6-03-04 I tar'ed my website and wrote my paper. Maybe I'll add to the paper tomorrow. Also, I put online the College page etc.
6-01-04 Today I formatted my research paper and began to write the new stuff I learned this quarter.
GOAL: Wrap things up and write the research paper
WEEK: May 31 2004
5-27-04 Today, learned how to archive avec tar -cvvf, and I ditched OpenOffice and re-Latexed my lost paper using the text from my second-quarter paper.
5-25-04 Today I managed to port my old research paper into the new one, since I lost all the latex for the old one. OpenOffice is somewhat more convenient anyway. I'll try to add the equations etc. sometime soon.
5-24-04 I've made my code a little prettier (with colors!) and posted it into the paper I'm writing.
GOAL: Continue work on research paper
WEEK: May 24 2004
5-20-04 I've posted the extra credit article on my website. It can be found here. I also began writing my research paper, which I decided to do in OpenOffice because of its extensive PDF-writing abilities.
5-18-04 I finished researching and writing the paper. I came to my own conclusion as to what the music industry should do in order to save itself. The paper is written for someone who doesn't know much about the current piracy situation, and was designed as kind of an introduction.
5-17-04 Today I started work on an extra credit report I will be doing on the RIAA.
GOAL: Work on papers
WEEK: May 17 2004
5-13-04 - Macroeconomics AP
5-11-04 - Psychology AP
GOAL: APs :)
WEEK: May 10 2004
5-07-04 - I destroyed the "source" for the research paper. It was originally in latex, and I used pdftotext to try to rebuild the file. It will take a while, since I will have to relearn all the code for mathematical formulas and pictures.
5-05-04 - Wrote up my project description, which I'll probably add to later. I also put the 4th Quarter Update page on the sidebar. I'm thinking about changing the colors on my website to something more vibrant than gray and blue.
5-03-04 - English AP
GOAL: Fix up website a bit and learn things about Linux.
WEEK: May 3 2004
4-29-04 - I worked on my project description. I also decided to begin learning how Linux handles sound and sound drivers after I read an interesting article on Slashdot about some troubles with soundcards. It would be useful to know how exactly CCRMA interacts with the soundcard, and I think it might be interesting too. This would help guide me towards my "hardware, software I/O" research area as well.
4-27-04 - I put together the "Fourth Quarter Update" page on my site. I'm not putting it up yet because I want to put the files on my site first. You can preview it here.
4-26-04 - Today I learned the C++ grahpical devices I figured I'd need to produce the equalizer without resorting to complicated includes such as POV-Ray and OpenGL.
GOAL: Redo some of the graphical side of the equalizer using information found from some new internet sites
WEEK: Apr 26 2004
4-22-04 - I'm starting a report now on the inner workings of my project. Since the project itself is becoming infinitely more complicated every time I work on it, I decided to summarize what I've done for the benefit of the curious.
4-20-04 - I started writing papers on the new articles, maybe to raise my research grade--I've found 5 articles, of which I'll probably report on 2 or 3.
4-19-04 - I searched around for programming involved with sound equalization, etc. I came up with a bunch of reports on audio research (google: pdf, audio equalizer). I'll maybe post reports on them next week.
GOAL: Research
WEEK: Apr 19 2004
4-15-04 - Today's work was perhaps a little marred by the test I have next period, but I did succeed in downloading a pdf tutorial on audio manipulation. It's interesting stuff.
4-13-04 - Senior skip day. It was fun.
4-12-04 - Today I updated my site and made my non-working graphical interface a little more aesthetic. Maybe I'll make the whole thing more intuitive tomorrow (e.g. make the play button say "play" instead of "run", etc.)
GOAL: Do some research, I need to stop gunking up my program to work on that for a while.
WEEK: Apr 12 2004
4-03-04 - Cleaned up my site and data a bit for Spring Break. After Winter Break, it took me a week to get everything back in order, so this time I will just put it together before break.
4-01-04 - Today I will finish the quiz and recompile my research paper, since it got lost when I reorganized my website. I only have the final research paper, and not the latex version, which is a huge pain because now I will have to rewrite the code. Blech.
3-30-04 - Spent the whole period doing taking a quiz...
