.

• lowest: If several notes occur at the same time the lowest is selected.

• 2nd lowest: If several notes occur at the same time the 2nd lowest is selected.If only one note occurs it is skipped and a rest substituted. If you used this on asingle voice stave you would only import rests!


• 3rd and 4th lowest logic as above.

• Note: A note can be imported into two voices if it meets the criteria for bothvoices.

Midi import in practice

The following examples should help to clarify the above:

First example

Strategy Soprano: "highest"

Strategy Alto: "3rd highest"

Strategy Tenor: "lowest"

Result:

Soprano voice: Green notes

Alto voice: Red notes

Tenor voice: Blue notes

Explanation:

• In the seventh column (seventh chord along) note A is imported into the altoand the same note is also entered into the tenor. This is because the notemeets two of the criteria we set above. It is the third highest, matching the altocriteria and also the lowest, matching the tenor criteria.

• In columns 8 and 9 the alto only gets a rest because there are no 3rd highestnotes.

• In column 10 (last column) note D is taken to be the third highest note in thecolumn because the eighth-note D in the previous chord is still sounding. It istherefore part of the chord in column 10.

Second example

Strategy Soprano: "highest"

Strategy Alto: "D 4"

26 tonica

Strategy Tenor: "lowest"

Result:

Soprano voice: Green notes

Alto voice: Red notes

Tenor voice: Blue notes

Explanation:

In columns 5 and 6 the A was imported into the alto voice because the D – being the lowest note - was imported into the tenor.

Midi quick import

Quick import was developed to let you import Midi files without going through the above dialogue box to specify what notes go to each voice. To be useable the Midi file must contain either 2 tracks with 2 voices or 4 tracks with 1 voice each.

1. From the File menu select Midi quick import...

2. You will get a standard Windows dialogue box. Select one or more Midi files asyou would select ordinary files in Windows.

3. The files are imported in sequence, opened and saved as tonica files.

Exporting a tonica fileTo capella

If you are exporting a tonica file to capella, you will apply tonica's export function.

➔ Exporting in capella-format1. From the File menu choose Export...

2. In the dialog, choose file format capella 3:1 or capella 2:2 (*.capx). In thenormal case this is the default setting.2:2 exports soprano/alto and tenor/bass in one stave.3:1 exports soprano/alto/tenor in one stave (with chord display) and bass inthe second stave.

3. Give the file a name.

4. Alternatively, you can use the menu item “View in capella”(page 27) . Thiscombines the steps „Export (in tonica)“ and „Load (in capella)“.


To MusicXML format

➔ Exporting in MusicXML format:1. From the File menu choose Export...

2. In the export dialogue box choose MusicXML (*.xml).3. Give the file a name.

To Midi format

Many music programs (such as capriccio, the capella squencing program) use the Midi format as well as their own proprietary format. Therefore exporting from tonica in Midi format allows tonica scores to be used in most music programs.

➔ Exporting in Midi format:1. From the File menu choose Export...

2. In the export dialogue box choose MIDI (*.mid).

3. Give the file a name.

4. Set the following Midi parameters:

Midi time basis This value defines the definition of the note length. The bigger the value the more exact the definition of the note length.

Initial empty bar Break at the beginning (optional). The length of the break is indicated in 16ths.

Note length Depending on the instrument it may be reasona-ble not to play the note at its full length in the Midi file.

The smaller the value the more staccato the so-unds will be in the Midi file.

View in capellaThis option allows you to transfer a composition directly into capella. The composition will be exported and capella will start automatically, loading the composition. Select this option from the File menu or click this icon . If figured bass is active for chord

28 tonica

description, you can choose between 3:1 and 2:2 export. In all other chord description types the export is allways 2:2. (page 26)

Tip: On execution of this command a capella file is created and saved in a folder „_ca-pella“ below the personal tonica folder.

Printingtonica prints using the standard Windows drivers and dialogue boxes. tonica will use the printer set as default in the User Account Control. You can select a different printer from the File menu clicking Set up printer...

You can set paper sizes, margins etc. by selecting Page setup from the File menu.

Print out size is set through the Document menu and Print size.

➔ To print a tonica score

1. From the File menu choose Print, or press ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍPÉ or click this icon .

2. You will get the standard Windows Printer dialogue box.

Score playback➔ To play back a score

1. From the Music menu select the voice(s) to play back or select All voices. e.g."All", "Soprano", "Alt", "Tenor" and/or "Bass".

2. Move the cursor to the left of the first note to be played back.

3. Start playback.

3.1. Click on the playback icon on the commands toolbar or press ÁÍFÍ9É to play back all voices selected in step 1 above.

3.2. Click this icon to play back only the voice on which the cursor is posi-tioned.

4. The cursor moves along with the playback.

5. Repeats are played back correctly.

6. To stop playback before the end click on the playback icon again or or press ÁÍFÍ9É again.

Setting up music entry and playback

➔ To set the defaults for playing music into tonica and playing music back1. From the Music menu select Music entry and playback, or press ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍEÉ.


2. The capella-tune dialogue appears.

3. Under Output select the Windows sound driver that you want.

4. For more help about capella-tune please click „?“ in the dialogue box.

➔ To set the defaults for music options1. From the Music menu select Music-options

2. Tick the check boxes as follows:

2.1. Tick Cursor jump-back after playback. If you do not tick this box the cur-sor will stay behind the last played note.

2.2. Prefer sharps lets you tell tonica to sharpen certain notes. The check boxes represent the black keys on the keyboard. For example if you tick the right hand box that black note will be A#. If you do not tick it the note will be B flat.

2.3. In the group Rhythmic playing in you will find Shortest dotted note and Shortest rest.

2.4. Tick Swap keys Z and Y. This is used when you play in rhythmically from the PC. tonica is expecting a German layout keyboard which has the Z and Y keys exchanged. You should tick the box to swap the positions of the Z and Y for English and US keyboards.

2.5. Tick Play back keyboard entry if you wish to hear your playing in. Other-wise you will only hear your MIDI keyboard.

2.6. Tick Even out playing speed if you would like tonica to attempt to com-pensate for speed fluctuations in your playing. You should experiment, as this may not always improve the accuracy overall.

Selecting instrumentsIf you are playing your tonica files back through a soundcard you can choose from 128 Midi instrument sounds. This does not work if you are playing back through the PC speaker option.

To select an instrument

1. From the Music menu select Instrument, or press ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍIÉ.

2. Select the voice it is to apply to.

3. Select the Group and Instrument. This is either the capella Vienna orchestra ora Midi device. There are 128 possible sounds arranged in 16 groups of 8 instru-ments. The drop down list MIDI-Nr. is linked to the previous instrument selec-tion. You can enter a Midi instrument reference number and call up an instru-ment directly.

30 tonica

4. The Volume slider adjusts the playback of the instrument between 0 and 127.As well as dragging the slider with the mouse you can use the direction arrowsto move the slider in single units and the page up and page down buttons tomove it 25 steps at a time.

5. In the group headed Play you can play a sample note of the instrument. Eachbutton represents an A an octave apart.

6. Repeat the above from step two for each voice you want to set an instrumenton.

The instrument setting is saved when you save the score.

Selecting a playback tempoTo set the playback tempo

• From the Music menu select Tempo or press ÁÍCÍtÍrÍlÉ+ÁÍTÉ.

• Use the slider to choose a tempo.

• You can also enter the duration of a crotchet in milliseconds or the number ofcrotchets per minute.

Midi-ResetClick on this icon if you are having trouble with playback, for example a note hanging.

31Automatic composition

Automatic compositionTonica puede componer un arreglo de cuatro partes de cualquier línea melódica entrado en cualquier línea de voz. Esta capacidad se aprendió con la ayuda de redes neuronales artificiales creadas por tonica desde ejemplos musicales dados a la misma. Cada red neuronal debe construirse a partir de ejemplos de un compositor particular. Cuatro las redes se incluyen con tonica, dos de estilos de corales de Bach, uno de Max Reger y un estilo de jazz. tonica también compone cánones y fugas. Con tonica también puede crear sus propias redes neuronales a partir de ejemplos de otros compositores que importe en tonica.

