| 1 | |
| 2 | Mup Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
| 3 | |
| 4 | 1. Frequent questions for those who have not yet used Mup |
| 5 | |
| 6 | 1.1 Q: What makes Mup unique? Why should I consider using |
| 7 | Mup? |
| 8 | |
| 9 | 1. Mup provides high quality music output at very low |
| 10 | cost. You can download Mup and try it out for |
| 11 | yourself. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | 2. Mup is available ready-to-run for several computer |
| 14 | operating systems, and is also available in source |
| 15 | form, so that it can be run on almost any kind of |
| 16 | computers, including Windows, Apple, Linux or Unix. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | 3. If you prefer a command line interface, Mup provides |
| 19 | that, and doesn't require using a mouse or learning a |
| 20 | new editor; you can just create a Mup input file using |
| 21 | any text editor of your choice. However, if you |
| 22 | prefer an interface with menus and integrated editor, |
| 23 | the companion Mupmate program provides that. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | 4. Mup input can be easily generated or manipulated by |
| 26 | another program. Input files are typically small, so |
| 27 | it doesn't take a long time to create them. Since they |
| 28 | are ordinary text they can easily be moved to other |
| 29 | systems, even if the other system uses a different |
| 30 | operating system. For example, it would be easy to |
| 31 | email a song in Mup format to a friend, and if they |
| 32 | had Mup, they could then print it out or play it via |
| 33 | MIDI. Since Mup output is standard PostScript or |
| 34 | standard MIDI, output files are also portable to |
| 35 | almost any operating system. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | 5. Mup handles page layout details, but provides ways to |
| 38 | alter the layout if you wish. It has the power to |
| 39 | handle complicated scores, and can produce |
| 40 | professional-quality output quickly. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | 6. Mup's ability to produce MIDI output can be very |
| 43 | helpful for "proof listening" to your music, which is |
| 44 | usually a very effective way to spot errors that you |
| 45 | might miss by just looking at the score, |
| 46 | |
| 47 | 1.2 Q: Will Mup run on my computer? |
| 48 | |
| 49 | We currently provide Mup in ready-to-run form for Windows |
| 50 | and Linux x86 systems. A port of Mup for the Macintosh is |
| 51 | available from |
| 52 | http://www.uni-paderborn.de/cs/Michael.Thies.html and a |
| 53 | version for OS/2 is available from http://homepages.tu- |
| 54 | darmstadt.de/~st002279/os2/html/mup.html |
| 55 | |
| 56 | If you use a different operating system, Mup source code is |
| 57 | also available, so if you have a C compiler, you can |
| 58 | probably compile and run Mup. It has been run using several |
| 59 | versions of UNIX on x86, Sun, Digital, Silicon Graphics, and |
| 60 | other systems. It has also been run under OS/2, as well as |
| 61 | on an Amiga. An ANSI-C compiler is recommended, but not |
| 62 | required. Under MS-DOS, you will need a memory extender, |
| 63 | and at least a 32-bit compiler is strongly recommended. Mup |
| 64 | will run on a 386, but at least a 486 is recommended for |
| 65 | best performance. If you try to compile Mup and have |
| 66 | problems, please let us know at support@arkkra.com We'd like |
| 67 | to make it portable to as many computer system types as |
| 68 | possible. The companion Mupmate program requires a C++ |
| 69 | compiler and the FLTK toolkit. |
| 70 | |
| 71 | 1.3 Q: How long will it take to learn how to use Mup? |
| 72 | |
| 73 | This will vary from person to person. A person who has |
| 74 | experience with computer languages will probably pick up Mup |
| 75 | more quickly, but such knowledge is not necessary. Mup has |
| 76 | a broad array of features, so if you want to learn how to |
| 77 | use every feature that Mup has to offer, this may take |
| 78 | several days. (The Mup User's Guide, which explains all the |
| 79 | features, and includes many examples, is about 150 pages |
| 80 | long.) However, once you get Mup installed, you can start |
| 81 | experimenting with Mup after reading the first few pages of |
| 82 | the User's Guide, and it should take no more than a few |
| 83 | hours to feel comfortable with the basics, enough to enter |
| 84 | simple songs and get professional-looking output. The |
| 85 | User's Guide includes many examples, and is provided both as |
| 86 | a PostScript file that you can print out on paper, and as |
| 87 | HTML files with hundreds of hypertext links, that you can |
| 88 | view with your Web browser. The Mup installation package |
| 89 | contains several sample files and a template file to help |
| 90 | you get started. You can also download sample songs from |
| 91 | ftp://ftp.arkkra.com/pub/music |
| 92 | |
