Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup makemicromusic Re: [MMM] Digest Number 958

How can I get a hold of Python? I could not find the page . . http://www.geocities.com/akjmicro/pystepseq.html .

Thanks for any help you can give,

Mark J
----- Original Message -----
From: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
To: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 6:49 AM
Subject: [MMM] Digest Number 958

There are 3 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)
From: "George D. Secor" <gdsecor@...>
2. Re: Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)
From: Carl Lumma <ekin@...>
3. Audio realization of Bull-'Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La'
From: "Aaron K. Johnson" <akjmicro@...>

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:18:00 -0000
From: "George D. Secor" <gdsecor@...>
Subject: Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:
> >Okay, I've redone them, and here are the new files (for all to
hear):
> >
>
>/makemicromusic/files/secor/Olympos5.mp3
>
>/makemicromusic/files/secor/Archyt7.mp3
>
> Nice! What did you redo them on?
>
> -Carl

Ancient equipment and software. I used Cakewalk (inserting pitch-
bends manually) and the soundcard that came with the desktop computer
(a 7-year-old Gateway running at 166MHz on Windows 98) that I
inherited as a hand-me-down from my daughter when I bought her a new
computer for a college graduation present 3 years ago to replace the
one I had bought her when she started college.

I thought that it would be best not to spend any money on anything
more elaborate until I had put in some time to find out what I could
do with what I already had, thinking that it would also be a good
learning experience for me. As things stand, I don't expect to buy
any new music software (or new hardware capable of running it) before
Monz's "Musica" is available.

--George

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:26:45 -0700
From: Carl Lumma <ekin@...>
Subject: Re: Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)

>>/makemicromusic/files/secor/Olympos5.mp3
>>
>>/makemicromusic/files/secor/Archyt7.mp3
>>
>> Nice! What did you redo them on?
>
>Ancient equipment and software. I used Cakewalk (inserting pitch-
>bends manually)

Good job!

>I thought that it would be best not to spend any money on anything
>more elaborate until I had put in some time to find out what I could
>do with what I already had,

Way to go. I've got all the latest everything and no time to use
it.

-Carl

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 22:41:13 -0500
From: "Aaron K. Johnson" <akjmicro@...>
Subject: Audio realization of Bull-'Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La'

Hey,

I resuscitated my old pet-project -- Bull's 'Ut Re MI Fa Sol La' in 19-equal,
and got further along in it tonight...I think in a week I could complete it.

http://www.dividebypi.com/audio/bull_ut_re.ogg

Software and platform info:

*Gentoo Linux
*fluidsynth, using 'Campbell's Harpsichord' soundfont (corrected and retuned
version)
* my own 'et_compose', written in Python, a 'midi file compiler' for writing
in arbitrary n-tets and a healthy alternative to writing Scala *.seq files,
which has the following advantage over Scala's format:
1) I can write polyphonically and *see* the lines over each other, so I know
harmonically and contrapuntally what's going on, and
2) I implemented a 'humanize' function, using Gaussian distribution curves,
that, given the right parameter, will make subtle micro-temporal adjustments
in the output midi file, giving a dynamic and lifelike performance to the
file that would otherwise suffer from being stale and too precise.

The latter I think I used to good effect in the OGG sample above...I tried
about 10 different values until I found one I think is just right for this
performance...just barely audible, but present and interesting. The result
is, I think, when paired with the excellent harpsichord soundfont, nothing
short of ear-candy !!!

Enjoy!
--
Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.dividebypi.com
http://www.akjmusic.com

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

That program is no longer available on that site which is no longer there!!!

I'm not distributing 'et_compose' until I do documentation for it. In the
meantime Python, which can be used for all sorts of great little music
related tasks, is available at www.python.org, or any mirror of that site.

Cheers,
Aaron.

