Common Style Constraints Feedback

I would like to share an addition that I have in mind which I would like to implement during the Google Summer of Code internship.

User Story

As a composer I want to get feedback if my piece has not met the historical rules, like counterpoint,
So that I learn more about the historical rules and so that I can write a piece that perfectly meets the standards that I intended to produce, e.g. Baroque style.

Solution

Please use the following topics for discussion.

Giving Feedback

The most effective way I can think of is coloring the conflicting notes red or yellow when historical rules are not met. When hovering over the note it will show a tooltip with the rule that is broken and some history background.

Selecting History Rules

I think that the most straight forward way is to select a musical period, e.g. Renaissance. I can image that some people would like to customize their own profile, then the musical period would be a perfect filter to find existing rules that you would like to use.

How to define constraints

Initially I think it is best to create a scripting language where you can detect your constraint using certain code contracts. For example, you want to detect if there is a parallel fifth in the score:

function parallel_fifth_constraint(noteA, noteB, nextNoteA, nextNoteB) {
  // check if the interval is a fifth
  if (intervalBetween(noteA, noteB) == interval.quinto) {
    // check if notes changed
    if (noteA != nextNoteA && noteB != nextNoteB) {
      // check if the next interval is also a fifth
      if (intervalBetween(nextNoteA, nextNoteB) == interval.quinto) {
        return true;
      }
    }
  return false;
}