• output-examples.lsp

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MIDI output can be generated by slippery chicken using the midi-play method. This method takes as its only required argument a slippery-chicken object, which can also be passed as a local variable or as the global variable defined as the first argument to the make-slippery-chicken function.

The method also requires a path name and file name for the output it generates. These can be set using the optional keyword argument :midi-file. If no value is passed to this argument by the user, output is written to the default directory (initially /tmp) in a MIDI file named from the :title slot of the slippery chicken object.

A common straightforward application of this method may look like this:

(midi-play +sc-object+ :midi-file "/path/to/output-file.mid")

Setting MIDI parameters

The various settings for MIDI parameters are specified in different contexts in slippery chicken. For example, program (or "patch") numbers are specified in the definition of instrument objects using the :midi-program keyword (see the source code documentation on the make-instrument function), and MIDI channel numbers are specified in the ensemble block of the make-slippery-chicken function (see the page on ensembles). Information on the features and limitations of microtonal MIDI output can also be found on the "players and the ensemble" page.

The midi-play method itself has 7 optional arguments that influence the generation of the MIDI file, such as start-section and players. Specifics on all of the arguments for this method can be found in the source code documentation for slippery-chicken/midi-play.

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The cmn-display method also takes as its only required argument a slippery-chicken object, which can also be given as a local variable or as the variable defined as the first argument to make-slippery-chicken.

The cmn-display method can also be passed an output file name path. This is set to the default directory (initially /tmp) and an EPS file named from the :title slot of the slippery chicken object by default. CMN generates encapsulated post-script (.eps) files, so the user will require an application that is capable of opening .eps files or converting them to post-script or PDF, such as Apple's Preview.app or the open source software GIMP.

A common straightforward useof this method may look like this:

(cmn-display +sc-object+ :file "/path/to/output-file.eps")

The cmn-display method has 31 optional arguments that influence its output. Some of these, such as respell-notes or auto-clefs, enable or disable algorithms that will first alter the data of the slippery-chicken object before generating the output file. Others, such as size, page-height, or auto-bar-nums, influence the page layout. Specifics on all of the arguments for this method can be found in the source code documentation for slippery-chicken/cmn-display.

CMN for quick previewing

CMN's output can be useful as a preview, as it is easy to generate the whole score within Lisp and CMN generally runs faster than LilyPond. In some cases however, CMN will produce collisions of symbols on the page that can only be adjusted manually using external software such as Adobe Illustrator or the open-source application Inkscape. The use of LilyPond is encouraged for generating printable output that may require less post-generation tweaking.

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The user can have the cmn-display method print the sets of pitches used in each sequence of a slippery-chicken object on separate staves at the bottom of the score by setting the display-sets keyword argument of cmn-display to T when applied to a complete slippery-chicken object:

(let* ((sc-piece
       (make-slippery-chicken
        '+sc-piece+
        :ensemble '(((vn (violin :midi-channel 1))))
        :set-palette '((1 ((c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 a4 b4 c5)))
                       (2 ((af3 bf3 c4 df4 ef4 f4 g4 af4)))
                       (3 ((fs3 gs3 as3 b3 cs4 ds4 es4 fs4))))
        :set-map '((1 (1 2 3)))
        :rthm-seq-palette '((1 ((((2 4) (e) e e e))
                                :pitch-seq-palette ((1 2 3)))))
        :rthm-seq-map '((1 ((vn (1 1 1))))))))
  (cmn-display sc-piece :file "/tmp/sc-piece.eps" :display-sets t))

More information on this can be found in the source code documentation for slippery-chicken/cmn-display.

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The cmn-display method can also be used to generate printable output of individual set-palette or rthm-palette objects by applying the method directly to them:

(let* ((sp (make-set-palette 
            'sp-data
            '((set1 ((c3 g3 cs4 e4 fs4 a4 bf4 c5 d5 f5 gf5 af5 ef6)))
              (set2 ((c3 fs3 cs4 e4 g4 a4 b4 c5 df5 f5 g5 af5 ef6)))
              (set3 ((d3 f3 cs4 e4 fs4 a4 b4 c5 d5 e5 fs5 af5 ef6)))
              (set4 ((d3 e3 cs4 ef4 fs4 a4 b4 c5 d5 e5 fs5 af5 d6)))))))
  (cmn-display sp :file "/tmp/sp-out.eps" :break-line-each-set nil :size 16))

(let* ((rsp (make-rsp
            'rsp-frag
            '((seq1 ((((2 4) q +e. s)
                      ((s) e (s) q)
                      (+e. s { 3 (te) te te } ))
                     :pitch-seq-palette (1 2 3 4 5 6 7)))
              (seq2 ((((3 4) (e.) s { 3 te te te } +q)
                      ({ 3 +te (te) te } e e (q)))
                     :pitch-seq-palette (2 3 4 5 6 7 8)))
              (seq3 ((((2 4) e e { 3 te te te })
                      ((5 8) (e) e e e s s))
                     :pitch-seq-palette (3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2)))))))
  (cmn-display rsp :file "/tmp/rsp-out.eps"))

More information on using cmn-display with set-palette and rthm-seq-palette objects, as well as the arguments available for those contexts, can be found in the source code documentation for set-palette/cmn-display and rthm-seq-palette/cmn-display.

