Designed by Andy Reinke, PitchTrak is a computer program commissioned by Melvin Unger and Taylor Giacoma to study pitch variety in the vocal lines of Bach’s sacred cantata recitatives. The program, which employed Microsoft Access, was used to tabulate some 90,000 pitches, identifying initial span lengths in which all twelve chromatic tones appear and deviations from equal pitch distribution in the vocal line as a whole, while also identifying recitative length, opening and closing keys, vocal instrumentation, chronological order numbers, and literary subjects. The program and database are available for free download below, along with explanatory material. Use at your own risk.
