Music to Their Ears

For Nicole Lewey ’16 and Jacob Lundgren ’16, computer science and music offer the best of both worlds.

Both, said Lewey, are simultaneously logical and creative endeavors.

The computer science majors, who are both music minors at Pacific University, have put that love to work in the form of their senior thesis.

Together, they have created an Android app, Chordinate, that will help amateur composers fill out their compositions.

The app allows a user to input a melody via an on-screen keyboard. The user can select the key and scale, and the app will generate matching chords to accompany the tune.

“At the basic level, right now, it takes the notes and assigns working chords based on the notes and melody,” Lewey said.

Eventually, they would like to add common chord progressions to the mix, to make the compositions sound a little more natural.

In the meantime, the project is a way to bring together two loves.

“What I love about computer science is that it combines the logic of mathematics with the creativity of the arts,” she said. “And I just love music.”