About This Project
Psaltica Praxis
A Long-Term Work

About This Project

Psaltica Praxis began as a Master’s thesis project in 2007 and has continued, in different stages and forms, as an effort to preserve Byzantine music notation and make it more accessible through modern technology.

Started in 2007 Lebanese American University Byzantine Music Preservation Mobile App Revival in Canada

Origins

The core of Psaltica Praxis was my Master’s thesis in 2007 at the Lebanese American University. From the beginning, the project was driven by the desire to preserve Byzantine music notation and to make it more approachable for a wider audience.

The musical guidance for the project came from Fr. Makarios Haidamous of the Basilian Salvatorian Order. During that period, I spent many long hours working under his guidance until the core project was completed and presented. His contribution was essential in helping shape both the musical seriousness and the educational direction of the work.

What Happened After the Thesis

After my Master’s degree, the project was largely stopped as an active development effort. Even so, with the support of the Salvatorian Order, I continued to improve it slightly over the years in an intermittent way, as much as my time permitted.

Those years did not allow for sustained progress, but they did keep the project alive and gave it time to mature in concept, even if only gradually.

The Recent Revival

Last year, I decided to return to the project in a more serious and practical way. By then, I had gained strong experience in mobile app development through my professional work after moving to Canada. That newer experience gave me the technical foundation to revisit the project with a fresh perspective and rebuild it in a form that is much more usable today.

The current Psaltica Praxis app is the result of that renewed effort.

Current Scope

The application is not complete, and it does not yet cover all Byzantine musical signs and symbols. Byzantine music is both deep and complex, and translating its richness into a digital tool is a long-term undertaking.

Still, the app already offers a solid core of Byzantine music theory support and notation work. I believe it can serve as a very useful teaching and learning tool for students and teachers alike.

Why the App Uses a Subscription Model

The subscription model was chosen so that I can continue working on the application and keep improving it over time. My intention is to expand its support to cover as much of Byzantine musical notation and theory as possible.

This is not a short-term project. It requires sustained effort, study, implementation, correction, and testing. The subscription model helps make that continued work possible.

On Different Schools and Interpretations

I am fully aware that no single application will ever satisfy all the different schools, traditions, and interpretations within Byzantine music. That is simply the nature of the field.

My goal is to cover the most widely accepted approaches and, wherever possible, to offer customization so that the application can remain useful across different teaching and practical contexts.

Feedback and Contact

I would strongly encourage anyone who has remarks, suggestions, issues, or corrections to contact me using the email address provided through the app. Constructive feedback is important to the future of this project and is sincerely appreciated.

Thanks

Thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior for this project, and to all the contributors and testers who have helped along the way. Your help, encouragement, and time have been immensely appreciated.