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Message-ID: <1538@uw-beaver>
Date: Wed, 22-Aug-84 12:30:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: uw-beave.1538
Posted: Wed Aug 22 12:30:01 1984
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Organization: U of Washington Computer Science
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From: John Meier 
There have been many notices and questions about the music
programs/drills/games that I have been developing.  I hope this
note explains exactly what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and what
I'm planning on doing.

FIRST PROJECT: Building Blocks
This program duplicates a drill run a few years ago on a mini-computer
with special hardware.  The original drill accepted line-numbered files of a
sequence of sounds (NOT SPECIFIC NOTES!).  It also accepted parameters of
length, volume, and timbre.  My program does the same thing on a Macintosh with
a object oriented graphic interface.

the sounds are:
1)a low pitched sound
2)a medium pitched sound
3)a medium high pitched sound
4)a high pitched sound
5)a widely spaced chord based on those sounds
6)a normally spaced chord based on those sounds
7)a closely spaced chord based on those sounds
8)a web of moving sounds
9)a sound sliding upward in pitch
10)a sound sliding downward in pitch
11)a burst of short random pitches in one voice
12)a burst of short random pitched in four voices

On the screen there is a palette containing an icon for each sound block
To choose a sound you drag it's block from the palette into the sound window

Once you have a sound block, you may
1) lengthen it (make the duration longer),
2) squish it (make the duration shorter),
3) make it taller (make the sound louder),
4) or make it shorter (make the sound softer)

In the sound block window, the horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is
Timbre.  A sound block along the bottom of the screen produces a sine wave, and
a sound block placed near the top of the screen produces a sawtooth wave.

There is a tempo control to change scaling of the horizontal axis
There is a scroll bar to produce compositions longer than can fit on the screen
There is a score window that works almost exactly like the MacPaint show page
There is a help menu full of MacPaint pictures
There is a file menu with capabilities like those of MacPaint
Selection of Sound blocks is like that of MacWrite
Cut, Copy, and Paste of a selection is like that of MacWrite
Moving a selection is like that of the Finder
There is a play menu to PLAY ALL, PLAY SCREEN, and PLAY SELECTED PART

This program is completed and will probably be used this winter in a course by
Professor Jon Appleton entitled "Music and Technology."  It will probably be
sold to the student at a price comparable to the cost of a workbook.  It might
also be kept on reserve like a book would be.  We really aren't sure what we're
going to do.  My feeling is that it will have a price that will be small enough
not to discourage it's use (say...under $20)  Until we decide, I'm not
publically distributing a running copy.  There's nothing secret about what I've
done so I wouldn't mind explaining how I've done stuff.

SECOND PROJECT: Mozart

This program is based on a piece that Mozart composed.  He wrote the piece in
six two-bar phrases in such a way that the phrases can be played in any order.

In my program the six phrases will be objects in a palette and they can be
dragged into a composition window and then played.

There will also be three groups of modifiers: articulation, dynamics, and tempo.
there will be a set of common symbols of music notation.  Examples would be a
staccatto mark or a crescendo mark.  These can be dragged anywhere in the piece.
In effect, you are the conductor of a piece by Mozart.

This program will be in a working version by late September.  It willed be used
by Music 3.

THIRD PROJECT: Melody and Rhythm

This program will have two source palettes.  The first will be a group of
rhythmless melodies, and the second will be a group of non-melodic rhythm
patterns.  The user will drag a melody to the composition and then drag a rhythm
to the composition.  He can then experiment with matching different melodies to
different rhythms.

This program will be in a working version by the beginning of January.  It will
be used in Music 3.

FOURTH PROJECT: Synclavier hookup

This program will be a composer's tool for the Synclavier Digital synthesizer.
Presently, a person can write a composition using a dumb terminal and line
numbered files.
This program will replace that with an object oriented graphic interface.  It
will resemble the FIRST PROJECT in a lot of ways, but the full power of the
Synclavier will hopefully be available.
Things not possible using the keyboard will also be possible if the processing
power of the Macintosh is utilized.  This program will have to be Macintosh and
LISA compatible because we will be using a LISA connected to a Synclavier for
other purposes.

This program has no expected completion date.  It will be used by Music 3 and a
more advanced class in electronic music and composition.

John Meier               johnm@dartvax
Dartmouth College
Hinman Box 2644
Hanover, NH 03755