Configure

Use the controls below to configure display and playback.

About

Each time you click the Create New Row button, this program generates a random tone row. The program also displays the inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion of the row. Click the Play button next to any row to hear how it sounds.

The notes are shown both in musical notation and as a numeric sequence where 1 means F, 2 means G-flat, 3 means G-natural, and so on. The numeric sequence is provided to aid composers in transposing, analyzing, and manipulating the tone rows and their intervals.

Tone Row Generator is offered as is at perrywhittle.com/toneRowGenerator/.

About Tone Rows

For more information on twelve-tone rows and serial composition, start here: Wikipedia's Twelve-Tone Technique Page.

Credits

This tone row generator was created by Perry Whittle. The first version was programmed in 1999 using Macromedia Director. The current version uses JavaScript for generating rows and jQuery Mobile for the UI elements and responsive display.

Special thanks to:

• Brian Smith (www.bsmithpercussion.com) for encouragement and for finding a new use for Tone Row Generator: practicing atonal musical dictation.
• Rodolfo Amaral De Almeida for suggesting a configuration option for accidental type and for finding an additional use for Tone Row Generator: practicing sight reading.

Please enjoy this tool, however you use it. Maintenance releases of this program are infrequent. However, please report errors or tell me how to make this tool better by contacting the author.