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║ P R I N T I N G M U S I C W I T H D M U S E ║
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│ <shft> F1 = Toggle to regular window │
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│ If you are reading this document for the first time and │
│ are unfamiliar with the commands for scrolling the text, you │
│ should be aware that <ctrl> ▲ (hold down the <ctrl> key and │
│ push the cursor UP key) will scroll the text UP and <ctrl> ▼ │
│ will scroll the text DOWN. You can also use the PageUp and │
│ PageDown keys to scroll quickly through the document. │
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1.1 We have tried to make printing music with this program as
easy as possible. Use the <F2> key and the right cursor <►>
to highlight the Print box. Then use the down cursor <▼> to
highlight Print music from MuseData files and press <Enter>
to select this option.
1.2 Your first task will be to identify the file or group of
files which contain the musical data you want to print.
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║ MuseData files come in two types: Music Page Files ║
║ (.mpg) and Compressed Format Files (.cft). In the case ║
║ of printing from Music Page Files, you have two options: ║
║ (1) you can print a single .mpg file, or (2) you can ║
║ print all (.mpg) files in a directory. In the case of ║
║ printing from a Compressed Format File, the structure ║
║ of the .cft file will determine your print options. ║
║ A .cft file can be a compressed version of (1) a single ║
║ .mpg file, (2) a directory of .mpg files, or (3) a ║
║ directory containing sub-directories of .mpg files. ║
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1.3 A box will appear showing all of the sub-directorys, all
of the .mpg files, and all of the .cft files in the current
directory. You can use the highlight and the <Enter> key to
change the current directory (.. = change to parent directory),
or to select a .cft file or a .mpg file. Use the <F3> key to
select a sub-directory containing .mpg files.
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║ The only problem with this system is that you need to ║
║ know location of the .cft and .mpg files on your file ║
║ system. Presumably you will have loaded these files ║
║ yourself, either from the internet or from portable ║
║ media. If you can't remember where you put them, the ║
║ Resident File Manager (one of the utilies) can be useful ║
║ in finding them. Also, if you have activated the Zbex ║
║ programming language, the Zbex "lost" program will give ║
║ you the names and locations of all .cft or .mpg files ║
║ on your file system. ║
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1.4 After you have selected a data file for printing, Dmuse will
tell you what is in the file or files. Follow the instructions
on the screen to select the page you would like to print first.
Also indicate the number of pages you would like printed.
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║ Subjects relating to Printing Music ║
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I. Type of Printer
2.1 Dmuse can print music on any printer which understands
the HP PCL3 command language. This includes all HP LaserJet
models after the first one, and most of the high-end, color
InkJet printers from HP. Many non-HP printers also understand
(provide support for) the HP PCL3 command language. At the
moment, Dmuse does not produce output in the Adobe Postscript
format. This is one of the features being contemplated in
future versions of this program.
2.2 Dmuse expects to find your printer hooked up to the LPT1
parallel port on your computer. You must also make sure that
you have secured permission to write to the device /dev/lp0
before you start Dmuse.
II. Downloading Fonts
2.3 Dmuse prints music using special music characters. These
characters must be downloaded to your printer before you attempt
to print music; otherwise you will get the most amazing garbage
from your printer. The Download Printer Fonts utility can be
found under both the Utilites box and the Print box of the top
menu bar.
III. Compressing and de-compressing music data files.
2.4 Musical notation files are almost always transmitted in
the .cft format. Not only is this format much more efficient
(compression = about 4.5 to 1), but also the .cft format
allows the tranmission of multiple pages in a specified
directory structure. You can display music directly from the
.cft format; however, if you want to make modifications to
the musical data, you must run the Expand .cft file utility
to create a set of equivalent .mpg files. The utility does
not alter the original .cft file. mpg files are flat ASCII
files and can be edited in a Dmuse window.
2.5 If you want to compress a set of .mpg files into a .cft file,
there is also a utility for this, namely Compress MusePage files
to .cft file. Care must be taken in how you alter the .mpg
files; otherwise the compression to the .cft format could produce
unpredictable results. For more information on the structure of
.cft files and .mpg files, see the selectons mpg file format and
cft file format under the Help box of the top menu bar.
IV. Building Libraries of Slurs.
2.6 In musical notation, slurs are the curved lines used to
link groups of notes together. Because slurs can vary widely
in shape and length, they are the most difficult and time
consuming notation to produce using the computer. Fortunately,
it is possible to construct sets of slurs which can deliver the
correct slur shape about 90 percent of the time. These sets
are quite large and occupy about seven megabytes of disk space
for each note size. The computation of a set (for each note
size) takes anywhere about 8 seconds on a 1 GHz computer. The
payoff is that the display and printing of music will run an
average of 30 percent faster (depending on the number of slurs
on a page) with slur libraries than without them. The utility
for building slur libraries is under the Graphics header in the
menu bar.
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