Puede utilizar esta característica como una ayuda en el aprendizaje de las cuatro parte de armonía y como herramienta para armonizar sus composiciones, que le da un buen punto de partida que se puede trabajar más adelante por ti. Para sacar el máximo partido de esta característica se recomiendan los siguientes procedimientos:

➔ To compose with tonica• Introduzca primero la melodía en el soprano o cualquier otra línea de voz.

Marcar secciones importantes mediante la inserción de fermata. Estos son reconocidos por tonica y conducir a mejores resultados. Ver nota de entrada para la ayuda en la inserción de notas y fermata.

• En el menú Score selecciona la opción Compose.

• Reproducir el resultado.

• Cuando haya escuchado el resultado una manera de modificarlo es pulsando el botón derecho del ratón en su descripción de acordes y de entrar en su cuenta.

• Usted puede recomponer sus secciones modificadas preguntando a tonica para reemplazar las notas existentes de las secciones modificadas con notas que coinciden con las descripciones de acordes introducidas manualmente por usted. Para ello, seleccione Realize chords en el menú Compose y si es necesario añadir ornamentaciones, también en el menú Compose.

También puede obtener un cambio en sus armonías seleccionando el estilo de un compositor diferente o variando el nivel de detalle que las armonías están construidas . es decir, si los bloques de construcción básicos son a negras, corcheas, mínimas, etc Para ello, seleccione Opciones, también en el menú Componer.

FermataFermata es una ayuda importante en la creación de una composición uniforme. Puede ser que usted conoce J.S. Bach's choral fermata: Siempre aparecen al final de una frase. Cuando se establece fermata mientras que las notas entran en Tonica ingresará cadencias hasta estas Fermate. Esto hace una composición suave y armónico.

32 tonica

Si usted desea hacer uso de tonica cadencias de la base de datos de cadencia debe establecer fermata al final de cada frase.➔Para configurar fermata al introducir notas

• Click Voice y Note value.

• Click en fermata symbol .

• Entra la nota – el calderón aparecerá encima.

Tonica permite establecer calderón en todas las voces.

➔ To set a fermata later• Make sure that none of the note value symbols are active.

• Choose the soprano voice and position the cursor in front of the note abovewhich the fermata is to appear.

• Click the fermata symbol .

➔ To remove a fermata• Make sure that none of the note value symbols are active.

• Choose the soprano voice and position the cursor in front of the note abovewhich the fermata is to appear.

• Click the fermata symbol .

Setting and removing fermata subsequently is done with the same command.

To determine the composition section

• Mark the phrase as a note block with the mouse.

• In the Compose menu determine the Composition section.

Choose all if the composition is to be created for the entire melody.

Choose current phrase if the phrase is to be composed where the cursor is currently positioned. Phrase ends are marked by fermata. If there is no fermata, then this corre-sponds with compose all.

Choose marked phrase if you want a previously marked phrase to be composed.

If you want new harmonies to be calculated, tick Harmonize again. This corresponds with the command Compose without passing notes.


To harmonize a melody

Si usted desea hacer tonica armonice una melodía sin crear una composición completa, haga clic en Harmonize en el menú Compose. Tonica automáticamente determinará una armonización e insertar las funciones calculadas. Puede cambiar las opciones de composición haciendo clic en Options.

To realize chordsAl hacer clic en "realizar chords en el menú Componer usted puede realizar cuatro acordes de voz en las funciones ajustadas. Usted puede dejar que tonica determine las funciones o configurar cambio usted mismo. Las opciones de composición se pueden cambiar haciendo clic en Options. Si usted ha realizado acorde acordes por acorde, entonces usted puede marcar passing notes en el menú Compose. Con éste su composición será muy suave y elegante. Las opciones de composición se pueden cambiar haciendo clic en Options.

Composition and analysis optionsAl hacer clic en Compose-Options se abre el diálogo de ajustes de composición. Puede configurar estas opciones individualmente para cada documento tonica. Ellos se guardarán junto con el documento. Obtendrá los mejores resultados utilizando la configuración estándar.

34 tonica

Click Harmonization style to determine a style.

Harmonization rhythm determines the rhythm of the harmonization (such as crotchets or dotted rhythms).

Generally tonica will determine a composition by choosing the most likely harmony. For alternatives to this click allow alternative solutions.

tonica prefers a linear proceeding of the accompanying voices. This sometimes produ-ces chords with notes in distant positions which are difficult to play on a keyboard in-strument. By clicking prefer close position tonica will pick chords whose three upper voices can be played with the right hand.

In the area insert cadences you determine if or where tonica may insert cadences. You can choose between everywhere and at phrase ends. Phrase ends are marked by fer-mata.

Mostly, tonica will create a four-voice composition. By changing the number of voices you can obtain a three-voice (soprano, alto, bass) or two-voice (soprano, bass) composi-tion.

Figured bass realizationThe figured bass is a musical notation that has emerged in Baroque music. A bass-line (bass voice) with added numbers is notated to which improvised chords were supple-mented. Figured bass instruments were the harpsichord, organ, lute, theorbo, etc., to-gether with a bass viol, cello, double bass, bassoon or trombone playing the bass voice.

The numbers and accidentals beneath the bass voice indicate what intervals above the bass notes should be played. Above each bass note without numbers a full diatonic tri-ad in root position is played. Chord notes can be doubled or played in another octave. Common voice-leading rules apply for realizing the chords.

tonica automatically creates full chord realizations of figured basses. Chords are gener-ally realized in close position which allows bass notes to be played with the left hand and added chord notes with the right hand on keyboard instruments. Individually tied chord notes result in a smooth composition which can be exported to capella, for ex-ample to accompany a melody voice.

The rules of figured bass notation have changed over the centuries. Even today differ-ent ways of writing figured basses are taught. At the end of this section a brief sum-mary is given how to interpret figured bass numberings in tonica.

Realizing a figured bass-lineWhen you select the command Figured bass from the Compose menu, a dialogue ap-pears in which you can define the setting for figured bass composition.


When realizing a figured bass the selected harmonization rhythm and number of voices are considered.

• By clicking Options you can change the setting of harmonization rhythm andnumber of voices. All other settings in the Options dialogue will not influencefigured bass realization.

• The harmonization rhythm determines the rhythm of figured bass realization(e.g. crotchets). Intermediate bass notes (e.g. quaver passing notes) are real-ized as chords only if they are numbered.

• In Section you define the section to be realized.

• Click all if the realization is to be composed for the entire bass-line.

• Click current phrase if only the phrase where the cursor is positioned is to berealized. Phrase ends are marked by fermata. Should there be no fermata, thenthis corresponds to the entire bass-line.

• Click marked section if a marked section is to be realized.

• Chords are normally realized in close position to be played with the right hand.In the early days figured bass composition was closely related to instrumentalor vocal parts to be accompanied. Voices were equally distributed on bothhands. Choose Early BC-Style (open position) if you prefer this behaviour.

To fully utilize the potential of this feature we recommend you proceed as follows:

➔ How to create a figured bass composition• Enter the bass-line into the bass voice. Important sections of the bass-line

should be marked with fermata. These will be referenced during the automaticcomposition process and generally produce a better result than workingwithout fermata.

• Optional: To generate a complete composition without numbering bass notesplease select Figured bass from the Compose menu. All bass notes on harmon-ization rhythm will be supplemented by chords based on diatonic triads in rootposition.

• Now enter your desired numberings for the bass notes. Numbers indicate theintervals that should be played above a bass note. Alterations with respect tokey are notated as accidentals or with "+". Write "0" or "-" for bass notes onharmonic rhythm for which no chords should be generated.

• To create two or more chords on a single bass note, you need to add rests inanother voice such that boxes appear at the desired points in time below thebass note. Write the numberings for additional chords into these boxes. Theadded rests will be overridden when the composition is created.

• Select Figured bass from the Compose menu and modify the harmonizationrhythm in the Options dialogue if necessary.

36 tonica

• Play back the figured bass realization and assess the result.

• To modify the result using different settings you can undo the action and rerunCompose – Figured bass with new parameters until you are satisfied with theresult.

Figured bass notation in tonicaThe following figure shows some examples of numberings and their realization in ton-ica.

