A System for Melodic Harmonization using Schoenberg Regions, Giant Steps, and Church Modes

TL;DR

This paper introduces Harmonizer, a melodic harmonization system that uses Schoenberg regions, Giant Steps, and Church Modes to produce harmonizations aligned with musical theory, allowing for customizable and expressive chord choices.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel harmonization system based on Schoenberg's regions, integrating signal processing for easy melody input and enabling targeted harmonic relationships.

Findings

Harmonizer effectively generates harmonizations based on Schoenberg regions.

The system allows customization of harmonic relationships.

Prototype is accessible on GitHub and demonstrated on YouTube.

Abstract

Systems such as Microsoft Songsmith automatically assign chords and harmony to a melody by minimizing the dissonance across all chord changes. Although this produces harmonious music, it is not what practicing musicians do. In this paper, I describe Harmonizer, a prototype system for melodic harmonization. Harmonizer uses Schoenberg's chart of regions as the underlying data structure that allows harmonization using several different methods. Because the chart reveals inter-chordal relationships, the harmonizations may be programmed to emphasize desired relationships. In the prototype Harmonizer, I also explore recent signal-processing methods that enable songwriters to easily input a melody by singing or by playing a musical instrument. The prototype Harmonizer is available on GitHub and a video demonstrating its distinctive harmonizations is on YouTube as explained in the Results section of the paper.