Instrument

Class Variables

• float _start is the starting time (in seconds) of the scheduled INSTRUMENT note. This is set by the rtsetoutput function. Use the getstart method to retrieve the value of this variable.
  
  
• float _dur is the duration (in seconds) of the scheduled INSTRUMENT note. This is set by the rtsetoutput function. Use the getdur method to retrieve the value of this variable.
  
  
• int cursamp is the current sample being computed. The user should increment this variable in the sample-computing loop using the increment method:

  MYINSTRUMENT::run()
  {
  	int i;
  
  	...
  
  	for (i = 0; i < framesToRun(); i++)
  	{
  		...
  
  		increment();
  	}
  }
  

  cursamp will range from 0 to _nsamps-1 during note execution. Use the currentFrame method to retrieve the value of this variable.
  
  
• int chunksamps is the number of samples ("frames") to be computed during each RTcmix scheduler "chunk". The INSTRUMENT::run() method is called once for each scheduler "chunk" for every note executing at a given time. Use the framesToRun method to retrieve the value of this variable. Also, the setchunk method can be used to change the value of this variable, although this may negatively affect the execution of RTcmix.
  
  
• int endsamp is the ending sample number (frame). This is an absolute number from the very start of RTcmix running (I think...). In other words, it is (start+dur)*SR. Use the getendsamp method to retrieve the value of this variable. The setendsamp method can be used to change the value of this variable.
  
  
• int _nsamps (formerly nsamps) is the number of samples ("frames") to be executed for the entire note. This is computed by RTcmix. In RTcmix versions prior to 4.0, it used to be set by the rtsetoutput function Use the nSamps method to retrieve the value of this variable.
  
  
• struct InputState _input is a structure containing information about the input devices and/or files to RTcmix. The structure is defined as:

  struct InputState {
     InputState();
     int            fdIndex;         // index into unix input file desc. table
     off_t          fileOffset;      // current offset in file for this inst
     double         inputsr;       // SR of input file
     int            inputchans;    // Chans of input file
  };
  

  Two members of this structure have been used in older instruments as Instrument class variables:
  
  
  • double inputsr is the sampling rate of the input soundfile or input device (in samples/second).
    
    
  • int inputchans is the number of input channels for the input soundfile or input device.
  
  
  inputsr and inputchans can no longer be accessed directly. Use the inputChannels method to retrieve the value of the inputchans variable. The inputsr sampling rate is assumed to be the same as the value of the SR variable.
  
  
• int outputchans is the number of output channels for the output soundfile or output device. Use the outputChannels method to retrieve the value of this variable.
  
  
• int _skip is the number of samples corresponding to the current resetval set by the reset scorefile command. It is accessed through the getSkip member function, and can be used in setting up control-rate branches during note execution. The default value is 1000.
  
  
• float SR -- the output sampling rate (in samples/second) set by the rtsetparams directive in the scorefile.
  
  
• int NCHANS -- the number of channels in the output (should be the same is outputchans set by the rtsetparams directive in the scorefile.
  
  
• int RTBUFSAMPS -- the number of samples ("frames") in each RTcmix buffer (should be the same as chunksamps, I believe). This can be set by the rtsetparams directive in the scorefile, although it is an optional parameter. The default value varies depending on the computing platform.
  
  
  
  There are a bunch of other variables associated with the Instrument object, but I'll be blamed if I can recall or ascertain what they all do. Aaah! I'm old! Many of them are used internally by RTcmix during execution, and are of limited utility for an instrument designer. See the Instrument.h and Instrument.cpp files in the "RTcmix/src/rtcmix/" directory for a complete look at these.
  