On Saturday 28 August 2004 05:43 pm, Mark & Ann Johnson wrote:
> How can I get a hold of Python? I could not find the page . .
> http://www.geocities.com/akjmicro/pystepseq.html .
>
> Thanks for any help you can give,
>
> Mark J
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
> To: MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 6:49 AM
> Subject: [MMM] Digest Number 958
>
>
>
> There are 3 messages in this issue.
>
> Topics in this digest:
>
> 1. Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)
> From: "George D. Secor" <gdsecor@...>
> 2. Re: Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)
> From: Carl Lumma <ekin@...>
> 3. Audio realization of Bull-'Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La'
> From: "Aaron K. Johnson" <akjmicro@...>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:18:00 -0000
> From: "George D. Secor" <gdsecor@...>
> Subject: Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)
>
> --- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@l...> wrote:
> > >Okay, I've redone them, and here are the new files (for all to
>
> hear):
> >/makemicromusic/files/secor/Olympos5.mp3
> >
> >/makemicromusic/files/secor/Archyt7.mp3
> >
> > Nice! What did you redo them on?
> >
> > -Carl
>
> Ancient equipment and software. I used Cakewalk (inserting pitch-
> bends manually) and the soundcard that came with the desktop computer
> (a 7-year-old Gateway running at 166MHz on Windows 98) that I
> inherited as a hand-me-down from my daughter when I bought her a new
> computer for a college graduation present 3 years ago to replace the
> one I had bought her when she started college.
>
> I thought that it would be best not to spend any money on anything
> more elaborate until I had put in some time to find out what I could
> do with what I already had, thinking that it would also be a good
> learning experience for me. As things stand, I don't expect to buy
> any new music software (or new hardware capable of running it) before
> Monz's "Musica" is available.
>
> --George
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:26:45 -0700
> From: Carl Lumma <ekin@...>
> Subject: Re: Re: Partch Greek Studies (Was: Piece from a newbie)
>
> >>/makemicromusic/files/secor/Olympos5.mp3
> >>
> >>/makemicromusic/files/secor/Archyt7.mp3
> >>
> >> Nice! What did you redo them on?
> >
> >Ancient equipment and software. I used Cakewalk (inserting pitch-
> >bends manually)
>
> Good job!
>
> >I thought that it would be best not to spend any money on anything
> >more elaborate until I had put in some time to find out what I could
> >do with what I already had,
>
> Way to go. I've got all the latest everything and no time to use
> it.
>
> -Carl
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 22:41:13 -0500
> From: "Aaron K. Johnson" <akjmicro@...>
> Subject: Audio realization of Bull-'Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La'
>
> Hey,
>
> I resuscitated my old pet-project -- Bull's 'Ut Re MI Fa Sol La' in
> 19-equal, and got further along in it tonight...I think in a week I could
> complete it.
>
> http://www.dividebypi.com/audio/bull_ut_re.ogg
>
> Software and platform info:
>
> *Gentoo Linux
> *fluidsynth, using 'Campbell's Harpsichord' soundfont (corrected and
> retuned version)
> * my own 'et_compose', written in Python, a 'midi file compiler' for
> writing in arbitrary n-tets and a healthy alternative to writing Scala
> *.seq files, which has the following advantage over Scala's format:
> 1) I can write polyphonically and *see* the lines over each other, so I
> know harmonically and contrapuntally what's going on, and
> 2) I implemented a 'humanize' function, using Gaussian distribution
> curves, that, given the right parameter, will make subtle micro-temporal
> adjustments in the output midi file, giving a dynamic and lifelike
> performance to the file that would otherwise suffer from being stale and
> too precise.
>
> The latter I think I used to good effect in the OGG sample above...I
> tried about 10 different values until I found one I think is just right for
> this performance...just barely audible, but present and interesting. The
> result is, I think, when paired with the excellent harpsichord soundfont,
> nothing short of ear-candy !!!
>
> Enjoy!
> --
> Aaron Krister Johnson
> http://www.dividebypi.com
> http://www.akjmusic.com
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

--
Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.dividebypi.com
http://www.akjmusic.com

🔗Carl Lumma <ekin@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

On Saturday 28 August 2004 08:36 pm, Carl Lumma wrote:
> >I'm not distributing 'et_compose' until I do documentation for it.
>
> Can we get a screenshot of the view you describe as being
> superior to a scala sequence file, where the 'lines can be
> seen'?

Here's an example, the first little part (four measures) of the John Bull
file. You can see that each contrapuntal voice is laid out on top of each
other instead of in separate blocks in the file. I find this much more
readable when dealing with harmonies and counterpoint.

