On 06/07/01 at 13.02 James Allwright wrote:
>. Perhaps we need someone to write a noddy
>front-end that invokes an abc2ps clone, ghostscript and then an image
>viewer to bring free abc typesetting to the masses.
Seymour Shlien has been doing that for quite a few years, and that currently Runabc is
an excellent GUI for abc2ps, abc2mps, yaps, abc2midi and abc2abc, offering at the same
time an excellent abc aware editor packed with a number of intersting features? And
obviuosly calls GosthScript (from which you can converte the PostScript in Pdf
format), and a couple of midi players to listen to the midi files generated thru
abc2midi.
In fact the addition of abc2mps is fairly recent - months I guess -, and made
available for the first time in three or four years the progrma in a compiled version
fo Windows users.
As someone underlined:
>One of the basic ideas behind ABC is that it's for everyone, and - as
>hard as it is for us to believe - there is, even today, a small minority
>of computer users that feel slightly uneasy when asked to compile the
>software themselves...
And this has nothing to do with blaming the developers because they don't supply
binaries for a number of platforms.
The first real problem to bring the abc notation "to the masses" is the abc notation
in itself - in other words the lack of un updated standard able to turn a limited
number of conventions which works well for a quick transcription of simple
(simplified?) melodies into an all purpose typsetting system.
The second real problem, beyond the unavailability of precomplied softwares, is the
quality of the available ones (or rather their lack of it). The last Windows version
of abc2ps is pretty old, and doesn't support a number of draft useful features that
abcm2ps has implemented so far; yaps is simply a real mess; abc2midi insists on
playing broken rythms with as 2:1 rather than a 3:1 ratio...
The evidence is under anybody's eye. Just a look at Frank's Nordberg comprehensive abc
related software list at the musicaviva web site will show more than 60 different
programs. Yet, once you have selected those which:
a) aren't clones of other entries listed (not compatible of course with the prototype);
b) aren't abandoned full of bugs betas;
c) are cross platform projects which are really meant to be useful for the whole abc
users community;
d) do something everybody needs (i.e. not just something their developers need, or
eventually other programs don't);
e) are user friendly (i.e. they don't need a GUI to be useful to your average non
computer addict folk musician);
..well you probably are lucky if you'll end up with an handful of them.. and a few,
reliable but unfortunately not cross platform, notation packages that 'speak' abc!
It's plain to see that the total lack of cooperation among the developers subscribing
to this list has a lot to do with this, although I don't think there's anything we
could do about it at this stage. If anybody still believes the abc notation could be
taken in serious consideration outside the folk circles, the best for him. IMO, the
endless debate on the sex of angels that has being going on this list for the past
four years, and that has made any update of the standard impossible so far, was what
actually gave it the kiss of death. How long those who are responsible for the
notation demise will need to face this basic thruth is of course their own problem...
not mine!
And I don't see the point in asking why the standard committee keeps silent... the
best for it!
Yet, I can't help regretting. As I can't help dreaming about what might have become
the notation if only a number of developers rather than producing clones of one single
program (or of other of its clones), introducing new fwtures that in turn the non
standard abc written for it uncompatible with the original and the other clones, had
been able to work together toward the goal of producing an all purpose tool for the
whole community of the users.
What makes me feel sick (those who have read my last postings kown its my pavlovian
reaction when I start discussing about the abc notation) is that, while we have been
throwing away the baby with the bath water, someone else has built in concrete on
Chris Walshaw's original intuition to create some excellent software.
If you wish a nice example of what I mean, have a look at this web site:
http://www.zelsoftware.com/
Zel, in fact, it's described as a language to create midi files from a text file,
eventually to load them in a sequencer for further editing.. Everybody, having a look
at the quick tutor on the site (the page is called Learn Zel in 10 minutes), will be
able to see how much it has in common with the abc notation.
Window users are warmly suggested to download the Zel Free edition - it's limited to
1500 notes, which is probably not that much for classical or even pop music, but
should be enough for most of the tunes available on the web in abc notation.
Experimenting with it will show that, in fact, there's much more to it that simply
generating midi files - an abc player offering one tenth of its potentialities would
actually mean a light years leap compared to any of those currently available.
Gianni
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