  

Access Methods

int Instrument::currentFrame()


returns the current sample (frame) being computed. This is the value of the variable cursamp.


int Instrument::framesToRun()


returns the number of samples (frames) to compute in each invocation of the Instrument::run() method. Usually this is the value of the variable chunksamps.


int Instrument::nSamps()


returns the total number of samples (frames) to run for the note. This is the value of the variable _nsamps.


int Instrument::inputChannels()


returns the number of input channels for the input device or file (specified in the rtinput scorefile directive). This is the value of the variable inputchans.


int Instrument::outputChannels()


returns the number of output channels for the output device or file (specified in the rtsetparams scorefile directive). This is the value of the variable outputchans.


float* Instrument::getPFieldTable(int index, int *tablelen)


returns a pointer to the floating-point array of a table constructed by, for example, the maketable() scorefile command. index designates which PField from the incoming p[]-array (starting from 0, of course) holds the reference to the table, and *tablelen is an int variable passed into the method by reference; the resulting value loaded into the tablelen variable will be the length of the array.


int Instrument::getSkip()


returns the value of the variable _skip, which is set by the reset scorefile command. This is the number of samples to count down for one 'control-rate' period. See the update function for an example of how this might be used. The default value is 1000.


void Instrument::increment()


increments the value of cursamp, used to keep track of how many samples (frames) have been executed. Equivalent to ++cursamp.


void Instrument::increment(int amount)


increments the value of cursamp by amount, used to keep track of how many samples (frames) have been executed. Equivalent to cursamp += amount.


float Instrument::getstart()


returns the start time (in seconds) of the INSTRUMENT note. This is the value of the variable _start.


float Instrument::getdur()


returns the duration (in seconds) of the INSTRUMENT note. This is the value of the variable _dur.


int Instrument::getendsamp()


returns the ending sample number (frame) of the INSTRUMENT note. This is the value of the variable endsamp.


void Instrument::setchunk(int chunksize)


sets the value of the chunksamps variable to chinksize. This is the number of sample frames that will be processed during each invocation of the run sample-computing method.


void Instrument::setendsamp(int sampno)


sets the ending sample number (frame) of the INSTRUMENT note to sampno. This sets the value of the variable endsamp.



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The following virtual methods can be overridden by the INSTRUMENT designer in building an RTcmix instrument:

int Instrument::init(double p[], int n_args)


is called by the parser to set up and schedule an INSTRUMENT for execution. The p[] array contains the parameters for the INSTRUMENT note passed in from the scorefile, and n_args is the total number of parameters parsed for that INSTRUMENT note. The maximum size of this p[] array is set by
#define  MAXDISPARGS  1024
in the "RTcmix/src/include/maxdispargs.h" file. The number of samples to be computed for the note (see the nSamps method) is returned, or the token DONT_SCHEDULE if there was an error in the initialization of the INSTRUMENT note. See the RTcmix instrument design tutorial for more information on this INSTRUMENT class method.


int Instrument::run()


is called during RTcmix execution to compute samples for each INSTRUMENT note that is scheduled. It is expected that this method will produce chunksamps samples (see the framesToRun method) each time it is called. Generally the number of samples computed is returned. See the RTcmix instrument design tutorial for more information on this INSTRUMENT class method.


int Instrument::configure()


is sometimes called to set up sample buffers or initialize run-time variables for specific INSTRUMENTs. configure is also called once at the beginning of a scheduled note (except in the older 'rtinteractive mode' using a TCP/IP socket interface), so it can be used to perform one-time tasks that need to happen just as an INSTRUMENT begins a note.

0 is returned for a successful completion, -1 otherwise.



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Other INSTRUMENT class methods that are of general utility have their own documentation entrries. These include:


• rtsetoutput
  
• rtsetinput
  
• rtinrepos
  
• rtgetin
  
• rtaddout
  
• rtbaddout
  
• update

[NOTE: There are a number of other methods associated with the INSTRUMENT class, but these work upon scheduling aspects of RTcmix execution that probably shouldn't be addressed within an instrument. However, if you need to do this kind of modification, please see the source files "RTcmix/src/rtcmix/Instrument.cpp" and "RTcmix/src/rtcmix/Instrument.h"]

Examples