Hello There:

My name is Paul Nelson, and I'm the author of these tools and this web site. You can find out more about me at my personal site: PNelsonComposer.com.

I first got turned on to Pitch Class Sets while studing composition at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, thanks to my teacher, Thomas Benjamin (an excellent composer, btw). Once I understood how they worked, suddenly my ears got so much more sensitive to harmonic color, not only in modern interval set music and 12-tone serial music, but also in standard common practice music as well. I began to understand why octatonic music sounded the way it did, as well as pentatonic, pan-diatonic, and many other kinds of music too.

But I'm also a computer programmer, and programming is in my blood. So over the years I worked out these tools to help me understand and explore all of these compositional techniques.

These days, I've switched my focus to composition of electronic music, including new notational programs and methods for composing and manipulating electronic music. Naturally, this presents some rather large programming tasks, so it may be a while before more tools are available. However, I may upload the "Listening Guide" before too long, and I'm also working on "Talking About Music - A Dictionary", essentially a list of words and ideas on how we can all better talk about the music we create.

Cheers! Paul

P.S. Send me an E-Mail and let me know who you are. It would be much appreciated.