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Overview
The Octopus Music API(OM) is a Java API designed to model musical performance. Currently, the API is composed of 80 classes (52 public classes) and about 16.000 lines of code and it is being developed as part of a PhD research project at the ICCMR Lab (University of Plymouth).
Differently from other APIs’ for music software development, the Octopus Music API focuses on the modelling of musical performance elements, mainly the performer and his instrument. A possible use of this API is, for example, the recreation of a musical performance for a particular performer in a particular musical instrument. For example, how a certain guitarist plays I IV7 V harmonic progression in a 12-string guitar tuned in E Major? With the library it is possible to address this question and also implementing the means for calculating the best way to play the chords (chord shapes) and the right arpeggio for them.
The API was designed to be a general framework for musical software development but, up this point, has its focus on the guitar music performance. Nevertheless all “music conceptual” classes necessary for further developments in the context of other instruments is already implemented in the API.
Last Update: March 29, 2007