Snake charming -- the musical Python

This book is an innovative introduction to Python and its audio-visual capabilities for beginning programmers; a resource for expert programmers and of interest to anyone involved in music. It is structured around four extensible, audio-visual projects on music and sound. The beginner will appreciate the 'need to know' basis of the presentation of Python for each project, and expert programmers will be able to go straight to the project code, run it and then extend it as they see fit. Musically interested readers will enjoy the historical and theoretical material at the beginning of each project, and it may even tempt them to try some coding - it is not too difficult! The four projects the book focuses on are all self-contained, but can be extended to incorporate aspects of the others. Above all this book is suited for self-study, which should be playful (pun intended!).;Snake in the Grass -- Python and its Environment -- Banging the Drum -- Visualising Sound -- Heat in the Desert -- Sculpting Sound -- The Harmonograph -- Victorian Pendulum Toy -- Counterpoint a la Mode -- Composing Music -- On Safari. Preface 6 Intended Audience 6 Prerequisites 6 Typography 7 A Note on the Code 7 Structure of Book 7 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 9 Part I Snake in the Grass---Python and Its Environment 13 1 Installing Python 14 2 The Python Shell---IDLE 18 2.1 Basic Python Syntax 19 2.1.1 Comments 19 2.1.2 Indentation and Block Structure 19 2.1.3 Input and Output 19 2.1.4 Declaration of Simple Types and Type Casting 20 2.1.5 Arithmetic Operators and Precedence 20 2.1.6 Conditional Expressions, Relational and Logical Operators 20 2.1.7 Conditional Statements 21 2.1.8 Looping Statements 21 2.2 Entering Python Code 22 2.2.1 The Python Interpreter 22 2.2.2 The Python Editor 23 3 Package Management 25 3.1 Anaconda 25 3.1.1 Installing Anaconda 26 3.1.2 Using Anaconda 27 3.2 Alternatives 28 4 Audacity® 29 4.1 Installing 29 4.2 Using 29 Part II Banging the Drum---Visualising Sound 31 5 Mark Kac (1914 to 1984) 32 5.1 Hearing the Shape of a Drum 33 5.2 Riding the Waves---Bessel Functions 33 5.3 Vibrating Plates---Chladni and Germain 34 5.4 Drumhead Modes 35 6 Project Code 37 6.1 New Language Features 37 6.1.1 Project Header 37 6.1.2 Plotting Bessel Functions 38 6.1.3 Graphing in 3D 39 6.1.4 Animation of Square Wave from Summing Sinusoids 40 6.1.5 Animating in 3D, for Wave Propagation Along an Axis 41 6.2 The Code 42 6.2.1 Project Header 42 Part III Heat in the Desert---Sculpting Sound 43 7 Joseph Fourier (1768 to 1830) 44 7.1 The Army of Egypt 44 7.2 Feeling the Heat---Fourier Transforms 45 7.3 Chasing Rainbows---Frequency Spectra 45 8 Bob Moog (1934 to 2005) 46 8.1 Analogue Additive Synthesis 47 8.2 Analogue Subtractive Synthesis 47 8.2.1 Oscillators 48 8.2.2 Filters 52 8.2.3 Amplifier 53 8.2.4 Envelope Generation 53 8.2.5 Modulation 54 9 Project Code 55 9.1 New Language Features 55 9.1.1 Using Tkinter 55 9.1.2 Project Header 56 9.1.3 Sound Storage 56 9.1.4 Harmonic Analysis 57 9.1.5 Oscillators and Mixer 57 9.1.6 Low Pass Filtering 61 9.1.7 Implement Butterworth Low Pass Filter 63 9.1.8 Amplitude Envelope Generation 64 9.1.9 