Harken Super Composer is a place to write, hear and arrange music. Music is written in the Harken Notation System — pitch as its number from the tonic, typed straight into a measure. A score holds up to 32 tracks plus a Chord Symbols track.
One tuning, and it holds everything. The app is 24-TET at all times — the familiar twelve notes with a quarter-tone available in every gap. Write without a + anywhere and you have written 12-TET; the twelve are exactly where they have always been and sound exactly as they always have. Type a + and the quarter-tone is simply there, with no switch to find, no warning and no consequence. Nothing is set to a tuning, because there is only one — a 12-TET piece sits inside it unchanged, the way a flat drawing sits inside a room.
The Composer runs in one of two modes, chosen from Mode on the console.
Modes are workspace presets, not permission tiers. Nothing is hidden or locked in either one — every control, tab and menu is reachable in both. What differs is only what is already on screen when you arrive.
The app opens in Pro every time, with the Composer alone; switch Mode to Training whenever you want the lesson column beside the score. Mode is not carried across sessions and is never written into a .hkn file, so a score you send someone opens the way their app is set, not the way yours was.
Switching costs you nothing. Changing mode rearranges the screen and touches nothing else — no notation, no track settings. In Pro, clicking Lessons in the dock switches to Training and brings the column in; in Training the Lessons chip steps aside, because the column is already there.
Where this guide differs by mode it shows you only the sentence that applies. Change Mode with the guide open and the instructions follow you.
The names used throughout this guide, from the top down:
Saturated colour means pitch. The Harken ColorMap belongs to the twelve pitch classes and their quarter-tones, and nothing else in the app is allowed to compete with it. That is why the controls look quiet — the colour you see is carrying meaning.
The naturals, 0–11. Twelve pitches, counted in semitones up from the tonic. These are the notes Western music has always used, and in Harken they are numbers rather than letters: 0 is the tonic, 7 is a fifth above it, 11 the leading tone. A piece written only in these is a 12-TET piece, and nothing in the app says so or needs to.
The quarter-tones, 0+–11+. A + raises a natural by 50 cents — half a semitone, landing exactly between it and its neighbour. Twelve naturals and twelve quarter-tones make twenty-four steps to the octave. 4+ sits between 4 and 5; 11+ sits between 11 and the octave.
You never switch to them. There is no tuning control and no mode to leave. Type 0,4+,7 into any measure of any track at any moment and it sounds, alongside tracks that have no + in them anywhere. The quarter-tone is available the way a black key is available on a piano — it is simply on the instrument.
What the quarter-tones are for: Arabic maqam and Turkish makam, Persian dastgah, spectral and contemporary microtonal writing, blues and vocal inflections that live between the keys — and, closer to home, colour added to ordinary harmony. Put a + on one note of a familiar chord and hear what it does before deciding what it is for.
Chord symbols in the Chord Symbols track name Western qualities over a numeric root (0maj7, 7dom7). The spectral forms take a + on the quality — 0dom7+ shifts the intervals above the root by 50¢ while the root stays natural.
Format: [beats/note-value] or [beats/note-value:subdivision]
Examples:
[4/4] — 4 quarter-note beats (4 slots per bar, one note per beat)[3/4] — 3 quarter-note beats (waltz)[6/8] — 6 eighth-note beats (compound meter)[4/4:8] — 4/4 with 8 subdivisions per bar (eighth-note grid — this is the startup default)[12/8:12] — 12/8 with 12 subdivisions (twelve eighth-notes)[12/8:24] — 12/8 with 24 subdivisions (twenty-four sixteenth-notes)Default: Every new score starts with [4/4:8] already stamped in measure 1 — a 4/4 bar on an eighth-note grid — so you can write rhythm right away. To use a different meter or subdivision, edit that header directly or pick new values from the Meter and Subdivision menus (either one restamps measure 1). A later measure left without its own header inherits the prevailing grid.
24-TET Note: A complete 24-pitch cycle requires 24 rhythmic slots. Use [12/8:12] for 24 eighth-notes across 2 measures, or [12/8:24] for 24 sixteenth-notes in 1 measure.
Default: A new score opens with two measures, the first already stamped [4/4:8]. Two is enough to see a phrase answer itself rather than a single bar looping back on you, and an empty second bar costs nothing you cannot hear coming. Add more whenever the piece needs them.
