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https://github.com/asb2m10/glasgow

programmable note generator for Ableton Live
https://github.com/asb2m10/glasgow

ableton-live m4l

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programmable note generator for Ableton Live

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README 

        
glasgow

=======



Glasgow is a tool to manipulate Ableton Live clips by using Javascript (with Max For Live). 

While this plugin is a M4L midi effect, it doesn't change the midi stream but rather the user

selected Live midi clip.



The device 'code' prompt is used to write Javascript within Live but glasgow can also be used as a

'Live midi framework' for M4L developers to modify midi clip events easily. See the Makefile on how 

you can write your own M4L device using the 'glasgow' framework.



time format

-----------

Time format is the same used in Ableton Live: 0.25 is one quarter note (with 4/4). String 

format can also be used to defined values that are not "floating friendly" like 1.1/3. 

Events are seperated by the ':' character.



    timelist("0.1/3:0.5:1.1/4") == [ 0.33333333333, 0.5, 1.25 ]



note format

-----------

Note values are analogous to midi notes. You can use notelist() helper to parse a string that 

will render the values into a javascript array. The string format: the lowest midi note is 

C-2 (C minus 2; the midi note 0) and the highest G8. Sharp values contains the '#' between 

the note name and the octave: C#1. Like the time format, events are separated by the ':'

character. Notes that occurs at the same time can be separated by the ',' character.



Note string format can also support chords definition. Any letter that follows the octave

value of the note defines the scale/mode of the chords. 'M' represent the major scale, 

'm' the minor; you can also use the mode name EG: 'ionian'. If the character '^' (for degree) 

follows the mode name, it will shift the chord to a specific degree. If there is another

number, it defines the voicing of the chord. 7 means to add the 7th to the chord. If you

need the 7th and 13th, you can use the '-' separator. Afterwards, if the '&' is present,

it means that the chords generation is in the restriced class; that all the notes generated

stays in the same octave. The '< (for down)' and '> (for up)' is used for chord inversion.

If you start a new note with '%', it will reassign the last note and mode selected.



       note name

       |   mode name 

       |   |   chord degree value

       |   |   |   forces the chord to be in same octave

       |   |   |   |   makes invertions to chords (>> makes 2 invertion to the right)

       |   |   |   |   | 

       C 3 M ^ 3 7 & $ >> 

       | |   |   |   | 

       | |   |   |   tells the chord to fit in 1 octave (restrict class)

       | |   |   add the 7th to the chord

       | |   forces the parser to also read chord degree (I, ii, III, iv ....)

       | octave value



      notelist("C3:C3M:%^37:%<<") == [ 60, [60, 64, 68], [64, 67, 71, 76], [60, 52, 56] ]



rhythm format

-------------

Rhythm format is a object that contains notes that are optimized for rhythm events.

 

        

           | TYhe note to trigger the event, in note format (see ^^^^)

           |       | The list of triggers, if a string, translate with timelist()

       {   |       |

          "C3"   : "0.25:-1",

          "45"  : [ [ 0.25, -1 ] , "0.1/3:-4" ]

       }   |        |

           |        |  If the list it self contains a list, merge it with the main list

           | If the note it self is a number, consider it a midi note



api 

---

mkp([event timestamp], [list of notes], [list velocity], [list duration]) - Used to make a 

phrase into a raw clip format.



* It uses the time and note format (in both list of float/int or a string).

* If all the event have been used for a particular type (timestamp, midinote, velocity or 

duration), it loops the list the ended.

* mkp will loop the events based on the clip loop point. It gets the information

from the global variable _gsClipStart and _gsClipEnd (that gets sets when you use the 

[GetClip]  button in M4L). 

* If in the last item in the timestamp list is smaller than zero or negative, it tells mkp 

what is the desired loop size. For example a list with [ 0, 0.5, -2 ] will render event like 

this : [0, 0.5, 2, 2.5, 4, 4.5 ...]

* If an item duration is set to 0, the duration of the event will be based on the global 

variable _gsClipQtz. (if the M4L API was available, it we get the value from the quantize 

size, but right now it is statically set to 0.125)

* If the item duration is negative, it will set the event duration based on time when the

next event will be played.



mkr([rhythm format]) - Used to make a rhythmical pattern into a raw clip format.



timelist([string format]) - Used to render a string timelist into a javascript array 

(see timeformat).



notelist([string format]) - Used to render a string notelist into a javascript array

(see noteformat).



addl([value to add], [list of numbers]) - add the specified value to all the elements in the 

list.



mull([value to multiply], [list of numbers]) multiply th specified value to all the element

in the list.



choose([times], [list of item], [probability]) - chooses an item in the list, for (x) times 

and  return the result into a new array. You can add the probability parameter to weight 

the value that have more chances to get pickup at the random selector (0.0 to 1.0).



exttm(clip) - returns the timestamps (time format) form the current or specified clip.



extnote(clip) - returns the notes (note format) from the current or specified clip.



set_looppoint(start, end) - sets the loop point of the current selected clip in Live.



interface protocol (raw clip format)

------------------------------------

The interface that is used to get or set a Abelton Live clip is a simple array that

contains the notes event. This is the format that the M4L is expecting to use

to get or set a Live clip.



     [ [ event_timestamp, note_midivalue, notevelo_midivalue, note_duration], ... 

       [ event_timestamp, note_midivalue, notevelo_midivalue, note_duration],

     ]



changelog

---------

#### Version 0.3 ####

- Added rhythm functionality

- Upgraded to Underscore 1.8.3

- Tested with Live 9.5 and Max 7.0.6



#### Version 0.2 ####

- Added chord functionality

- Added extnote, extnote, exttm, extrhythm to extract values from original clip contents

- String note value are now based on the Live numbering for the octave (from C-2 to B9)

- Added 2 textedit for code and the other for clip content extraction

- Undo is now based on the last content of the clip and not the code



todo

----

- [ ] nodify the max part of the code (make modules and explicitly export modules)

- [ ] write our own TextEdit Max control that doesn't escapes symbols or try to use

Text



licence

-------

Glasgow is released upon the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence and uses the 

following code :

* underscore.js by Jeremy Ashkenas, MIT licence http://underscorejs.org/