MuSA.RT - Music on the Spiral Array - Real Time

A defining feature of tonal music is the unfolding of pitch structures over time. Real-time tracking of tonal patterns in music has widespread applications in music analysis, information retrieval, performance analysis and expression synthesis. Each piece of music consists of a sequential arrangement of notes that generates pitch structures over time. An expert listener is able to ascertain the keys and harmonic patterns traversed over time. But a novice or a computer would benefit greatly from a geometric model that can provide visual cues and numeric quantifying of these tonal properties.

MuSA.RT maps real-time MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) input, for example from a live performance, to the Spiral Array, a 3D model for tonality. The analysis and graphical rendering reveal the presently active set of pitch classes, and higher level constructs, such as the current chord and key.

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