Chord Symbols: On Using Pitch-Class Sets in Dorico Pro

Dorico
1

Hi,

Can I add (to Dorico Pro) my own library of chord types defined as pc sets and not chord symbols (e.g., {0, 4, 7} instead of Maj)? If so, what’s the best way of achieving it without making too much fuss?

Any hints or insights on this issue would be much appreciated.

All the best,
António

2

I’m not sure there’s a really practical way to do this using chord symbols. They’re really designed to show root, quality, alterations, etc., not a set of pitch classes.

3

Inthefold, FYI, pitch class sets in Normal Form are enclosed in square brackets with commas between the pitch classes. Pitch class sets in Prime form (your example ) are enclosed in parenthasese without separation between the intervals. I.E. [C,E,G] and sc(047) - per Joe Straus.

4

Hi Daniel and dandaiuto,

Daniel, a pitch-class set is part of the information given (by proxy) in every chord symbol. Isn’t it possible to build a chord-symbol library agnostic of everything but quality?

Dandaiuto, I’m perfectly aware that I’m only using standard mathematical notation in my OP.

All the best,
António

5

Well, it might be possible in theory, but in practice it’s not possible in Dorico at the moment, no.

This kind of analysis and annotation might be better performed by e.g. exporting MusicXML from Dorico, taking it into a general-purpose library like music21, which should (I imagine) allow you to annotate your music with these sets, then perhaps export MusicXML again containing text items that you could import back into Dorico. The lack of any meaningful scripting API in Dorico makes it pretty much impossible to achieve in Dorico itself at the moment.

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