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neumaRk

A human-readable, machine-readable language for music.

neumaRk is a textual way to write music that is clear for humans
and precise enough for machines.

It sits between traditional musical notation and modern digital workflows, making music easy to write, share, parse, transform, and version.

Music, written as text

Music is structured, temporal, and expressive — yet most digital formats either focus on sound (audio) or on graphics (scores).

neumaRk focuses on meaning.

It describes:

  • what happens in the music,
  • when it happens,
  • and how elements relate to each other,

using plain text.

A neumaRk file can be read, understood, edited, and shared without special tools.

For musicians

You can use neumaRk to:

  • write leadsheets quickly;
  • sketch musical ideas without worrying about layout;
  • share music in messages, repositories, or links;
  • keep versions of your work;
  • focus on harmony, rhythm, and structure.

If you can read chord symbols and rhythmic patterns, you can read neumaRk.

For developers and tools

neumaRk is also designed to be:

  • deterministic to parse;
  • stable in meaning;
  • independent from rendering;
  • friendly to version control systems.

It enables:

  • automatic score rendering;
  • playback engines;
  • converters to other formats;
  • collaborative editing tools.

One language, different levels of detail

The same music can be written:

  • compactly, for speed and sharing;
  • clearly, for human reading;
  • explicitly, for tools and validation.

You choose how much detail to show. The music stays the same.

Not a replacement, but a foundation

neumaRk is not meant to replace traditional notation or the tools musicians already use to produce scores (Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore, and others).

It focuses on describing the musical intent, leaving engraving and visual layout to specialized software.

Open, evolving, and focused

neumaRk is an open specification. Its first public version is available today, and it is designed to evolve carefully and transparently.

If you care about music and structure, neumaRk is for you.

Where to go next

  • Learn what neumaRk is → Overview
  • Explore the language → Specification
  • Follow changes → Changelog