Lessons · Usage guide

Document workflow

Blocks, Ctrl+S, projects, import

% A project is ONE DOCUMENT, run top to bottom against a fresh kernel,
% so the state always reflects what the file says rather than the order
% you happened to press things. Shift+Enter runs it; Ctrl+S saves, then
% runs; '%' starts a comment. What follows is one piece: a ground bass
% in D, and four blocks built on it.
 
bpm 100
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key d maj
 
Ground<bass> ::= | ..1 ..5 | ..6 ..3 | ..4 ..1 | ..4 ..5 |
Ground
 
 
% The file divides into BLOCKS, and the divider is a blank-line run of
% TWO or more; the single blank line below is ordinary spacing, not a
% boundary. That matters, because a block is the unit the engine reads:
% several statements in one block CONCATENATE: you hear the progression
% bare, then the same chords with the ground under them.
 
Chords ::= | .1Dia .5Dia | .6Dia .3Dia | .4Dia .1Dia | .4Dia .5Dia |
 
Chords
{Chords, Ground}
 
 
% DEFINING a rule sounds nothing by itself; what plays is what is
% STATED. Theme and ThemeB are the two halves of the melody, Verse puts
% them over two turns of the ground, and the last line states it. Blank
% lines are spacing. Put three above Verse and nothing changes.
 
Theme  ::= | '3 '2 | '1 7 | 6 5 | 6 7 |
ThemeB ::= | '1 7 | 6 5 | 4 3 | 4 2 |
 
Verse  ::= {Theme ThemeB, Chords*2, Ground*2}
 
Verse
 
 
% Playing plays THE FILE: every production it states, in document order,
% as one continuous performance. So a document is written the way a piece
% is: the key, the ground and the chords are defined once, above, and
% this stretch only adds the running variation over them: one bar-figure
% and its answer, then both sequenced a scale step down.
 
Wave  ::= | '3 '4 '5 '3 '4 '5 '4 '3 |
WaveB ::= | '4 '2 '3 '4 '3 '2 '3 '1 |
Run   ::= Wave WaveB Wave@~-1 WaveB@~-1
assert Wave@~-1 == | '2 '3 '4 '2 '3 '4 '3 '2 |
 
{Run, Chords, Ground}
{Run, Theme, Chords, Ground}
 
 
% Projects: the select at the top lists yours. Create one by name, 'Save
% a copy' snapshots the open document, and Import… takes a .project.json
% OR a score file (.ly, .mid, .musicxml), DECOMPOSED into a motif grammar
% on the way in; 'help' prints the reference. The finale states every rule this document
% has defined, in one production, and closes on the tonic.
 
Canon ::= {Theme ThemeB Run,
           Chords*3,
           Ground*3}
 
Canon
{'1 _16, 1Dia _16, ..1 _16}

% A project is ONE DOCUMENT, run top to bottom against a fresh kernel,
% so the state always reflects what the file says rather than the order
% you happened to press things. Shift+Enter runs it; Ctrl+S saves, then
% runs; '%' starts a comment. What follows is one piece: a ground bass
% in D, and four blocks built on it.

bpm 100
instrument plain
meter 4
unit 1/4
key d maj

Ground<bass> ::= | ..1 ..5 | ..6 ..3 | ..4 ..1 | ..4 ..5 |
Ground

% The file divides into BLOCKS, and the divider is a blank-line run of
% TWO or more; the single blank line below is ordinary spacing, not a
% boundary. That matters, because a block is the unit the engine reads:
% several statements in one block CONCATENATE: you hear the progression
% bare, then the same chords with the ground under them.

Chords
{Chords, Ground}

% DEFINING a rule sounds nothing by itself; what plays is what is
% STATED. Theme and ThemeB are the two halves of the melody, Verse puts
% them over two turns of the ground, and the last line states it. Blank
% lines are spacing. Put three above Verse and nothing changes.

Theme  ::= | '3 '2 | '1 7 | 6 5 | 6 7 |
ThemeB ::= | '1 7 | 6 5 | 4 3 | 4 2 |

Verse  ::= {Theme ThemeB, Chords*2, Ground*2}

Verse

% Playing plays THE FILE: every production it states, in document order,
% as one continuous performance. So a document is written the way a piece
% is: the key, the ground and the chords are defined once, above, and
% this stretch only adds the running variation over them: one bar-figure
% and its answer, then both sequenced a scale step down.

Wave  ::= | '3 '4 '5 '3 '4 '5 '4 '3 |
WaveB ::= | '4 '2 '3 '4 '3 '2 '3 '1 |
Run   ::= Wave WaveB Wave@~-1 WaveB@~-1
assert Wave@~-1 == | '2 '3 '4 '2 '3 '4 '3 '2 |

{Run, Chords, Ground}
{Run, Theme, Chords, Ground}

% Projects: the select at the top lists yours. Create one by name, 'Save
% a copy' snapshots the open document, and Import… takes a .project.json
% OR a score file (.ly, .mid, .musicxml), DECOMPOSED into a motif grammar
% on the way in; 'help' prints the reference. The finale states every rule this document
% has defined, in one production, and closes on the tonic.

Canon ::= {Theme ThemeB Run,
           Chords*3,
           Ground*3}

Canon
{'1 _16, 1Dia _16, ..1 _16}

running…edit it and it re-runs as you type

Document workflow · Usage guide