pcset

Post-tonal pitch-class set theory for JavaScript and TypeScript: normal order, prime form, interval-class vector, Forte numbers, Z-relations, complement, symmetry, and the full set-class catalog. Typed, zero runtime dependencies, runs in the browser and in Node.

Install

npm install pcset

30-second example

import { setClass, primeForm, forte, commonName, intervalVector, sameSetClass } from "pcset";

primeForm([0, 4, 7]);            // [0, 3, 7]  major triad
primeForm([0, 3, 7]);            // [0, 3, 7]  minor triad, same set class
intervalVector([0, 4, 7]);       // [0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0]
forte([0, 4, 7]);                // "3-11"
commonName([0, 4, 7]);          // "major/minor triad (3-11)"
commonName([2, 6, 9]);          // "major/minor triad (3-11)"  -- any transposition
commonName([0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10]); // "whole-tone scale (6-35)"
commonName([0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11]); // "diatonic / major scale (7-35)"
commonName([0, 1, 2, 3, 4]);    // null  -- no standard name
sameSetClass([0, 4, 7], [0, 3, 7]); // true

setClass([0, 1, 4, 6]);
// {
//   pcs: [0, 1, 4, 6],
//   normalOrder: [0, 1, 4, 6],
//   primeForm: [0, 1, 4, 6],
//   forte: "4-z15",
//   cardinality: 4,
//   intervalVector: [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],   // all-interval tetrachord
//   complementPrimeForm: [0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8],
//   zPartner: [0, 1, 3, 7],               // the other all-interval tetrachord
//   transpositionalSymmetry: 1,
//   inversionalSymmetry: 0,
// }

Pitch classes are integers, C = 0. Inputs may be unsorted, duplicated, or outside 0..11; they are reduced modulo 12.

Why this exists

Post-tonal analysis (prime form, interval-class vectors, Z-relations) is standard material in music theory, but the JavaScript ecosystem has no focused library for it. @tonaljs/pcset, the set module of the dominant JS music library, computes only set membership, subset, and superset; it does not compute normal order, prime form, interval vectors, inversion, complement, or Z-relations. music21 is excellent but is a large Python framework, not usable in a browser. The Python pcsets package was last released in 2007.

pcset fills that gap with a small, correct, dependency-free engine that is easy to embed in interactive theory and pedagogy tools.

Comparison

Capability	pcset	@tonaljs/pcset	music21
Normal order	yes	no	yes
Prime form	yes	no	yes
Interval-class vector	yes	no	yes
Transposition and inversion	yes	partial	yes
Complement	yes	no	yes
Z-relation detection	yes	no	yes
Symmetry degrees	yes	no	yes
Full set-class catalog	yes	no	yes
Forte set-class numbers	3 to 9	no	yes
Common set-class names	yes	no	yes
Zero runtime dependencies	yes	yes	no
Runs in the browser	yes	yes	no
Language	TS	JS/TS	Python

The chroma string and set number use the same encoding as tonal, so the two libraries interoperate.

API

All functions are pure. Inputs are read-only number arrays; outputs are normalized pitch-class sets (sorted, unique, 0..11).

Core

• normalize(pcs) reduces raw integers to a normalized set.
• normalOrder(pcs) returns the most compact cyclic ordering.
• primeForm(pcs) returns the canonical set-class representative (Rahn algorithm), starting on 0.
• intervalVector(pcs) returns the interval-class vector [ic1..ic6].
• forte(pcs) returns the Forte set-class number (for example "3-11" or "4-z15"), or null.
• commonName(pcs) returns a widely recognized common name for the set class (for example "whole-tone scale (6-35)"), or null when none is assigned. Transposition- and inversion-invariant.
• setClass(pcs) returns the full SetClassInfo (normal order, prime form, interval vector, complement, Z-partner, symmetry).

Transform

• transpose(pcs, n) transposes by n semitones (Tn).
• invert(pcs) inverts about pitch class 0 (T0I).
• invertAround(pcs, axis) inverts about an axis (TnI).
• complement(pcs) returns the pitch classes not in the set.

Relations

• equals(a, b), isSubsetOf(a, b), isSupersetOf(a, b)
• isTranspositionOf(a, b), isInversionOf(a, b), sameSetClass(a, b)
• isZRelatedTo(a, b)

Symmetry

• transpositionalSymmetry(pcs), inversionalSymmetry(pcs)

Encoding and catalog

• toChroma(pcs), fromChroma(chroma), toNumber(pcs), fromNumber(num)
• catalog() returns the complete set-class catalog (224 classes) as a Map keyed by prime form.
• catalogEntry(pcs) looks up the catalog entry for a set.

A note on prime form

Prime form here follows the Rahn algorithm (the convention used by Straus): take the more left-packed of the set's normal order and its inversion's normal order, each transposed to 0. For the small number of set classes where Forte and Rahn disagree (for example 5-20, 6-31, 7-20), this returns the Rahn form.

A note on Forte numbers

Forte numbers are provided for all set classes of cardinalities 3 to 9, including the 50 hexachords (cardinality 6), with the z designation marking Z-related classes (for example "6-z44"). Because a set class and its complement share a Forte ordinal, the labels for cardinalities 7 to 9 are derived from those for 3 to 5. The hexachord labels are cross-checked against the library's own catalog: the tests confirm that the z marking matches the catalog's interval-vector Z-relation detection for every hexachord, that all 50 classes are covered, and that each label is unique.

Roadmap

• Abstract subset and superset relations between set classes.
• Generalization to mod-n universes for microtonal work.

Examples

npm run example

Testing

npm test

The suite covers known prime forms and interval vectors, structural checks against the full set-class catalog (counts per cardinality, complement and Z-relation consistency), and property-based invariants (transposition and inversion preserve set class and interval vector, prime form is idempotent, encodings round-trip).

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.