Date: Fri, 10 Jun 1994 16:45:53 -0500
From: Fokke de Boer <Fokke.de.Boer@rivm.nl>
Subject: F A Q   on S-COM

================= F A Q   on S-COM follows ==========================

Symbolic Composer FAQ - version 1.1

Last updated: Jun 2, 1994

Hi! I'm Fokke de Boer and running the Lodge, a non-profit network of
algorithmic composers using S-COM. A lot of people have
been asking me what Symbolic Composer is. So, I made up a sort of FAQ.

What is Symbolic Composer?

Symbolic Composer is a lisp-based modular music language for scoring
music of any style and complexity. It enables you to write music in a
very high-level language, and use this composition model to produce
MIDI files. There are no limitations concerning music style and
complexity, but it requires a certain design thinking approach.

On what platform does it run?

S-COM runs only in the Macintosh and requires at least 4 MB RAM.
It requires that you already are familiar with sequencers or
scorewriters. In fact, you will need one on your machine.
The language was initially developed on the Atari, but that version is
not available anymore. The current 3.1 version runs only on the Mac.

How does it operate?

First, you write the composition using the Modular Music Language.
Then you compile the file. The compiler produces a MIDI file, which
you play back with your sequencer.

What sort of language is it?

The language consists of 250 operations categorized in several
classes: generators, processors, neurons, definers, libraries,
transformers, tonalizers and analyzers. Operations like
transpose, retrograde, invert, mix, ornament, filter, shift,
scroll, morph etc. are applicable to melodies, chords, rhythms,
durations, velocities, channels & program changes, controllers,
tempos and composition structures. Operations can be daisy-chained
and nested. Grammars are used to define score time structures
and instruments.

Who is it for?

It is not for beginners. You already must have a couple of years
experience on MIDI systems. Some experience with programming will
be helpful too. It is not an easy language! The system focuses on
non-interactive composing and don't allow interactive MIDI generation.
But if you are interested in exploring what fractals and chaos can
offer for music, then S-COM is one of the best systems around. Also, if
you are scoring music for real orchestras or doing special
film scores, then S-COM is the perfect tool. But, as said, it's
a designer's tool and not suitable for the average MIDI user.

Has anyone used S-COM to compose a song on the charts?

The Shamen in UK have been using S-COM to score music. The Who
guitarist Pete Townsend has also S-COM. In UK, where the system
come out from the virtual reality user group in the beginning of
1990, there are many illegal copies of the Atari version around,
mainly in London. Copies have also been encountered in IRCAM, CCRMA
and STEIM. Several scores for real orchestras have been produced
with S-COM.

Is anyone using S-COM with Max?

There is at least one composer who has used Max to fire S-COM
generated MIDI files in an art exhibition. This way you can
take advance of the powerful interactivity of MAX and can get
over with its limitations in composing.

Can S-COM run on a Sun workstation for more speed?

The compilation speed is almost instant on Quadras so you don't
need a Sun. The environment is full graphical with floating
pallettes, where you can pick up commands. To get docs you can
double click commands. There's also the graffiti screen which
ables you to draft S-COM components for further processing with
fourier resynthesis, filtering, interpolating and quantizing.

Is it public domain?

No. It is a commercial product.

Is there a demo version somewhere?

Yes, there is one, but from what I have seen myself it is no more
than a quite unstable set of screens. There are not many examples to load,
you cannot compile MIDI files, although it LOOKS as if you can. The demo
will crash if you try (I think. Or was it that a message popped up?).
The commercial version is quite stable though.
If you want to have a try, you can ftp it from wagner.musicnet.ua.edu
in pub/music. There you can also find some soundsamples of music created
with S-COM. Both are also available at the Mail Server (info below).

You cannot do anything serious with the demo. That is because S-COM is a
modular music language. Giving only few commands to play around would
not favour the language. This is the same reason why you have not seen
a cut out demo Basic with 10 commands. You really cannot program anything
in a limited language. Comments from Peter Stone on the demo:
  " The demo is a bit unstable because I had to use dirty programming tricks
        to defunctionalize it. You should also give 4-6 MB memory for it to
        breath, not the 2 MB which is mentioned as a minimum in the get
        information screen." (Peter Stone)

How are you communicating?

Via email. The Lodge Network is a list of email addresses of people
working with S-COM. You can contact these people if you feel like
it. Maybe, when the Network develops further, it may grow into a
mailing list. Or we could add (a) field(s) reporting the things
you are "good" at. So, for instance, you could ask questions about
L-systems to me (NO NO, I am NOT an expert yet!)
Then there is the Mail Server. You can reach it by sending me email
with Subject: line reading "retrieve directory". You will receive
a listing of available files and instructions how to get them.
If you have anything to contribute, please email me for details.
The server contains/will contain algorithms, element libraries,
strategies for scoring, song grammars, scores and composition models.
If you want a quick and short example of what the code looks like, send
me email with Subject: "retrieve example.txt from SymbComp". Again, the
BODY of the message is discarded! ONLY the header is processed by the Mail
Server.

If you have more questions, feel free to send them to me! I'll try to
answer them and keep the FAQ updated regularly.

Fokke
--
Fokke de Boer    ---  0         ___|\__    Hobbies: Human Powered Vehicles
                 -- _|\_/\_     ___|_\_             Music (making/composing)
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