Low Frequency Oscillator and Modulation 66 9.1.10 Analysis Displays 67 9.1.11 Graphical User Interface 69 9.1.12 GUI Support for Mixer Button 70 9.2 The Code 71 9.2.1 Project Header 71 9.2.2 Oscillator and Mixer 71 9.2.3 Filter 72 9.2.4 Amplitude Envelope Generator 73 9.2.5 Modulator 73 9.2.6 Amplifier 74 9.2.7 Displays and Output 74 9.2.8 User Interface 75 Part IV The Harmonograph---Victorian Pendulum Toy 76 10 Hugh Blackburn (1823 to 1909) 77 10.1 Motion of a Damped Pendulum 78 10.2 Blackburn's Double Pendulum 79 10.3 Harmonic Ratios---The Lateral Harmonograph 80 10.4 Parallels---Bowditch and Lissajous 80 10.5 Of Gears and Motors---The Pintograph 82 11 Project Code 83 11.1 New Language Features 83 11.1.1 Lissajous' Figures 83 11.1.2 Damped Orthogonal Pendulums 85 11.1.3 Harmonic Ratios as Fractions 86 11.1.4 User Interface 87 11.1.5 Project Header 87 11.2 The Code 87 11.2.1 Project Header 87 11.2.2 Orthogonal Polynomials 88 11.2.3 User Interface 89 Part V Counterpoint à la Mode---Composing Music 91 12 Johann Joseph Fux (1660 to 1741) 92 12.1 Gradus Ad Parnassum---Counterpoint 93 12.1.1 Melody---Direct, Contrary and Oblique Motion 93 12.1.2 Harmony---Consonance and Dissonance 93 12.1.3 Species Counterpoint 94 12.1.4 Modal Music 94 12.2 Strict Rules Allow Freedom of Composition 95 13 Project Code 96 13.1 The Colours of Noise 96 13.2 New Language Features 98 13.2.1 Project Header 99 13.2.2 Sound Storage 99 13.2.3 MIDI---Musical Instrument Digital Interface 99 13.2.4 Composing the Cantus Firmus with Pink Noise Generation 100 13.2.5 Sound Generation 101 13.2.6 Sound Output of Cantus Firmus 105 13.2.7 The Rules in Python 106 13.2.8 Output of Whole, Half and Quarter Notes for Counterpoint 107 13.2.9 User Interface and Sound 107 13.3 The Code 108 13.3.1 Project Header 108 13.3.2 Generating the Cantus Firmus with Pink Noise 109 13.3.3 Cantus Firmus Dynamics 109 13.3.4 Rules of Counterpoint 110 13.3.5 Converting MIDI to Frequency 111 13.3.6 Handling Whole, Half and Quarter Notes 111 13.3.7 Stereo Output 112 13.3.8 User Interface 112 Part VI On Safari 114 14 Where Next? 115 14.1 Generic Header 115 14.2 Part II---Visualising Sound 116 14.3 Part III---Creating Sound 116 14.4 Part IV---Visualising Harmony 117 14.5 Part V---Composition 118 Appendix Curriculum Vitae 119 Appendix Appendix Internet Links 121 Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Installing Python (Iain Gray)....Pages 3-6 The Python Shell—IDLE (Iain Gray)....Pages 7-13 Package Management (Iain Gray)....Pages 15-18 Audacity® (Iain Gray)....Pages 19-20 Front Matter ....Pages 21-21 Mark Kac (1914 to 1984) (Iain Gray)....Pages 23-27 Project Code (Iain Gray)....Pages 29-34 Front Matter ....Pages 35-35 Joseph Fourier (1768 to 1830) (Iain Gray)....Pages 37-38 Bob Moog (1934 to 2005) (Iain Gray)....Pages 39-47 Project Code (Iain Gray)....Pages 49-69 Front Matter ....Pages 71-71 Hugh Blackburn (1823 to 1909) (Iain Gray)....Pages 73-78 Project Code (Iain Gray)....Pages 79-86 Front Matter ....Pages 87-87 Johann Joseph Fux (1660 to 1741) (Iain Gray)....Pages 89-92 Project Code (Iain Gray)....Pages 93-110 Front Matter ....Pages 111-111 Where Next? (Iain Gray)....Pages 113-116 Back Matter ....Pages 117-121