| 93 | 1.4 Q: How long will it take to enter music? |
| 94 | |
| 95 | This will vary greatly, depending on a number of factors, |
| 96 | such as how complicated the music is, how much experience |
| 97 | you have had with using Mup, how fast you type, etc. An |
| 98 | experienced Mup user can typically enter simple music in |
| 99 | less than 15 minutes per page, but very complex music can |
| 100 | often take over an hour, especially if you like to make a |
| 101 | lot of adjustments to make things look just exactly the way |
| 102 | you want. |
| 103 | |
| 104 | 1.5 Q: How did Mup and Arkkra Enterprises come about? |
| 105 | |
| 106 | We are musicians and computer programmers who wanted a music |
| 107 | publication program that would produce very high-quality |
| 108 | output with a minimum amount of fuss. We wrote the Mup |
| 109 | program for our own use, and continue to use it for all our |
| 110 | own compositions. When other people expressed an interest in |
| 111 | getting a copy of Mup, we formed Arkkra Enterprises to set |
| 112 | up a Web site to make Mup available as shareware to anyone |
| 113 | who wants it. We rely on the shareware registration fee |
| 114 | that you pay to cover the cost of maintaining a Web site and |
| 115 | providing support to answer questions. We add new features |
| 116 | based on user suggestions, and once you register, we will |
| 117 | notify you of any future free upgrades. |
| 118 | |
| 119 | 1.6 Q: How do I pay for Mup? |
| 120 | |
| 121 | Fill out the registration form and send the form and (US) |
| 122 | $29 in cash, check, or money order to the address given on |
| 123 | the form. If you are writing a check from a bank outside |
| 124 | the United States, please make it out in the bank's local |
| 125 | currency in an amount equivalent to 29 U.S. dollars; our |
| 126 | bank will not accept US-dollar-denominated checks from non- |
| 127 | US banks. If you wish to pay via credit card, we have an |
| 128 | arrangement with setSystems to handle paying for Mup with a |
| 129 | credit card. They are able to handle transactions in many |
| 130 | different currencies. setSystems is part of Digital River, |
| 131 | a well-known e-commerce company. As soon as we receive your |
| 132 | payment, we will email the registration information to you. |
| 133 | Once you register, we will notify you via email of future |
| 134 | Mup versions, and you can upgrade to any future versions of |
| 135 | Mup for free. Once you have registered, you also can join |
| 136 | the Mup users mailing list if you wish, at no additional |
| 137 | charge. We only use your address to send you information |
| 138 | about Mup; it is our policy to not give out names, email, or |
| 139 | street addresses to anyone else. |
| 140 | |
| 141 | -------------------------------------------------- |
| 142 | |
| 143 | 2. Frequent questions from Mup users |
| 144 | |
| 145 | 2.1 Q. Is there a mailing list for Mup users? |
| 146 | |
| 147 | Yes. There is a "majordomo" mailing list available |
| 148 | exclusively to registered Mup users. It provides a forum |
| 149 | where you can ask or answer questions, get tips on how other |
| 150 | people are using Mup, etc. |
| 151 | |
| 152 | 2.2 Q. Can I put Mup output into some other document? |
| 153 | |
| 154 | There is a tool that comes with Ghostscript, called |
| 155 | "ps2epsi" that converts a PostScript file to an Encapsulated |
| 156 | PostScript file, which can then be imported into other |
| 157 | documents. |
| 158 | |
| 159 | 2.3 Q: Can Mup produce PDF files? |
| 160 | |
| 161 | Not directly, but since Mup produces PostScript output, you |
| 162 | can easily convert the output to PDF format using the ps2pdf |
| 163 | utility that comes with Ghostscript. |
| 164 | |
| 165 | 2.4 Q. Why is the first score indented differently than the |
| 166 | others? |
| 167 | |
| 168 | The first score of a piece of music is traditionally |
| 169 | indented somewhat more than subsequent scores, so that's |
| 170 | what Mup does by default. It does that by setting the |
| 171 | default label parameter to a few spaces, whereas it sets the |
| 172 | default for the label2 parameter to an empty string. If you |
| 173 | don't want the indentation, you can set |
| 174 | label="" |
| 175 | |
| 176 | 2.5 Q: Is is possible to specify a pickup measure? |
| 177 | |
| 178 | Yes. You use "space" on all voices. For example, |
| 179 | 1: 2.s; 4e; |
| 180 | 2: 2.s; 4c; |
| 181 | will produce a pickup measure with just a quarter note in |
| 182 | it. |
| 183 | |
| 184 | 2.6 Q: Is it possible to display a tempo marking of the |
| 185 | form '(N = 120)' where N is a note symbol, like a |
| 186 | quarter note? |
| 187 | |
| 188 | Yes. Try something like |
| 189 | rom above all: 1 "( \(sm4n) = 120 )"; |
| 190 | |
| 191 | 2.7 Q: Can Mup take a MIDI file as input? |
| 192 | |
| 193 | No. However, it is possible to write a program that reads a |
