Composing With Pytheory

Composing with PyTheory

PyTheory turns music theory into runnable Python. You build a Score, add parts (chords, melodies, basslines) and drums, then render it to audio or MIDI — every sound is synthesized from math, so there are no samples, plugins, or DAW to install.

How to work

1. Write a short Python script that builds a Score and either plays it or saves it. Don't compose by chaining shell one-liners — a script is clearer, reproducible, and easy to iterate on.
2. Run it with uv run python song.py when uv is available, otherwise python3 song.py.
3. To let the user hear it, call play_score(score) (speakers) or render to a WAV they can open. To hand off to a DAW, save MIDI.

If PyTheory isn't installed, prefer uv when available: uv pip install pytheory (or uv add pytheory in a uv project); otherwise pip install pytheory. For live MIDI input add the extra: uv pip install "pytheory[live]" (or pip install "pytheory[live]"). NumPy/SciPy ship as PyTheory dependencies, so the scipy.io.wavfile WAV export below needs no extra install.

Core building blocks

from pytheory import Score, Key, Chord, Duration

score = Score("4/4", bpm=120)          # time signature + tempo

# A part is a voice with its own synth/instrument and effects.
piano = score.part("piano", instrument="piano", reverb=0.3)
lead  = score.part("lead", synth="saw", envelope="pluck", lowpass=4000)
bass  = score.part("bass", synth="triangle", lowpass=900)

# Chords from a Key's progression (Roman numerals) or Chord.from_symbol.
for chord in Key("G", "major").progression("I", "V", "vi", "IV"):
    piano.add(chord, Duration.WHOLE)

# Melodies are note names + durations (a float = beats, or Duration.*).
lead.add("D5", 1).add("B4", 0.5).add("D5", 0.5).add("G5", 2)
lead.rest(2)

for n in ["G2", "D2", "E2", "C2"]:
    bass.add(n, Duration.WHOLE)

• part.add(note_or_chord, duration) chains and returns the part. part.rest(duration) inserts silence.
• Duration.WHOLE / HALF / QUARTER / EIGHTH / SIXTEENTH plus dotted variants (DOTTED_HALF, DOTTED_QUARTER, …), or pass a float in beats (1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125).
• Key(tonic, mode).progression("I", "V", "vi", "IV") returns Chords (lowercase numeral = minor, e.g. "i", "VI"). Key(...).chords lists the diatonic chords; Key(...).scale gives the scale tones. Chord.from_symbol("F#m7b5") parses any symbol.
• Note names are scientific pitch (C4 = middle C). Tone.from_string("A1") builds an explicit pitch; tone.add(12)/tone.add(-12) shift octaves.

Expression & dynamics

add() takes keyword controls that make lines feel human and musical:

part.add("A4", Duration.HALF, velocity=90, bend=-0.5, articulation="accent")

• velocity (1–127) — loudness per note. Vary it; flat velocities sound robotic. Fades are just descending velocities:

  for v in [100, 85, 70, 55, 40, 25]:
      part.add("E5", Duration.QUARTER, velocity=v)
  

• bend (semitones, float) — pitch bend over the note's duration. bend=2 bends up a whole step, bend=-0.5 slides down a quartertone. Great for sitar meends, guitar bends, theremin. bend_type = "smooth" (default), "linear", or "late".
• articulation — "accent", "staccato", "legato", "marcato", "tenuto", "fermata" (or "").
• lyric — a syllable for vocal synths only (synth="vocal_synth" / "choir_synth"). Passing lyric to a non-vocal synth raises an error.
• humanize (part kwarg, ~0.02–0.2) — subtle timing drift per note.

Sound design palette

Each part is either an instrument preset (realistic) or a raw synth waveform (shapeable), plus an envelope and an effects chain.

• Synths (56) — sine, saw, triangle, square, pulse, fm, noise, supersaw, pwm_slow/fast, hard_sync, ring_mod, wavefold, drift, and many modeled instruments as *_synth (rhodes_synth, sitar_synth, vocal_synth, mellotron_synth, singing_bowl_ring_synth, …). from pytheory.play import Synth; [s.value for s in Synth] lists them.
• Instruments (83) — piano, electric_piano, acoustic_guitar, cello, violin, harp, flute, choir, vocal, sitar, koto, kalimba, timpani, pipe_organ, 808_bass, acid_bass, … from pytheory import INSTRUMENTS; sorted(INSTRUMENTS) lists them.
• Envelopes (10) — none, piano, organ, pluck, pad, strings, bowed, bell, mallet, staccato.