GOAL: Write research paper and compile stuff onto my 3rd Quarter page on my site.
WEEK: Mar 29 2004
3-25-04 - I'm beginning to implement the interface into the code. I programmed in certain "cues" at certain points in the program--such as, say the time in the song for a counter/progress bar and a variable to maybe stop the song in the middle for a more reliable stop button.
3-23-04 - I ripped off some graphics from a website, so now my interface is kind of pretty. I also coded the regions (the x-y coords) of the interface that will be used for buttons, indicators, etc. It should be functional by spring break.
3-22-04 - Short period day, no time to accomplish anything!
GOAL: Work on graphical interface buttons, maybe figure out how to implement code into the interface.
WEEK: Mar 22 2004
3-18-04 - Today I removed some redundant code from my sloppily done XMP-CCRMA merge. I'm beginning to regret the slipshod job I did then, and I may have to rewrite the code before a stable graphical interface can be considered.
3-16-04 - Absent for the ethics forum at GMU.
3-15-04 - I fixed up the php on my site to make it easier to make changes. I should never again have to go to every one of my pages and change a line of code to make them uniform.
GOAL: Work on oral report, edit website.
WEEK: Mar 15 2004
3-11-04 - Explosions in Spain, I'm just keeping track of that. Also helped a bit with the posters. Meanwhile, the interface thing ground to a halt, so I decided to work on my website. It is beautiful beyond belief.
3-09-04 - Brand new interface in the works--I'm trying to see if I can use another editor (other than C++, that is) to provide an interface in Linux. I think I'll confer with Ryan Mahony to see how he did his interface, but I think that this part won't be too hard.
3-08-04 - Worked on error logging so that it doesn't crash (I like it better when it crashes, it makes for better error detection), but now it should tell you that there's a problem.
GOAL: Complete the executable and put it online.
WEEK: Mar 8 2004
3-04-04 - Watched some other people's projects today. I also considered changing the "vars" file from an include to a read-in file, so that it is easier to manipulate for the user. Right now I'm recompiling it every time for testing, but that's laborious, so either altering the vars file or adding a special test function (which would say, for example, if the file is "avocado.wav" it will run the test instead of simply playing.) I've recently mostly been reorganizing my project, because I realized that a lot of it is simply inefficient, and testing is one of the worst parts.
3-02-04 - I combined the code to XMP and CCRMA to some degree; before now they had been largely segregated for the sake of simplicity in error-detection. The code is at the point where it really isn't necessary to have the two codes separate, and it will make adding feature simpler.
3-01-04 - Today I did some simple work on the code, mostly mainenance and reorganzing.
GOAL: Work on executable, try to compile various components so it isn't heavy on installation.
WEEK: Mar 1 2004
2-26-04 - The Debian package for XMP requires some sort of root access to install in order to function. I realize now that the file I am programming is too system-based to put in one executable; it includes some heavy influence on the device drivers themselves. I've been running the program at home, but if I want to make an executable I will need to rewire the play function to assume the system device without mucking with it.
02-24-04
- Restarted work on making a graphical equalization display. I've
decided I may try to hack XMP for their graphic equalizer. Also,
I'm beginning work on putting all the includes together for an
executable file for Mr. Latimer.
02-23-04 - Not much accomplished
today. Added the 3rd Quarter tab on the menu you see at left, and
wrote the 3rd Quarter page.
GOAL: Rework visualization module to
show actual volume.
WEEK: Feb 23 2004
02-19-04
- Fixed a major glitch in the php for my web counter, it used to reset
when you reloaded the page too fast. It was very stupid, and I
never knew how many people went to my site. But anyways, today I
fiddled with the MOD a bit and researched online to find a better
volume display, since I don't want to throw out the whole idea of a
grpahical equalizer. Oh, and I updated my logs.
02-17-04
- Deleted the retarded and time-consuming volume display, I'm now
working to include MOD support for the player.
02-16-04 - Today I php'ed my entire
site. It now also has a counter. It's very awesome, you're
all jealous.
GOAL: Rework visualization module to
show actual volume.