The following rules apply for numberings in tonica:

• Numbers from 0 to 14 are allowed. Number 0 means "tasto solo" (no chord).You can enter up to 3 numbers for each chord. Third (3) and fifth (5) must notbe notated but are added automatically. Example: Bass note c of first chord inthe above figure is supplemented by third (e) and fifth (g). In addition the sop-rano voice doubles the fundamental note c.

• Numbers greater than 7 are interpreted as chord positions, i.e. they refer tochord notes in the upper voices (soprano and alto voice). tonica considersthese chord positions during figured bass realization if they do not result in


voice-leading errors. Example: The numbering (11 9) in the figure means that the added notes (eleventh f and ninth d) should appear in the soprano and alto voice respectively. In the following chord with numbering (10 8) these notes are resolved into notes e and c.

• The following replacement rule applies: If number 4 is notated, number 3 must be notated explicitly to be considered as a chord note. If number 6 is notated, number 5 must be notated explicitly to be considered as a chord note. Ex-ample: In the chord with numbering (6 4) number 4 replaces 3 and number 6 replaces 5. Therefore the third (e) and the fifth (g) do not appear.

• The following completion rule applies: If number 2 is notated, it will be auto-matically supplemented by numbers 4 and 6. If numbers 2 and 4 are notated, number 6 will be supplemented (third inversion). If numbers 3 and 4 are not-ated, number 6 will be supplemented (second inversion). Example: The first chord with number 2 includes the second (d) but also the forth (f) and the sixth (a).

• All accidentals (bb, b, #, x, natural) and "+" are allowed to notate alterations. Except for natural, accidentals are interpreted relative to the key, i.e. they raise or lower a diatonic note by one or two semitones. Like "#", a "+" raises a diatonic note by a semitone. Example: In the chord with numbering (4+ 2), the forth (f) is raised by a semitone (f sharp).

• If an alteration without a number is notated, number 3 is added. Example: In the second chord with numbering "b", the third (e) is lowered by a semitone (e flat).

• To realize a bass note with no chord or no chord change, "0" or "-" are notated. Example: In the above figure the last 4 bass notes are not supplemented by chord notes because of numbering "0" and "-".

• A "/" sign indicates a chord anticipation of a following bass note. Example: The chord with numbering "/" anticipates the added chord notes of the following chord (b, d, and f).

38 tonica

Voice duplicationDuplicating a voice means to add to a melody a parallel accompanying voice at a fixed interval distance (for example octave, third or sixth). The most frequent form of voice duplication is octaving: As an example the cellos in an orchestra are often duplicated by the double basses playing one octave lower. Another form of voice duplication was the parallel leading in fifths and fourths („Quartal harmony“) in medieval times. With incre-asing development of Major-Minor tonality, thirds and sixths prevailed against the fourth which was perceived as dissonance to be resolved. Only 20th century music libe-rated the use and thus the parallel leading of dissonant intervals. In today's easy liste-ning music which still has tonal characteristics voice duplication in thirds and sixths is often used to enrich the sound of a voice („background singing“).

tonica is able to add a parallel accompanying voice to any existing voice. Both accompa-nying voice and interval to be applied for duplication can be selected freely. When the main voice is to be duplicated the voice range set for the accompanying voice will be considered. Accompanying tones are octaved if necessary.

Given harmonies will also be considered for the selection of accompanying tones. The-se tones are always selected to go with the corresponding harmonies. The accompany-ing interval will be adapted if necessary: If for example the third is selected as interval, but the accompanying tone in the third interval does not go with the harmony, then the next tone going with the harmony will be selected, for example the tone in fourth inter-val.

Duplicate a voiceWhen you select the command Duplicate voice from the Compose menu a dialog ap-pears where you can determin settings to be considered during voice duplication.

• In the area Section you determine the section to be duplicated.

• Select all when the entire melody voice is to be duplicated.

• Select current phrase if only the phrase where the cursor is situated is to be duplicated. Phrase ends are marked by fermata. If there are no fermata then this is equivalent to the entire melody voice.

• Select marked section when you want to have the section duplicated which you marked before.

• In the area melody voice select the voice with the melody to be duplicated.

• Select duplicated voice for the voice in which the duplicated accompanying to-nes are to be created.

• Select intervall to determine the distance between the parallal accompanying voice to the melody voice.

Here is an example how to apply voice duplication:


➔ How to have tonica create accompanying voice to a leading voice• First enter the melody voice in the soprano. Mark important sections with fer-

mata.

• Optional: First create a hamonization of the melody. Select the command Har-monize from the Compose menu and set in Options a plain harmonization sty-le, for example „Samuel Scheidt“.

• Optional: Add a simple bass voice to the melody. Select the command Realize from the Compose menu and set „2“ voices in Options.

• Now duplicate the melody voice with an alto voice in third interval. Select the command Duplicate voice from the Compose menu with these settings: Melo-dy voice „Soprano“, duplicated voice „Alto“ and interval „third“.

• The result is a three-part composition with a duplicated melody and a plain bass. Listen to it and evaluate it.

• Optional: Duplicate the alto voice by an additional tenor voice in third interval. Select the command Duplicate voice from the Compose menu with these set-tings: Melody voice „Alto“, duplicated voice „Tenor“ and interval „third“.

• Now you have a four-part composition with double-duplicated melody and a plain bass.

Automatic Phrase variations

How to vary a melody or phrase tonica can automatically compose variations of melodies or phrases. This unique capab-ility was learnt with the help of so-called artificial neural networks from pre-selected samples of particular variation styles (for example Chorale parts by Johann Pachelbel). You can use this feature to easily learn the fundamentals of variations and you can use the results as starting point for your own compositions.

To fully utilise the potential of this feature we recommend that you proceed as follows:

Clicking Vary from the Compose menu opens a dialogue where you can determine all settings for the variation. tonica will remember your settings and will go back to the preset ones if you click Default.

The harmonization and variation style you selected will be considered during compositi-on.

• By clicking Options you can change settings of the harmonization style.

• By clicking Variation style you can change the appropriate settings.

• In Section you define the section to be varied.

• Click all if the variation is to be composed for the entire melody.

40 tonica

• Click current phrase if only the phrase where the cursor is positioned is to be varied. Phrase ends are marked by fermata. Should there be no fermata, then this corresponds to the entire melody.

• Click marked section if a marked section is to be varied.

• In Melody voices choose the melody voice.

• If you have entered no functions or do not wish to apply the preset functions, then click Harmonize again.

• In Varying voices you determine which variation is to be created in which voi-ce. If you wish to have the variation always in the same voice, tick Fixed and enter the desired voice.

• If your variation is to be created in different voices, tick Random alteration bet-ween and tick all voices which may be varied. tonica will pick a random variati-on motif in one of the chosen voices (soprano, alto, tenor or bass). If you also tick No variation, then it might happen that no variation motif appears at a time.

• If you want to decide yourself when a voice is to be varied, tick Alternation pattern and enter the order of voices to be varied like this: SB SAT for example means that the first variation motif is to be in the Soprano (S), the second one in the Bass (B), then there is to be no variation (space), then again Soprano (S), Alto (A) and Tenor (T). This sequence will be repeated until the end of the va-riation.

To fully utilise the potential of this feature we recommend you proceed as follows:

➔ How to vary a phrase • Enter the melody into the soprano voice or into any other voice. The more im-

portant parts of the melody should be marked with fermata. These will be ref-erenced during the automatic variation process and generally produce a better result than working without fermata.

• To generate a complete composition with varying melody please select Vari-ation from the Compose menu.

• To generate a variation that includes voices other than the melody voice you need to first compose a score from the menu Compose - Score.

• You can then compose a variation from the score using menu Compose – Vari-ation. You can define which voice of the score must be varied.

• Play back the variation and assess the result.

• To modify the result using different settings you can undo the action in step 4 and rerun Compose - Variation with new parameters until you are satisfied with the result.


How to create variations with the dialog „Variation Model“Select menu Compose - Variation Model to modify the variation style. The settings can be defined individually for each tonica document and will be saved together with the score. Clicking Standard gives you the standard settings.

With Variation style you set the style tonica will apply to vary the phrase (for example Pachelbel Partita I). Underneath you will find a short description of the variation style you chose.

With Variation rhythm you determine the duration of a variation motif (for example crotchets). Here you can set the harmonization space. You can also choose values diffe-ring from the harmonization space.

