A new vendor for music software has launched. Cognitone, based in Hamburg, Germany, creates unusual programs that help with chords, scales and harmony and support the composition of original music.

Although the supply of software for sound design, recording and audio production is huge, the actual procedure of composing original music is rarely supported well. It usually requires a lot of experience, physical skills and a formal education in order to write a decent song, or setup an orchestral arrangement. When it comes to developing new ideas from scratch, the choice of tools is limited.

Cognitone aims at closing this gap. “Everybody is doing audio. We’re supporting creativity.” says André Schnoor, founder of Cognitone, “Even the perfect sound doesn’t help, if the music is boring. It’s musical substance that makes a song stand out.”

Cognitone’s intelligent software companions simplify the early stages of the musical creation process. The first product, Harmony Navigator, is already available. The more comprehensive Music Prototyping Studio is intended for professional use and is announced for 2008.
Harmony Navigator

Harmony Navigator helps with chords, scales and harmony. Most notably, it finds chord changes to a given melody. Notation skills are not required. All keys are shown as colored chord palettes. A virtual band accompanies every click with instant live music in real-time. The software prints chord and scale patterns for keyboard, guitar and almost every string instrument. It provides many advanced functions, making it a useful tool also for experienced musicians and students.

The software can be purchased for 99 Euros on the Cognitone site. It runs on MacOS X and Windows. A free 30-day trial version is available for download.