new-session-manager/sequencer/doc/MANUAL.mu

! title		The Non Sequencer
! author	Jonathan Moore Liles #(email,male@tuxfamily.org)
! date		Oct 13 2007
! keywords	Non Jack ALSA FLTK
! extra		#(url,http://non.tuxfamily.org,Home)

-- Table Of Contents

: Description

< non-new-about.png

:: Guiding Principles

+ Flexibility
+ Efficiency
+ Purpose
+ Grace

  Non has many modes and functions. Where flexibility comes at a small
  cost, we prefer to be flexible and make up the difference
  elsewhere. Where arbitrary limitations are reasonable and necessary,
  Non enforces them, but not without being forced into it. Where it is
  easier to be inefficient than efficient, but the efficiency matters,
  we prefer to put in the (small amount of) work required to be
  efficient, often resulting in thousand-fold performance gains; this
  may sound like an obvious statement, but, in fact, design for
  efficiency is a rare practice in this (Linux Audio/'Modern'
  software) arena. Although it is tempting to implement a kitchen sink
  in every program, we resist the urge. Non has the purpose of being a
  real-time sequencer and anything outside of that scope is a job for
  another day. If there is something related to the task at hand that
  a computer can do instantly and easily, but which requires labor for
  you, Non tries to do it for you so that you can continue making
  music without being bothered. Non's user interface is designed to
  combine the stark functionality and speed of hardware with the
  degrees of freedom of software.

: The Interface

  The interface is quite simple and is based on the excellent FLTK
  (1.1.x) toolkit. (Versions \< 1 of Non were based on raw Xlib and a
  few Motif widgets.) The author examined many toolkits before
  beginning, and has absolutely no interest in pursuing GTK or Qt--Non
  simply doesn't require much of a toolkit, and these are incapable of
  providing less than total excess.

  Non's GUI is highly optimized. Common operations are designed to be
  as fast as possible. Where other sequencers completely monopolize
  the CPU when scrolling, etc., Non performs smoothly--even on
  antiquated hardware.  It is not technically difficult to achieve
  such speed. And, in fact, it is a shame that more developers don't
  consider good (or even just reasonable) performance a priority.

:: The Pattern Editor

< non-pattern-editor.png

  Upon invocation, Non enters the pattern editor and loads Pattern
  1. The pattern editor presents a grid interface--the heart of a step
  sequencer. You can toggle a note on the grid by entering its
  coordinates with the keyboard or clicking an intersection with the
  mouse. The length of patterns is unlimited and no special action is
  required to lengthen them (simply adding notes beyond the "end" is
  enough.) Non can present grids in one of two modes, expanded and
  compacted.  In the compacted view, only named rows are displayed;
  this means that only the notes the current instrument or scale will
  consume vertical space--resulting in far more efficient use of
  screen real-estate. Any notes that are made invisible by the
  compacted view will be silenced.

  You may add, remove, transpose, move, and edit notes, as well as
  trigger/mute patterns, while the transport is running.

  The resolution of the pattern display can be adjusted (the default
  is one point per 1\/16th note), and, additionally, the canvas can be
  zoomed horizontally and vertically as necessary. However, it is
  highly recommended that you avoid creating 'vertical' compositions,
  that is, one should place each part in a separate pattern and avoid
  the need to scroll about looking for notes.

  Tonic patterns have a choice of scale and key, which limits the
  display to only valid notes. This /row-compaction/ can be turned
  off, if desired, so that all 128 notes are visible. Or simply choose
  the /chromatic/ mapping if you are not creating scale based music.

  Percussion, or other sample-based patterns can be assigned an
  /instrument/ mapping, which again limits the display to only those
  notes for which names and volumes have been provided. The instrument
  definition format is a simple ASCII file containing one name, note
  and volume percentage per line.

  Individual patterns may be soloed or muted right from the pattern
  editor.

  Each pattern has a setting for output MIDI channel and sequencer
  port--and these may also be changed while the transport is running.

::: The Notes

  The type (duration) of note to be inserted can be adjusted in the
  pattern editor (control+mouse-wheel). The velocity of individual
  notes may be adjusted (mouse-wheel), and the current value is
  reflected in the color of the note. Ranges may also be /inserted/
  and /deleted/, a commonly required operation during composition, but
  one that is, sadly, missing from many sequencers.

< non-cursors.png

::: Recording

  A pattern can be recorded via MIDI in one of four modes:

= Merge (the most familiar/least useful)
	= In this mode recorded events are merged into the pattern on each pass
	= through the loop. This is how most sequencers work, but it usually just
	= results in a jumble of notes that require much manual cleaning up.
= Overwrite (each pass [with input] replaces the previous contents of the pattern)
	= This is like merge mode, except that the pattern is cleared before
	= the recorded events are input. If no notes have been played during
	= a loop, the pattern remains unchanged. This is a great way to just get
	= a part down without having to remove your hands from the instrument.
= Layer (each pass [with input] goes into a new pattern)
	= This is just like overwrite mode, except that the pattern actually
	= overwritten is a duplicate. Use this mode to record several loops of
	= the same length without removing your hands from the instrument.
= New
	= In this mode, all recorded events are placed into a new pattern (of
	= whatever length) when recording is stopped.