Adding: Raise the Measures number in the setup bar to append empty bars to the end of the score. Everything you've already notated is preserved.
Removing: Lower the Measures number to drop bars from the end. Empty bars go without a prompt; if a bar you're about to remove still has notation in it, the Composer asks you to confirm before deleting it.
Inserting in the middle: Select the measure you want to open room in front of, set the count beside ⎋ Insert, and click it. That many blank bars appear before the selected measure. Inserting at the very front carries the opening [meter:subdiv] header up into the new first bar, so an intro inherits the piece's real meter instead of falling back to 4/4. Undoable.
Deleting from the middle: Select the measures and click ⌮ Delete. The rest shift up. The Composer will not delete your last remaining measure, and warns before dropping a bar that still holds notation. Undoable.
Pickup: Tick Pickup to mark measure 1 as a pickup bar. It is labelled m. with a PICKUP badge and the numbering shifts, so the first full bar becomes m.1. With ↺ Loop on, the pickup is played once and then skipped on every repeat — the loop comes round to the downbeat, not to the anacrusis. The setting is saved in the .hkn.
The View group changes how the score is laid out. Neither control alters a note — both are pure view changes, and neither rebuilds the grid.
Each mode arrives with its own defaults — Pro starts at 2 across, RoomyTraining starts at 2 across, Roomy. They are defaults, not rules: the moment you set either control by hand, switching modes stops overriding your choice.
12-TET Pitches (0-11): Standard chromatic scale starting from your tonic.
Example (Tonic = C, 12-TET):
24-TET Pitches (0-23): All 12 semitones plus 12 quarter-tones.
Quarter-Sharp Modifier (+): In 24-TET tracks, adds 50 cents (quarter-tone) to any pitch.
24-TET Examples:
0+ — C quarter-sharp (50¢ above C)6+ — F# quarter-sharp (50¢ above F#)10+ — A# quarter-sharp (50¢ above A#)Complete 24-TET chromatic scale:
0, 0+, 1, 1+, 2, 2+, 3, 3+, 4, 4+, 5, 5+, 6, 6+, 7, 7+, 8, 8+, 9, 9+, 10, 10+, 11, 11+
What are chord symbols? A shorthand notation for Western harmony that appears in the Chord Symbols track (top row with yellow labels). The Chord Symbols track supports both 12-TET chromatic chords and 24-TET spectral chords using the quarter-tone modifier.
Format: [root][quality][+][alterations][duration]
12-TET Examples (Chromatic Chords):
0maj7w — C major 7 chord, whole note7dom7h — G dominant 7 chord, half note2min7q — D minor 7 chord, quarter note0dom7b9#11h — C7♭9♯11, half note (altered dominant)!w — no chord, whole note~w — sustain previous chord, whole note24-TET Examples (Spectral Chords):
0dom7+w — Spectral C dominant 7: (0, 4+, 7+, 10+)w — root stays natural, intervals shift +50¢0maj7+w — Spectral C major 7: (0, 4+, 7+, 11+)w0min7+w — Spectral C minor 7: (0, 3+, 7+, 10+)w0maj+w — Spectral C major triad: (0, 4+, 7+)w0min+w — Spectral C minor triad: (0, 3+, 7+)wThe + Modifier: Three Usages
1. After root (quarter-sharp root): Detunes entire chord by +50 cents
0+dom7w — C quarter-sharp dominant 7 (detuned chord: 0+, 4+, 7+, 10+)3+maj7h — D# quarter-sharp major 7 (detuned chord: 3+, 7+, 10+, 2+)2. After quality (spectral chord): Root stays natural, intervals shift +50 cents (Tonic Anchor Principle)
0dom7+w — Spectral C dominant 7 (spectral chord: 0, 4+, 7+, 10+)0maj7+w — Spectral C major 7 (spectral chord: 0, 4+, 7+, 11+)3. Both modifiers combined: Quarter-sharp root AND spectral intervals
0+dom7+w — C quarter-sharp root + spectral upper structure (0+, 5, 8, 11): the root rides up +50¢ while the 3rd/5th/7th each rise a full semitone. The two + operators stack — they do not coincide.Spectral Chord Syntax: The single + modifier after the quality transforms ALL chord intervals (except the root) into quarter-tone extensions. This implements the Tonic Anchor Principle: the root (0) stays in 12-TET as the harmonic anchor, while thirds, fifths, and sevenths extend +50 cents into spectral space. This creates familiar bass foundation with shimmering microtonal color above.