Usually each variation motif starts with the first note in the voice to be varied, so the variation follows the movement of the voice. Clicking Determine first motiv tone crea-tes variations with the first motif note differing from the voice to be varied. This gives you a „flowing“ characteristic.

How to compose a canonWhen you select the command Canon from the Compose menu, a dialogue appears in which you can define the setting for canon composition. This setting can be individually defined for each tonica document and is saved together with the document. tonica will remember the setting you defined and will reset it when you click the Default button.

When composing a canon the selected harmonization and variation styles are conside-red.

• In the area Theme you define the part which is to be used as the theme.

• Select All if the entire melody is to be used as the theme.

• Select Current phrase if the phrase is to be used as theme only where the cur-sor is currently placed. The end of a phrase is indicated by a fermata. When no fermata have been placed then this relates to the entire melody.

• Select Marked section to use a previously marked section as the theme.

• For Melody voice select the voice that contains the melody.

• In the Canon material area of the dialogue you can define the setting which is to be considered for the creation of the canon's musical material (harmonizati-on, accompaniment). Click Determine, and the setting will be automatically de-termined considering the selected theme.

• If you want to vary the canon accompaniment tick Vary accompaniment. The selected variation model will be considered when varying the accompaniment.

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• For harmonization of the theme the harmonization rhythm which you selected for the document will be considered. You can change the setting for the harmo-nization style by clicking Options.

• The Variation rhythm you selected for the document will be considered for creating the counterpoint. You can change the variation style setting by clicking Variation style.

• In the area Round canon you can define the canon's structure. With a round canon the voices enter one after another until the canon is repeated.

• With Order of entry you define the order in which the voices enter. In Entering voice the voices used are listed in their order of entry. This order of entry can be changed by clicking up and down. Single marked voices can be deselected with >. To select marked voices you must mark them in the list Not used voice and then click <.

• Additionally, you can determine a theme form for each entering voice. This can be original form, retrogration or canon rectus et inversus. When all entering voices are in their original form a strict canon is created. This means that each entering voice is (except for the octave pitch) an exact imitation of the previous voice. You can change the theme form for the marked voice via the button Change theme form.

• The Entering interval determines how many semitones away from the previous voice a voice shall enter. When you select an entering interval other than prime the canon will change keys with each entering voice, depending on the ente-ring interval. This is done until the keys repeat.

• With Maximum length you determine the canon's maximum duration (number of bars). Leave the predefined value unchanged if you do not want to restrict the length.

Hints for canon compositiontonica is able to compose cirucular canons with any theme and for several voices. toni-ca will of course consider the selected harmonization and variation style. You can use this feature to playfully obtain basic knowledge of the strict counterpoint and then take the results as the starting point for your own composition.

Round canons are characterized by the fact that voices are repeated after a certain number of bars. This has the effect that the canon can be continued at will. You can choose a strict or a free canon. With a strict canon each entering voice in its original form is (apart from the pitch) an exact imitation of the previous voice. You will obtain a free canon if you select a theme form (inversion, retrograde or canon cancrizans) which differs from the original form for one or several entering voices. Theme form and ac-companiment of the entering voices will then differ.


Also, you can determine which voices are to enter in which order and whether accom-paniying voices are to be varied. Additionally, you can change the voices' entering inter-val.

We recommend that you proceed as follows in order to fully use all features for auto-matic canon composition:

• Enter the theme in the soprano or any other voice. Alternatively, choose a sui-table melody section, for example the first phrase of a melody.

• Select the preferred harmonization style and a variation style if you wish to vary the canon's accompanying voices.

• Click Canon in the Compose menu to determine the round canon's structure. This includes the order of entry of the voices, the theme form and the entering interval of the entering voices.

• Determine whether the canon's accompanying voices are to be varied.

• Compose the canon by confirming the selected parameters.

• Play back the canon and judge the result.

• To compose a canon again with altered parameters undo the result and compo-se again with the command Canon from the Compose menu until the result suits your requirements.

How to compose a fugue When you click Fugue in the Compose menu a dialogue appears in which you can de-termine fugue parameters. This setting can be individually defined for each tonica do-cument and is saved together with the document. tonica will remember the setting you defined and will reset it when you click the Default button.

When composing a fugue the selected harmonization and variation styles are conside-red. You can change this setting by clicking Options and Variation style.

• In the area Theme you define the part which is to be used as the theme.

• Select All if the entire melody is to be used as the theme.

• Select Current phrase if the phrase is to be used as the theme only where the cursor is currently placed. The end of a phrase is indicated by a fermata. When no fermata have been placed this relates to the entire melody.

• Select Marked section to use a previously marked section as the theme.

• For Melody voice select the voice that contains the melody.

• In the Fugue material area of the dialogue you can define the setting which is to be considered for the creation of the fugue's musical material (harmonizati-

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on, accompaniment). Click Determine, and the setting will be automatically de-termined considering the selected theme.

• The counterpoint of the theme is composed from the fugue's accompanying voices. If you wish to vary these accompanying voices tick Vary accompanying voices. The selected variation style will be considered when varying the accom-paniment.

• For harmonization of the theme the harmonization rhythm which you selected for the document will be considered. You can change the setting for the harmo-nization style by clicking Options.

• The Variation rhythm you selected for the document will be considered for creating the counterpoint. You can change the variation style setting by clicking Variation style.

• Generally the fugue theme ends harmonically before the next cue (no overlap of entering themes), however sometimes the new theme enters together with the last note of the (initial) theme. In this case please click Theme overlap where you can define the overlap duration in semiquavers.

• In the area Fugue you can determine the fugue's structure. A fugue begins with voices entering one after another with the theme (which forms the exposition). Following this the theme will be altered in one or several sections (develop-ment).

• With Form scheme you determine the fugue's basic form i.e. the character of exposition and development. With Form scheme you also determine the order of entering voices. For example, in the standard fugue pre-defined by tonica the voices enter in the order [2, 1, 4, 3]: 2nd voice, 1st voice, 4th voice, 3rd voice.

• With Voice allocation you determine how the voices of the selected form sche-me are to be allocated to the voices of the fugue to be composed. If you choo-se soprano as the first voice and then alto, tenor and bass for the standard four-part fugue the voices will enter in that order: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. You can modify the order of entry by changing the voice allocation. For exam-ple, if you exchange alto for soprano and bass for tenor, then the order of entry will change as follows: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. You can even allocate two or more voices of the form scheme to a voice of the fugue. If you choose the so-prano for all voices then you will obtain a fugue with a four-part structure, but for only one melody instrument, such as in J.S.Bach's sonata for violin solo (BWV 1001).

Hints for fugue compositiontonica is able to compose fugues with any theme and for several voices. tonica will of course consider the selected harmonization and variation style. You can use this feature to playfully obtain basic knowledge of fugue composition and then take the results as starting-point for your own composition.


The special feature of a fugue is its complex treatment of the theme. A fugue begins with an exposition when the main theme is heard. The main theme is called the subject or Dux (Latin: leader), the transposed version is called the answer or Comes (Latin: companion). When in the key motif of the Dux the fifth note appears above the key note, then this key note will be changed to a fifth in the Comes. This is in order to ensu-re the identity of the key. Alternatively the theme will be transposed true to the inter -val. This is called a 'real fugue'. Further voices can be added according to this principle until the entire number of voices is reached. Further on in the fugue there will always be parts where the theme is executed in different voices. These parts are called „deve-lopments“. In these developments the theme can be varied in different ways or can be combined with itself. Such combinations can be stretto (overlap of two or more ente-ring themes), reversions, retrogrations of the theme or augmentations (statement of a melody in longer note values). The entering themes are connected with each other by interludes. These interludes are used for modulation and are generally composed from sequences or canons.

tonica offers several form schemes, most of them derived from the fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach. In the composed fugues, the exposition, developments and entering themes are marked. When you click one of the notes of an entering theme with the mouse a tool tip opens which gives you information about the theme form.

When choosing a fugue theme you should pay attention to a focused melodic content. The theme should have a distinctive character. It should not fall apart into two equal halves, as many themes of the Viennese classic do. The theme should not exceed the range of an octave. It should stay in its key and may only switch to the upper dominant when being modulated.

