Run a script

(You can send your brother back to his video game now. Here comes some substantial stuff.)

Quit BP2 and double-click the "+sc.TryMe" file. BP2 will run this demo script which plays a short burst of music on the MIDI device (channel 1) or the loudspeaker (via QuickTime music) and prompts the user to hit a key of the MIDI keyboard or click the mouse.

You may skip the rest of this section if you are not enthusiastic about AppleScript and any programming stuff. Instead you might try working with simple notes (see §1.4), performance controls (§1.5), sound-objects (§2) or grammars (§3-4).

Type cmd-– or select "Script" in the "Windows" menu. The following script is displayed:

// This is a script for Bol Processor BP2
Show messages OFF -- avoid useless display
Note convention = English
Show graphics ON
Play {2,G4,E4,C4,- C5 - C5 {C5_-,A#4_ _}}
Show messages ON
Activate window Scrap
Type Welcome to Bol Processor BP2...
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type Hope you enjoyed the music!
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type If you didn't hear anything, select 'QuickTime Music' for the output in 'OMS input-output', then 'Modify -se.startup' in the 'File' menu. If Opcode OMS is not installed, or you don't know what OMS stands for, read the documentation...
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type The documentation is in the 'bol-processor-xxx-doc' folder, and examples in 'bol-processor-xxx-data'. ('xxx' is the version number) You must download these folders to use BP2.
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type BP2 is now waiting for you to play 'C4' on the MIDI keyboard, or click the mouse...
Wait for C4 channel 1

Script instructions can be created in three ways:

• typing them directly into the "Script" window;
• "pulling down" an instruction from the "Script" menu and filling arguments between « quotes » with acceptable values. (Use sticky menus in MacOS 8.0 to facilitate the selection)
• recording actions in script form while they are being performed in BP2, a feature similar to AppleScript. To set the script manager to recording mode, check the "REC" button on top of the "Script" dialog.

Instructions obtained by pulling down the "Script" menu are hilited below. The remaining instructions were recorded in the "REC" mode.

// This is a script for Bol Processor BP2
Show messages OFF -- avoid useless display
Note convention = English
Show graphics ON
Play {2,G4,E4,C4,- C5 - C5 {C5_-,A#4_ _}}
Show messages ON
Activate window Scrap
Type Welcome to Bol Processor BP2...
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type Hope you enjoyed the music!
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type If you didn't hear anything, select 'QuickTime Music' for the output in 'OMS input-output', then 'Modify -se.startup' in the 'File' menu. If Opcode OMS is not installed, or you don't know what OMS stands for, read the documentation...
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type The documentation is in the 'bol-processor-xxx-doc' folder, and examples in 'bol-processor-xxx-data'. ('xxx' is the version number) You must download these folders to use BP2.
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type <return>
Type BP2 is now waiting for you to play 'C4' on the MIDI keyboard, or click the mouse...
Wait for C4 channel 1

The first line is a comment preceded by the double slash // familiar to C programmers. The first instruction (second line) contains a remark preceded by "--", as in AppleScript or HyperTalk. The next instruction tells BP2 that simple notes shall be notated in the English convention. (See other conventions §1.11)

The instruction "Play..." tells BP2 to play a musical item on the selected output. Here the item is polyphonic and notated as a polymetric expression. You will learn more about polymetric expressions in §4.2 of this introduction, or §4.10 of the reference manual. In brief, the digit "2" indicates that the expression's length is 2 beats, while other fields separated with commas denote the four "voices". We have a chord {G4, E4, C4} sustained throughout the entire item, as well as a more complex melodic phrase "- C5 - C5 {C5_-, A#4_ _}" which contains another polymetric expression. Symbols '-' and '_' indicate silences and note prolongations respectively. Thus, "C5_" could be worth a half-note and "C5" a quarter-note.

Other instructions in this script are self-explanatory.