Effects are part kwargs (set once at creation, or change later with .set()):

reverb_type picks a convolution space: "algorithmic" (default), "taj_mahal", "cathedral", "hall", "plate", "spring", "cave", "parking_garage", "canyon".

score.ring_out() appends trailing silence so reverb/delay tails decay naturally instead of being clipped at the last beat (most audible on a final drum hit with a long reverb). Call it once before playing or exporting; the length auto-sizes to the longest effect tail, or pass ring_out(seconds). Skip it for seamless loops, where you want the hard cut.

pad  = score.part("pad", synth="supersaw", envelope="pad", reverb=0.5,
                  reverb_type="cathedral", sidechain=0.2, sub_osc=0.3)
acid = score.part("acid", synth="saw", envelope="pluck", legato=True, glide=0.05,
                  lowpass=1500, lowpass_q=8, distortion=0.3, distortion_drive=2.0)

Movement: LFOs and mid-track changes

• part.lfo(param, rate=, min=, max=, bars=, shape=) sweeps a parameter over time — the classic filter sweep / auto-wah / tremolo. rate is cycles per bar (0.5 = one sweep every 2 bars, 1 = once per bar). shape = "sine", "triangle", "saw", "square".

  pad.lfo("lowpass", rate=0.25, min=600, max=5000, bars=8, shape="triangle")
  

• part.set(**params) changes a part's settings partway through, for arrangement dynamics (drop the pad back, open the filter for a chorus):

  pad.set(volume=0.5, reverb=0.4)
  

Drums

score.drums("hip hop", repeats=4)                       # by preset name
score.drums("rock", repeats=8, fill="rock", fill_every=4)

• score.drums(preset_or_pattern, repeats, fill=, fill_every=, split=, layer=). Presets include rock, funk, jazz, hip hop, bossa nova, salsa, samba, reggae, waltz, tresillo, tabla solo, … (Pattern.list_presets()).
• Custom beats — build a Pattern from Hits and pass it to drums():

  from pytheory import Pattern, Hit, DrumSound
  K, S, CH = DrumSound.KICK, DrumSound.SNARE, DrumSound.CLOSED_HAT
  beat = Pattern("my beat", [
      Hit(K, 0.0), Hit(CH, 0.0), Hit(CH, 0.5),
      Hit(S, 1.0), Hit(CH, 1.0), Hit(CH, 1.5),
      Hit(K, 2.0), Hit(CH, 2.0), Hit(K, 2.5), Hit(CH, 2.5),
      Hit(S, 3.0), Hit(CH, 3.0), Hit(S, 1.75, velocity=35),  # ghost
  ], beats=4.0)
  score.drums(beat, repeats=4)
  

  Hit(sound, position_in_beats, velocity=100); 74 DrumSound members (print([d.name for d in DrumSound])) including world kits (TABLA_*, CAJON_*, DOUMBEK_*, DJEMBE_*).
• Hand-programmed hits — part.hit(DrumSound.KICK, Duration.QUARTER, velocity=110, articulation="accent") places a hit in any part's stream, with full per-hit control (good for tabla/cajon fills).
• Layering / polyrhythm — repeated drums() calls play in sequence; pass layer=True to overlay (clave over a backbeat). For a true polyrhythm, put both voices in one Pattern at fractional positions.
• split=True splits a kit into separate kick/snare/hats/toms/ cymbals/percussion parts so each takes its own effects (score.parts["snare"].set(reverb=0.3)).
• score.set_drum_effects(reverb=, volume=, humanize=, …) applies to the whole kit at once.

Arrangement & structure

Real songs are built from repetition and dynamics. Useful idioms:

• Octave / voicing spread — layer the same progression across registers:

  for c in prog:
      low.add(c.transpose(-12), Duration.WHOLE)
      high.add(c.transpose(12), Duration.WHOLE)
  

  Chord.transpose(semitones) and Tone.transpose(semitones) move pitches.
• Reusable phrases — capture a motif as data and replay it with variation:

  RIFF = [("A4", 0.5, 90), ("C5", 0.5, 80), ("E5", 1, 100)]
  def play_riff(part, vshift=0):
      for note, dur, vel in RIFF:
          part.add(note, dur, velocity=max(1, min(127, vel + vshift)))
  

• Section boundaries — rest parts in/out to create intros, breakdowns, drops:

  def rest_bars(part, n):
      for _ in range(n):
          part.rest(Duration.WHOLE)
  

• score.section(name) / score.repeat(name, times) capture and repeat spans for structured arrangements.