# It is especially useful if you bind Record to a MIDI footswitch.

::: The Event Editor

< non-event-editor-notes.png

  For situations requiring close inspection, fine-adjustments or
  entering of non-note data, the Event Editor allows one to edit the
  raw MIDI event list of a pattern. A common use is to insert program
  or control change events.

  Like everything else in Non, the Event Editor is real-time--change a
  note and you'll see and hear the result as the pattern plays.

:: The Phrase Editor

< non-phrase-editor.png

  Phrases are to patterns as patterns are to notes. Switching to the
  Phrase Editor brings up Phrase 1, where each row corresponds to an
  existing /pattern/. The grid of the Phrase Editor is fixed at one
  column-per-beat. This view is somewhat similar to a timeline view in
  other sequencers, but do not be deceived--Phrases may be many in
  number and are triggered just like patterns.

  When a node on the Phrase Editor grid is activated, the length of
  the cue event inserted will be the same as that of the pattern being
  triggered. Adjusting the duration of this event will cause the
  pattern be cut short or looped. If the length of a referenced
  pattern is changed, this will *not* be reflected in the Phrase
  display. You must either re-insert or adjust the length of the
  reference.

  It is recommended that, to avoid confusion, you first compose all of
  the patterns you need for a phrase, and only then bring up the
  phrase editor.

  Editing operations are the same as those for the Pattern Editor.

:: The Sequence Editor

  The Sequence Editor defines the sequence of playback. The interface
  is a list of phrases, to be played sequentially, beginning from bar
  1. It is not necessary to include all existing phrases in the
  playlist. Phrases can be moved up and down the playlist, inserted
  and deleted. The editor displays the start bar of each phrase in
  addition to its number and name.

  This sequence->phrase->pattern hierarchy allows for logical,
  expressive compositions--without the labor intensive
  copy/paste/duplicate work-flow imposed by other sequencers.

  For example, suppose you have a song with a 12 bar progression that
  repeats 4 times.  This 12 bar sequence is composed of many patterns,
  each a few measures in length and roughly corresponding to the
  chords in the progression.

  In another sequencer you would be required to use clumsy copy\/paste
  operations to destructively extend the 12 bar sequence. Then if you
  wanted to change a part of that subsequence later, you would have to
  go edit each instance of it on the 'timeline' view. This is absurdly
  inefficient for the operator.

  In Non you simply create your patterns, assemble them into logical
  phrases, and then assemble these phrases into a sequence that
  determines the entire song.  This approach is similar to the
  bottom-up approach of factored languages such as Forth.


:: Pattern Triggers

< non-pattern-triggers.png

  Next to the sequence playlist is an array of pattern triggers. Here
  one can monitor the progress of multiple patterns during playback
  and cause them to be muted etc.

  The left mouse button toggles muting, the middle button toggles
  soloing, and the right button brings up the given pattern in the
  pattern editor.

  Playing patterns appear green, the solo pattern appears red, and
  muted patterns appear gray,

: MIDI

:: IO

  Non utilizes the Jack MIDI transport. Jack MIDI is an emerging MIDI
  transport for Linux. Since Jack already provides similar routing as
  the ALSA Sequencer interface, little is lost--besides compatibility
  with existing programs. (Jack has an aseq bridge capability, but in
  order to benefit from Jack MIDI, both sequencer and synth must use
  Jack). The Jack MIDI API is extremely limited in comparison to the
  very capable ALSA API, but this is a problem for the programmer, not
  the user.

  At the time of writing, Non is one of only two sequencers to use
  Jack MIDI natively.

::: About Jack MIDI Connections

  Since Jack MIDI is new and not all programs support it, many find
  themselves confused. This section attempts to explain Jack MIDI
  ports.

  The ALSA sequencer interface has long been the standard MIDI routing
  subsystem on Linux. But many (all) of the programs we use for
  synthesis these days use Jack for their audio IO. It makes more
  sense for those MIDI related programs utilizing the Jack Transport
  for synchronization to also use Jack ports for MIDI
  delivery. Therefore, ALSA MIDI is quickly becoming obsolete.

  Jack MIDI ports are *not* related to ALSA MIDI ports in any
  way. Jack MIDI ports are just like Jack audio ports, except that the
  data being transmitted in each buffer are raw, timestamped MIDI
  events instead of floating point audio samples. Jack MIDI is
  sample-accurate. This means that a MIDI Note On event can occur
  concurrently with a sound, and the two will never drift apart as
  often happens to some extent with ALSA.

  In essence, Jack MIDI is a way of expressing a direct temporal
  correlation between audio and MIDI data.

// Note:
{  Older versions of QJackCtl and other connection managers do not
{  know about Jack MIDI ports. Please make sure you're using an
{  up-to-date version.

  When Non is started, it will create `Non:midi_in` and
  `Non:control_in` input ports, as well as the 16 output ports with
  names after the form `Non:midi_out-X`, where `X` is a number from 1
  to 16. These ports will be visible in any connection manager capable
  of connecting Jack MIDI ports, as well as via the `jack_lsp` and
  `jack_connect` command-line utilities.