NB: There is no cmn-display method for rthm-seq-map objects, as this would essentially be the same as applying the method to the slippery-chicken object.

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See core usage for discussion of automatically calling Lilypond and opening the resultant PDF when working with SBCL on OSX.

The write-lp-data-for-all method produces all of the .ly files needed by the LilyPond application to typeset the musical data of the given slippery-chicken object. While the method doesn't run LilyPond automatically, as the cmn-display method does with CMN, it does produce separate files for the score and each of the individual players of that object.

The method generates the file names of its output automatically based on the title slot of the slippery-chicken object. The file for the score can be identified by the underscore placed at the beginning of the file name and the -score suffix placed at the end. The names of the files for the parts consist of the title, the player ID, and the suffix -part. The additional -def file need not be accessed directly by the user, but is required by LilyPond.

Arguments

This method also takes as its only required argument a slippery-chicken object, which can also be given as a local variable or as the global variable defined as the first argument to the make-slippery-chicken function. The output path can be specified using the keyword argument :base-path. As opposed to the methods for the MIDI and CMN output, the write-lp-data-for-all method requires no file name with the path, as it generates the file names automatically. If no output path is specified by the user, the method uses the default path of "/tmp/".

A common straightforward application of this method may look like this:

(write-lp-data-for-all +sc-object+ :base-path "/tmp/")

The write-lp-data-for-all method has 28 optional arguments, which, like those of the cmn-display method, influence both the layout as well as the data of the slippery-chicken object itself prior to generating output. Specifics on all of the arguments for this method can be found in the source code documentation for slippery-chicken/write-lp-data-for-all.

NB: See also this note about Lilypond and instrument names.

LilyPond .app/.exe vs. command-line

LilyPond was originally designed for command-line use, and although it now comes packaged as a standalone executable for Mac (LilyPond.app) and Windows (LilyPad.exe), command-line usage is still an option.

NB: As of July 2012, the LilyPond.app was not yet compatible with Mac OSX 10.7.x ("Lion"). However, LilyPond can still be used on Lion from the command-line. Please refer to the documentation on the LilyPond website for more information on how to do this.

Update June 1st 2013: The Lilypond 2.16.2 app now runs on Lion. However in the meantime there's also the slippery-chicken lp-display macro for rendering scores all within the SBCL/OSX environment.

NB: LilyPond can take a long time to render output of larger scores, during which time it is unresponsive and may appear to have hung or frozen.

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Music XML output has been available since slippery-chicken version 1.08. It allows the generation of MusicXML code in text form for input into various music notation programmes such as Finale, Dorico, Sibelius, MuseScore, NoteAbilityPro, etc. Note that while the import of MusicXML files into those programmes is generally good, different software/versions will import varying amounts of the encoded data and display it with varying degrees of success. Some (e.g. MuseScore, NoteAbilityPro) sadly fall over when trying to import more complex notations such as nested tuplets. So experimentation is necessary as well as acceptance that MusicXML is not the save-all you might hope it to be. It is, however, much, much better than MIDI import into notation programmes.

Overall, my experience during the 2017 design and implementation process was that Dorico handled MusicXML better than the other software named above, even if it didn't import as much as, say, Finale (this may change, quickly even, so we'll just leave that there). You can read more anecdotally about my experiences of implementing MusicXML for slippery-chicken on my blog.

Outputting MusicXML from a slippery-chicken object is very straightforward: simply call the write-xml method. All voices for the score and parts are written into one file. As it is assumed that editing will take place in the notation software of choice, there are only very basic arguments to this method, some of which may even be ignored upon import. For example, the :in-c keyword argument of other methods is missing here, as switching between sounding and transposing scores is assumed to be the job of the notation software used after MusicXML import.

See the write-xml method for more details, particularly on the method arguments.

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While both CMN and LilyPond strive to produce scores without the need for further editing, some tweaking of the output may occasionally be desired. In addition to modifying any of the text-based LilyPond files generated, the .eps and .pdf files that these applications produce can also be manually manipulated using vector graphics editing software such as Adobe Illustrator or an open-source alternative such as Inkscape. Editing scalable vector graphic files (SVG), such as the .eps or .pdf files produced by CMN and LilyPond, is easy and very intuitive, as whole objects (e.g. note-heads, stems, beams, bars, flags, dynamics, articulations etc.) can be simply clicked and dragged.

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CLM output in slippery chicken is generated using the clm-play method. In its most straightforward form that output can be generated as such:

(clm-play +sc-object+ 1 nil 'source-sndfile-grp-1)

A detailed description of the clm-play method, including instructions for generating output, can be found on the slippery chicken and CLM page.

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slippery chicken stores various configuration data internally and allows you to change it via the function set-sc-config. For instance, with SBCL on OSX, you can choose whether to automatically open EPS files: (set-sc-config 'cmn-display-auto-open NIL) or with any Lisp on any system, to change the default directory for output files: (set-sc-config 'default-dir "/sc-output/:). See robodoc for details.