WEEK: Feb 16 2004
02-12-04
- Instead of showing the volume level as useless numbers, the code now
shows them as useless bar graphs. Instead of "4", the code now
prints "####", which therefore gives you an idea of how truly erratic
the code is. Maybe I will remove it, the volume goes up and down
(about 20 frames per second, in my little test), and maybe I can find a
better code that presents the true volume. Unfortunately, my code
seems to be at fault, since the code for the volume MOD seems
fine. Ugh.
02-10-04
- Today I attempted to split the left and right channels of sound for
the volume display; it failed pretty dismally. I never realized
that it would be this difficult. I figured that I could produce
two different functions for each channel and route the volume-display
code to each, but I cannot play the channels simultaneously when I do
this.
02-09-04 - Now my equalizer is a
real display. It shows a continuous stream of data, rather than
one-per-second, and it shows them real-time instead of putting them in
a text file. So, when you play a file, it produces a streaming
set of numbers in the terminal. It is still incredibly erratic
and shows no relevant information unless the sound is either especially
quiet or loud, but it is pretty.
GOAL: Continue work and development on
the graphic equalizer module.
WEEK: Feb 09 2004
02-05-04
- Today I totally revamped the website. Instead of a stupid
collection of haphazard web pages, they're all linked by a table on the
left. Look at it, isn't it beautiful? Also, I standardized
the pages so they looked a little more uniform.
02-03-04
- I recoded my own code to include the new XMP mods I found on
Monday. The difference isn't noticeable, but I'm sure the code is
now cleaner and more Debianic.
02-02-04 - Miraculously, Debian
finally repaired their package download site. I elatedly
downloaded XMP for Debian, and now I can play MOD files on the
computers at schools. I have also downloaded a few MODs to try
out; it sounds glorious.
GOAL: Add support for MODs in my play
file. (Long shot)
WEEK: Feb 02 2004
01-29-04 - I added the grapher to my
project. About once per second, the program adds a number to a
text file that indicates the current output level. The text file
looks something like "34727241...", and is obviously completely
unreliable as to determining the sound level, since it is so erratic
and the numbers are so near one another anyway.
01-27-04 - I found a volume level
grapher online. It is a module that I could put into my program
that displays the volume level of sound output as a number, one to
seven. It is fairly stupid in my opinion, but it is a good start.
01-26-04 - Today I researched
possible thrid quarter plans. I'm thinking that I may want to
make the equalizer graphical, whether I have a graphical interface for
setting the equalizer or a visual indicater of how well the equalizer
is working (e.g., show the user what the various equalizer levels are
being played). This would be a major effort, since I hav no idea
how to code graphical interfaces in C++, but I may use another
visual-oriented editor (such as Visual Basic) for that portion of the
code.
GOAL: Develop a plan for coding in the
third quarter.
WEEK: Jan 26 2004
01-24-04 - Today I finished my poster, and
wrapped up my project.
01-22-04 - I presented my oral
report and started
updating my web site to include the new code and testing, etc.
01-20-04 - Today I printed
everything for the
poster, it's nearly finished now, and I worked on my oral
presentation. The paper and the poster PDF will be tomorrow's and
Friday's projects.
GOAL: Work on project, poster and oral
presentation.
WEEK: Jan 19 2004
01-15-04
- I've recompiled the Makefile in order to accommodate the new XMP
panning code. Now it compiles, though I have lots of "commented"
code that I wish I could change. The program is still very much
in planning stages right now.
01-13-04
- Today I grafted XMP's volume code into play. It isn't yet
functional because of the disparity between the XMP's file-altering
code and CCRMA's file-output code. I need to somehow combine the
two before outputting--an arduous task. Finally, I studied XMP's
panning code to better understand how it fits into the bit reader's
code later in the XMP source.
01-12-04 - I tracked down the XMP code for
instrument volume handling. So, I've coded my play function to
include both the CCRMA and XMP includes, and both of them will load the
file.
GOAL: Isolate the panning and volume
functions in XMP.
WEEK: Jan 12 2004
01-08-04
- I've created a working Makefile for the CCRMA code. I'm working
on putting together includes for the XMP in order to get that "half" of
the code working. So, my play function--without the equalizer
components--is now fully compilable, which should make it slightly more
user-friendly.
01-06-04
- Worked on project poster and drafting oral presentation.
