Ratioscore: A Text-Based System for Just Intonation

Ratioscore is a text-based musical score representation system that expresses pitches as integer ratios, making it particularly useful for working with just intonation. We also provide open-source software to compile Ratioscores into Standard MIDI files as well as a website front-end that renders these MIDI files into MP3 files for online listen- ing and downloading. Up to 15 voices/instruments can sound simultaneously with independent tuning control as well as independent glissandi in each voice within one octave of their starting pitch. Ratioscores are encoded using the Humdrum data format, which allows for basic data manipulation and transformation of the score, such as repeating segments of music, selecting between multiple timelines or sharing dynamics between different voices. We illustrate the use of Ratioscore as a prototyping system for composing a string quartet as a proof of concept. Ratioscore is particularly suited for algorithmic composition, both within and outside the traditional Western notation framework