In tonica you will find the fugue themes of the Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach. They are good de-monstration material.

We recommend that you proceed as follows in order to fully use all features for auto-matic fugue composition:

• Enter the theme in the soprano or in any other voice. Alternatively, choose a suitable melody section, for example the first phrase of a melody.

• Select the preferred harmonization style and a variation style if you wish to vary the fugue's accompanying voices.

• Click Fugue in the Compose menu to determine the fugue's structure. This in-cludes the setting for creation of the fugue material, the form scheme and the voice allocation.

• Compose the fugue by confirming the selected parameters.

• Play back the fugue and judge the result.

• To compose a fugue again with altered parameters, undo the result and com-pose again with the command Fugue from the Compose menu until the result suits your requirements.

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The fugue composition kitWith the fugue composition kit you can edit and graph existing fugue schemes (= form schemes of a fugue).

This dialogue shows all fugue schemes in a tree structure, reflecting the hierarchic com-position of the fugue:

• Level 1: Fugue scheme (for example standard fugue)

• Level 2: Form section (exposition, development or coda)

• Level 3: Form component (theme, canon interlude, sequence interlude or fer-mata interlude)

In levels 1 and 3 you can change properties of a fugue scheme (name, number of voi-ces, bars and duration of theme) or a form section.

Click one of the nodes to edit its properties. You can edit or create new form schemes via the context menu (right mouse click) or with drag and drop.

Click Export to export fugue schemes as a file.

Click Import to import fugue schemes.


With Default the predefined fugue schemes will be restored. All changed or newly set fugue schemes will be deleted.

With Accept you accept the modifications for the marked node.

Click Graphics to activate or deactivate the graphic description of the fugue schemes.

Finish with OK to save the changes you made. If you click Cancel all changes are cancel-led.

The fugue's time flow, which is defined by the form scheme you chose, is shown in a se-parate window. This is described in the section Fugue.

The form section you chose (here: entering theme in the alto) is outlined in black. If you click on any symbol except the counterpoint the cursor will jump to the respective form section.

The following properties can be defined for a fugue scheme or a form section:

Properties of a fugue schemeDescription: Name of the fugue scheme

Number of voices: Number of voices of the fugue

Bar: Meter of the fugue

Duration of theme: The form scheme is based on this duration. Click ... to set the dura-tion in number of bars, beats or semiquavers. If a fugue is composed whose duration does not comply with the duration stated then all durations are adapted accordingly.

Properties of a themeTheme voice: Voice with entering theme

Leading: Determines if the theme voice is leading. If the entering theme is leading then tonica will try to maintain the initial form of the theme excluding clearly indicated chan-ges (such as reversions). Not leading entering themes can be adapted to leading ente-ring themes. If a theme enters in two or more voices at the same time then the voices not leading will be harmonically adapted to the leading ones.

Mode: Mode of the entering theme can be either direct (major, minor) or related to the theme (unchanged, change major/minor). If you enter a minor theme and then choose „change major/minor“ the theme will appear in the corresponding major mode.

Comes: Determines if the theme is to enter as comes or dux (original form).

Transposition: Determines the number of semitone steps for the transposition of the theme.

Reversion: Determines if the theme is to enter as reversion (horizontal reflection).

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Change of note value: Determines if the theme is to be augmented. If it is to be aug-mented all note durations will be doubled in length.

Duration: Duration of the entering theme in relation to beginning or end of the theme. Click ... to set the duration in number of bars, beats and semiquavers. The duration of the entering theme can be stated in relation to the beginning of the theme (such as „eight semiquavers from the beginning of the theme“) or in relation to the end of the theme (such as „eight semiquavers until the end of the theme). This means that the theme will be reduced by the final eight semiquavers.

Narrow range: This means that there is a theme overlap so that the theme appears in two voices at a time. Here you set the duration of the narrow range in relation to the beginning or end of the previously entering theme. If you set the narrow range to start zero semiquavers before end of the previously entering theme, then the theme will be-gin directly after the end of it (no overlap).

Position: Here you set the theme's position. Contrary to transposition this means that the theme will begin on a different interval level of the scale without being transposed into another key.

Pedal point: Semitone pitch of the pedal point, if existing. A pedal point is an extended note in the lowest voice (usually the bass).

Active Voices: Determines which voices are to be active for this form section.

Properties of a sequence (sequencing interlude)In a sequencing interlude a part of the theme is repeated and it ascends or descends on different levels of the scale.

Main voice: Voice of the sequence on which the theme is based.

Mode: Mode of the sequence either direct (major, minor) or related to the theme (un-changed, change major/minor). If you enter a minor theme and then choose „change major/minor“ the sequence will appear in the corresponding major mode.

Comes: Determines if the sequence is to enter as comes or dux (original form).

Transposition: Determines the number of semitone steps for transposition of the se-quence.

Initial level: Level on which the sequence is to start.

Direction: Number of ascending or descending levels.

Number of entries: Number of sequence repetitions. If you set „1“, then you will obtain a simple interlude.

Reversion: Determines if the sequence is to be based on the reverted theme (horizontal reflection).


Change of note length: Determines if the sequence is to be based on the augmented theme. 'Augmentation' means doubling of all note lengths.

Duration: Duration of a sequence repetition relating to the beginning or end of a the-me. Click ... to set the duration in number of bars, beats and semiquavers. The se-quence is based either on the beginning or the end of the theme. The duration can also be set related to the beginning of the theme (for example eight semiquavers after the beginning of the theme) or the end of the theme (for example starting eight semiqua-vers before the end of the theme).

Position: Position of the theme on which the sequence is based. Contrary to transposi-tion, this means that the theme will begin on a different interval level of the scale, wi-thout being transposed into another key.

Pedal point: Half tone pitch of the pedal point, if existing. A pedal point is an extended note in the lowest voice (usually the bass).


Properties of a canon (canon interlude)In a canon interlude a part of the theme is repeated, one after another and in different voices.

Starting voice: Starting voice based on the theme.

Mode: Mode of the canon either direct (major, minor) or related to the theme (unchan-ged, change major/minor). If you enter a minor theme and then choose „change major/minor“, then the canon will appear in the corresponding major mode.

Comes: Determines if the canon is to enter as comes or dux (original form).

Starting interval: Semitone starting interval of the canon.

Entering interval: Determines how the new canon entry is to be transposed. If you choose fifth, then each new entry will start a fifth up.

Number of entries: For number of entries = 1 you will obtain a simple interlude.

Reversion: Determines if a canon is to be based on the reverted theme (horizontal re-flection).

Change of note length: Determines if the canon is to be based on the augmented the-me. 'Augmentation' means doubling of all note lengths.

Dauer: Duration of a canon relating to beginning or end of a theme. Click ... to set the duration in number of bars, beats and semiquavers. The canon is based either on the beginning or the end of the theme. Also, the duration can be set related to the begin-ning of the theme (for example eight semiquavers after beginning of the theme) or the end of the theme (for example starting eight semiquavers before the end of the theme).

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Position: Position of the theme on which the canon is based.

Pedal point: Half tone pitch of the pedal point, if existing. A pedal point is an extended note in the lowest voice (usually the bass).


Properties of a fermata (interlude)Lasting chord with fermata at the end of an interlude.

Keynote: Keynote of the chord.

Mode: Mode of the chord either direct (major, minor) or related to the theme (unchan-ged, change major/minor). If you enter a minor theme and then choose „change major/minor“, then the chord will appear in the corresponding major mode.

Duration: Duration of the chord. Click ... to set the duration in number of bars, beats and semiquavers.

Set the vocal rangeWhen you click Vocal range in the Compose menu a dialogue appears in which you can change the vocal range of each voice for melodies, variations, canons and fugues. This is useful when you wish to compose for a certain instrumentation such as a string quar-tet or a male-voice choir. You can individually determine the vocal range for each tonica document. This vocal range will be saved together with the document.

Click the tab Compose or Vary... and determine the lowest and highest note of each voice. You can do so by augmenting or diminishing the note with the controller. Depen-ding on the stave in which the voice is displayed (upper stave for soprano and alto, lower stave for tenor and bass) you can determine notes from D1 to h3. The minimum (permitted) distance between lowest and highest note is one octave. Click Default to re-set the vocal ranges to the default value.

