Patroneo/README.md

#Patroneo
For program version 1.2


Patroneo (which is Esperanto for "Pattern") is an easy to use pattern based midi sequencer that
handles the three most important musical parameters: pitch, rhythm and dynamics.

Patroneo is primarily designed for educational purposes, where the main goal is to teach the
importance of patterns and repetitions in any kind of music. However, Patroneo is a full sequencer
you can use to create real music. The constraints it presents will more likely boost your
creativity than suppressing it.

Workflow summary: You have tracks with one pattern each. Turn on steps in the pattern to play
musical notes. Switch the patterns on and off in a sequence to create a song structure.
Connect external synthesizers and samplers to create sounds.

This README is just a short introduction. Consult the manual (see below) for more information.

# Contact and Information

* Website https://www.laborejo.org
* Documentation and Manual https://www.laborejo.org/documentation/patroneo

# Installation and Starting

## Download

### Release Version
If the latest release is not available through your package manger you can build it yourself:
Download the latest code release on https://www.laborejo.org/downloads and extract it.

### Git Version
It is possible to clone a git repository.

`git clone --recurse-submodules https://laborejo.org/patroneo.git`

If you want to update at a later date you must use

`git pull --recurse-submodules`


## Dependencies
* Glibc
* Python 3.6 (maybe earlier)
* PyQt5 for Python 3
* DejaVu Sans Sarif TTF (Font) (recommended, but not technically necessary)


#### Build Dependencies
* Bash
* Nuitka >= 0.6 (maybe earlier)
* GCC (development is done on 8.2, but most likely you can use a much earlier version)

### Environment:
* Jack Audio Connection Kit must be running
* Non Session Manager

## Build
    ./configure --prefix=/usr/local
    make
    sudo make install

## Starting through the Non Session Manager after installation  (recommended)

Starting Patroneo through the Non Session Manager after you installed patroneo system-wide
is the recommended and only supported way. Start non-session-manager and load or create a new
session. Then use the button "Add Client to Session" and type in patroneo.
It should appear with an icon in the list and open its GUI.

## Starting through NSM without building / installation

Starting Patroneo through the Non Session Manager is possible without building or installation.
So you don't need to call the steps above (configure, make, make install)

The developer uses this way to develop and use the software, so it will always be as stable as the 
compiled version. But it is a bit less performant than building and installing it.

After extracting the release archive create a symlink from `patroneo` into your PATH. e.g. /usr/bin
or ~/bin, if that exists on your system.

This mode needs calfbox to be installed systemwide. Please consult https://github.com/kfoltman/calfbox

## Starting without Non Session Manager
You need to start patroneo from a terminal (or create a starter script).

`patroneo --save DIRECTORY`

Uses the given directory to save. The dir will be created or loaded from if already present. Use
the applications file menu to save (Ctrl+s).

You can use this to load and save the files from an existing NSM session. If you create a new
directory you can copy it manually to an NSM session directory, but that requires renaming the
directory to append the unique ID provided by NSM.

Sending SIGUSR1 to the program in this mode will trigger a save.

Closing through your window manager in this mode will actually quit the application without a
prompt to save changes.

It is possible to set /dev/null as save path, or any other nonsense path. The program will start but
you won't be able to save.

## Without NSM, no install or PATH, without calfbox/sound
Combining the above options you can start the program directly after unpacking or cloning from git:

`./patroneo --save /tmp --mute`

Or even shorter:

`./patroneo -s /tmp -m`

This is the minimal run mode which is only useful for testing and development. But if you only want
to look at the GUI and are not in the mood to install anything -including dependencies-, go ahead.