From: CADS_COLE@GALLUA.BITNET (Kevin Cole; Washington DC)
Subject: MIDI Cycluphonics version 1.0 released.
Organization: Gallaudet Research Institute
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 19:24:49 GMT


I have just uploaded a package dubbed "MIDI Cycluphonics", to
wuarchive.wustl.edu in the /systems/amiga/incoming/misc directory.  Look for 
CycLuPhonics.ReadMe and CycLuPhonics.LZH.

MIDI Cycluphonics is a program developed by Jim Vaccaro and Rick Hohensee.  In
a word, it's a new twist on the old color organ.  Since it's not mine, I don't
feel comfortable saying more than that.  I am merely the distributor of the
package.  For further information contact Rick, at the address mentioned in the
document files. 

This archive should contain the following files:

read.me                    972  What you're reading now.
mcf3.doc                  2997  Ideas on how the program is/should be built.
midi.library              6372  An older version of the midi.library.
abstract                   338  Brief explaination of the concept.
cycluphonics"explained"   3351  Detailed explaination of the concept.
mcf2                     18220  The actual working program.

                                             Kevin Cole
                                             Gallaudet University
                                             July 17, 1992

Here's the mcf3.doc for further explaination:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Abstract

   What is MCF3?  It is a program written by Jim Vacarro Ph.D. to implement a
concept developed initially by yours truly, Rick Hohensee.  The concept in
question I have tentatively dubbed cycluphonics.  Basically cycluphonics is a
new color-organ algorithm based on a color wheel and a musical cycle of fifths.
In other words, cycluphonics is a system to convert sounds to colors or vice
versa which, in my biased opinion, makes the music correlate with the visuals
better than has been the case with similar systems.  Rather than attempt to
explain further, MCF3 lets someone with MIDI capability and an Amiga experience
an implementation of cycluphonics first-hand.  This a working, but kludgey,
alpha version.  Binary only. 


MCF requirements as of June 13, 1992

   Any Amiga, the enclosed version of the Pregnant Badger MIDI library, (v2.0
enclosed, the only one that seems to work), a 32-color image screen, a viewer
that doesn't cycle the colors, and a source of MIDI events at the serial port. 


Description

   MCF accepts MIDI-in, converts note events to color values, blends the colors
if the notes are simultaneous, and changes a 32-color color palette to the
resulting colors of the last 32 sound events.  When you run MCF you will get a
window with some gadgets in it.  The one you must click first is 'grab screen'.
This requires that your topmost screen be a 32 color image with no color
cycling or the like.  This means you must have an image screen over the screen
MCF occupies when you click 'grab screen', which further means that you will
have to drag the image screen down a ways to get at the MCF window.  The grab
screen mechanism violates ADOS protocols, so turn everything off before exiting
or meditate.  Actually only 30 colors are cycled. The first 2 are usually black
and white, and aren't cycled. 

   Your state now is that you are looking at the MCF window with an image
screen visible at the bottom of your physical screen, and you have clicked the
grab screen gadget.  Click on 'cycling on', and if there are MIDI notes at the
serial port, the colors of the image screen will be changed in accordance with
the settings of the 'cycle on event' gadgets, cycluphonically. 


If you don't have any external MIDI hardware...

   I don't either.  Jim told me how to do a cheap compromise, though.  Get a
DB-25 male connector at Radio Shack.  Connect pins 2 and 3.  Viola.  MIDI out
to in.  Then Deluxe Music and similar programs can drive MCF. 


Acknowledgement and final words

   I'd like to thank Jim Vacarro for shining his unbounded expertise on my
idea.  My only access point to the world at large for comments, questions and
so on is the P.O. box listed below.  Jim can be addressed through me.  Enjoy.
If you use this publicly please give credit where credit is due. 


                                          Rick Hohensee
                                          P.O. Box 11340
                                          Washington, DC  20008
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.audio