MMA 1.6a

[bvdp]

New beta release includes the Roman numeral chord specs discussed here and some fixes/enhancements to MidiInc.

   http://mellowood.ca/mma/downloads.html#developer

Thanks to Kara and Alexis for ideas and help! Please pound on this and let me know. I'm a bit concerned about the proper syntax for the Roman chords ... I nearly failed my theory classes many years ago, so don't be afraid to let me know.

[bvdp]

I should note that there is a file, roman.mma, in the egs/misc directory which does a bunch of conversions with a printout showing the translations.

[alexis]

Hello Bob,

I gave a try to your new version.
Very good job
Your implementation goes beyond my expectations!
Just a little thing : why not also allow the degree symbol (°) for diminished chords?
This is the standard notation. Most likely, it is not (directly) accessible on your keyboard but it is for me (french keyboard).


I also have a concern about IncMidi. Let's say I do something like this:

Begin Solo-MelodyStrings
   Voice Cello
   Articulate 80
   Octave -1
   Volume 80
End

midiInc file=<input midi> Solo-MelodyStrings=<input channel>

The Voice attribute is now correctly handled. I have a cello in my output track.
But the other attributes (articulate and others below) are ignored. Is it intentional?


Cheers,

Alexis

[bvdp]

Glad you like it

The degree symbol for DIM is not included simply because I don't know what the ascii code would be for it. I suppose it'd be easy enough to add. I am assuming that you are generating ASCII 176? I try to avoid stuff outside of ascii 32..127 since it always seems to complicate life

midiinc ... okay there are some problems with the suggestion/request

1. To do articulate one would need to determine the length of each note (not trivial with MIDI), then apply some kind of conversion. Certainly, this is doable ... but the idea behind midiinc is that you take an existing midi (probably something you played on a keyboard) and use that. And the reason you'd do that in the first place is that the imported file has the correct timing/articulation, and that is something you can't really do with a MMA solo line. Guess it all depends on how good you are on a keyboard

2. Much the same with Octave. The octave -1 setting simply takes the existing value and decrements it. So, by the time you do an import all that MMA knows is the current value (3,4, etc). However, in midiinc you can use the TRANSPOSE setting to raise/lower by semitones. And if you want to do an octave, use +/- 12 It's limited to +/- 24, but that is completely arbitrary and could be changed (line 180 of midiIn.py).

Bob.

[alexis]

The degree symbol for DIM is not included simply because I don't know what the ascii code would be for it. I suppose it'd be easy enough to add. I am assuming that you are generating ASCII 176? I try to avoid stuff outside of ascii 32..127 since it always seems to complicate life

You mean: you press 'Alt', then type one ASCII code with numeral keys, then the symbol appears?
Seems complicated to me! I was just telling that there are several keyboard layouts out there according to national particularities (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout), and that the symbol '°' can be typed directly in some countries (such as France), since it is in layout (third top-right key):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KB_France.svg

...so, it is a pity not to allow this symbol for diminished chord.

1. To do articulate one would need to determine the length of each note (not trivial with MIDI), then apply some kind of conversion. Certainly, this is doable ... but the idea behind midiinc is that you take an existing midi (probably something you played on a keyboard) and use that. And the reason you'd do that in the first place is that the imported file has the correct timing/articulation, and that is something you can't really do with a MMA solo line. Guess it all depends on how good you are on a keyboard

2. Much the same with Octave. The octave -1 setting simply takes the existing value and decrements it. So, by the time you do an import all that MMA knows is the current value (3,4, etc). However, in midiinc you can use the TRANSPOSE setting to raise/lower by semitones. And if you want to do an octave, use +/- 12 It's limited to +/- 24, but that is completely arbitrary and could be changed (line 180 of midiIn.py)

okay, we are close to another previous issue: the combination of AutoSolotracks and IncMidi fonctions. This would require substantial architectural changes, and you think there are more urgent stuff. I understand. However, may I ask you kindly to put it in your todo list?

Many thanks again for the job.

Cheers,

Alexis

[kara]

The degree symbol for DIM is not included simply because I don't know what the ascii code would be for it. I suppose it'd be easy enough to add. I am assuming that you are generating ASCII 176? I try to avoid stuff outside of ascii 32..127 since it always seems to complicate life

There is no unversal solution for this.
1. Wether you have the symbol or not, depends on the keyboard driver you are running, and a lot of language definitions don't have this symbol.
2. The ALT trick can give problems with some text editors, some of them switch modes when you press the Alt-key

So, I think it is a very wise decission to stick to the range of 32..127, which is the base definition and universal.

k

[folderol]

Prolly talking nonsense here, but couldn't you use the lower case 'o' to represent the degree '^o' symbol?

[bvdp]

The problem is that when you venture outside of standard ascii (32-127) it gets complicated For example, in Latin1 char set the degree sign is a 176 and a stroked degree is 248. However, in other character sets this may not be true. And I don't really want to make life over complicated by checking for the ISO character set!

It'd be trivial to add an entry to my diminished conversion table with these 2 characters. Before I do, I do need to test it ... and I'll have to figure out how to enter a character like this in emacs on linux

folderol: MMA already permits a "0", "O" or "o" for the dim sign in Roman numeral entries; and for half dim just stick a "-" before it.

Now, when is someone going to ask for a TRIANGLE for MAJOR?

[bvdp]

Symbolic folk rejoice!

I've just added the ability to use a degree (176) or slashed-degree (248) for dim and half dim (m7b5) in both Roman and Symbolic notation. How you enter it is your problem (but in emacs one can use ctrl-X-8 to enter the correct mode).

For me, I consider it to be a complete pain to use, but it's added since I really need friends, etc

This will be in the next release. Probably later this week. Just have to finish to doc changes. If you've found something in the Roman notation which needs fixing, please let me know before I do the next release!

[alexis]

I've just added the ability to use a degree (176) or slashed-degree (248) for dim and half dim (m7b5) in both Roman and Symbolic notation. How you enter it is your problem (but in emacs one can use ctrl-X-8 to enter the correct mode).

Great! Thank you Bob! 

For me, I consider it to be a complete pain to use, but it's added since I really need friends, etc

We would have remained good friends, even if this feature hadn't be added!   

Cheers,

Alexis