| 194 | MIDI file and outputs a file that can be input to Mup. Two |
| 195 | programs that do this, called "mtm" and "midi2mup" have been |
| 196 | donated by Mup users. They are limited, and not supported |
| 197 | by Arkkra Enterprises, but may be useful for some people. |
| 198 | Check out the programs donated by Mup users. |
| 199 | |
| 200 | 2.8 Q: What are some of the shorthands that can be used to |
| 201 | reduce typing? |
| 202 | |
| 203 | There are many shorthands available. Some of the most useful |
| 204 | are: |
| 205 | |
| 206 | - When the time value of a chord is the same as that of |
| 207 | the previous chord in the measure, it can be omitted. |
| 208 | If all pitch values of a chord are the same as the |
| 209 | previous chord, they can be omitted. For example: |
| 210 | 1: 4c; 4c; 4ceg; 4ceg; |
| 211 | is the same as |
| 212 | 1: 4c; ; ceg; ; |
| 213 | |
| 214 | - If several voices have the same music data, they can be |
| 215 | given on a single line. |
| 216 | 1-3 1-2: mr; |
| 217 | is equivalent to |
| 218 | 1 1: mr; |
| 219 | 1 2: mr; |
| 220 | 2 1: mr; |
| 221 | 2 2: mr; |
| 222 | 3 1: mr; |
| 223 | 3 2: mr; |
| 224 | A similar shorthand works for text and music symbols: |
| 225 | rom above 1-4: 3 "mf"; // staffs 1 through 4 |
| 226 | < below 2-3: 4 til 3m+2; // staffs 2 and 3 |
| 227 | mussym 1-5: 1 "ferm"; // staffs 1 through 5 |
| 228 | |
| 229 | - If several chords in a row have the same items in |
| 230 | square brackets before the chords, only the first must |
| 231 | have everything included. By giving an ellipsis after |
| 232 | the ] the items in brackets will be repeated for the |
| 233 | rest of the measure or until cancelled. Thus the |
| 234 | following lines are equivalent: |
| 235 | 1: [with .] c; [with .] d; [with .] e; |
| 236 | 1: [with .]... c; d; e; |
| 237 | |
| 238 | 2.9 Q: The Mupprnt command doesn't seem to work right. What |
| 239 | do I do? |
| 240 | |
| 241 | You may need to edit the mupprnt file to make sure the |
| 242 | variables and paths are set to match where things are |
| 243 | installed on your system. In particular, |
| 244 | |
| 245 | - GS_DIR needs to be set to the directory which contains |
| 246 | the Ghostscript font files (*.gsf) and the other |
| 247 | Ghostscript setup files (gs_*.ps). |
| 248 | |
| 249 | - GS_DEVICE needs to be set to the proper type to match |
| 250 | your printer type. |
| 251 | |
| 252 | - The path to Mup must be correct |
| 253 | |
| 254 | - The path to Ghostscript (gs or gs386 on MS-DOS/Windows |
| 255 | system) must be correct. |
| 256 | |
| 257 | - On MS-DOS/Windows systems, dos4gw.exe must be in your |
| 258 | PATH. |
| 259 | If you are using a viewer such as GSview or gv, you may want |
| 260 | to use its print feature rather than using mupprnt. |
| 261 | |
| 262 | 2.10 Q: On MS-DOS, the Mupdisp command comes back with |
| 263 | ghostscript error 1. What do I do? |
| 264 | |
| 265 | Check your config.sys file. You need to have a line like |
| 266 | files=10 |
| 267 | where the number after the equals sign is greater than or |
| 268 | equal to 9. |
| 269 | |
| 270 | Also, make sure gs386.exe exists and is in your PATH. If you |
| 271 | are running Mup from MS-DOS directly or from a DOS prompt |
| 272 | under Windows, make sure you installed the DOS version of |
| 273 | Ghostscript, not the Windows version. If you are using |
| 274 | Mupmate, or Winmup, make sure you installed the Windows |
| 275 | version of Ghostscript, not the MS-DOS version. |
| 276 | |
| 277 | 2.11 Q: If I use Mup for a language other than English, |
| 278 | will it handle the letters that are not used in |
| 279 | English? |
| 280 | |
| 281 | Mup handles most common non-ASCII characters. If your |
| 282 | keyboard does not allow you to enter them directly, you can |
| 283 | enter them by name, such as \(a:) for an 'a' with 2 dots |
| 284 | over it. The User's Guide section on text strings gives a |
| 285 | complete list of supported non-ASCII characters. |
| 286 | |
| 287 | 2.12 Q: Under Linux, Mupdisp says it can't open |
| 288 | /dev/console. What do I do? |
| 289 | |
| 290 | The svga library used by Mupdisp in non-X-windows mode |
| 291 | requires write permission to the console. To allow this: |
| 292 | |
| 293 | - Make Mupdisp setuid to root: |
| 294 | chown root mupdisp |
| 295 | chmod 4755 mupdisp |
| 296 | |
| 297 | 2.13 Q: What if I have more questions about Mup? |
| 298 | |
| 299 | Send us email at support@arkkra.com We welcome any comments |
| 300 | and questions about Mup. Normally, you should have no |
| 301 | problem contacting us this way. In the unlikely event you |
| 302 | get a "rejected" reply when sending email, this is because |
| 303 | excessive "spam" (junk mail) has been received from your |
| 304 | domain at some time in the past, and our Internet service |
| 305 | provider has installed a "spam blocker." In this case, you |
| 306 | will have to send email from another address or send paper |
| 307 | mail. |