The Bol Processor can produce detailed lists of sound events as text files. This will facilitate connections with a great diversity of sound devices in replacement of the MIDI and Csound outputs.
Set it up
When 'Event list' is selected on a Data or Grammar page, sound events are saved to a CSV file. The full description of the sound object prototypes used in production is saved to a JSON file. All used tonal scales are exported in Scala (SCL) and keyboard mapping (KBM) formats.
The event list file
Click PRODUCE ITEM(s) on a grammar page, here for instance '-gr.koto3'. This yields:
No sound output (MIDI or Csound) has been produced. Instead, a file called 'koto3.csv' is available in the 'my_output' folder (by default). You can visualise this file by clicking the 'output file' link, or download it (get it here) for later use.
The event list contains many columns, a number which is likely to increase with new developments. It looks like this:
Each line of the event list is assigned to a sound-event with start and end times in milliseconds, as shown on the graphic display:
The labels 'a' and 'b' designate sound-objects, with respective prototype identifiers 3 and 5, as defined in the related '-so.abc1' file. The item labelled 'Y' is a silent sound-object created to represent the residual variable 'Y'.
The timings of sound-objects and simple notes in the event list are the accurate ones computed by the polymetric expansion and time-setting algorithms. Serial tools (e.g. _retro) modifying the order of events have been applied. However, serial tools modifying pitches (e.g. _transpose) have not been applied; therefore, their parameters are given in the event list. The second-to-last column contains the name of the tonal scale, if any (see below).
The sound-object file
The '-so.abc1' file, which is used to define all the sound objects used in the '-gr.koto3' project, is in an unfriendly format produced by the PHP interface. Therefore, to facilitate further use, it is exported to a more readable JSON format ('abc1.json'):
Please note that each sound-object is identified by both a label and a numeric identifier. These parameters are displayed in columns 4 and 5 of the event list. Numbers make it easier to match objects in the event list with their descriptions in 'abc1.json'.
👉 Since numeric identifiers are created when the alphabet is compiled, the values appearing in 'abc1.json' are specific to the '-gr.koto3' project.
The tonal (scale) files
SCL and KBM files are produced wherever tonal scales are used in the production (read MIDI microtonality).
Let's try the '-da.Ombres_errantes' project. Check the 'Event list' output format and click 'PLAY'. Links for downloading the rameau_en_sib.scl and rameau_en_sib.kbm files are displayed:
If several scales have been used in the production, several download lines will be displayed.
👉 These SCL and KBM file can also be exported via the tonality editor in the interface. The 'rameau_en_sib' scale is defined in the '-to.tryTunings' tonality framework which is displayed as follows:
Using command lines
Event lists and related files can be produced by calling the console via (Unix) command lines. For example,
./bp produce -se ./ctests/-se.koto3 -gr ./ctests/-gr.koto3 -al ./ctests/-al.abc1 -so ./ctests/-so.abc1 --eventlistout ./my_output/koto3.csv --traceout ./temp_bolprocessor/trace_my_session_my_project.txt
This will produce 'koto3.csv' and 'abc1.json' in the 'my_output' folder. (If the --traceout option is not specified, no image will be created.)
./bp play -se ./ctests/Imported_MusicXML/-se.Ombres_errantes -da ./[your_path]/0.bpda -to ./tonality_resources/-to.tryTunings --eventlistout ./my_output/Ombres_errantes.csv --traceout ./temp_bolprocessor/trace_8510fe8339_-da.Ombres_errantes.txt --traceout ./temp_bolprocessor/trace_my_session_my_project.txt --english
This will produce 'Ombres_errantes.csv', 'rameau_en_sib.scl' and 'rameau_en_sib.kbm' in the 'my_output' folder. (If the --traceout option is not specified, no image will be created.)