Detuned vs Spectral:
0+dom7w): ALL pitches shift +50¢. The chord maintains 12-TET intervals but sounds a quarter-tone higher.0dom7+w): Root anchors in 12-TET, only the intervals (3rd, 5th, 7th) shift +50¢. Creates mixed 12-TET + quarter-tone sonority.Common chord qualities:
maj — major triadmin — minor triaddim, dim7 — diminished chordsaug, aug7 — augmented chordssus2, sus4 — suspended chordsdom7 or dom — dominant 7thmaj7, maj7#5 — major 7th chordsmin7, min7b5 (ø7), hdim7 (alt ø7) — minor 7th chordsminmaj7 — minor-major 7thmaj6, min6, maj69, min69 — sixth chordsmaj9, dom9, min9, minmaj9, aug9, maj9#5, dom9sus4maj11, dom11, min11, maj7#11, maj9#11maj13, dom13, min13, maj13#11add2, add4, add9, add11dom7sus4, maj7add4, maj7add6, maj9sus4 — 54 qualities totalAlterations: Add after quality: b9, #9, #11, b13, #5, b5, add2, add4, add6, add9, add11, add13
Visual entry: open the Control Panel from the dock and choose the Symbols tabin the Control Panel along the bottom, choose the Symbols tab, which offers 34 quality buttons, 13 alteration buttons (including spectral +), 24 root buttons (12-TET 0-11 + 24-TET spectral 0+-11+), duration buttons, and special symbols.
What: Notation for multiple pitches sounding simultaneously within a melodic track (chords/intervals). Naturals and quarter-tones can be mixed freely inside one set of parentheses.
Syntax: (pc1,pc2,pc3,...)duration
12-TET Examples:
(0,4,7)w — C major triad, whole note(0,3,7,10)h — C minor 7th, half note24-TET Examples (Spectral Harmony):
(0,3+,7,10)w — Spectral minor 7th (quarter-sharp 3rd), whole note(0+,4+,7+)q — Uniform quarter-sharp major triad, quarter note(2,6+,9)e — Mixed natural/quarter-sharp chord, eighth noteOctave shifts within chords: Apply ^ or v to individual pitches.
(0,4,7^)h — Major triad with high 5th(0v,3+,7,10)w — Spectral minor 7th with bass rootNote: Parenthetical notation is for melodic chords (simultaneous attacks in tracks). For harmonic symbols above the staff, use the Chord Symbols track.
What is Spectral Harmony?
The practice of selectively applying quarter-tone inflections to individual voices within traditional chord structures, creating timbral color while maintaining harmonic coherence. Use this technique in 24-TET tracks.
Techniques:
1. Mixed Natural + Quarter-Sharp: Use quarter-sharps on specific chord tones for spectral color.
(0,3+,7,10)w — Spectral minor 7th (quarter-sharp on the 3rd)(0,4+,7,10)h — Spectral dominant 7th (quarter-sharp on the 3rd)(0,3+,7,10+)q — Spectral minor 7th (quarter-sharps on 3rd and 7th)2. Uniform Quarter-Sharp: Raise entire chord by 50 cents for shimmering coherence.
(0+,4+,7+,10+)w — Uniform quarter-sharp dominant 7th(0+,3+,7+)h — Uniform quarter-sharp minor triadCompositional Tip: Natural pitches (0-11) anchor the harmony. Quarter-sharps (0+-11+) add spectral color. Experiment with different combinations to discover unique voice-leading colors.
Letters (additive):
w — whole noteh — half noteq — quarter notee — eighth notes — sixteenth notet — thirty-second note. — dot (adds 50% duration)Examples:
0h — pitch 0, half note4+q. — pitch 4 quarter-sharp (24-TET), dotted quarter7w — pitch 7, whole note0+qe — pitch 0 quarter-sharp (24-TET), quarter + eighth (3 eighths total)6e — pitch 6, eighth noteDefault: If no duration letter, note gets one slot (one quarter-note beat in 4/4).
