not an stand-alone application, but a set of documents written in a strange mixture of Italian and English, including:
- a database of analysis data for 3-notes and 2-notes chords,
- a spreadsheet to find by interpolation the correct data for 4 to 12-notes chords on the basis of the 3-notes chords that they contain,
- a second database to store these new data and
- a second spreadsheet to analyze atonal melodies note by note.
All the documents are designed to work under the well-known application ClarisWorks¬2.1 and are linked together by macros that select, copy, calculate and transfer data automatically from one module to another.
The method used to find D-index is completely different from the one used in version 2.0, because it is based on different concepts. This method used in version 1.0 is called the ╥Chord Fields╙ method: any 3-notes chord is considered as built from the main two - not three - intervals it contains, and tables (corresponding to the NTA2.0 Chord Families) are created in which the chords are arranged in columns and rows (representing these two main intervals) that indicate which voices form the main intervals, so that chords can be classified according to their position in the tables.
This is very interesting and gives good results.
The following figure represents the simplest of those tables, commented in Italian.
The mark ╥ ' ╙ written after a note indicates that it forms a ninth with the preceding note.
MB means ╥Middle note and Bass note╙,
SB means ╥Soprano (=uppermost note) and Bass note,
SM means ╥Soprano and Middle note╙.
7m/9M means ╥minor seventh or major ninth╙.
2Mdir means ╥real╙ major second.
╥Combinazione impossibile╙ means ╥impossible combination╙.
LPN is the Linear Progression Number, a number directly related to the final D-index of a chord. Although, this number is not the D-index itself, but only a generic basis on which many important corrections are applied to find the real D-index, according to methods that cannot be explained here.
TG is the Tensive Ground, a value shared by all the chords that belong to the same table, that indicates the minimum dissonance index that can be assigned to a chord of that table. It is obtained with a particular method that, too, cannot be explained here. All this is completely explained and described in Italian in the NTA1.1 Manual. You can purchase it from the Author.
(Title translation: ╥Example: the Chord Field table tr/2M╙)
╩
The ideas on symmetrical chords are also a bit different from those contained in version 2.0.
The first database for 3-notes and 2-notes chords works fine, but the data cannot be edited nor changed and it does not really analyze anything: it only shows the results of a previous analysis made with default settings and these settings, though rather good, cannot be changed by the user in any way.
The other documents have even greater problems, especially the melodic analyzer, that is really too much complex and very slow to use (15-20 minutes of mainly manual - not automatic - work per each new note you enter!): the final results are quite good, but people cannot go on like that.
Version 1.1: (1996)
- A Manual has been written, but only for the use of the database of analysis data for 3-notes and 2-notes chords, and only in Italian.
- Improvements in the quality of the values.
- Custom icons are created for the NTA1.1 files
- Minor (and insufficient) improvements in the user interface.
In this period Claris releases version 4 of ClarisWorks, and macros are no more compatible with NTA1.1, because their format has been slightly changed. NTA1.1 can work correctly only under ClarisWorks versions from 2.1 to 3. However, if you are already a registered owner of that application, and you are interested to purchase this third party set of documents NTA1.1 with the manual in Italian (containing directions only for the use of the database of analysis data for 3-notes and 2-notes chords) please contact the Author:
e-mail: ggrossk@tin.it
Giovanni Grosskopf
via Petrarca, 66
20099 Sesto San Giovanni (MI)
ITALY
phone: +(0)2-22479610 or +(0)338-7699200
This facts persuaded me that it was time to build a new, easy to use version of NTA as a stand-alone application.
Version 2.0: (1997-98)
The first stand-alone application version and also the first public release.
The method used to find D-index has been completely changed (no more Chord Fields tables) and is now completely customizable. Complete manual in English. Please see it for a thorough description of all the features of NTA2.0.
