************************************************************************** Introducing an Exciting New Innovation in Amiga Algorithmic Composition! MusicLab-IFS Harness the Beauty and Organization of Fractals for your Music! ************************************************************************** Examples of fractal beauty and organization surround us. We experience it everyday in such divers forms as the patterns created by the breaking surf, the paths of lightning, the flickering of candles, cloud formations, and the branch structure of trees. Now organizational principles similar to these found in nature can be applied to your music. MusicLab-IFS allows you to... Create an infinite number of fractal and non-fractal scores using Iterated Function Systems. Produce multiple arrangements for 8 different instruments with up to 4 simultaneous voices per instrument. Define the pitch ranges, number of voices, and allowed note pitches for each instrument. Set a minimum chord interval for instruments having multiple voices. Preview Score and sequences over MIDI or the Amiga internal audio while manipulating screen controls. Record performance in real-time as new sequence. Edit sequences with a complete graphic Note Editor containing many advanced options. Edit and create new IFS Codes numerically or graphically. Save sequences as MIDI or IFF SMUS. Who will benefit from MusicLab-IFS.... Professional musicians wishing to stimulate their creative imaginations or increase their musical productivity. Multimedia authors wishing to compose royalty-free original music for their video presentations. Algorithmic composers and music educators. Amiga hobbyists interested in music and/or fractals. ***** Hardware Requirements ***** ===================== MusicLab-IFS requires an Amiga with 1.5-2 Meg Ram and AmigaDOS 2.0. A hard disk, accelerator, and MIDI interface are recommended. ***** Introduction ***** ============ This DEMO is similar to the release version of MusicLab-IFS with the exceptions that all MIDI and SAVE functions have been disabled. Exercise your musical creativity in new ways with MusicLab-IFS! It's fun, it's easy, and you will be rewarded with truly original music, not mere rearrangements of someone else's music. Composing original music can be as simple as pressing a few buttons, or as complex as your time and creative energy allow. Produce musical sequences from entire fractals or portions of fractals. At the push of a button, MusicLab-IFS can generate sequences up to 200 measures long for 8 instruments each having 4 voices; this is more than any other algorithmic composition program can create. And music based on fractals has substantially more musical unity and cohesiveness than any random composition, yet provides more interest-sustaining variety than pattern-based algorithmic compositions. Stretch your creative imagination with the many MusicLab-IFS options. You control the mapping of fractal patterns onto a musical "score". Patterns can be edited, magnified, or superimposed one on top of another for transitional effects. Sequences can contain entire sections made from different fractal patterns, or different portions of the same patterns. Entire instrument parts can be made from different patterns. MusicLab-IFS holds up to 12 sequences. Cut and paste between them using the note editor. In addition to standard editing functions, the editor also provides a wide range of experimental music options such as compression or expansion of time or pitch intervals, cyclic permutations, retrograding, and pitch inversion. Musical scores and sequences can be played over MIDI or the Amiga internal audio. Many on-screen parameters can be changed during play. Performances can even be recorded as new sequences and saved. MusicLab_IFS is not limited to fractal based composition. With Iterated Function Systems and IFS Codes, an infinite number of both fractal and non-fractal patterns can be created easily. And IFS Codes provide a standard interface for parameter manipulation; you do not have to learn a different set of parameters for each fractal type. So if you are looking for new musical ideas, an infinite source royalty-free original music, or some Saturday night entertainment, MusicLab_IFS is for you! ***** Basic Operation ***** =============== Use the Load Seq... menu item in the Active_Sequence menu to load one of the examples from the SMUS Example (dir). Select the PLAY gadget on the lower right of the screen to start and stop play. Create a fractal score by Loading an IFS Code from the IFS Code (dir) (Use either the menu item in the Project menu or use the mouse to select the RENDER gadget on the main screen). After the IFS Code is loaded press RENDER gadget to begin calculations (if you loaded IFS Code by selecting the RENDER gadget this step will not be necessary). Stop Iterations by de-selecting the RENDER gadget. Press the SCORE gadget to display the score. The different colors that appear represent the different volume levels associated with those pitches. There are two ways of producing arrangements/sequences from the score. Either select the Make Sequence menu item in the Project menu, or select the RECORD gadget on the lower right hand portion of the screen before selecting the PLAY gadget. This will allow you to record your performance. Both of these methods use different algorithms to convert the data into a musical sequence. The Score_Setup menu allows you to select various options used during the generation of sequences from the fractal score. But first... MusicLab-IFS defaults to MIDI play. Since MIDI is disabled in this DEMO you must load an IFF instrument from the provided Instrument (dir) in order to hear the results of playing the score. Press the IFF gadget for one of the eight parts and use the window to load and assign an IFF voices to that parts. Voices for the other parts can be loaded or assigned similarly. Now when you press the PLAY gadget you will hear something! If you don't hear anything - make sure that the Score menu item is checked in the Active_Sequence menu. When playing a sequence, it must first be made the active sequence. REMEMBER: All screen operations and menu selections from the Active_Sequence menu and the Parts menu pertain to the active sequence. To Edit a sequence, first make it the active sequence. Then select the Edit Seq... menu item in the Active_Sequence menu. A new empty sequence can be made by selecting a currently empty sequence then selecting Edit Seq..., this will create a new sequence and open the Edit Window. All operations in the Edit menu pertain to the contents of the Edit window. In the Note Edit Window use the mouse to add, delete or edit notes. Drag the mouse while depressing the left mouse button to add a note. To delete a note, position the cursor over the note and use a rapid click of the left mouse button. To edit the note volume select a note using the left mouse button, and while still holding the left mouse button - press and hold the right mouse button - drag the mouse up/down to change volume. Release either button to end operation. This may sound complex, but once you get used to mouse operation in this window, you will find editing to be extremely easy. To edit an IFS Code, select one of the transforms in the IFS Code Display at the lower left of the screen. The coefficients of the highlighted transform can be numerically edited in the spaces above the display. To graphically edit an IFS Code, select the GRAPH gadget. This will display all the transformations in the IFS Code and allow you to use the mouse to edit the coefficients of the currently highlighted transform. Experiment and Enjoy! ***** Ordering Information ***** =================== If you wish to order MusicLab-IFS directly from us, please send a check or money order to the address below for $39 + $4 S&H. ***** Technical Support ***** ================= If you have any questions regarding this DEMO, please write or call: Digital Expressions Research W6400 FireLane 8 Menasha, WI 54952 Phone 414-733-6863 8 AM - 5 PM CST