* — rest (quarter-note slot in 4/4)*h — half-note rest*q — quarter-note rest*w — whole-note rest*e — eighth-note rest^ — up one octavev — down one octaveExamples:
0^q — pitch 0, one octave higher, quarter note6+vq — pitch 6 quarter-sharp (24-TET), one octave lower7^^h — pitch 7, two octaves higher, half note(0,4,7)^h — C major triad, one octave upApply octave displacement to multiple consecutive pitches using toggle syntax:
^pitches^ — shift all enclosed pitches up one octavevpitchesv — shift all enclosed pitches down one octave^^pitches^^ — shift all enclosed pitches up two octavesvvpitchesvv — shift all enclosed pitches down two octavesExamples:
^0q,4q,7h^ — three notes with explicit durations, all shifted up^0,2,3,5,7,9,10,0^ — eight notes with implicit 1-slot duration, all shifted upv2h,5q,9q,0wv — four notes with explicit durations, all shifted down^0q,(0,4,7)h,7w^ — span containing a chord (all shifted up)Span Rules:
^0q,0q^,0vq,^0q^' — play note at 25% of its written duration (sharp, detached)Example: 0+' — pitch 0 quarter-sharp (24-TET), staccato quarter note
~ — sustain previous pitch without re-attack (tie symbol)Examples:
0q~q — pitch 0 quarter tied to another quarter (half note total)|0+h.| |~e,7,4,2| — pitch 0 quarter-sharp dotted half tied across barline to eighth| — measure separator (optional, visual/code only)Example: |0,4+,7| or 0,4+,7 (both valid)
The keypad gives you visual pitch entry. To reach it, open the Control Panel from the dock and choose the Notes tab.It is already in front of you: the Notes tab of the Control Panel along the bottom.
The keypad has two rows of pitch buttons — there is only one keypad, and both rows are always live.
[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11][0+] [1+] [2+] [3+] [4+] [5+] [6+] [7+] [8+] [9+] [10+] [11+]How to use:
w, h, q, e, s, the dot, ~, ') and the octave buttons ^ (up) and v (down)Commas write themselves. A pitch button knows whether it is starting a new note or adding to the one you are already typing, and puts the comma in for you — so 0 2 4 types 0,2,4, while a duration, a dot or an octave button attaches to the note in hand without separating it. You can still type commas yourself; the keypad will not double them.
Color Coding: Buttons use the Harken ColorMap. For 24-TET, quarter-sharps show interpolated colors (midway between adjacent naturals).
Harken Super Composer supports up to 32 simultaneous tracks plus a dedicated Chord Symbols track for complete ensemble arrangements.
Track structure:
Every track can carry a quarter-tone. There is nothing to set first and no badge to check — a + is allowed in any measure of any track.
How to manage tracks: To add, delete or configure tracks, open the Control Panel from the dock and choose the Score tabin the Control Panel along the bottom, choose the Score tab.
Example multitrack setups:
Each track can use a different instrument from the sampled library — 53 pitched instruments, plus the drum kit and a sine-wave test tone. Every pitched instrument plays quarter-tones as readily as naturals.
Naturals are played from the samples at pitch; a quarter-tone is played by detuning the nearest sample by 50 cents, automatically. Nothing is asked of you either way.
How to assign: open the Control Panel from the dock and choose the Score tabin the Control Panel along the bottom, choose the Score tab, then pick an instrument from each track's dropdown.
The full library:
Every instrument is sampled across its real playing range, so nothing is stretched far from a recorded note.
The Drums instrument is a twelve-voice kit — a full acoustic kit from kick to cowbell, real samples throughout except the three toms, which are synthesised for now. A drum track is unpitched, so it ignores the tonic entirely: set its Clef to None. Selecting Drums in the Score tab sets the clef to None automatically.
Voice map. On a drum track the position numbers are kit slots, not pitches:
0 — Kick1 — Snare2 — Closed Hi-Hat3 — Open Hi-Hat4 — Ride Cymbal5 — Ride Bell6 — Crash Cymbal7 — Tom 1 (small)8 — Tom 2 (medium)9 — Tom 3 (floor)10 — Rimshot11 — CowbellAll twelve slots sound. Type 10 and 11 as two digits, the same way you would in a 24-TET track.