01-05-04 - Reorienting myself after winter
break. Didn't feel like coding much, so just looked at some of my
old code.
GOAL: Relearn some code and try to
integrate XMP into CCRMA more slowly.
WEEK: Jan 5 2004
12-18-03
- Right now I'm just commenting and archiving all my code so I don't
forget everything when I return from winter break.
12-16-03
- I've finally gotten the code to the point where it doesn't segfault,
but that's not very important. The play function no longer plays
sound, and I may have to work the new XMP code piece by piece in order
to find out what's causing the trouble. This will mean deleting
the entire XMP graft, and learning what each little part of the new
code does in order to add it line by line.
12-15-03
- Today was a pointless class, snow delay.
GOAL: Integrate XMP code into CCRMA
code.
WEEK: Dec 15 2003
12-11-03 - I've got the XMP code inside the CCRMA
code now, though it doesn't function very effectively. I'm clearly
going to need to manipulate the CCRMA code itself and possibly even the
includes to accommodate the XMP software. This project is
starting
to look far more immense than I had previously anticipated.
12-09-03 - Same as yesterday, I've found and
isolated all the functions, but it looks like it's going to take a
while to integrate the code into CCRMA. That's going to be the
project for the next few weeks.
12-08-03 - Right now I'm isolating the XMP code
that I'm going to include in my base "play" function, which will be
mostly panning and direct input/output into my CCRMA code.
GOAL: Work on XMP and possibly try to
include it into my base code.
WEEK: Dec 8 2003
12-04-03 - I've been researching the
XMP code, and I've found the play code. Now I'm trying to find
the WaveOut code in order to replace it with CCRMA's WaveOut code.
12-02-03 - Same as below. The Debian
packages site is still down ("security was compromised" or something
like that), so I'll search for another copy. Meanwhile, I'll
learn file input/output so I can read the vars file.
12-01-03 - Try to compile the XMP program.
I've downloaded it in Windows and it works, and I've downloaded in the
syslab and it doesn't work. I can't figure out what the
executable is. Evidently I'll need a special Debian version of
the program, and the Debian server is down, so like yeah.
GOAL: Reroute the includes of the
music player, work the MODs into alignment with the CCRMA (may not be
possible, but well worth a try)
WEEK: Dec 1 2003
11-25-03 - I've used the "vars"
include file as just that, an include. That means that when I
compile the program, it compiles the include file, so it does not leave
a separate text file for the user to manipulate. That means that
I will have to learn file-reading after all.
11-24-03 - Right now the music stays on the hard
drive when playing, without entering a buffer so I can alter it before
it exits the speakers. This means that I will have problems
altering the music itself, and that if I try I might end up playing a
kind of frame-by-frame music that will be disgustingly slow and
irritating to listen to. So, I'll try to get CCRMA to buffer the
music. No huge deal.
GOAL: Buffer the data; work on
interface
WEEK: Nov 24 2003
11-19-03 - Learning how to write a
Makefile, as
well as writing the iteration report. I've discovered that the
CCRMA code is reliant on Makefiles to run, because the .cpp and .h
files are so complicated and interconnected. Now I will try to
learn the Makefile language (which is related but very different from
C++) so that I can include my own modules in my play functions.
11-18-03 - I've discovered
that the g++ includes are still linked to the Debian g++ includes,
despite the makefile. This leads me to believe that I will have
to learn the use of g++ a little better. I think that I can take
the include files for the Debian folder and put them in the CCRMA
folder and completely reroute g++ into the CCRMA folder. I've
also found that the CCRMA play function does not compile either, and
that it wasn't compiling as I had believed. The other functions
do, though, so I'll try to isolate the problem, which seems focused on
the RtAudio.h. I may have to reinstall it.
11-17-03 - Suddenly the
play function won't compile. The "play" function in the folder
that came with the CCRMA program will, and it appears that a
specialized makefile is responsible. The makefile seems to
reroute
the include files to the CCRMA basics. So, I've copied the
makefile into the folder where I have been reprogramming play and
trying to reconfigure it to route to the CCRMA include as well.
