You can run from https://musicblocks.sugarlabs.org.
-
When you first launch Music Blocks in your browser, you'll see a stack
-of blocks representing three notes: Sol 4, Mi 4, and Sol 4. The
+of blocks representing three notes: Sol 4, Mi 4, and Sol 2. The
first two notes are 1/4 notes; the third note is a 1/2 note.
Try clicking on the Start block or click on the Play button. You should hear the notes play in succession: Sol Mi Sol.
To write your own programs, drag blocks from their respective palettes on the left side of the screen. Use multiple blocks in stack(s) to @@ -116,7 +116,7 @@
All of the other palettes are described in the Turtle Blocks documentation pages.
At the heart of Music Blocks is the concept of a note. A note, defined by the Note value block defines a length of time and a set of actions to occur in that time. Typically the action is to play a @@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
2/3
seconds (666 microseconds) in duration.
-
The Pitch block (found on the Pitch Palette) is used to specify the
pitch of a note. By default, we use traditional western Solfege, i.e.,
Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, where Do is mapped to
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@
In addition to specifying the note name, you must also specify an
octave. The frequency of a note doubles as the octave increases. A2 is
110 Hertz; A3 is 220 Hertz; A4 is 440 Hertz; etc.
Two special blocks can be used with a Pitch block to specify the
name of the pitch: the Solfege block and the Pitch-Name block. The
Solfege block uses selectors to scroll through Do, Re, Mi,
@@ -159,31 +159,31 @@
The Set timbre block, found on the Tone palette, lets you choose a timbre for a note. In the above example, a guitar model is used to make any notes contained within the block's clamp will sound as if they are being played on a guitar.
-
The Set synth volume block, found on the Volume palette, lets you
change the volume, which ranges from 0 (silent) to 100 (full
volume), of any notes contained with the block's clamp.
The Set drum block, which is used inside of the clamp of a Note value block is used to add drum sounds to a note. It is found on the Drum palette.
-
The Repeat block, found on the Flow palette, is used to create loops. Whatever stack of blocks are placed inside its clamp will be repeated. It can be used to repeat individual notes, or entire phrases of music.
-
The Duplicate block, found on the Rhythms palette, is used to
repeat any contained notes. Similar to using a Repeat block, but
rather than repeating a sequence of notes multiple times, each note is
repeated in turn, e.g. duplicate x2 of 4 4 8 would result in 4 4 4
4 8 8, where as repeat x2 of 4 4 8 would result in 4 4 8 4 4 8.
The Start block, found on the Action palette, is tied to the Run button. Anything inside of the clamp of the Start button will be run when the button is pressed.
@@ -194,8 +194,8 @@
The Action block, also found on the Action palette, is used to create a collection of blocks that can be run as a group. Whenever you create an Action block, a new block corresponding to that action is @@ -208,61 +208,61 @@
The Store in block, found on the Boxes palette, is used to store a value. That value can be retrieved using the Box block. The value can be modified using the Add one block. These blocks are the typical way in which variables are stored and retrieved in Music Blocks.
-
The Forward block, found on the Mouse palette, is used to draw straight lines. (Note that if this block is used inside of a Note value block—the line will be drawn as the note plays; otherwise the line is drawn "instantly".)
-
The Right block, found on the Mouse palette, is used to rotate the mouse heading. (Note that if this block is used inside of a Note value block—the heading will change as the note plays; otherwise the heading is changed "instantly".)
-
The Pen up and Pen down blocks, found on the Pen palette, determine whether or not the mouse draws as it moves.
-
The Set shade block, also found on the Pen palette, is used to set
the lightness or darkness of the "ink" used in the mouse pen. set
shade 0 is black. set shade 100 is white.
The Set color block, also found on the Pen palette, is used to set
the color of the "ink" used in the mouse pen. set color 0 is
red. set color 70 is blue.
The Random block, found on the Numbers palette, is used to generate a random number, because sometimes being unpredictable is nice.
-
The One of block, also found on the Numbers palette, is used to generate a binary choice, one of "this" or "that", because sometimes being unpredictable is nice.
-
The Show block, found on the Media palette, is used to display text and images.
-
The Shell block, also found on the Media palette, is used to change the appearance of a mouse, which can then act like a "sprite" in an animation.
-
The Mouse button block, found on the Sensors palette, returns true if the mouse button is clicked. The mouse button block can be used to create some interactivity in your program.
-
The Cursor x and Cursor y blocks, also found on the Sensors palette, return the X and Y coordinates of the cursor. These blocks can also be used to create interactive programs.
-
The Push and Pop blocks, found on the Heap palette, are used to store and retrieve values on/from a first-in, last-out (FILO) program heap.
-
The Print block, found on the Extras palette, is used to print messages during program execution. It is very useful as a debugging tool and also as a means of adding lyrics to your music—think @@ -270,7 +270,7 @@
Music Blocks has various Widgets that can be used within Music Blocks to enhance your experience. The Pitch-time matrix is described here.
-
Many of the blocks on this palette are used to create a matrix of "pitch" and "note value". The matrix is a convenient and intuitive way for generating short musical gestures, which can be regenerated as a @@ -281,12 +281,12 @@
Pitch-time Matrix blocks clamp is used to define the matrix: A row in the matrix is created for each Pitch block and columns are created for individual notes, which are created by using Rhythm blocks, individual note blocks, or the Tuplet block.
-
The Rhythm block is used to specify a series of notes of the same duration (e.g., three quarter notes or seven eighth notes). The number of notes is the top argument; the bottom argument is the the note @@ -308,8 +308,8 @@
If you would like multiple note values in a row, simply use the Repeat block clamp or Duplicate block clamp.
-
The Tuplet block is how we create rhythms that do not fit into a simple "power of two" rhythmic space. A tuplet, mathematically, is a collection of notes that are scaled to map into a specified