Writing a groove. Use the same Harken Notation as any track — number plus duration, separated by spaces:
2 2 2 2 — four closed hi-hats (quarter notes)0 2 1 2 — kick, hat, snare, hat4 4 4 4 — a ride pattern7 8 9 9 — a tom fill, small to floorSimultaneous hits. Stack voices with parentheses, exactly like a melodic chord:
(0,4)q — kick and ride together(1,2)q — snare and closed hi-hat together(0,6)h — kick and crash, half noteThe Mixer is a tab of the Control Panel — one mixing console with a fader and controls for every channel. Open the panel from the dock and choose Mixer.The panel is already open along the bottom; choose Mixer.
Channel order:
Controls per channel:
Playback controls (on the console):
What: The Galaxy is a live 3D visualization of the Harken geometric model that lights up in real time as your composition plays. It does not make sound — Harken Super Composer is the sole clock and sound source, and it drives the Galaxy one-way. Every note-on flashes the matching pitch-class node in its Harken color, so you can see the harmony move through the geometry as you hear it.
Opening it: Click Galaxy in the dock (the tray at the bottom of the screen, alongside Lessons, Control Panel and Shapes) to show or hide the panel. It does not open automatically — open it from the dock whenever you want it. The first time it opens centered on screen; after that it remembers wherever you drag (or resize) it for the rest of the session.
Moving & sizing the panel:
Exploring the model (inside the panel):
What you're looking at: A nested-polyhedra map of the Harken system — the dodecahedron (the 12 pitch classes), the decagon layer (24-TET spectral pitches), the pentagonal icositetrahedron, the central singularity where all tritone diameters meet, the interior star field, and a bounding sphere. Tritone axes and the equator are drawn in as reference lines.
Color & flashing:
Tip: Turn on ↺ Loop and watch a phrase cycle in the Galaxy — repeating reflections and rotations become easy to spot as symmetric motion through the geometry.
What: A workbench for hearing a shape before you commit it to the score. Sound Shapes draws a clock of the current tuning — a 12-gon in 12-TET, a 24-gon in 24-TET — and plays whatever set of pitches you mark on it. Tonic and Tuning stay in step with the console; Voice picks an audition instrument and does not touch your tracks.
Opening it: Click Shapes in the dock. Like the Galaxy it is a floating panel — drag the title bar to move it, and × closes it while leaving it running.
Building a shape:
Moving a shape: ↺ rotate and ↻ rotate turn it one step down or up (a semitone in 12-TET, a quarter-tone in 24-TET). ◑ reflect steps through every reflection axis — twelve of them in 12-TET, twenty-four in 24-TET. ⇄ reverse flips the play order — the readout turns around with it, so what you see is always the order you hear — and « previous steps back to the shape before this one. Selecting or transforming a shape plays it.
Hearing it: ▶ play sounds the shape in order; ▦ chord sounds it all at once.
Taking it to the score: ❐ copy puts the shape's notation on the clipboard exactly as the readout shows it, transformations and all. Paste it into any measure of any track. The notation carries pitch only — every note lands on one slot of whatever measure you paste into, so set the durations there.
Note: Sound Shapes still never writes to the score by itself. Nothing you do here changes a track until you paste.
What: Two keyboards, one above the other, that light in Harken colour as the score plays. Each manual follows one part, so you can watch a right hand and a left hand at once — or any two parts you like. Each can show the 88-key semitone board or the 97-key quarter-tone board.
Opening it: Click Keyboard in the dock. × closes it and leaves it running.
Assigning a manual: Each row of the rail has a picker. Choose a part under Parts in this score and that manual watches it; choose an instrument under Instruments and the manual simply holds that voice with nothing to follow. If exactly one part in the score is a piano part, a manual claims it on its own.
Board: 88 is twelve semitones to the octave, 97 is twenty-four. A part carrying quarter-tones needs the 97; asking for the 88 will say so rather than hide the notes.
Free play: While the transport is stopped the manuals are an instrument — press a key and it sounds in that manual's voice. Volume in the foot sets how hard a pressed key is struck and does not touch playback. While HSC is playing the keys are eyes-only, because a hand playing along would put a second part on a board that is showing one.
