Table of Contents
*****************


GNU Solfege 1.4.5
  You need this to run Solfege
  Versioning
  Internationalisation
  Sound issues
    `--no-sound' command line option
    Missing `/dev/music'
  If it just won't work
    Unset LC_NUMERIC
    It still won't work!
  History
  No CVS
  Copyright notice


GNU Solfege 1.4.5
*****************

Solfege is a free eartraining program written in python using gtk+ and
GNOME libs. Using GNOME is optional, but the user interface is nicer
using GNOME. Solfege is expected to work on any OS where python, gtk+
and pygtk are ported.

   Check out the latest news and precompiled binaries at
`http://www.solfege.org'. Get the source code for the stable releases
at `ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/solfege' and bleeding edge at
`ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/solfege'.

   Eartraining is a big subject with many connections to music theory
and performance of music, so I won't even try to make "a complete
computerbased eartraining course". To use this software, you need some
basic knowledge about music theory.

   As of 18 June 2000, Solfege is an official part of the GNU project.
Visit `http://www.gnu.org' for more info.

You need this to run Solfege
============================

   MS Windows users can download the installer program
`solfege-win32-1.4.5.exe' that contains everything they need. The rest
of us should check that the following is installed:

   * Python >= 2.1

   * Gtk+ 1.2, preferable >= 1.2.8

   * Gnome >= 1.0.50 (optional, but recommended)

   * PyGTK, Python bindings for Gtk

   * PyGNOME >= 1.0.50 - Python bindings for GNOME (optional but
     recommended)

   * Midi working on /dev/music or /dev/sequencer (for example using
     OSS or ALSA with OSS emulation). Or at least possible to play midi
     files on some external program. On MS Windows, any soundcard that
     has the proper drivers installed should be supported.

   Check the `INSTALL' file for build time requirements.

Versioning
==========

   Solfege uses a versioning scheme similar to the Linux kernel.  In a
version "x.y.z", an even (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) second number 'y' denotes a
stable version. So releases called 1.0, 1.2.2, 2.0.0 and similar should
work as documented, while a release versioned 1.1.x is a test release
that is expected to cause some troubles (that should be reported to
solfege-devel@lists.sourceforge.net).

   Beside this, the version number has no other magical meaning, than to
tell that one release is older or newer than another release.

Internationalisation
====================

   You get translated messages the same ways as with most GNU programs,
by setting environment variables. For example, one of these will give
you norwegian translations:

       export LC_MESSAGES=no_NO
       export LANG=norwegian

Sound issues
============

   You configure how Solfege should play sounds from the preferences
window available from the File menu.

`--no-sound' command line option
--------------------------------

   If you plan to play sounds using an external midiplayer, or if you
get other error messages that you think might be caused by your sound
setup or Solfeges sound code, then you should start the program with
the `--no-sound' command line option the first time you run the
program, and then configure sound from the preferences window.

Missing `/dev/music'
--------------------

   If you have a recent linux kernel (at least late 2.2.x and newer,
someone please confirm when /dev/music was added...) but `/dev/music'
is missing, you can probably create the device file yourself with
MAKEDEV or `mknod /dev/music u 14 8' as root.

If it just won't work
=====================

   One useful tips if you get strange errors is to delete the file
$HOME/.solfegerc1.4.  You can also try to delete the
$HOME/.solfege1.4 directory that contains the statistics. (You might
want to backup the files in case they are not what is causing the your
problems, and you want to keep your statistics!)

   If you find a way to reproduce an error that is fixed by deleting
$HOME/.solfegerc1.4 or $HOME/.solfege1.4, you should email
<solfege-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>.

Unset LC_NUMERIC
----------------

   If you get an errormessage that ends something like this:

         ValueError: computed value for NV_MAGICCONST deviates too much (computed 2,82843, expected 1)

   you need to change the value of the environment variable LC_NUMERIC.
(This is a bug that is fixed in the latest PyGNOME bindings.)  You can
run solfege like this:

         LC_NUMERIC=C solfege

   or set the variable in you ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc file:

       export LC_NUMERIC=C

   If your shell is something else than bash, you probably know how to
do this.

It still won't work!
--------------------

   See the INSTALL file if you have problems building and installing
Solfege, and check the man page or run the program with the '--help'
command line option for a list of command line options.

   The users guide is located in the online-docs/ directory from the
unpacked source, and also available from inside the program from the
'Help' menu.

   Report your problems to <solfege-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>

History
=======

   The first versions of Solfege was written in the first quarter of
1999 when I studied my 4th and last year at Malmö Academy of Music.  I
was writing a "special subject" (what is the english term??) about
eartraining and used GNU Lilypond and LaTeX to typeset the paper.

   I accidentally browsed the "help needed" page at the GNU web site
when I saw they needed someone to write an eartraining program for music
students.

   In the beginning I was experimenting with wxWindows, a cross
platform C++ GUI toolkit, but luckily, at some point I found the python
bindings for gtk+ and have never looked back.

No CVS
======

   Don't ask me to put Solfege under CVS, because I won't use my private
payed phone line to keep my working version of Solfege in sync with a
CVS server. If I ever get net access at home where I pay only a monthly
fee, this will of course change.  But don't let this stop you from
contributing code, just send me the patches.

Copyright notice
================

   Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002  Tom Cato Amundsen

   This if free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation; either version 2.

   This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
for more details.

   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
with your Debian GNU/Linux system, in /usr/doc/copyright/GPL, with the
solfege source package as the file COPYING and available in the online
help system..  If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

   Tom Cato Amundsen <tca@gnu.org>

