[Sugar-devel] Outreachy - Going Beyond Equal Temperament in Music Blocks

[Sachithra Dangalla]

What I had in mind was as follows and I think I might have missed something
important:

[image: Inline image 2]

Please correct me if I'm totally out.

Regards,

*Sachithra Dangalla,*
Undergraduate B.Sc.Eng.(Hons.)
Department of Computer Science & Engineering,
University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka.

<https://plus.google.com/u/0/+SachithraDangalla93>
<https://lk.linkedin.com/in/sachithradangalla>
<https://comexile.blogspot.com>

On Sat, Mar 25, 2017 at 11:36 PM, Walter Bender <walter.bender at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Sat, Mar 25, 2017 at 11:18 AM, Sachithra Dangalla <
> sachithradangalla at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> *I like the general direction you are going. *
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you and I'm happy to hear that.
>>
>>
>>
>>> *I wonder if it cannot be a bit more simple in that you could define the
>>> number of steps in a key/mode by simply the number of define frequency
>>> blocks in the clamp? and maybe you don't need to modify the pitch block to
>>> return an argument? It could just be a hertz block contained in the define
>>> frequency clamp. (Maybe the block should be define step?) I am assuming
>>> that the widget would output a stack of code like this? And to activate it,
>>> it would simply be run before everything else? *
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm sorry I'm having a bit of a trouble understanding the above. Can you
>> please explain a bit simply? Are you suggesting to reuse the existing
>> pitch-block inside the define-frequency clamp?  As discussed in the GitHub
>> issue, if the define-frequency is a clamp, users might add multiple blocks
>> in it which is why I represented it as an arg-block as you suggested.
>>
>>
> If you look at the pitch block in Devin's example vs in your example,
> you'll see no "math" connector on the left side of the block. I am not sure
> why you need to assign do re mi to the frequencies... we can auto assign
> based on however many frequencies are defined. (Question for Devin: What
> naming convention do we use if there are more than 12 half-steps? I guess
> we just use pitch number?)
>
> We need to think about how intervals work.
>
>>
>> *There is a mechanism for saving stacks to be used between projects, so I
>>> could imaging making a temperament you like and reusing it again and again.*
>>
>>
>> That's a very good idea so the users can keep reusing their temperament
>> definitions, thanks for the suggestion. Can you name just one instance that
>> mechanism is used in MB?
>>
>>
> A long-press on any action stack will reveal a button for saving that
> action.  A new palette, My Blocks, will appear. You can use it for as many
> actions as you want.
>
>
>> Regards,
>>
>> *Sachithra Dangalla,*
>> Undergraduate B.Sc.Eng.(Hons.)
>> Department of Computer Science & Engineering,
>> University of Moratuwa,
>> Sri Lanka.
>>
>> <https://plus.google.com/u/0/+SachithraDangalla93>
>> <https://lk.linkedin.com/in/sachithradangalla>
>> <https://comexile.blogspot.com>
>>
>> On Sat, Mar 25, 2017 at 5:24 PM, Walter Bender <walter.bender at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Mar 25, 2017 at 4:58 AM, Sachithra Dangalla <
>>> sachithradangalla at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thank you.
>>>>
>>>> I came up with the following simple activity diagram(attachment 1) to
>>>> capture what happens when the user defines a temperament. By incorporating
>>>> the comments and Devin's mockups in the GitHub issue[1] I came up with a
>>>> mockup design for the widget (attachment 2). The widget will be initialized
>>>> with the default values as follows:
>>>>
>>>>    - starting pitch: 256
>>>>    - octave: 4
>>>>    - 12 frequency blocks for each note with default ratio 1/1
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I would like to hear your comments about them.
>>>>
>>>> After defining the frequencies, the user has to trigger a "save the
>>>> configuration" is that so? How will the user save it?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I like the general direction you are going. I wonder if it cannot be a
>>> bit more simple in that you could define the number of steps in a key/mode
>>> by simply the number of define frequency blocks in the clamp? and maybe you
>>> don't need to modify the pitch block to return an argument? It could just
>>> be a hertz block contained in the define frequency clamp. (Maybe the block
>>> should be define step?) I am assuming that the widget would output a stack
>>> of code like this? And to activate it, it would simply be run before
>>> everything else? There is a mechanism for saving stacks to be used between
>>> projects, so I could imaging making a temperament you like and reusing it
>>> again and again.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> An additional question: I used an image editing tool(PS) to get the
>>>> mockups, is there a better way to design mockups?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I need to add an export button for the block artwork. I typically just
>>> use inkscape.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> [1] - https://github.com/walterbender/musicblocks/issues/485
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> *Sachithra Dangalla,*
>>>> Undergraduate B.Sc.Eng.(Hons.)
>>>> Department of Computer Science & Engineering,
>>>> University of Moratuwa,
>>>> Sri Lanka.
>>>>
>>>> <https://plus.google.com/u/0/+SachithraDangalla93>
>>>> <https://lk.linkedin.com/in/sachithradangalla>
>>>> <https://comexile.blogspot.com>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 7:47 PM, Devin Ulibarri <devin at ulibarri.website
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, 2017-03-22 at 13:25 +0530, Sachithra Dangalla wrote:
>>>>> > Mode is a new term to me and I'm still reading about it ([1] and
>>>>> [2]).
>>>>> > I'm finding it hard to understand the relationship between
>>>>> temperament
>>>>> > and mode or their implementations, any advice on it would be great.
>>>>> Is
>>>>> > mode already presented in music blocks?
>>>>> >
>>>>> There is a "mode" widget.
>>>>>
>>>>> As for temperament and mode, these are the important principles...
>>>>>
>>>>> * You have collection of pitches that most often repeats at the octave.
>>>>>
>>>>> e.g.
>>>>>
>>>>> CDEFGAB(CDEFG...)
>>>>>
>>>>> [N.B. this number of pitches can be any number, but some collections
>>>>> are
>>>>> more common than others.]
>>>>>
>>>>> * A mode is the name/quality that collection of pitches has/imbues when
>>>>> starting (or "centering around") from a particular pitch in that
>>>>> collection.
>>>>>
>>>>> Start from C or D or E or F etc. changes the sound of the music.
>>>>>
>>>>> * Temperament is the precise tuning of those notes, and thus the
>>>>> relationship of the tuning of those notes with each other.
>>>>>
>>>>> For example, if the tuning in Hz of E is changed, the relationship
>>>>> between C and E changes too... thus affecting the sound.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, with different temperaments, the same modes can sound very
>>>>> different.
>>>>>
>>>>> Devin
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Walter Bender
>>> Sugar Labs
>>> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>>> <http://www.sugarlabs.org>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Walter Bender
> Sugar Labs
> http://www.sugarlabs.org
> <http://www.sugarlabs.org>
>
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