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

1 GNU Solfege 2.4.0
  1.1 Requirements
    1.1.1 MS Windows
    1.1.2 GNU/Linux and the rest of us
      1.1.2.1 Runtime
      1.1.2.2 Build dependencies
  1.2 Versioning
  1.3 Internationalization
  1.4 Sound issues
    1.4.1 `--no-sound' command line option
    1.4.2 Missing `/dev/music'
  1.5 If it just won't work
  1.6 History
  1.7 Copyright notice


1 GNU Solfege 2.4.0
*******************

Solfege is a free ear training 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, but some adjustments might be necessary.

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'.

   Ear training is a big subject with many connections to music theory
and performance of music, so I won't even try to make "a complete
computer based ear training 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.

1.1 Requirements
================

Most of this software are usually included with your linux distro.  But
very often you have to use a quite new and uptodate linux distribution
because solfege require quite new versions of them. A good alternative
can then be to try one of the older stable releases. We try to collect
OS specific information on the wiki at `http://www.solfege.org/wiki'.
But it depends on users contributing their data.

   The source code of Solfege is distributed in two different tarballs:

   * solfege-2.4.0.tar.gz  This is the source code as you get it right
     out from arch after you have run `autogen.sh'.  This tarball
     require some tools that not everybody have installed.

   * solfege-easybuild-2.4.0.tar.gz  This tarball is larger than
     solfege-2.4.0.tar.gz, but it does not require `Swig'. Older
     releases had a larger difference between the two tarballs. The use
     of the wiki for writing the documentation has removed the
     dependency on both lilypond and docbook.

1.1.1 MS Windows
----------------

MS Windows users can download the installer program
(solfege-win32-2.4.0.exe) that contains everything they need.

1.1.2 GNU/Linux and the rest of us
----------------------------------

The rest of us should check that the following is installed:

1.1.2.1 Runtime
...............

   * Python >= 2.3

   * Gtk+ >= 2.4.0

   * PyGTK >= 2.4.0 (Debian: python-gtk2)

   * gnome-python >= 2.0.0 This is optional, but required if you want
     to use the gtkhtml2 widget for displaying documentation. You
     _really_ want this.

   * libgtkhtml2 >= 1.99.6 (optional, but _very_ 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. It seems that your soundcard must
     support FM-synthesis or wavetable synthesis to use /dev/music or
     /dev/sequencer. If it does not, you need to do that in software,
     for example using timidity. Please check
     http://www.solfege.org/Solfege/SoundSetup . I try to update it
     more often than this file. And everybody is allowed to edit that
     page.

1.1.2.2 Build dependencies
..........................

Building from solfege-easybuild-2.4.0.tar.gz:

   * GNU Make

   * Gettext

   * Python header files. (The RedHat package is called python-devel.)

   * C compiler (only GCC is tested, nothing else is expected to work.)

   * GNU texinfo (ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/texinfo)

   Building from solfege-2.4.0.tar.gz:

   * swig 1.1 or 1.3 (Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator) found
     at `http://www.swig.org'.

   If you edit `configure.ac', you need GNU Autoconf.

1.2 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 1.1.3 or 1.9.2 is a test
release that is expected to cause some troubles (that should be
reported to solfege-devel@lists.sourceforge.net).

1.3 Internationalization
========================

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

       export LC_MESSAGES=no_NO
       export LANG=norwegian

   On windows, you should edit the file `solfege.bat' located in the
installation directory. It might be found in: `c:\Program files\GNU
Solfege' or a similarly named folder.

   Please read `http://www.solfege.org/Solfege/TranslateSolfege' if you
want to help the translation.

1.4 Sound issues
================

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

   Be aware that it seems like your soundcard must support FM-synthesis
or wavetable synthesis to work out of the box. One card I know that
does this is SoundBlaster Live. If it does not, you need to emulate
this in software, for example by using timidity as an external
midiplayer.  This can be a little tricky on MS Windows, but I'll try to
provide descriptions on how to do this later.

1.4.1 `--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.

1.4.2 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.

1.5 If it just 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.

   You are welcome to ask questions on
<solfege-devel@lists.sourceforge.net> if this documentation and
`http://www.solfege.org' does not give you an answer.

1.6 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 ear
training 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 ear training 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.

1.7 Copyright notice
====================

Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005  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>