GOAL: Reroute the includes of the
music player, work the MODs into alignment with the CCRMA (may not be
possible, but well worth a try)
WEEK: Nov 17 2003
11-13-03 - Since the input file ("vars") that
I've created would work as a test file, I'm going to code a major
function that I'll call "music" and which I can route to various bits
of code as a testing procedure. For example, when I need to test
the MOD functions against the CCRMA functions, I'll allow the code to
take a direction from the "vars" file (such as MOD = 1 or CCRMA = 1)
and thus integrate the project.
11-11-03 - I've downloaded
some MOD configurations from the web. These are significantly
less user-friendly, of course, than the CCRMA. I've isolated some
of the basic functions, which are buried in a ton of "bureaucratic"
code that manages filing and memory systems. A huge issue to deal
with now is parallel processing of various sounds, because the MOD
function plays many sounds at once, which the CCRMA does not appear to
be configured to do. I think that I'll need to "superimpose" some
new code in order to reconcile the difference.
11-10-03 - I've come to the
realization that I will need to spend a lot of time making the base
functions work. Since it's Monday, I don't want to bear down and
work on the machine logged for music, but I don't see why it doesn't
work on normal Linux machines.
GOAL: FIX THE CCRMA PLAY FUNCTION!
WEEK: Nov 10 2003
11-06-03 - In
addition to fixing the built-in CCRMA play function, by correcting the
includes (doesn't work completely yet), I allowed it to include set
parameters in another file.
11-05-03 - The play
function, alas, does not work independently. More bug-fixing.
GOAL: Begin compiling functions
into a conglomerate to call mine.
WEEK: Nov 3 2003
10-30-03 -
Update the website with the research etc. that I've done, will
soon need to write the research paper finally.
10-28-03 - A disaster in
Hum has
forced me to work on a presentation instead.
10-27-03 - Mostly sorting
out and learning something about the internal functionings of CCRMA.
GOAL: Write my own program to play
sound, if the paper doesn't bog me down too much.
WEEK: Oct 27 2003
10-23-03 -
Researched the STK help files for the Unix version of CCRMA
10-21-03 - Compiled several
play functions, but my limited knowledge of Unix means I may have to
begin working with the CCRMA/STK help files.
10-20-03 - Got the computer
playing music, finally, so now I can start running programs on it.
GOAL: Start compiling programs in
CCRMA in order to begin my manipulation of sound.
WEEK: Oct 20 2003
10-16-03 - Today,
the whole period was spent doing the project proposal and website and
other bureaucratic activities.
10-15-03 - Short period,
worked on web page a little.
10-14-03 - Uhh figure out
the CCRMA code, I'll need to work around the problems in the Unix
user-assign system and I'll need to bring in headphones someday.
GOAL: Explore CCRMA a bit, maybe
test out CSound. Maybe.
WEEK: Oct 13 2003
10-09-03 - Finally figured
how to effectively compile Unix programs, it now plays music...sort
of...
10-07-03 - More messing
around with CCRMA to no avail.
10-06-03 - The code has
compiled, but there are many problems with it (see Tests/Analyses).
It will take debugging to figure out why it won't work. Yay.
GOAL: Compare CSound to CCRMA and
research their capabilities.
WEEK: Oct 6 2003
10-02-03 - Attempt
to
compile CCRMA code.
9-30-03 - Absent.
9-29-03 - Did a little
research into CCRMA.
GOAL: Compare CSound to CCRMA and
research their capabilities.
WEEK: Sep 29 2003
9-25-03 - Look into a
different music format, from Stanford's CCRMA.
9-23-03 - Look into
viability of CSound installation.
9-22-03 - Look into sound
cards for Linux.
GOAL: Implement WAV, or possibly
the C++ friendly CSound into the computer.
WEEK: Sep 22 2003
9-18-03 - Hurricane.
9-16-03 - Research into
playing WAV files (I've ditched MIDI for WAV, maybe I'll update the
proposal sometime...), tried to determine availability of raw C++ WAV
codecs (conclusion: not very available).
9-15-03 - Reworked website
again, performed a little research on existing audio equalizers.
GOAL: Research Input/Output codes
to determine viability of tech lab proposal
WEEK: Sep 15 2003
9-11-03 - Improved
website,
begun learning LaTeX.
GOAL: Develop project proposal and
create web page
WEEK: Sep 8 2003