A bit of syntax: fractions signify rhythmic lengths, '5.8' would mean fifth
octave, 8th degree of the n-tet scale. The rhythmic value holds until it is
explicitly changed. Likewise, when there is no decimal point, the last octave
value holds. The parser starts assuming octave '5' (the octave of middle C)
by default. We can go below the current octave with negative numbers, for
instance, '-8' in 19-tet would mean a perfect fourth below 'C', or '0'. 't'
is 'tie', 'r' is 'rest'. The voice numbers are the first thing to be stated
on the line, with a colon immediately following, then a space. This syntax is
critical for the parser, the way I built it to work, and the program will
spit out an error if this is wrong in the file. Comments are single lines
preceded by one or more '#' signs. Although you don't see it here, to change
the midi attack value (volume) of a note, one can write 'vol=120' (midi
values of 0-127) before the note(s) in question. Ditto tempo changes
('tmp=90' for instance). As with other parameters, the parser holds these
values as globals until they are explicitly changed....

Anyway, a sample:

###### begin here:

channels 4

# John Bull 'Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La'

1: division=19 tmp=205
#m1
1: 1/1 5.-8 -5 -2
2: 1/1 r r 1/2 r 5.-8
3: 3/1 r
4: 1/2 r 4.11 t 8 3/4 6 1/4 3
#m2
1: 0 3 6 6
2: -5 0 3/8 t 1/16 -2 0 1/2 -2 1/4 0 -8 0 t t -2 -8 -5
3: 1/2 r 4.11 t 8 3/4 6 1/4 3 0 3 6 0
4: 1/2 0 6 3 t 0 -5 1/4 t -2 0 t
#m3
1: 3 0 -2 -5
2: 1/1 -2 -5 1/2 r 3 t 0
3: 11 3 11 t t 6 9 t 11 t 11 t t 8 8 t
4: 1/2 -2 1/4 -5 -8 1/1 -5 1/4 -8 -5 -2 0 3 t -5 t
#m4
1: -8 -8 -5 -2
2: 3/8 t 1/16 -2 0 1/2 -2 1/1 r r 1/2 r 3
3: 3/4 6 1/4 3 0 3 6 t t 3 6 8 11 t 9 t
4: 0 t -8 t 0 t t -2 -5 t -5 t 6 t -5 t

Best,

Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.dividebypi.com
http://www.akjmusic.com

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

On Saturday 28 August 2004 08:40 pm, Carl Lumma wrote:
> >I'm not distributing 'et_compose' until I do documentation for it.
>
> By the way, you quoted the whole digest; I'm sure Jon is
> developing a curious rash wherever he is. :)
>
> Re. your humanize function, I think the Bull excerpt you've
> given sounds incredible. But have you tried it on music of
> more recent vintage? I've noticed that straight MIDI
> performances of early music can sound better than straight
> MIDI performances of Beethoven, for example.

I agree, but I haven't tried Beethoven and the likes....just my own music, and
John Bull ;) But I'm glad you dig that humanize function. Not my idea, BTW,
stolen from some dude off the web. But, my implementation !!!

> Say, can et_compose import MIDI files?

Nope. Right now I don't see the need to do that (yet). I can imagine it might
be helpful at some point, but I've got a lot on my plate right now ;)

Also, it's pretty music a simple command line application, and I don't
want/need a GUI to use it. Think of it as a compiler of a microtonal text
representation of a piece into MIDI (as the Scala .seq files work)

BTW, for small to large projects, I think Python is a really really great
language to learn, with a quick learning curve. It's all I use, really.

Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.dividebypi.com
http://www.akjmusic.com

🔗Carl Lumma <ekin@...>

>I'm glad you dig that humanize function. Not my idea, BTW,
>stolen from some dude off the web. But, my implementation !!!

Yes, I've played with many implementations over the years.
From Cakewalk plugins to Sibelius to Gunter Nagler's humanize
utility.

Jules Siegel, who wrote some of the best JI music I've ever
heard, had his own implementation, which he claimed was
unique and based on some crucial insights about music. But
he wouldn't say what they were!

>> Say, can et_compose import MIDI files?
>
> Nope. Right now I don't see the need to do that (yet).

It might save you a lot of time entering things like Bull.

I take it r is for rest...

Observation: If one line changes note values more often than
another, they'll quickly get out of sync, and you'll loose
the benefit you claimed over seq files, no?