Variations are mainly composed for instrumental ensembles and not for vocal ensem-bles, therefore larger vocal ranges are set as default values so that the instruments' ran-ge range can be fully utilised.

tonica considers the vocal range you set when composing melodies, variations, canons and fugues.

Creating a harmonic style tonica has a procedure for learning new harmony styles. It uses a sophisticated neural network technique, but in a way that is very simple for the user to use. You simply pro-vide tonica with characteristic examples of the style and the software will extract the


rules behind the style. The most important job for the user is to carefully select pieces of music that are typical of the style. The more typical pieces of music are available the better the results will be.

tonica provides an automatic, parameterizable system to create harmonization style rules. The resulting styles can be added to the Bach, Max Reger and Jazz styles supplied with tonica. To create a new style you give tonica a quantity of music examples in the form of tonica files. The program automatically analyses the examples, using a tech-nique called Neural Network Analysis. Creating a set of style rules this way is referred to as 'training the network'. Because it can take some time if you supply a lot of examples (20+) and ask for a high probability of the predicted result matching a real example when setting the Learning parameters, the process runs in the background while you use tonica for something else. The trained styles are available immediately.

There is a comprehensive range of facilities to edit styles. Styles can be copied, changed, deleted, imported and exported.

There are also options that can be applied when using the harmonization style. You will find these under the menu Compose and Options.

The Style assistant makes it simple to set training parameters for creating the networks that are used in automatic harmonization.

Style production is limited to example scores that contain chords covered in tonica's analysable chord repertoire, therefore it is not suitable for styles which use unusual harmonies. The present repertoire of approximately 50 chord types nevertheless covers a large proportion of potential harmonies.

The Style assistant

The Style assistant can be started by clicking on Style assistant which can be found un-der the Harmonization menu. The style assistant lets you create new styles from scratch, or to import and modify existing styles.

Use the following example to see how you can create a new harmonization style from a simple cadence in tonica. The result may not be particularly original, but the procedure is the same as with creating a new style.

Decide on the tonica files from which a new style is to be createdThis is the most important step and might require some effort and time to get it right. The sample files from which you want to create the style must be available in tonica format (examples for Bach-style and Scheidt-style have been copied into your demo fol-der). If your source file is only available in capella format you can export it from capella in MIDI format and then import it into tonica.

For this exercise you need to open file 03-11.tca, located in the example folder. It con-tains a phrase consisting of four chords that constitute a complete cadence (tonic, sub-dominant, dominant, tonic). tonica will learn the functions which form the basis of the phrase.

52 tonica

Examination of the harmonization style via harmonic analysisThis step is not essential to creating a new style, however we recommend it as a means of confirming the quality of the new style. In our current example you will note that no function (or chord description) is indicated below the last chord. To find out how tonica analyses the phrase you need to do a harmonic analysis via the menu Analysis/Har-monic Analysis. As a result the last chord will also be shown as tonic. You can listen to the analysed result via the menu Compose/Exposition.

Selection and analysis of sample filesThe first two steps were used to prepare the style creation. Now you need to start the style wizard (menu Harmonic styles/Style assistant) and click on Continue. You have now reached the first step of the actual tonica style creation. Click Add to select the file 03-11.tca located in your example folder. From the same folder add the file 03-51.tca, click the filename and click the Test button (more about Test later). Enter a name for the style, e.g. Cadence style. Click on Next. Both files will automatically be analysed (one training file and one test file). Confirm the analysis by clicking OK.

Determination of the learning parameters and training of the harmonization styleFor the purpose of this exercise you should use the standard settings as displayed in this dialogue window. Click Continue. This will automatically initiate the style training. Once completed the training report window will display a statistical summary of the re-sult. The figures should be interpreted as follows: Classification grade of 100% for trai-ning indicates that all harmonies have been learnt successfully. Classification grade of 75% in the test column of harmonic function indicates that only ¾ of the functions from the test sample (03-51.tca) would have been determined in the same way by the trai-ned style.

A high classification grade for training indicates that the training data have been learnt well. A high classification grade for test indicates that the learnt function is capable of predicting test data that has not been learnt. This means that it is not necessarily desi-rable to reach 100% classification grade on the training samples, but rather aim for a well balanced grade between training and test data. In our example 75% is the maxi-mum attainable grade for the test data.

Click OK to exit the style assistant.

Examine the test resultOnce the training of the new style has been completed successfully you need to open file 03-11.tca and select the newly created style from the drop-down list in tonica's standard toolbar. Press F5 to recreate the phrase that had been used for training and tonica will create the learnt functions. The fact that the chords do not correspond to the original phrase is due to tonica's limitation to learning the functions on which the phrase is based, but not the actual chord notes.

You can now use this newly created cadence style to generate simple phrases for new melodies. Due to the short training sample this cadence style will generate only rela-


tively simple phrases, consisting of tonic, subdominant and dominant. To create a genu-ine new style you need to employ more examples, although there is no standard rule as to how many might be required. From our example you can see that even very few ex-amples can help to create a new style. However to create a more complex style, like Bach for example, you would have to use 10 – 20 examples, each with a duration of an average Bach chorale. The more characteristic examples you use, the better the result.

Editing a harmonization styleClick on the Harmony style menu and select Style Editor. Here you can copy, change, delete, train, import and export styles. The styles provided (Bach, Reger, Jazz) cannot be re-worked, as you need the original example scores which are not supplied.

• Select New to create your own style from example scores of your chosen com-poser (see Harmonization styles).

• Select Import to import an existing harmonization style file (see Style import)

• Select Close to exit the current window and project.

For styles shown in the Styles list the following actions are possible:

Copy produces a new style from the one you select from the list. It opens the standard editing dialogue box to make changes to the original file before saving it under a new name (see Harmonization style copying).

Change opens up the style editor as above but does not automatically revise the file name. You can also start this by double clicking on a style file (Harmonization style - changing).

Delete deletes a style from your PC.

Train starts the Style training process for the marked style file. Neural networks are trained by tonica through a process of guided trial and error. A set of steps is created that reliably mimics the harmonization style of the given example files.

Export will let you copy a style file to another folder. You can specify whether you want the associated example score to be exported as well as the neural network (see Style export).

Info lists the performance of the neural network style file against the example files for a number of key chords.

Using, copying and changing a harmonization styleThis dialogue box lets you specify the characteristics of a style and in addition:

• The name of the style file

• The list of files which tonica uses for training and testing to create the style

• the learning parameters - the constraints that tonica applies when creating the neural network that defines a style

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• The Composition options - the constraints that are applied when using a style file to create harmonies

In order to be able to define a style meaningfully you need at least 10 - 20 example fi -les. There are buttons in the dialogue box for adding and deleting files from the file list. When you have entered a style name and copied example files to the file list you have done all that is necessary to create a style file. In order to be able to better judge the re-sults of the style training you can define some files with the "Test" button as test files. These test files are then not used for training, but only to test the results of the style production. They are examined to see how well style characteristics from the trained network compare with examples that have not been part of the training process.

Learning parameters

This dialogue box lets you specify the learning parameters for style training. It is advisa-ble to train initially with the preset values. Changing the learning parameters can lead to an improvement of the learning results. This is because it is not possible to automati-cally determine a set of optimal learning parameters, since these are dependent on the learning example files that are used. The following learning parameters can be set:

Iterations: The number of times tonica tries new rules and compares them to the ex-ample and test files. The range is 1 to 500. The larger the number the smaller the learn-ing error, but the longer the process takes.

Variable network size: This can be between 0 and 100%. In the case of 0% no additional processing elements (called neurons in neural network techniques) can be added to the network by tonica. Each neuron receives an input, processes it and either passes it to another neuron or passes it to the outside world. More neurons means the more data can be compared and more processing can be done. This can improve accuracy and will take more time.

Style complexity: This can be set between (0,0) and (5,0). (0,0) and tells tonica that the complexity of the harmonization that it can create when applying the rules is not con-strained. If you go to the other extreme of (5,0) you will get more conservative and less original harmonies.

Automatic style analysisAutomatic style analysis is started if you change any of the files in the list of example scores or if you change any of the analysis program settings.

