PEEPERS: Sound Files for FileMix and FileMixAuto (2012) 
  Sugar Activity/Linux version

Art Hunkins
abhunkin@uncg.edu
www.arthunkins.com


Spring peepers are small frogs common throughout the eastern USA
and Canada. They are typically found in forests and wetlands in
large numbers.

The source recordings were made in a neighborhood of Durham, North
Carolina by Dave Hunkins, son of the "composer." They were captured
at a sample rate of 22050, so there is no particular reason for
FileMix(Auto) to be run at the default 44100 rate (although it may
be). The Sample Rate (SR) is easily changed to 22050 in any of the
FileMix(Auto) utilities. This is done (in the Terminal) toward the
beginning of the FileMix(Auto) .csd file, using a text editor.
(Navigate through Activities | FileMix.activity or
FileMixAuto.activity.)

Durations of the soundin loops vary from 17.5 seconds (the isolated
single peeps of soundin.1) to 38 seconds. Soundin.1 and 4 are
centered, while 2 is panned substantially left, and 3 to the right.

Peepers is primarily suited to FileMix4 and FileMix4ASC; it is not
recommended for FileMix (or FileMixASC). The files are especially
appropriate for *single-parameter* rendering, where track amplitudes
are varied and sounds are otherwise unmodified. In all cases, *MIDI*
control will result in far subtler variation of amplitude and other
levels than will the ASCII keyboard.

The files work well in FileMixAuto also. Needless to say, whatever
the FileMix version selected, all setting changes should be slow and
tempered.

For further explanatory notes, including suggestions as to how to
import these files into FileMix or FileMixAuto, see the ReadMe's
included with the Sugar/Linux versions of the two activities.

The likely import scenario: download the .zip archive on another
computer, unzip the files to a USB drive, then transfer them to the
Journal (on Sugar) via drag-and-drop. The activity can import the
files from there. (Note: this procedure should work for all versions
of Sugar except for 0.82 on the original XO-1; one solution: upgrade
the XO-1 to 0.84 Strawberry.)

Note that these audio files will not appear in the Journal under
"Audio". They appear under "Everything". If you want them to be
listed under "Audio", change the file names on your USB drive to
something ending in ".wav"; example, rename "soundin.1" to
"Peepers1.wav". (Make these changes before doing the drag-and-drop
to the Journal.)

Caution: if you are copying audio files *direct* from USB drive to
activity folder, do *not* change names. The default audio files in
FileMix.activity and FileMixAuto.activity must remain "soundin.1"
through "soundin.4".