Analyzing Harmonic Progressions with HarmIn:
the Music of Antônio Carlos Jobim

Giordano Cabral, Robert Willey

Abstract. This paper describes a tool designed for the analysis, retrieval, and visualization of harmonic progressions which aim to provide the user with valuable statistics and graphs. This output is intended to help the users to better understand the harmonic content of a music dataset, hopefully causing the emergence of interesting findings. The analysis of the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim motivated the creation of our tool, and for this reason is presented as our case study. We also describe how this tool can be integrated into an accompaniment system (RamIn), going beyond analysis into the fields of interactive music and composition.

Brazilian flag Presented at the 11th Brazilian Symposium for Computer Music, September 1-3, São Paulo, Brazil.

Paper


Representing Antônio Carlos Jobim’s
Harmonic Progressions

Robert Willey, Giordano Cabral

Abstract. In preparation for statistical analysis of the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim, we transcribed a large number of his songs, creating a data base representing their chord progressions as well as general information regarding each song. We released this database for the scientific community with the aim of encouraging research projects on the subject. This paper describes this database in order to assist researchers interested in using it. We also present some applications we developed to illustrate its potential, and make a comparison with a similar database describing the songs by the Beatles.

Paper


Text

Jobim Graphs

Comparisons

In the following circle-of-fifth graphs, green lines represent transitions that are more common in the songs corresponding to the column heading labels, while red lines indicate transitions that are more common in the songs by composer or style named by the row headings. For example, comparing Jobim and the Beatles, those transitions that are more common in the Beatles are in green, those more common in Jobim are in red.

  Beatles Chico
Buarque
Caetano
Veloso
Forró Axé Brazilian
Funk
Jobim circle directory circle directory circle directory circle directory circle directory circle directory
Beatles   circle directory circle directory circle directory circle directory circle directory
Chico   circle directory circle directory circle directory circle directory
Caetano   circle directory circle directory circle directory
Forró   circle directory circle directory
Axé   circle directory

Generated chord progression from the second paper, realized with Band in a Box


Jobim links
Cancioneiro v. 5

Other Information on Brazilian Music


©2007 Giordano Cabral & Robert Willey