Harmony and Counterpoint Software?

[brahmseater]

I am studying Harmony and Counterpoint of the Baroque era, specifically
Bach's canons and fugues.



A) Is there any good software for learning Harmony and Counterpoint?

   I have heard of two programs: Counterpointer and Pizzicato.
   Has anyone tried these?


B) Do notation programs like Finale and Sibelius have plug-ins
   that allow analyzing Harmony and Counterpoint?


Thank you.

[j_tour]

I am sorry, but to my knowledge you are limited to so-called "engraving" notation software.  Yes, like Finale, or Musescore, or nted and stuff.

It's tedious, but it is kind of good when you have eventually input the notes, the software can smartly transpose to other keys, and so forth.

Sorry, it's just you either have to enter the notes with a computer keyboard/mouse or with a MIDI-->serial adapter and then just edit it by hand, and then give the computer instructions for how you want things manipulated numerically.

However, all is not lost -- most musicians who know how to use computers know how to do it, it just is slow, and it depends on what specific application/software you are using.

Like me, pencil and paper is best, but I can also have done Finale and Musescore and Cubase and Lilypond, but I hate everything except pencil and paper, so I don't remember the "quick shortcuts" for the engraving software.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

ETA

I see you were just talking about tools for analyzing polyphonic lines. 

I thought you were talking about how to input/manipulate scores, at the granularity of a single voice.

No, AFAIK there's no magic tool for making music.  There probably is pretty good AI for writing a fugue, or something, given a good seed value of, like a seed := </sys/dbag/subject.h> or something. 

In my defense, I wasn't sure what you were asking.

Hey, in your defense, at least it wasn't some d***-a**-m******f8******** question about how hard it is to play a Chopin Étude (sorry about the acent on the majiscule, which I normally don't do in French, but just wanted to prove that I know how to use my ompose keys).

[maestroanth]

I am sorry, but to my knowledge you are limited to so-called "engraving" notation software.  Yes, like Finale, or Musescore, or nted and stuff.

It's tedious, but it is kind of good when you have eventually input the notes, the software can smartly transpose to other keys, and so forth.

Sorry, it's just you either have to enter the notes with a computer keyboard/mouse or with a MIDI-->serial adapter and then just edit it by hand, and then give the computer instructions for how you want things manipulated numerically.

However, all is not lost -- most musicians who know how to use computers know how to do it, it just is slow, and it depends on what specific application/software you are using.

Like me, pencil and paper is best, but I can also have done Finale and Musescore and Cubase and Lilypond, but I hate everything except pencil and paper, so I don't remember the "quick shortcuts" for the engraving software.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

ETA

I see you were just talking about tools for analyzing polyphonic lines.  

I thought you were talking about how to input/manipulate scores, at the granularity of a single voice.

No, AFAIK there's no magic tool for making music.  There probably is pretty good AI for writing a fugue, or something, given a good seed value of, like a seed := </sys/dbag/subject.h> or something.  

In my defense, I wasn't sure what you were asking.

Hey, in your defense, at least it wasn't some d***-a**-m******f8******** question about how hard it is to play a Chopin Étude (sorry about the acent on the majiscule, which I normally don't do in French, but just wanted to prove that I know how to use my ompose keys).

It might be a troll question....

my answer is, yes, some will be out soon. We have a whole music theory paradigm that can be reduced to computer arithmetic just as nature is.

And, we as human musicians, come from that same logical paradigm.

So yes, young grasshopper, as I finish (or at least start) my computer science career, you will have such a magical program.

Just not yet........algorithms are needed to decode this god thing.

[j_tour]

It might be a troll question....

my answer is, yes, some will be out soon. We have a whole music theory paradigm that can be reduced to computer arithmetic just as nature is.

Good thinking, and I suspect you're about a third of the way correct, including as a third the nature of the OP, however while constructing a fugue or a canon is pretty mechanical, the initial selection of subject and counter-subject, is not really liable to create anything worthwhile IMHO.

But, who knows.  People like all kinds of dumb*** crazy bull****, so good for them.