README

Interface of Nature (ION)

ION is a program package for creation of electronic music, mainly generative electronic and electro-acoustic music. It is a bit obsolete and completely undocumented. But it is easy to work with. (No, it is not.) Its list of features is strange for a program of this sort. Yet you may like it if you're freaky enough. I should warn you that I will not work on it anymore as I've lost any interest for imperative languages other than assembly and C (it is in C++!).

This stuff was written partly because I wanted to write all parts of such a system myself, so it contains implementation of things that can be done better with help of good libraries, it's pretty usable anyway.

Programs

ION consists of the following programs:

• Scores Editor creates scores and translates them into .wav files.
• Sonorities Editor creates primitive instruments.
• Generator generates scores that you can then translate.
• Parameter Lists Editor creates parameter lists. It's kinda file format.
• Wave Master. Don't use it, use SoundForge or whatever.
• ION Launcher. Yes the icons are funny, I made them myself.

Installation

ION is written with commercial IDE C++ Builder. It makes compilation form source more difficult (or to be precise, it makes you get the commercial compiler). Version XE 2 or later is required.

1. You should download or clone ION repository. To clone the repository execute the following command:
   pascalCopy

   $ git clone https://github.com/mrkkrp/ion.git

2. If your version of C++ Builder is different form XE 5, or if you've installed the IDE in non-default directory, you have to edit make.cmd in order to correct some pathes on top of the file.
3. Now you're ready to run make.cmd script. This script will compile entire ION system and form ready-to-use application in bar subdirectory. However, for normal functioning one should generate installer and then install ION with the installer.
4. To generate installer we use Inno Setup. Thus, you should install Inno Setup (it is free software). Use ion.iss file to produce ION installer.
5. Run the installer.

Known issues

ION had lots of bugs in the past (it is in C++!), but now it's kinda good boy, but anyway here is a list of bad things about ION:

• When you have really big project ION needs quite a minute to load it.
• Audio quality of preview is worse than what you'll get after translation, so fear not.
• ION works like a sampler, it takes samples and then plays them with different speed, and guess what, it is stupid enough to use linear approximation. For non-technical reader: it introduces some harmonics that are audible in certain cases, especially if you work with signals that have not so many harmonics initially (sine). Personally I don't cry because of this, I like the shit, but you can use dither, really bold dither I would say. But it gets a little noisy. Personally I like background noise, but you may not, so if you don't like noise ION is probably not for you.
• ION is not interactive. It is for producers. You do a track and put it out.
• ION does not work with MIDI at all. Why? MIDI is too piano oriented and I don't like standard temperament :-) In fact, the way how ION organizes music is so different from the conventional, so there is no possible way you can work with MIDI in ION.
• ION does not provide effects. You apply them in your DAW. ION knows its place in work-flow.
• ION does not use SIMD instructions (like SSE) because it (ION) is based on wrong principles of functioning. It can do its work only sample by sample, not by packs. But it is still pretty fast.
• ION cannot open files that have non-Latin characters in their names;
• Chances are you'll meet a horned toad while using the app.

To be honest, ION is pretty obsolete. Now I use my another programs MIDA and ALGA to do the same sort of thing (but in fabulous quality, since MIDA and ALGA just create data that controls high-end quality plugins and DAWs, or whatever stuff you have). But ION still knows some tricks.

How to Improve ION

If you want to improve ION and continue its development, I advise the following improvements:

• use boost instead of STL;
• try to rewrite some parts in more functional style;
• use some well-known library to work with WAVE, abandon my library;
• use XML instead of parameter lists, abandon my library;
• it would be great if it could be compiled with GCC (Qt for GUI), so people could build it and use without buying any stuff.

License

Copyright (c) 2014 Mark Karpov

Distributed under GNU GPL, version 3.

Warning! The code itself is free as in freedom (and in fact, as in free beer), but it needs linking with proprietary libraries to work. And it must be compiled using a proprietary compiler. So this is what it is, a piece of shit that I put here anyway.