cint filter | VHV documentation

The cint filter calculates and processes music based on counterpoint modules. See the full technical documentation for cint on the Humdrum Extras website for all options.

Counterpoint modules consist of four notes in two simultaneous voices that form a module of two harmonic and two melodic intervals. The filter name cint can mean either counterpoint intervals or composite melodic/harmonic intervals, and functions as a generalization of the hint (harmonic intervals) and mint (melodic intervals) tools of the original Humdrum Toolkit.

Below is an example of a module. The first measure in the example below represents a pair of notes being sounded together in two separate voices. These four notes comprise four intervals illustrated in the second measure. the red marks indicate the melodic intervals, and the blue marks indicate the harmonic intervals.

Counterpoint module and how it is described. — Melodic and harmonic intervals forming a counterpoint module.

Given any three intervals in the module, the fourth can be calculated automatically, so measure three gives an illustration of the typical description of a module which omits the top melodic interval and would be written inline as “10 -2 12”, which means that the module starts with a harmonic interval of a 10th, then the lower voice moves down by a second and forms a harmonic interval of a 12th with the upper voice (which implicitly had to move up a step to form the 12th).

The cint filter can describe intervals in other units such as twelve-tone and base-40, as well as chromatically altered diatonic intervals, and allow for octave collapsing of the harmonic intervals and note-attack configurations.

Module Searching

Searching for stepwise rising parallel thirds/tenths

Here is an example of searching for parallel thirds in contrapuntal music. The basic counterpoint module for parallel thirds going up by step is “3 2 3”. The filter used in the following example is:

!!!filter: cint -O --search "3 2 3"

The -O option is used to collapse compound intervals such as a 10th to 3rd, removing octave transpositions of the basic intervals. Click on the examples below to load the same data and filter into VHV.

Searching for 3-2-3 module. — Searching for parallel 3rds (or 10ths) in a Bach chorale.

Searching for parallel thirds with note attacks only.

Adding note attacks with the -x option will allow searching harmonic intervals based on whether or not the notes were attacked (x) or sustained (s). Searching only for parallel thirds where both voices’s notes attack together would be “3xx 2 3xx”:

!!!filter: cint -x -O --search "3xx 2 3xx"

or when merging parameterless options:

!!!filter: cint -xO --search "3xx 2 3xx"

Notice that the parallel thirds in measure 11 are no longer highlighted since the parallel thirds motion was entered with a sustained note in one voice.

Module length

Longer chains of modules can be searched by adding the -n # option, where # is the number of elided modules calculated for the search. For example, using -n 2 in the cint filter will only match to two successive parallel third motions up by step by three pairs of notes in each voice:

!!!filter: cint -xO -n 2 --search "3xx 2 3xx 2 3xx"

Notice that there are fewer matches since single parallel motions modules are ignored.

Warning: Searching for a shorter module sequence when specifying a larger length with the -n option will highlight the entire longer sequence. Use regular expression anchors such as “^3xx 2 3xx” to search for module sequences that start with a parallel third upwards stepwise motion followed by any other module starting with a harmonic third interval when the module sequence is 2 or higher; or “3xx 2 3xx$” for module sequences which end in a parallel third upwards stepwise motion. To ensure that you are searching the correct length module sequence, use both ^ and $ such as “^3xx 2 3xx$`; when -n2 is used, this search will return no matches since it is a length-1 module sequence.

Descending parallel thirds

Use -2 as the melodic interval when searching for descending parallel thirds:

!!!filter: cint -xO -n 2 --search "3xx -2 3xx -2 3xx"

Searching for 3xx -2 3xx -2 3xx module. — Searching for two-module falling parallel 3rds

Directionless stepwise parallel thirds

Use -?2 as the melodic interval when searching for parallel thirds that either go up or down by step.

!!!filter: cint -xO -n 2 --search "3xx -?2 3xx -?2 3xx"

Cadential suspensions

References

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