In this chapter, we'll use the following tools:
- Python, Conda, and pip, to install and execute the Magenta environment
- Magenta, to test our setup by performing music generation
- Magenta GPU (optional), CUDA drivers, and cuDNN drivers, to make Magenta run on the GPU
- FluidSynth, to listen to the generated music sample using a software synthesizer
- Other optional software we might use throughout this book, such as Audacity for audio editing, MuseScore for sheet music editing, and Jupyter Notebook for code editing.
It is recommended that you follow this book's source code when you read the chapters in this book. The source code also provides useful scripts and tips. Follow these steps to check out the code in your user directory (you can use another location if you want):
- First, you need to install Git, which can be installed on any platform by downloading and executing the installer at git-scm.com/downloads. Then, follow the prompts and make sure you add the program to your PATH so that it is available on the command line.
- Then, clone the source code repository by opening a new Terminal and executing the following command:
> git clone https://github.com/PacktPublishing/hands-on-music-generation-with-magenta
> cd hands-on-music-generation-with-magenta
Each chapter has its own folder; Chapter01, Chapter02, and so on. For example, the code for this chapter is located at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/hands-on-music-generation-with-magenta/tree/master/Chapter01. The examples and code snippets will be located in this chapter's folder. For this chapter, you should open cd Chapter01 before you start.
We won't be using a lot of Git commands except git clone, which duplicates a code repository to your machine, but if you are unfamiliar with Git and want to learn more, a good place to start is the excellent Git Book (git-scm.com/book/en/v2), which is available in multiple languages.
Check out the following video to see the Code in Action:
http://bit.ly/2O847tW
