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| Frequently Asked Questions |
What
is Symbolic Composer and how does it operate?
Because of its unique design Symbolic Composer can play many roles.
- Symbolic Composer is a production tool for making music
with MIDI.
- It is an expert-system for music composition.
- It is a programming language for musicians based on Lisp.
- Symbolic Composer is a mapper enabling any data to become
music.
In Symbolic Composer's terms music is thought of as a language
expressed in melodies, rhythms, notes, durations, harmonies,
tonalities, chords and intervals. This language is largely symbolic,
lying invisibly behind sound and timbre as the inner substance of the
musical message.
No matter what style or idiom you work in the basic elements of this
language are always present.
What I will need?
To run Symbolic Composer you need a Macintosh with OS9 or OSX. You can
get along with 32 megabytes of RAM allocated to SCOM, or you might need
64 MB when working with lots of details and MIDI controller data.
But the most important thing is: You do need a willingness to take
time out to learn a new language.
Can I use OMS?
SCOM plays back the with your sequencer. SCOM can directly launch
results into any decent sequencer or notation program such as iTunes,
Cubase, Logic, Performer, Notator, Finale, Sibelius, Igor, etc.
How does the demo version run?
SCOM demo mode shows you the interface items and provides you full
score libraries and documents. You can play back the demo MIDI files
and view their source codes, but if you want to compile your own songs
you need to purchase a license.
What kind of music does SCOM let
me compose?
SCOM is a context-free music language. Context-free means that SCOM
does not restrict the style you want to compose with it.
Is it realtime?
Yes. Compilation occurs in few seconds and you can play back the piece
almost immediately.
Can I use live input from a
keyboard?
That is improvising. In SCOM you would think how to write a piece of
code that improvises instead of you.
Can I program my own code?
Yes. SCOM includes full Common Lisp language. You can define new
functions and documents and add them to the system. That is how SCOM
has been developed by users from the first version in 1990.
Who is a typical user?
Experimental composer who has a mind of a mathematician. The more you
think about music the more you become both. Fascination to find out new
spaces, solutions, formalisms, algorithms that operate human mind.
How much memory does it need?
Suggested memory requirements are 32 MB RAM and 200 MB hard disk. Some
users have a system around 1 GB with lots of scores, LISP documents and
such. It is suggested that you keep it around 600 MB so you can backup
the system in a CD ROM easily.
Is it easy to learn?
With mind open to programming, Symbolic Composer helps you develop a
new relationship with your music and understand more about the way its
elements connect and interact. You will find SCOM suddenly gives you
enormously powerful system ready to explore very complex scores. No
matter what style or direction your music takes, Symbolic Composer lets
you handle that.
Don't panic while browsing the huge function library. Nobody has used
all the SCOM functions. Every composer who works with the system tend to
use a small subset that reflect his/hers personal way of composing.
As a sequencer-user you are already familiar with complex editing
routines and organisation of your compositional material. Symbolic
Composer pushes these concepts further giving you a programming
environment for music composition. Your scores are written in text
within an editor window. This text is then evaluated and turned into a
MIDI file.
If you have a mind of a programmer you can make it. Composing is an art
form that has n-dimensional mental creation space. It is not possible to
reduce it to a simple formula, or you end up with Band In A
Box-functionality. SCOM goes to the other direction and provides a rich
music language with maximum of freedom for consructioning musical
structures.
What is the best way to learn it?
The best way to learn it is an open attitude and making lots of
experimentations. Like an instrument it does not open up just by
reading a book. The program ships with lots of example scores that
speed up initial learning period. |
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