After posting my review of the DodecMatrix phone application on this blog last year, I became curious to see if this program featured any updated material. Recall that DodecMatrix functions as a basic tool for creating twelve-tone matrices, or grids. Taking into consideration all of the missing components in the older version that I listed in the post last year (no pitch-class clock, no enharmonic equivalence, etc.) does the new version address and fix any of its previous problems?
The answer, unfortunately, is that the updated version of DodecMatrix contains more of the same... albeit, with slightly less content than the previous one. People can still create matrices with by picking pitches on their phone screens with the touch of the finger. Additionally, they can play back the tones from the generated rows (It is possible to play more than one row at a time.). They can also save their matrices for future musical use.
One glaring change in the new version of DodecMatrix, however, stems the omission of examples of serial music. Unlike the older version, which featured examples of music by composers from the Second Vienesse School (mainly, Arnold Shoenberg and Anton Webern), the update completely removes these examples from the application. I speculate that this decision stems from issues concerning copyright, because the musical pieces by Schoenberg and Webern are not "Public Domain."
What, then, is the verdict? Should musicians or composers who want to learn about serial music use the updated version of DodecMatrix, or would they be wasting their time? Given the fact that essential features remain absent and that it features no musical examples at all, I would suggest to stay away from it. Far away. One would have better luck finding an online tutorial that explains the purpose and process behind creating a twelve-tone matrix, instead.
The answer, unfortunately, is that the updated version of DodecMatrix contains more of the same... albeit, with slightly less content than the previous one. People can still create matrices with by picking pitches on their phone screens with the touch of the finger. Additionally, they can play back the tones from the generated rows (It is possible to play more than one row at a time.). They can also save their matrices for future musical use.
One glaring change in the new version of DodecMatrix, however, stems the omission of examples of serial music. Unlike the older version, which featured examples of music by composers from the Second Vienesse School (mainly, Arnold Shoenberg and Anton Webern), the update completely removes these examples from the application. I speculate that this decision stems from issues concerning copyright, because the musical pieces by Schoenberg and Webern are not "Public Domain."
What, then, is the verdict? Should musicians or composers who want to learn about serial music use the updated version of DodecMatrix, or would they be wasting their time? Given the fact that essential features remain absent and that it features no musical examples at all, I would suggest to stay away from it. Far away. One would have better luck finding an online tutorial that explains the purpose and process behind creating a twelve-tone matrix, instead.
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