  For example, to connect Non to ZynAddSubFX (the CVS version supports
  Jack MIDI), type the following into the shell:

> $ jack_connect Non:midi_out-1 ZynAddSubFX:midi_in

  Also, be sure that Zyn's outputs are connected to
  system:playback\_\* so that you can hear the sounds it produces.

  It is possible to use Jack MIDI clients and ALSA MIDI clients
  together via the bridge built into jackd.  For this to work you must
  append the `-X seq` option to the `alsa` driver section of the jackd
  command line. Like so:

> $ jackd -d alsa -X seq

  The way such bridged ports are named varies between Jack versions,
  but they should be fairly obvious. When used in this way, many of
  the advantages of Jack MIDI are lost, so it is recommended that you
  find a Jack MIDI capable synth for best results.

// Example of Jack MIDI connections in Patchage
< non-patchage.png

:: Non Files

  The format of `.non` files is a variation of SMF-2. In an SMF-2
  file, each track chunk represents a pattern. Because Non groups
  patterns into /phrases/, this usage of SMF-2 is probably not
  compatible with other implementations (although, the author has
  never actually seen another program that could play back SMF-2
  anyway.)

  Each phrase is stored as a track of MIDI Cue messages, each
  referring to a pattern to be triggered. The sequence\/playlist is
  stored as the first track, and consists of a list of Cue Point
  meta-events referring to phrases.

  Also in the first track is a sequencer specific meta-event (ID
  "Non!") containing song data that cannot be readily expressed with
  existing meta events, and some versioning info to aid future
  compatibility.

  In short, the author has done the utmost to save sequences in a
  standard format--within reason; SMF was hardly designed with a
  program like Non in mind--instead of some ad-hoc ASCII format (which
  would have been *far* easier to implement), or worse, buggy, bulky,
  and unmaintainable XML.

:: Exports

  In addition to saving and loading `.non` files, Non can export
  individual patterns as flat, SMF-0 MIDI files.

:: Imports

  SMF-0 files can be imported as a new pattern (all channels merged),
  or SMF-1 (such as those written by Seq24) and SMF-2 (ever seen one
  of these?) can be imported as N new patterns (selected from a track
  list.) All imported patterns are set to display the Chromatic scale,
  in order that no notes be hidden from view.

  This should make it easy to migrate any existing patterns that you
  may have over to Non, or to permit editing of Non patterns in
  external programs (for graphic controller tweaking perhaps?)

: Synchronization

  Non's transport is driven by the Jack Transport, so in order to sync
  Non with a DAW like Ardour, you must set Ardour to be the Jack
  Timebase Master.  Therefore, all tempo mapping and time signature
  information should be manipulated in the Timebase Master--Non will
  respond to these changes automatically. If there is no Timebase
  Master registered when Non starts, it will take over that role
  instead. This is useful if you simply plan to use Non as a musical
  instrument.

: Control

  Non creates two MIDI input ports, one for /performance/ data and one
  for /control/ data. The control port is used to control Non with
  hardware MIDI controllers, such as the BCF2000, or other software.
  The performance port is used to record musical data into patterns.

: Playback

  The playback mode can be toggled between Pattern, Sequence and
  Trigger. In Pattern mode (the default), all patterns are played
  simultaneously, from the beginning, and looped forever. Since
  patterns may differ widely in length, interesting compositions are
  possible. In this mode, Non makes for a very intuitive software
  instrument--rivaled only by the excellent program FreeWheeling (a
  live audio looper.)

  In Sequence mode, playback strictly follows the sequence list and
  the Jack transport, and does not loop. This mode is suitable for
  parallel compositions between Non and a Jack Timebase Master capable
  DAW.

  Trigger mode is very much like Pattern mode, except that all
  patterns begin muted and must be enabled via the trigger view.

: Sister Projects

  Much of the inspiration to move forward with Non was derived from JP
  Mercury's highly useful and successful FreeWheeling
  looper. Mr. Mercury is a visionary.

  But the closest sister of Non has to be the amazingly capable
  ZynAddSubFX soft-synth by Nasca Octavian Paul. ZynAddSubFX, like
  Non, utilizes the FLTK GUI toolkit, and has recently begun to
  support Jack MIDI (albeit in a limited fashion.) This is, hands
  down, the best synth available for Linux, and probably one of the
  best period. If all you have is Non and Zyn, you have all that you
  require to make great music.

  Of course, this section can hardly go without mention of Rob Buse's
  Seq24. It was the author's unending frustration with the abysmal
  performance and absurd limitations of Seq24 that, more than any
  other single factor, inspired him to write Non.  The most
  frustrating aspect was that, prior to Non, Seq24 was, in the
  author's opinion, the best sequencer available on Linux. Seq24,
  which claims to be light and free of bloat is, without comparison,
  the slowest, most poorly optimized sequencer the author has
  tried. Even the huge, snarling beast that is RoseGarden out performs
  Seq24 in every way but start time.

  Those days are over.