This is BigBand version 1.1, a program to compose music for small
ensembles. It uses the SDL libraries for graphics and sound, so it's
possible to build it on many platforms. Last updated: dec 2009.

NB! The tar file
  http://members.chello.nl/w.boeke/bigband/bigband-1.1.tar.gz
at the web site is updated now and then, without modification of the
version number.

To compile, first run
  ./configure

This is a simple script that checks the presence of a C++ compiler
and the location of font files. If succesful, a file config.h is 
created. Then run
   make

Two programs are created:
   src/bigband     - the main program
   abbc2ps/abbc2ps - to create scores in postscript format

The manual, also containing the rationale behind this program, can be 
found in doc/bigband.html.

Percussion sounds (in WAVE format) are in directory samples/. BigBand
looks for these files in a directory underneath its working directory,
or if not found in /usr/share/bigband/samples.
So if you want to play one of the demo tunes, without really installing
the program, then first go to the tunes/ directory, then make a soft link:
   ln -s ../samples .
Then you can run BigBand, e.g.
   ../src/bigband dance.bb

Installing BigBand and documentation is done with:
   make install
The Makefile is old-fashioned and human-readable, so you can know what
you are doing.

All this is valid for a Linux (or other Unix-like) environment. If you
have any recommendations about porting issues to other environments,
please tell me. Good luck and happy composing!

Wouter Boeke
w.boeke@chello.nl
 
