alga: Algorithmic automation for various DAWs

[ deprecated, gpl, language, library, program ] [ Propose Tags ]

Deprecated.

How to algorithmically control every aspect of music using familiar, robust tools: plugins, DAWs, etc. that have not built with this in mind? I've partially solved the problem in MIDA -- program that generates MIDI files using very simple and symmetric language. However, even though MIDA is a fine tool to create scores, it's not sufficient if you want to control everything. Initially I thought I could find some plugins that can algorithmically control other plugins, but there are no decent tools of this sort. How automation is handled in a traditional DAW? Well, you draw it in a separate track. Wouldn't it be a good idea to algorithmically perform exactly that: drawing of the automation track. This is simpler than it may seem: many DAWs allow to export tracks in XML format, and this is all we need to start our hacking.

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Versions [RSS]	0.1.0, 0.2.0, 0.2.1, 0.2.2
Change log	CHANGELOG.md
Dependencies	alga (>=0.1.0), base (>=4.8 && <5), containers (>=0.5.5.1), directory (>=1.2.1.0), exceptions (>=0.8), filepath (>=1.3.0.2), formatting (>=6.2), haskeline (>=0.7.1.3), hxt (>=9.3.1.15), megaparsec (>=4.2), mtl (>=2.1.3.1), optparse-applicative (>=0.11.0.2 && <0.13), path (>=0.5.3), random, temporary (>=1.2), text (>=1.2.0.4), tf-random (>=0.5), transformers (>=0.2.0.0 && <0.5) [details]
License	GPL-3.0-only
Copyright	Copyright © 2015 Mark Karpov
Author	Mark Karpov
Maintainer	Mark Karpov
Revised	Revision 1 made by HerbertValerioRiedel at 2019-05-31T09:33:25Z
Category	Language
Home page	https://github.com/mrkkrp/alga
Source repo	head: git clone git://github.com/mrkkrp/alga.git
Uploaded	by mrkkrp at 2015-11-23T16:13:53Z
Distributions	NixOS:0.2.2
Executables	alga
Downloads	2940 total (4 in the last 30 days)
Rating	(no votes yet) [estimated by Bayesian average]
Your Rating	λ λ λ
Status	Docs available [build log] Last success reported on 2015-11-23 [all 1 reports]

Readme for alga-0.1.0

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ALGA

How to algorithmically control every aspect of music using familiar, robust tools: plugins, DAWs, etc. that have not built with this in mind? I've partially solved the problem in MIDA — program that generates MIDI files using simple, symmetric, declarative language. However, even though MIDA is a fine tool to create scores, it's not sufficient if you want to control everything. Initially I thought I could find some plugins that can algorithmically control other plugins, but there are no decent tools of this sort. How automation is handled in a traditional DAW? Well, you draw it in a separate track. Wouldn't it be a good idea to algorithmically perform exactly that — drawing of the automation track? This is simpler than it may seem: many DAWs allow to export tracks in XML format, and this is all we need to start our hacking.

How does it work?

You export your tracks in XML format, write some scripts in MIDA-like language and patch the XML file. Then you can import the files back, they will (hopefully) have fancy automation tracks in place.

Installation

Install Haskell Platform;
Install Cabal;
Download and untar git repository of MIDA, or clone it:
```
$ git clone https://github.com/mrkkrp/alga.git
```

Go to the root directory of the repository and execute:

$ cabal update
$ cabal configure
$ cabal install --only-dependencies
$ cabal build
# sh install.sh

or (if you use Stack):

$ stack build

Done (you can use uninstall.sh to uninstall the program).

Example

ALGA is a simple declarative language. Just to get feeling of it:

#
# Example of ALGA program
#

my_track.pan  = {0..16} / 16 $ [{2}]
my_track.pand = 1/8, 0

This thing changes position of stereo-panorama for track named my_track. There are 16 possible values from left to right. Panorama is changed instantly, every eighth note.

You can control volume, panorama, mute, input gain, all parameters of send slots, insertion slots, and software synths. Changes can be applied to audio tracks, group tracks, instrument tracks, and effect tracks.

See ALGA Manual for more information.

License

Distributed under GNU GPL, version 3.