What: A bass neck and a guitar neck, drawn to real scale and laid out the way a player sees them — nut on the right, frets running right to left, lowest string on top. This is the view of a right-handed player sitting across from you, or of your own fretboard in a mirror. Twelve frets, one octave, on six strings. Bass B E A D G C, guitar E A D G B E, standard tuning.
Opening it: Click Fingerboard in the dock. × closes it and leaves it running.
Why the necks do not line up at the nut: They line up at the 12th fret, the way the two necks of a real double-neck do — the bodies join, so the shorter guitar neck sets its headstock back. The two are drawn to one scale, in true proportion to each other.
Assigning a neck: Each row of the rail has a picker, exactly like the Keyboard's. Choose a part under Parts in this score and that neck watches it; choose an instrument under Instruments and the neck holds that voice. A bass part claims the bass neck and a guitar part claims the guitar neck on their own — any bass, any guitar, not just the default two. Steps sets twelve semitones or twenty-four quarter-tones for that neck.
Where a note lands: A pitch on a keyboard has one key, but on a fingerboard it lives in two or three places, so the panel has to choose — and it chooses the way a player would. It keeps a four-fret hand, uses no more than three fretted notes on one string before crossing to the next, prefers an open string in first position, and takes the least movement that reaches the pitch. It picks its position once, at the start of a passage, and holds it; the hand comes off the neck after a couple of seconds of silence and re-seats when the music starts again. A pitch outside the twelve frets is counted in the rail rather than forced onto the board.
A chord is not a melody: a chord arrives as one event, so the panel shapes it as a hand rather than placing one note after another. The box is tighter than the melody hand. On the guitar, fingers are counted over distinct frets rather than over notes, because most guitar chords barre in some form; a bass never barres, so it takes one finger per string, which caps a bass chord at four fretted notes. Up to six pitches sound. When a shape will not fit a hand, the panel drops the least needed tone rather than reaching for it — and the rail says so, counting dropped to fit the hand apart from off this board, because a voice left out on purpose is not the same as a pitch the neck cannot reach.
Free play: While the transport is stopped the necks are an instrument — press anywhere on a neck and the nearest position sounds in that neck's voice. A string sounds one pitch at a time, as it does in life: pressing a second position on a string lifts the first. Different strings ring together. Volume in the foot sets how hard a pressed position is struck and does not touch playback. While HSC is playing the necks are eyes-only.
Note: Fingering on a real instrument is personal — two good players will play the same line two different ways. The panel aims at a fingering that reads like a player's, not at a single correct answer.
Click ↶ Undo to restore the previous score state. The undo system tracks all changes:
Maximum 50 undo levels. Use Cmd-Z (Mac) or Ctrl-Z (Windows/Linux) as keyboard shortcut.
Geometric transformation operations create variations of melodic AND harmonic material while preserving rhythmic structure. Transform any measure on melodic tracks or the Chord Symbols track using mathematical operations derived from the dodecahedron mapping. The Super Composer transformation system operates in full 24-TET space, providing complete coverage of all possible inversions and transpositions.
Single Measure Transform:
Multi-Measure, Multi-Track Transform (v1.0.0):
/drum|perc/i pattern in track name) copy unchangedExample workflow: Select m.1-2 (Piano/Bass/Drums) → Click R0 → Piano+Bass reflect to m.3-4, Drums copy as-is → Complete 4-bar phrase with symmetrical harmonic relationship.
Available transformations:
Reflections (24 axes): Inversion across axes of symmetry on the dodecahedron.
Rotations (24 transpositions): Shift all pitches by N quarter-tones.
Retrograde: Time reversal — reverses the order of pitch events while preserving durations. Chord symbols maintain identity in reversed positions.
Reverse: Anchors the first note as the launch note, then reverses the order of the remaining notes while the rhythm stays in place (durations keep their slots; only the tail pitches reverse into them). Example: 0,4,7,10 → 0,10,7,4. Distinct from Retrograde (full end-for-end flip of both order and rhythm) and from Inversion/Reflect (R0). Rests, ties, and stacked chord tones hold their positions; chord symbols pass through unchanged.