During style analysis all the learning and test files are read and the setting Space for harmonic analysis set in the Composition options dialogue box is used. You are in-formed of any errors in the example score files. At the end of the process you can ac-cept or reject the new network. You are shown the predicted accuracy figures for the new network to help you decide.


Automatic style trainingAutomatic style training is started by selecting Style Assistant which is under the Har-monization style menu. Alternatively you can click on the Training button in the Har-monization style editor dialogue box. The training process goes on in the background, allowing you to continue using tonica as normal.

The following skills are learnt by individual neural networks:

Chord description: This corresponds to the degree of the scale box in the Chord de-scription entry window

Bass note: This corresponds to the note in the bass note box in the Chord description entry window

Upper voice notes: This corresponds to the notes in the upper note boxes in the Chord description entry window

Passing notes in the three lower voices (alto, tenor and bass)

Different networks are used for major and minor keys, therefore each of the above have major and minor networks created if there are major and minor scores in the ex-ample score list.

Progress of training is shown in minutes and a progress bar is displayed.

After the training process you will see an analysis of the results. This compares the har-monies predicted by the trained networks with the actual harmonies. 100% would mean that the actual harmonies were predicted completely accurately. The most im-portant networks are the ones that predict the chord name (the first of the four groups listed above).

There is a difference in the predicted accuracy against the training scores and those sco-res designated by you as test scores. A high percent against the training scores means that the network has learnt well from the training pieces, whilst a high percentage against the test scores means that the networks can predict well when given new pie-ces to harmonize. It is not effective to spend a lot of time trying to get the performance against the training scores up to 100 %. The best use of time is to get similarly high per-centages against the test and training scores.

You can decide to abandon the trained networks if the results are poor.

Major and minor keys are usually left together in the examples file list, however you can optimize the networks separately if you wish by modifying the Learning parameters. You will need to have two sep-arate file lists, one for each, to do this.

Style importYou can import existing harmony styles from other users of tonica and previous versions of tonica. The Import button is available on both the Style assistant dialogue box and the Harmony style editor dialogue box. Both of these can be found under the Harmon-ization styles menu.

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Select the tonica style file which has the extension (*.tsf). See Style import options for options available to you when you import a style.

Style import optionsThe style import options are:

• File name

• Whether the example scores used to train the style are to be imported with the style. If they are, the style can be further worked on.

• Destination folder

Style export You can export a style so that it can be used by other users of tonica or in future ver-sions of tonica. The Export button is in the Harmonization style editor dialogue box.

Select the name of the tonica style file to be exported. It will have the (*.tsf) extension. You have the choice of exporting the file on its own or with the associated example scores used to create it.

Click Yes to copy all the example files along with the style. A future user will be able to revise the style using the example scores.

Click No to export the style file on its own. This is the set of neural networks and is all that is needed to use the style to harmonize melodies. However the recipient will not be able to modify the style.

Automatic harmonic analysistonica can automatically create chord descriptions for notes in a score. This is a useful tool to understand what your input is and also for analysing the great composers.

Using the interval structure of the notes in the score tonica recognizes five classes of chords:

Major third (if necessary with added seventh)

Minor third (if necessary with added sixth)

Major third with added sixth and/or minor third with added seventh

Diminished chords (if necessary with added ninth)

Other chords e.g. secondary chords

Analysing a score

Analyse your composition by clicking Harmonic analysis from the Analysis menu. The calculated functions will be listed below the score.


Click the Section of the score to be analysed.

In Chord scheme choose the style to be applied (for example „Classical music“ or „Jazz“) .

If you wish to change the distance in harmonic analysis click Options in the Compose menu.

The automatic examination of compositionsThe order of tones in a composition is subject to rules being called composition or voice leading rules. Respecting these rules is to ensure that a smooth composition is created which pays attention to the harmony of the voices as well as to a vocal and indepen-dent continuation of each single voice.

A distinction is made between rules for chord creation and rules for chord continuation. For example, a chord should generally be made of at least three tones (keynote, third and fifth). The most well-known rule for chord continuation is the interdiction of fifth and octave parallels i.e. the parallel voice leading of two voices in fifth or octave distan-ce which would affect the independence of both voices. When writing a composition in tonica, fifth and octave parallels are displayed with red lines. When tonica automatically composes, it will consider the most important composition rules.

The importance of voice leading rules in tonal music was often subject to change in mu-sic history. In this respect these rules are to be seen as recommendations and not as dogma. Nonetheless they help the student to understand why certain passages of a composition just „don't sound well“.

tonica is able to automatically examine voice leading rules for a composition. You can use this feature to have your own or foreign compositions controlled as to the observa-tion of these rules. tonica will distinguish between mistakes when an important rule has been violated and warnings when it is merely recommended to observe a certain rule.

As result of the examination note heads or functions where mistakes or warnings occur-red will be coloured in red or blue. If you move the mouse over one of these note heads or functions, an info dialogue will appear which displays the exact mistake or warning. Multiple mistakes or warnings per note or function are possible. If you wish you can have tonica correct voice leading mistakes by right mouse clicking on a coloured note or function.

Examine a composition

You can have a composition examined with the command Examine composition in the Analysis menu. Note heads or functions where mistakes or warnings occurred are co-loured in red or blue.

• Choose the section of the composition to be examined.

58 tonica

• If you have not entered any functions or want to have harmonies analyzed rat-her than entered functions, then select the checkbox Analyze harmonies again.

• As chord scheme select the style which is to be taken as basis for the analysis, for example „classical music“ or „Jazz“.

After the examination of the composition move the mouse over a note or function co-loured in red or blue. The mistake or warning text will be displayed. With notes, the re-levant voices will also be stated in the mistake or warning text. In case of a chord conti-nuation mistake, it will additionally be stated if the note or function belongs to the first or second chord of the chord continuation.

When right mouse clicking the red or blue coloured note or function, a context menu will appear:

• Select Info voice leading... to have the mistake or warning text displayed in a separate window. In this window you can click on the help button to obtain de-tails about the rules in question.

• Select Correct voice leading... to have tonica correct mistakes or warnings. De-pending on the selected section either the chord at the marked position, the current phrase or the entire composition will be corrected.

Tip: The tones in the melody voice will not be altered during voice leading correction. Therefore please make sure that the correct melody voice has been selected. If you have set fermata in the melody voice, then this voice will be preselected.

Voice leading rules in tonica

Here you will find an overview of voice leading rules applied in tonica. They are separa-ted into chord realization rules (apply to a single chord only) and chord progression ru-les (apply to the transition from one chord to the next).

Important tip: tonica will determine chords with the help of those functions which were identified during harmonic analysis. Erroneously or not analyzed functions will lead to mistakes in the examination of the composition. With intermediate chords which may result from passing or changing tones between two chord functions, the chord progression rules will be examined without taking these intermediate chords into consideration. This is because often, such passing or changing tones only hide but not really fix rule violations. However, in case an independent intermediate chord is crea-ted, a rule violation indicated by tonica might be invalidated. In this case it is recom-mended to give the intermediate chord its own function either by entering the respecti-ve function or by harmonic analysis.

The following example will explain the problem:


The left image shows a rule violation (chromatic cross-relation of tone F in the Soprano versus tone F sharp in the Bass). However, this is not really a mistake because the chord transition is bridged over with an independent intermediate chord (fourth-sixth chord) on the second quaver. If you have this passage examined in quaver intervals after ha-ving selected „quaver“ as interval for the harmonic analysis in menu „Options“, then the result shown in the image on the right will be displayed for the same chord se-quence. Here, no rule violation but merely a warning is displayed telling you that in the intermediate chord, the bass tone was not duplicated.

Chord realization rules

Voice crossing rule (warning): Voices are not to cross i.e. within a chord, a lower voice should not have a higher tone than in a higher voice.

Example:

Voice distance rule (mistake): The distance between Soprano and Alto is not to exceed one octave. In close position the distance between Soprano and Tenor is not to exceed one octave.

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Example:

Dissonance rule (mistake): In neighbouring voices within a a chord, tones in semitone distance are not allowed. Tones in whole tone distance should occur only once.

Example:

Rule: Completeness regarding chord tones (mistake): In three-part chords, at least keynote and third have to be present. In four-part chords, at least three chord tones have to be present, especially the third.

