Each tetranucleotide is mapped to a four-voice chord (SATB). Soprano and Bass come from the major and minor groove dynamics; Alto and Tenor are generated to maximise harmonic consonance.
DNA → Music · console
Only A, T, C, G letters are used · minimum 4 bases · 0 / 200
Key
Active: D natural minor
Volume Mix
Algorithm
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How it works
DNA double-helix grooves (major and minor) open and close dynamically. Their mean lifetimes and event rates were measured from molecular dynamics simulations for each unique tetranucleotide and mapped to pitch and duration.
Soprano follows the major-groove pitch; Bass follows the minor-groove pitch. Alto and Tenor are picked from the active scale to maximise consonance with the Bass.
Five algorithm variants are available. Approximation 5 uses linear duration mapping and a greedy harmonic cost (motion + dissonance + spacing) with a post-hoc fix for Soprano–Alto parallels. Approximation 6 keeps the same greedy cost but switches to logarithmic duration mapping, which compresses the dynamic range of note lengths so very short events stay audible. Approximation 7 keeps the logarithmic duration and replaces the greedy cost with a lookahead-aware one — semitones, tritones, parallel fifths and octaves are penalised across consecutive steps, and contrary motion is rewarded. Approximation 8 is informed by a corpus analysis of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book I: inner voices strongly prefer stepwise motion (M2/m2, as in ~70 % of WTC fugue intervals), harmonic thirds and sixths are favoured over fourths and fifths, large leaps are resolved in the opposite direction, contrary motion between outer voices is explicitly rewarded, and the lookahead extends two steps ahead. Approximation 9 adds WTC-inspired rhythmic post-processing to Approximation 8's voice leading: the 43 000-note corpus analysis showed that 72.5 % of consecutive note transitions maintain identical duration and that jumps larger than 2:1 never occur. The algorithm enforces both rules — adjacent figures are merged into runs of uniform motion, and any transition exceeding a 2:1 ratio is capped — producing the characteristic continuous-flow rhythm of Bach's preludes and fugues.
Soprano + Alto share the major-groove duration; Tenor + Bass share the minor-groove duration — two rhythmically independent duets that overlap.