How it Works

Part I — Home (RM Console)

The Home section, also referred to as the RM Console, serves as the primary interaction point of the platform. It allows users to define harmonic navigation problems and generate structured modulation routes between musical scales.

Rather than presenting static data, the RM Console operates as a query-driven interface, where users select a source and destination harmonic context and receive computed pathways through the harmonic space.

Core Inputs

• Source scale: tonic, scale family, and degree
• Destination scale: tonic, scale family, and degree
• Route style: controls how direct or exploratory the path should be
• Maximum steps: limits the number of intermediate transitions
• Optional melody generation: includes a melodic layer over the harmonic route

Generated Output

• Harmonic routes: sequences of scales and intermediate transitions
• Compatibility-driven transitions between harmonic states
• Structured progression logic based on the RM compatibility system

The system computes these routes using a deterministic evaluation of compatibility between scales, modes, and tonal centers, allowing controlled exploration of harmonic space.

Interaction Design

• Immediate feedback after parameter selection
• Clean, focused interface with minimal visual noise
• Designed to guide attention toward key actions, such as generating example routes

The RM Console functions as the operational core of the system, connecting user intent with the underlying harmonic compatibility graph.

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Part II — Live Index (Real-time Scale & Modulation Lookup)

The Live Index is a fast, streaming lookup engine for scale relationships. It searches millions of precomputed comparisons from Scale X → Scale Y and returns matches with bridge chords, harmonic degrees, note lists, and an overall compatibility signal.

What’s in each result

• Scale X / Scale Y: full names including tonic, family, and mode/degree.
• Bridge chords: candidate chords with tonic, degrees (e.g., 1_3_7_9), and notes.
• Match / Probability: a condensed compatibility measure based on weighted intervals.

What you can do with it

• Discover smooth modulation paths using shared/bridge chords.
• Contrast nearby vs. distant regions (e.g., Major ↔ Melodic Minor).
• Chain multiple X→Y hops to sketch short progressions.

Quickstart

1. Type a term (tonic, family, mode, or chord symbol) in the search box.
2. Results stream in real time; click a row to expand details.
3. Save interesting pairs and test them in your composition.

Tips

• Start broad (e.g., “Hungarian Major”), then refine by tonic or degree.
• Use precise tokens like C Dorian Degree 4 when you know exactly what you want.
• Combine with the Heatmap: scan color regions first, then fetch concrete bridge chords here.

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Part III — Live Analyzer (Graph-level Exploration)

The Live Analyzer builds an on-the-fly graph of scales and their strongest relationships. It streams items progressively so you can watch nodes (scales) and edges (high-quality X↔Y links) appear as the scan advances.

How rescans work

• Streams NDJSON messages like progress, item, and end (with rare shard_error/fatal).
• Reads the same knowledge base as the Live Index but applies sampling, scoring, and targets to balance breadth and quality.
• Stops early when reaching target_nodes and target_edges, or a time/limit budget.

Scoring & filtering (plain English)

• Each candidate pair gets a match score from your weighted interval logic and per-entry metrics.
• min_match filters weak links; max_deg keeps the graph readable by limiting a node to its top mutual neighbors.

Typical controls

• Target size: target_nodes, target_edges
• Quality floor: min_match
• Topology: max_deg (mutual degree cap)
• Exploration: shuffle + seed
• Safety: seconds and limit

What you can do with it

• Visualize families and corridors of high compatibility.
• Find bridge hubs—scales that connect distant regions.
• Prototype multi-hop modulation plans before arranging chords.

Quickstart

1. Open the Analyzer and start a rescan with default targets.
2. If the graph is dense, raise min_match or lower max_deg.
3. Lock interesting nodes/edges and rescan with a different seed to explore alternatives.

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Part IV — Investigation (3D Embedding + Corridors + Simulation)

Investigation is a high-density 3D map of the scale universe. Each point is a scale/mode instance (with its tonic, degree, family, and step-pattern). The goal is to explore structure at three levels: local neighborhoods (nearby harmonic options), macro regions (clusters), and transition mechanisms (bridges and corridors).

What you see

• Nodes (points): each node contains structural data (mode steps, semitone pattern, notes) plus network metrics.
• Arcs: curved links rendered as quadratic Bezier paths with animated pulses to show direction.
• Inspector panels: click a node/cluster and read its metadata + strongest outgoing/incoming edges (top-k links).

Main exploration modes

• Structural: select a node and visualize its strongest neighborhood (outgoing/incoming edges). This is the “what can I move to next from here?” view.
• Flow: highlights corridors — dominant cluster-to-cluster currents. Selecting a corridor draws an explicit arc between cluster anchors/centroids, with pulses traveling from source to destination.
• Bridges: focuses on nodes and edges that mediate transitions between regions (e.g., high inter-cluster betweenness and top bridge edges between a chosen cluster pair).
• Clusters: macro-regions detected using a Louvain community detection algorithm. This partitions the harmonic graph into densely connected regions. Each cluster can be inspected for:
  • Size (number of scales inside)
  • Dominant scale families
  • Internal hubs (high-degree or high-centrality nodes)
  • Strongest outgoing bridge edges toward other clusters

Simulation mode (seeded random walk)

Investigation also includes a simulation that performs a guided walk over the network. It can run step-by-step or autoplay, and it is reproducible via a text seed. The simulator can move through outgoing links, and optionally incoming links as well.

• Weighted vs. Uniform: choose between probability proportional to edge weight (weighted) or equal chance (uniform).
• Avoid backtracking: reduces the probability of immediately returning to the previous node.
• Speed + Trail length: control autoplay interval and how many steps remain visible as a trail.
• Follow selection: the inspector can follow the simulated node without forcing the classic “fan-out” rendering, keeping the visualization readable while the walk runs.
• Direction cues: animated pulses run along arcs; incoming moves invert direction so you can “read” the traversal.

In practice: use Structural to understand local options, Flow to identify macro routes between regions, Bridges to find transition mediators, and the Simulation to generate and replay exploratory paths.

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Part V — Musical Scales Heatmap (Dynamic Compatibility Visualization)

The Musical Scales Heatmap is an interactive visualization tool designed to explore compatibility relationships between musical scales, modes, and tonal centers.

Unlike earlier versions of the system, the Heatmap is no longer a fixed 336×336 matrix. It now generates dynamic heatmaps whose size depends on the subset of scales selected by the user.

Dynamic Structure

• The heatmap adapts to the selected harmonic context
• Its dimensions vary depending on the scales included in the comparison
• Each axis represents a set of selected scales or modes
• Each cell corresponds to a pairwise comparison between two harmonic entities

Compatibility Representation

• Each cell displays a compatibility value between two scales
• The visualization uses color intensity to represent similarity or contrast
• Warmer or brighter values indicate stronger compatibility
• Darker or cooler values indicate greater harmonic distance

Interaction Model

• Users can focus on specific subsets of scales instead of the full harmonic space
• The heatmap allows rapid visual identification of compatible and incompatible regions
• The interface prioritizes readability and clarity over exhaustive data density

Current Scope

• The Heatmap displays scale-to-scale compatibility values
• Detailed chord-level information is not shown in this view
• It is intended as a high-level exploration tool rather than a detailed analytical breakdown

This dynamic approach allows users to explore harmonic relationships in a more flexible and focused way, adapting the visualization to specific analytical or compositional needs.