On Tue, 13 Nov 2001, Laurie Griffiths wrote: > I'm not 100% sure what the right default is in the absence of a > "beat=". Is it the L value (explicit or implied)?
I'd rather stay away from L:. A quick look through some of my collection shows that it would give the wrong beat more often than not. It could be treated as an error, but I would rather take a reasonable guess and give a clear warning instead. Perhaps this should be left up to the software, though. In any case, here's a fairly simple rule that would be right "most" of the time. Given a meter of Y/Z: 1. If Z is less than or equal to 4, beat=1/Z 2. If Z is greater than or equal to 8: a. If Y is evenly divisible by 3, beat=3/Z. b. Otherwise, if Y is odd, beat=2/Z (or 1/(Z/2)). c. Otherwise, beat=1/Z. Examples: 2/2 time, beat=1/2 (rule 1) 3/2 time, beat=1/2 (rule 1) 2/4 time, beat=1/4 (rule 1) 3/4 time, beat=1/4 (rule 1) 4/4 time, beat=1/4 (rule 1) 4/8 time, beat=1/8 (rule 2c) 5/8 time, beat=1/4 (rule 2b) 6/8 time, beat=3/8 (rule 2a) 7/8 time, beat=1/4 (rule 2b) 9/8 time, beat=3/8 (rule 2a) 12/8 time, beat=3/8 (rule 2a) etc. For M:none, assume beat=1/4. I would also suggest that once established, the beat should NOT change, even if the meter changes, unless accompanied by an explicit "beat=" or another Q: field. John To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
