Hosting the supporting software for the Digital Score book
Supporting Software Many of the projects in this book centre on the experience of performing or composing with a digital score. I have supplied these as demo apps which you will need to download from https://github.com/craigvear/digitalscore.git .
To use these demo apps and access the digital scores within, you will need to download Max/MSP from https://cycling74.com/. This software is available for Mac and Windows and is free to use if you only want to run these demo apps. If you wish to get inside the code of these digital scores, explore graphical programming or modify these digital scores then you can purchase Max/MSP from their website. Some Universities have existing site licences for this software, so check with you IT department or music technology support staff.
Ancillary/ supporting components such as Apple’s QuickTime may be needed depending on your machine. Max/MSP will generally refer you to missing plug-ins and components if you require these. The exception is Demo App 6 – Live_Tracking that uses a third-party computer-vision library; the details of where to get this and how to install it will be in the Read Me document provided with that app.
When you download a demo app it will come compressed in a .Zip file. When these are unpackaged they will create a master folder, contained within will be all the program files, information, licence and folder structures to make the digital score work. It is important that you maintain the integrity and folder/file structure of this master folder. If you need to move it onto a different hard-drive, storage folder or memory stick, you will need to move the complete master folder to maintain its internal structure.
Each digital score will come with a READ_ME file. It is important you read this, as it will contain a lot of information about the app and the digital score. The digital score user-interface will have some information embedded in the main screen, but all information about installation, performance technique, troubleshooting, artistic ideas etc. will be in this READ_ME file.
A common problem many musicians encounter when engaging with this type of digital scores is a loss of folder thread. If the digital score is not working, then it is likely that the software cannot locate the referencing media such as audio or Jpeg images. The Max Console (which is located in the Window drop down menu inside Max/MSP) will give you an indication of what problems the digital score is encountering. There is a great support network/community online that could provide help with any issues. In general there are several likely causes for a digital score not to work:
- The embedded folder structure in the master folder has been changed or moved. To remedy this you can simply download the original Zip file and start again.
- The media files are the wrong format: images should be Jpeg, audio should be AIFF or WAV
- The media folders (image and/or audio) are empty (you have put your source material in a different folder)
- There is a space in a user account name, laptop hard-drive, or sub-folder. Some machines and operating systems do not like spaces such as “Craig Vear HD”, or “Craig’s Music Folder”. It is best practice to use hyphen’s (-) or underscores ( _ ) to fill these spaces e.g. “Craig_Vear_HD” or “Craigs-Music-Folder” (I also avoid other complex symbols such as % ‘ $ / “ as these can also complicate folder string formats). Search Suggested file and folder naming conventions for more information.
These demo apps will be updated periodically, so make sure you are using the most up-to-date version by checking the version number e.g. 1–Fragmented_page_v.4.6.3 is a newer version than 1–Fragmented_page_v.0.4.12. The GitHub repository also allows forking, sharing and modifications, therefore other compositions or modified versions created by other musicians may become available as a resource through this repository.
List of digital scores available at https://github.com/craigvear/digitalscore
Demo App 1 – Fragmented_page (project #1, #13 & #19) Demo App 2 – Frag_page-audio_looper (project #4) Demo App 3 – Deconstructing_Gesualdo (project #7 & #8) Demo App 4 – Animated_Score_for_Quartet (project #9) Demo App 5 – Generative_Notes (project #10) Demo App 6 – Live_Tracking (project #11) Demo App 7 – Micro_opera (project #12) Demo App 8 – Waterfall_Learning (project #14)