Examples:

Rule: Completeness regarding chord dissonances (warning): With four-part chords, characteristic dissonances (such as the seventh with seventh chords) should be present.


Example:

Rule correctness (mistake): A chord may not contain tones not belonging to the harm-ony (except for the characteristic dissonances specified in the function).

Example:

Rule: Completeness regarding figured bass (mistake): In figured bass chords, all chord tones must be present.

Example:

Rule: Figured bass position name (mistake): With figured bass chords, position names (numbers larger than 7) in the upper voices have to be considered, i.e. the added tones have to appear in the Soprano or Alto (in the correct order).

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Example:

Rule: Dissonance duplication (warning): Charakteristic dissonances (for example the seventh in seventh chords) should not be duplicated.

Example:

Rule: Bass tone duplication (warning): In fourth-sixth chords, the bass tone should be duplicated.

Example:

Rule: Third tone duplication (warning): The third in the chord should not be duplica-ted.


Example:

Note: In many textbooks you will find the claim not to duplicate the third (especially in sixth chords). However, Diether de la Motte shows in his textbook „Harmonielehre“ with appropriate compositions that a general interdiction to duplicate thirds is an error. Statistically seen it strongly depends on the style you look at whether or not third dupli-cations are used: Samuel Scheidt rarely applies them in his chorals whereas you will find them rather often with J. S. Bach. Thus this rule is to not be seen as a command but as a suggestion to reconsider voice leading.

Chord progression rules

Rule: leaps (mistake): In a chord transition you are not to have too many large leaps, especially within one phrase.

Example:

Rule: Parallels (mistake): The parallel leading of two voices in perfect fifth or octave di-stance is forbidden. The same applies when during opposed movement in the same in-terval, the distance between voices is plus or minus one octave (antiparallels). Also for-bidden is the interval course from a diminished fifth to a perfect fifth. The opposite in-terval course is allowed.

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Examples:

The first example contains several parallels:

• Fifth parallel in Soprano and Tenor

• Anti fifth parallel in Soprano and Bass

• Anti octave parallel in Tenor and Bass

Please note that the rule (same as all other chord progression rules) is not invalidated by intermediate tones (for example passing or changing quavers) even though you will not see any red lines in the composition any more (in this example due to the interme-diate tone d in the Soprano).

The second example contains the fifth course diminished-perfect in Soprano and Tenor.

Rule: Resolve dissonances (mistake or warning): Characteristic dissonances (for exam-ple the seventh in seventh chords) have to be resolved stepwise in the same voice. You will receive a warning when the dissonance is resolved in a different voice.

Examples:

Note: In some textbooks you will find the demand that in dominant seventh chords, the third is always to be resolved stepwise upwards and the seventh stepwise downwards. When analyzing appropriate compositions (for example Bach chorals) you will find that this demand is permanently violated and that the direction of resolution is less import-ant than the requirement to always resolve dissonances stepwise (upwards or down-wards).

Rule: Cross-relation (mistake): Cross-relation means a semitone or tritone interval allo-cated to two voices. The chromatic cross-relation is forbidden, i.e. the chromatic suc-


cession of tones of two chords in separate voices (for example when suspensions are resolved).

Example:

Automatic cadencesThe tension and movement of a composition comes in large part from carefully con-structed chord sequences which are called cadences. tonica will fit predefined cadences into your score if requested. These are derived from the styles libraries and therefore will allow you to benefit from cadences created by past great composers. They will be inserted at obvious phrase ends and other places tonica feels are appropriate. In this way a more flowing composition is created, and you can learn how cadences can be used as a structural element of a score.

The chord descriptions for the inserted chords of the cadence are coloured and if you rest the pointer over them or right mouse click on them you will see the following infor-mation on the origin of the cadence:

• Composer

• Titel of work

• Text line of the cadence

• Score line number

• Start position in semiquavers (sixteenth-notes); for partial cadences this is the position of the inserted piece

• Classification Perfect or Imperfect

• Type of cadence (G = perfect cadence, HD = imperfect cadence, HDD = imper-fect cadence ending on the double dominant, HS = half close on the sub-dom-inant, HZ = half close on the secondary dominant, T = interrupted cadence)

• Idiom (A = authentic, ADW = authentic double idiom, AE = authentic introduc-tion, AP = authentic pendulum, APHR = authentic phrygian half conclusion, OV = without usual preparation, P = plagal, PE = introductory plagal, PP = plagal pendulum)

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• Chord immediately preceding the cadence (S = subdominant, Dd = double-dominant, Z = secondary dominant)

• Penultimate, i.e. characterisation of the next to last harmony of the cadence, i.e. the first chord of the cadence.

• Editor of the cadence

You can specify whether to insert cadences automatically or not, and whether they can be at any appropriate point or just at phrase ends. Do this through the Options com-mand under the Compose menu.

tonica example filesThe example files are numbered consecutively. The larger the number the more difficult the example. To find a file easily all files are arranged in a system giving you information about the type of file. The two initial numbers of the file name state the chapter the ex-ample file refers to. File 06-20.tca for example refers to chapter 6.

The last two numbers have this meaning:

File name Meaning

10 - 19 : Example files to view and to analyse

20 - 29 : Cadence task to be solved

30 - 39 : Solutions to the tasks

40 - 49 : Figured melody or figured bass to be comple-ted

50 - 59 : Solution

60 - 69 : Examples found in literature

File name 02-23.tca refers to the third cadence task in chapter 2 of the manual. Natu-rally not all numbers are assigned, but this system gives a quick overview and can be ex-tended by you for more tasks.


IndexAActivation....................................................7

Ambitus.....................................................50

Analyse......................................................56

BBarlines......................................................12

Beams.........................................................13

CCanon.........................................................41

capella.............................................................2,2 Export............................................263,1 Export............................................26Export...................................................26Import..................................................22View......................................................27

Change time signature...........................8

Chord realization rule..........................59

Compose...................................................31Duplicate voice.................................38

Composition............................................31Canon...................................................41Examination.......................................57Figured bass......................................34Fugue...................................................43Fugue schemes.................................46Options................................................33Variation..............................................39Variation model...............................41

Create harmonic style..........................50

Cursor.........................................................10

D

Dissonance rule......................................60

Distance.......................................................8

Document...................................................7

Dot..............................................................11

EEdit..............................................................17

Edit style....................................................53

Examine.....................................................57

Export.........................................................26

FFermata.....................................................31

Figured bass............................................34

Folder.........................................................22

Fugue.........................................................43

Fugue schemes.......................................46

HHarmonic Analysis.................................56

Harmonize................................................33

IImport........................................................22

Instruments..............................................29

Introduction...............................................6

JJustification..............................................14

KKadenzautomatik...................................65

Key.................................................................8

68 tonica

LLearning parameters............................54

License..........................................................7

Load............................................................22

MMidi..................................................................

Import..................................................22Quick import.....................................26

MIDI.................................................................Export...................................................27

Midi-Reset................................................30

Mouse piano...........................................12

MusicXML......................................................Export...................................................27

OOpen...........................................................22

PParallels........................................................8

Passing notes..........................................33

Phrase variation......................................39

Placeholder..............................................14

Playback....................................................28

Print............................................................28

Print view size............................................9

RRealize chords.........................................33

Redo...........................................................18

Rhythmic playing in..............................15

Rule.................................................................. Bass tone duplication...................62 Completeness regarding chord dissonances.......................................60

Completeness regarding chord tones....................................................60 Completeness regarding figured bass.......................................................61 Correctness.......................................61 Cross-relation..................................64 Dissonance duplication................62 Figured bass position name.......61 leaps....................................................63 Parallels..............................................63 Resolve Dissonances.....................64 Third tone duplication..................62

Rules................................................................ Chord progression.........................63

SSave............................................................22

Style analysis...........................................54

Style assistant..........................................51

Style export..............................................56

Style import.............................................55

Style training...........................................55

TTempo........................................................30

Ties..............................................................13

Time signature..........................................8

Title................................................................8

Triplets.......................................................14

UUndo...........................................................18

VVariation style.........................................41

Vocal range..............................................50

Voice crossing rule................................59


Voice distance rule................................59

Voice duplication...................................38

Voice leading rules................................58

Volta brackets.........................................14

ZZoom............................................................8

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