Alternate tunings

PyTheory isn't limited to 12-tone equal temperament:

score = Score("4/4", bpm=75, system="shruti", temperament="just")

system selects a tuning system (16 available, e.g. "western", "shruti"); temperament ∈ "equal", "just", "meantone", etc. Use for raga, microtonal, and historical-tuning work.

Hearing it & exporting

from pytheory.play import play_score

play_score(score)                       # play through the speakers

buf = score.render()                    # float32 (N, 2) buffer, no audio device needed
score.to_wav("song.wav")                # render + save a 16-bit stereo WAV

score.save_midi("song.mid")             # MIDI (drums on channel 10)
open("song.abc", "w").write(score.to_abc(title="Song", key="G"))
open("song.xml", "w").write(score.to_musicxml(title="Song"))
open("song.ly",  "w").write(score.to_lilypond(title="Song", key="G"))
print(score.to_tab("guitar_part"))      # ASCII tab for a part

In a headless/CI context (no speakers), prefer score.render() / score.to_wav() over play_score.

Metronome, practice click & tempo trainer

A real-time click that also plays a progression to practise over, and ramps the tempo like the phone trainer apps. It makes sound and blocks, so the user runs the CLI (suggest the ! prefix); from Python it's pytheory.metronome.Metronome.

$ pytheory metronome 120
$ pytheory metronome 90 --chords Am F C G          # click + soft chords, cycling per bar
$ pytheory metronome 100 --subdivide 2             # eighth-note clicks
$ pytheory metronome 80 --to 120 --step 5 --every 8   # tempo trainer (start→end BPM)

from pytheory.metronome import Metronome
Metronome(bpm=90, progression=["Am", "F", "C", "G"]).start()
Metronome(bpm=80, end_bpm=120, step=5, every=8).start()   # trainer

House style (apply unless the user asks otherwise)

• Detune: subtle, 8–15 cents. Never above ~25 — it smears.
• Humanize: 0.2 for melodic parts; 0.15 for drums (Score(..., drum_humanize=0.15)).
• No swing unless asked.
• Sine and triangle are underrated — reach for them, not just saw/square.
• Marching music is always 120 BPM.
• Avoid strings-style synths with detune for solo classical lines — use a cleaner voice.
• If a mix clips, don't crush the synth peaks — add/rebalance parts instead.

Complete example

from pytheory import Score, Key, Duration
from pytheory.play import play_score

score = Score("4/4", bpm=80, drum_humanize=0.15)
score.drums("hip hop", repeats=4)

piano = score.part("piano", instrument="piano", reverb=0.4, volume=0.4, humanize=0.2)
lead  = score.part("lead", synth="sine", envelope="pluck", detune=10, humanize=0.2,
                   lowpass=2600, delay=0.25, reverb=0.25, volume=0.32)
pad   = score.part("pad", synth="supersaw", envelope="pad", reverb=0.5,
                   reverb_type="cathedral", sidechain=0.2, volume=0.3)
bass  = score.part("bass", synth="triangle", lowpass=800, humanize=0.2, volume=0.5)

prog = Key("A", "minor").progression("i", "VI", "III", "VII")
for c in prog:
    piano.add(c, Duration.WHOLE)
    pad.add(c, Duration.WHOLE, velocity=55)
    bass.add(c.transpose(-24), Duration.WHOLE)

lead.add("E5", 1, velocity=90).add("D5", 1).add("C5", 1).rest(1)
lead.add("A4", 1).add("C5", 0.5).add("D5", 0.5).add("E5", 1).rest(1)
pad.lfo("lowpass", rate=0.25, min=700, max=4000, bars=4, shape="triangle")

play_score(score)   # or render to WAV (see "Hearing it & exporting")

Tips & gotchas

• lyric is vocal-only — only vocal_synth / choir_synth accept it.
• detune is in cents, not semitones — 8–15 is a gentle widening.
• lfo rate is cycles per bar — for a slow sweep over a whole 8-bar section use a small rate (e.g. 0.125) with bars=8.
• Effects are part-level, not per-note — to vary an effect over time use lfo() or set(), and for per-note expression use velocity/bend/ articulation.
• score.drums() takes a preset name or a Pattern object.
• Durations are in beats; a whole note fills one 4/4 bar.
• Octave matters — keep bass low (C2) and leads up top (C5).
• PyTheory can also identify chords, build fretboard fingerings, and transcribe recordings (Chord.identify(), Fretboard, Score.from_wav(...)). See https://pytheory.org.