UMass Lowell Depts. of Music and Computer Science
73.212 / 91.212 Sound Thinking
Spring 2012 Semester, Section 201
Prof. Jesse M. Heines and Prof. Gena R. Greher
Assignment No. 6
Transposing with Scratch
Date Due:
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Contents
What This Assignment Is About
This assignment extends your work with Scratch into the use of MIDI. You are to create a MIDI composition that conforms to the parameters enumerated below. Please be sure to read these carefully!
As always in this course, this assignment requires you to work with a partner. We have set up the new partner pairings below, and you should consult the class roster page to find your partner’s (or partners’) e-mail address(es).
Names removed per IRB regulations.
What You Are To Do
- Remember that all aspects of this project except your reflection are to be done with your partner.
- Encode a song into a list (or set of lists) as we will have done in class. This may be an original composition or a song you like, but it should be encoded using deltas rather than absolute notes.
- Write the Scratch code to read your list(s) and play the song they encode. Do this in such a way that allows you to transpose the song into any key simply by changing the starting note.
- Devise a way for the user to change the starting note without having to explicitly change it in the code.
- As you work, write notes on what you did so that someone else (or even yourself a few months from now) can reproduce what you did. Take notes on things that you did and then undid, too, so that you do not forget the things you tried that you don’t feel worked out well.
- As always, when you finish, enter your notes and reflection into the form at http://bit.ly/stassn6. That form is also appended to the online version of this write-up.
Students who wish to extend this assignment may do so by adding multiple parts as we will have done in class and/or adding graphics that provide buttons that users can click to change the key up or down.
Submitting Your Assignment for Grading
(1) As you did for Assignment No. 5, e-mail your Scratch program (only the .sb file) to umlsoundthinking2012@gmail.com. Please be sure to name the file exactly as shown below, paying particular attention to the uppercase and lowercase letters in the parts that are not your name.
YourLastName_YourFirstName_PartnerLastName_PartnerFirstName_Assn6_TransposingUsingLists.sb
The “_Assn6_TransposingUsingLists.sb” part is standard and should appear exactly like that in everyone’s submission.
(2) The second part of this assignment is to submit your notes and reflection as described in step 6 above. Please review our comments on your previous assignment submissions regarding your reflections and address any issues we mentioned to maximize your grade on this part of the assignment.
How You Will Be Graded
This assignment will be evaluated on the following criteria.
- For the Program
- Is the song implemented using lists?
- Can the song be played in any key?
- Can the key be changed without changing the value of a variable in the code?
- Is the program as short as possible?
- Does the program compensate for any timing issues?
- Does the program include comments to identify the major sections?
- For the Notes
- Are your notes thorough and clear?
- Could someone reproduce your work from the notes you provided?
- For the Reflection
- Did
you think about the various aspects of this assignment and discuss their relation to musical composition?
- What did you learn about music and what did you learn about computing?
- What did you learn from the experience of working with this partner?
- Was your writing and its formatting, grammar, spelling, etc. done professionally?