What transforms: Pitch numbers AND chord symbols. Duration letters, octave modifiers, rests, ties, and staccato markings pass through unchanged. Quarter-sharp modifiers recalculate based on transformation result.
12-TET Melody Example:
|0q,4q,7q,10q||0q,8q,5q,2q||5q,9q,0^q,3^q|Chord Symbol Example:
|0maj7w|7dom7w||5min7w|2min7b5w| (both root AND quality transform)|5maj7w|0^dom7w| (root transposes, quality preserved)24-TET Spectral Example:
|0maj7+w| (spectral Cmaj7)|0+maj7+w| (quarter-sharp axis produces detuned spectral chord)|5+maj7+w| (quarter-tone transposition of spectral chord)Combinatorial power: With 24 Reflections, 24 Rotations, and Retrograde, a single melodic + harmonic phrase generates 1,152 distinct variations (24 × 24 × 2 = 1,152). Multi-track transformation creates complete ensemble passages with unified harmonic logic. Use for developing motivic material, creating variations, systematic exploration of pitch/harmonic space, and exhaustive combinatorial composition.
What: Automatically generates random tone rows for serial composition. The Tone Row feature creates a complete 24-TET chromatic cycle (all 24 quarter-tones) with harmonic alignment.
How to use:
Output structure:
[12/8:12] meter (12 eighth-notes per measure)Tone Row 12 (12-TET): Generates a twelve-tone row instead — tonic 0 followed by the eleven naturals (1–11) shuffled — in a single [12/8:12] measure on Track 0. Tone Row 24 requires 24-TET tuning; Tone Row 12 works in either tuning.
Example output (Tone Row 24 — Track 0 only):
[12/8:12]0,3+,7,1,5+,9,... (m.1)
...,11,4+,2,8+,6,10+ (m.2)
Use cases: Serial composition, twelve-tone technique, dodecaphonic exploration, complete chromatic cycles, microtonal tone rows.
Note: Requires at least 2 measures in your composition. Tone row generation captures undo state, so you can undo and regenerate for different permutations.
Everything to do with files lives under File ▾ on the setup bar.
Export (.hkn format):
Import:
Audio export (.wav):
Example compositions: the Examples ▾ menu loads a finished piece over your score. See Example Compositions below.
Workflow tip: Export frequently. Create versions (draft1.hkn, draft2.hkn, final.hkn) to track progress and allow backtracking.
The Examples ▾ menu on the setup bar loads a complete finished piece:
An example replaces what is on screen, so export first if you want to keep your work. Loading one is undoable.
The menu grows as examples are added. Every example is playable at any time — there is no tuning an example could need that the score is not already in.
12-TET Example (Western Harmony):
[4/4]0h,4q,7q|2h,5q,9q|4h,7q,11q|0w
Chords: 0maj7w|2min7w|4maj7w|0maj7w
24-TET Example (Complete Chromatic Cycle):
[12/8:12]0e,0+e,1e,1+e,2e,2+e,3e,3+e,4e,4+e,5e,5+e
6e,6+e,7e,7+e,8e,8+e,9e,9+e,10e,10+e,11e,11+e
24-TET Example (Spectral Harmony):
[4/4](0,3+,7,10)w|(5,8+,0,3)w|(7,10+,2,5)w|(0,3+,7,10)w
Mixed Example (naturals under quarter-tones):
Track 1 (Piano): [4/4]0,4,7,0^|
Track 2 (Flute): [4/4]0+q,3+q,7+q,10+q|
Chords: 0maj7w|
Hamiltonian cycle on pentagonal icositetrahedron (24-TET "cycle of fifths"):
[12/8:12]0,6+,1,7+,2,8+,3,9+,4,10+,5,11+
6,0+^,7,1+^,8,2+^,9,3+^,10,4+^,11,5+^
Galaxy panel: Drag the title bar to move it, drag the bottom-right corner to resize, drag inside the view to rotate, and scroll to zoom.
+ on notes that want colour — the piece never has to be committed to one or the other+ is legal in any measure of any track, at any time, with nothing to set first+ on the quality (0dom7+) for spectral harmony under a natural melody, or over a quarter-tone one.hkn[12/8:12] or [12/8:24]Close this guide and start composing!