Compact Music Token (CMT) Documentation

🎯CMT Format Overview

CMT encodes each musical event as a single token using this standardized format:

💡 Key Concept: Each token represents a complete musical event with both pitch information (using Scientific Pitch Notation) and timing information (using ABC notation-style duration codes).

🔹Pitch Encoding (SPN-style)

Token Part	Meaning	Examples
`Note`	Letter names A–G	`C`, `F`, `G`
`Accidental`	# for sharp, b for flat	`F#`, `Bb`
`Octave`	Integer (0–8)	`C4`, `A3`

🔸Duration Encoding (ABC-style)

Code	Meaning	Beats (4/4)	Example
`w`	Whole	4	`C4:w`
`h`	Half	2	`D4:h`
`q`	Quarter	1	`E4:q`
`e`	Eighth	½	`F#4:e`
`s`	Sixteenth	¼	`G4:s`
`.`	Dot modifier	+½ of base	`A4:h.` (dotted half = 3 beats)
`t`	Triplet prefix	⅓ of base	`tq` = triplet quarter

🛑Representing Rests

Use "rest" as the pitch component to represent silence:

              "rest:q" // quarter rest "rest:h." // dotted half rest "rest:w" //
              whole rest "rest:e" // eighth rest
            

📝 Note: Rest tokens follow the same duration encoding rules as pitched notes, but use the literal string "rest" instead of a pitch specification.

🧪Basic Examples

Here are some practical examples of CMT tokens in action:

            [ "C4:q", // Quarter note C4 "F#3:e", // Eighth note F#3 "Bb5:h.",
            // Dotted half note Bb5 "rest:q", // Quarter rest "G4:tq" // Triplet
            quarter note G4 ]
          

✅ Valid Examples

A4:q - Quarter note A4
C#5:h. - Dotted half C#5
rest:e - Eighth rest

❌ Invalid Examples

H4:q - Invalid note name
C4 - Missing duration
C:q - Missing octave

🧰Optional Extensions

You can extend CMT tokens with suffixes or tags for additional musical information:

Articulation

C4:q.staccato D4:e.legato

Lyrics

D4:e:"hello" E4:q:"world"

Velocity/Dynamics

E4:q@80 F4:h@forte

Measure Markers

M1:C4:q M2:D4:h

🧠Why Use CMT?

✅

Compact and Readable

Human-readable format that's also machine-parseable

✅

Easy to Parse and Validate

Simple regex patterns can validate and extract components

✅

Ideal for Music Applications

Perfect for audit overlays, tutor apps, and export workflows

✅

SPN-Aligned and MIDI-Compatible

Integrates seamlessly with existing music software standards

🧱JSON Measure Structure

CMT tokens are typically organized within JSON structures representing musical measures:

            [ { "measure": 1, "notes": ["rest:q", "A4:e", "E4:e", "E4:e",
            "C#4:q", "B3:e"] }, { "measure": 2, "notes": ["B3:q", "C#4:e",
            "D4:e", "D4:q", "rest:q"] } ]
          

📊 Structure Benefits

• Clear measure boundaries for musical organization
• Easy to iterate through for playback or analysis
• Compatible with existing JSON-based music formats
• Supports additional measure-level metadata