>Also, it's pretty music a simple command line application,
>and I don't want/need a GUI to use it. Think of it as a
>compiler of a microtonal text representation of a piece
>into MIDI (as the Scala .seq files work)

Yes; I think this ideal.

>BTW, for small to large projects, I think Python is a really
>really great language to learn, with a quick learning curve.
>It's all I use, really.

I've used it for interactive calculations and such. It has
perhaps the best syntax I've seen, but I still hate it.

-Carl

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

On Saturday 28 August 2004 11:54 pm, Carl Lumma wrote:

> Observation: If one line changes note values more often than
> another, they'll quickly get out of sync, and you'll loose
> the benefit you claimed over seq files, no?

Well, in practice, if you need to line things up with whitespace, you can.
I don't usually have a problem parsing these lines of different length.
Also, you *still* have an advantage over .seq files, in that you don't have to
scroll up and down to compare voice to voice. It's right there, which is
nice, whether you format for legibility or not.

> >BTW, for small to large projects, I think Python is a really
> >really great language to learn, with a quick learning curve.
> >It's all I use, really.
>
> I've used it for interactive calculations and such. It has
> perhaps the best syntax I've seen, but I still hate it.

What could you possibly hate about Python? Let me guess--you are addicted to
parentheses? (i.e. you are part of the Python vs. Lisp wars)

Cheers,

Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.dividebypi.com
http://www.akjmusic.com

🔗Carl Lumma <ekin@...>

>> Observation: If one line changes note values more often than
>> another, they'll quickly get out of sync, and you'll loose
>> the benefit you claimed over seq files, no?
>
>Well, in practice, if you need to line things up with whitespace,
>you can. I don't usually have a problem parsing these lines of
>different length. Also, you *still* have an advantage over .seq
>files, in that you don't have to scroll up and down to compare
>voice to voice. It's right there, which is nice, whether you
>format for legibility or not.

Noted.

>> >BTW, for small to large projects, I think Python is a really
>> >really great language to learn, with a quick learning curve.
>> >It's all I use, really.
>>
>> I've used it for interactive calculations and such. It has
>> perhaps the best syntax I've seen, but I still hate it.
>
>What could you possibly hate about Python? Let me guess--you
>are addicted to parentheses? (i.e. you are part of the
>Python vs. Lisp wars)

No, the indents are actually my favorite part. My main qualms
are with the oo syntax, where I like Ruby better but still not
to the point of liking it. The problem is, when it comes to
something like programming language syntax, I can basically carve
wood with my ass. The only way I'll ever be satisfied is to
write my own language, which I do plan to undertake one day.
And yes, I plan to use Scheme.

-Carl

🔗Gene Ward Smith <gwsmith@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

On Sunday 29 August 2004 12:50 am, Gene Ward Smith wrote:
> It didn't seem that perspicuous to me, but you quickly get used to
> wierd syntax--even in the case of APL or Lisp, but maybe not Forth.
> I've not tried to learn it, because I don't know why people like it
> and what advatages, if any, I'd get by doing so. Mostly I just use
> Maple, which is fine unless I need speed. It gives me a nifty toolbox
> of built-in functions I can use for both theory and composing.

Let's finish this thread on metatuning...I've cc'ed this to there as well.

For now: for me, having to 'get used to' a new syntax is not as desirable as
just using one that makes sense right away. Like I said, when programming, I
don't want to fight the syntax, I want to get a job done. Python is about as
ideal as you could get, IMO.

Maple I guess *is* fine for you Gene, but Python would do those things, too,
if you developed a small library of tuning-realted functions as I have. Plus,
it's nice to know you are not stuck in a spreadsheet-paradigm, but are using
a general programming language (at least for me--maybe its fine for you ;) )

Best,
Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.dividebypi.com
http://www.akjmusic.com

Re: [MMM] Digest Number 958

🔗Mark & Ann Johnson <arioso@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

🔗Carl Lumma <ekin@...>

🔗Carl Lumma <ekin@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

🔗Carl Lumma <ekin@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

🔗Carl Lumma <ekin@...>

🔗Gene Ward Smith <gwsmith@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>

🔗Aaron K. Johnson <akjmicro@...>