FATHER SUN and SISTER MOON (2010) for realtime Csound5 Art Hunkins abhunkin@uncg.edu http://www.arthunkins.com For all computer platforms; requires MIDI controller with 8-9 knobs/sliders Performed from the command line - except for standalone Lettuce .exe's (beginning with the letter "L") which offer a GUI to be run from the same directory as the included Csound files (no additional Csound installation is required). The Lettuce option is Windows only. Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness. Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful. from The Canticle of the Sun by Francis of Assisi Dedicated, in deepest gratitude, to Rev. Louis Canino, OFM, and the St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, Stoneville, NC also (alternate version): SUN-MOON MUSIC and SUN-MOON MUSIC MC: Activities for Linux/Sugar (2010) Two realtime sonic environments for children - Brother Sun Music and Sister Moon Music; performable on XO computers or via Sugar-on-a-Stick (SoaS; Sugar 0.82 and higher). (For information about Sugar-on-a-Stick: http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick.) Both activities require MIDI controller(s) with 8-9 knobs/sliders. A 9th knob/slider is only required when using the Pan option. The 8 basic controls must have *contiguous* controller #'s, or all be continuous controller 7 on channels 1-8(9) (channel "0" refers to this latter option.) The inexpensive Korg nanoKontrol is one recommended MIDI device (use Preset 4, with channel # set to "0"). which offer a GUI to be run from the same directory as the included Csound/ Only Sun-Moon Music (not the MC version) will work with Sugar 0.82 (native XO-1 computer). For Sugar 0.84 (SoaS Strawberry), the csound-python module must be installed in order to run both activites. This is accomplished in the Terminal with these two lines (when connected to the internet): su yum install csound-python Sugar 0.86 (SoaS Blueberry) and later run both activities "out of the box." The first 7 controllers in Sister Moon vary volume for the 7 tones (or tone pairs), while #8 is a MASTER volume control. The same is true for Brother Sun except that there are only 6 tones; controller 7 varies overall pitch slightly. With multiple MIDI devices (MC versions), the various controller #'s may be distributed among the devices in many different ways, but all must transmit on the same channel. (With the unique "channel 0 option", all devices use controller 7 on channels 1-8[-9].) Important: MIDI controllers must be attached AFTER boot, and BEFORE the version is selected. (Note that this advice applies only to Sugar activities, not to Lettuce .exe's or versions run from the command line.) With Sugar versions, if you get audio glitching, open Sugar's Control Panel, and turn off Extreme power management (under Power) or Wireless radio (under Network). In all versions, the audio level will sound higher for Brother Sun than for "Sister Moon." The font display in the Sugar activities can be resized smaller or larger by changing the value of "resize" in csndsugui.py. "Resize" is located toward the beginning of the file; the change can be made by any text editor. (Further instructions are found in csndsugui.py.) RUNNING FROM THE COMMAND LINE: Before running your .csd in Csound (always run from the directory where the .csd is located), view the beginning of your file in a text editor. Of interest are the lines below - the ones beginning #define. Since you lack a GUI, these represent options you must manually select, and ways of letting the file know the settings of your MIDI controller. These variables (in CAPS) are all given common default values. Changing values is simply a question of replacing the number between the two #'s; just be sure not to leave any blank spaces. Valid options are described for each case. You also may need to edit several items in the line (just above): values for -odac (audio output device) and -M (MIDI device #). If the default values abort the run, view the console output; it will indicate the active devices on your system. Pick the appropriate numbers, insert them and rerun. Users of the Lettuce GUI's may also need to set these CsOptions. Here, access to these items is through the menu bar; console output is also accessed through the bar. PERFORMANCE SUGGESTIONS: The original idea behind these activities was to create sound environments that were meditative, slow-moving and minimal. Also important: the notion of our oneness with nature, and gratitude for nature's beauty and efficacy. Musically, emphasis is on gradual changes in tone color, texture, and (optionally) stereo space. In an "art" performance setting, these intentions should be observed. (In the context of Sugar activities for children, these ideas may be introduced as appropriate.) All MIDI knobs/sliders must be set to zero prior to Csound start; then move Pan to any alternative opening position. Otherwise, all performance options are selected in advance. The built-in speakers of the XO-1, or any laptop/netbook, are completely inadequate to rendering these works; tonal nuance is largely lost, as is any spatial sense. In addition, the low frequencies of Sister Moon Music are either absent or severely attenuated. Even the least expensive set of stereo headphones is quite satisfactory however. Otherwise, a decent stereo system with spaced speakers is required. SUN-MOON MUSIC and SUN-MOON MUSIC MC may also be found on the web at: Sun-Moon Music - git repository: git://git.sugarlabs.org/sun-moon-music/mainline.git .xo bundle: activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4307 Sun-Moon Music MC - git repository: git://git.sugarlabs.org/sun-moon-music-mc/mainline.git .xo bundle: activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4308