Exploring the "Text to Music" Concept: How Can We Turn Words into Melodies?

[timothyronald]

Hello everyone.

I’ve been thinking about the idea of converting text into music, and I’m curious how this process works. There are tools and software that can generate melodies based on written words, but how do these systems decide what kind of music to produce?

Is it purely algorithmic, or do they consider things like tone, mood, and rhythm within the text to music? I’d love to hear any experiences or examples of using text to music, and how we might better capture the essence of written language in musical form.

Any insights?

 

[lockingtuner]

Your post reads to me like it is asking two different questions:

1) How does software convert text into music? and

2) How does one convert text into music?

I can't answer the former. The latter has an extensive history.

One of the easiest ways of turning text into music is through musical cryptograms, the most famous of which is probably the B-A-C-H motif. Accomplishing this is straightforward: take the word or phrase of interest and use the letters which correspond with the names of notes as your notes. You can also extend the logic to make your own cipher, or borrow someone else's that's already established.

Another way is to draw on the symbolism that has been used in songs historically. This is not text to music directly, but it is using the themes of the text to inform how the music is constructed, so it may interest you.

Unfortunately, the associations for symbolism are too broad and varied for a comprehensive list here, but it will include things such as parallel thirds indicating a romantic relationship, the key of C symbolizing purity, fugue structure to represent Divine Law, etc. If you can find a good teacher offering a class on Lieder, that might be the easiest way to familiarize yourself with this historical conversation. Otherwise, pick a composer who has written Lieder you like and dig in. You could try this with rock music and other genres, and there certainly are examples (e.g. Oasis' 'Don't Look Back in Anger' at 1:57), but as a rule, in my opinion, you will find far fewer examples with less complexity.

Yet another way is to use your imagination and create your own. There is no wrong way to convert text to music but I would suggest one rule for your consideration in order to prevent limitlessness turning into meaninglessness: however you decide to convert text to music, do it in a way that is discoverable to the audience.