New subject: [linux-audio-user] Note typesetting for Linux

13 Jul 2004

...
  From: tim hall [mailto:tech@glastonburymusic.org.uk]
 Last Tuesday 13 July 2004 02:43, ricktaylor(a)speakeasy.net was like:
   Entering
textual representation of music and following certain _markup_ 
 rules is not programming.  If it were so, simply scoring should be 
 considered programming, too. 
  It probably is in csound.  
 Surely it counts as scripting, like an html page or postscript file and thus 
 can be considered the 'source' of a piece of music.

   I think the above methods need to somehow be
extended to work with
 samples. Either that or computer audio needs its own form of musical
 representation.

  Maybe we need to just skip the idea of any sort of representation outside
 of a song or audio file? If so... maybe we need to break with tradition a
 bit and make "song" files themselves provide a higher degree of
 functionality?  
 A score needs to be a human-readable explanation of how to realise the piece 
 of music so that it sounds the way the composer intended. The use of samples 
 in a piece would need specifying in the same place as the rest of the 
 instrumentation with clear directions of how to get hold of these samples. 
 These things could easily be represented by an icon and a link. 
 So any net enabled computer could read this sound file...

http://wam.inrialpes.fr/software/limsee2/

I really don't see the point of distributing the file with sequencing information. The
audio itself is as descriptive of the sequence as the song file could be. 

 If there were a sufficient number of online sample servers {with sufficient bandwidth...}
it might begin to make sense. Most of what I use {that I call samples} is around the
length of a standard song {1-8 minutes}. I really don't use loops as loops... I use
them to generate longer sequences which, in turn, get mixed into the mix. :}

 {My stuff is probably more properly defined as "sound" than
"noise".}

...
    I don't think that computer programs should
reflect the physical world
 we operate in.  Not always anyways, there surely are better ways of
 dealing with certain issues. 
  I think they should probably reflect the "reality" they deal with.
  I also think they need an overhaul.  
 I think scoring is an art form in itself, I also think that the conventional 
 form of musical score is an anachronism that belongs with the musical 
 fashions of 1700 to 1950. I also enjoy working with the random factor of 
 interpretation so I like to present my performers with alien looking musical 
 maps to explore sometimes, but I wouldn't want to do that to my community 
 choir, I'd never hear the end of it! ~They get conventional scores ;-)~ 
 I think you're probably right in calling it an "anachronism" and leaving it
at that. I think it's time to move on to XML and SMIL {with appropriate extensions for
sequencing languages like csound,  ...midi, etc. } and to present stuff over the web or
with large 4 color glossy inkjet prints.

...
  If you deal with any amount of electronic instruments,
then your scoring 
 language will require considerable extension. If it contains computerised 
 elements, then we may as well use existing computer conventions to describe 
 those elements. I think the reality of that is burning it all to CD and 
 distributing that with the score if it's that important to the piece. Then 
 you get to the point where it works out cheaper just to put the score on the 
 CD as well and have done with it! Usually I find there's enough room for 
 several demo versions, and there you have it, rehearsal copies for all into 
 the bargain. 
 I'm for putting it on cd... Are we talking "language" or "file
format" here?

 {Seems to me that any sufficently enabled file format should be readable in just about
any language. :}}

 :} One file format to bind them all...

Re: [linux-audio-user] Note typesetting for Linux