> As said before - in multivoice scores - human readability > won't have to be/should not be/cannot be a major issue.
Why bother with ABC at all, then? Look at the "Atalanta Fugiens" scores on my webpage. The way I have laid them out, anybody - including a blind person - can read them vertically and figure out the harmony at every point. Or this (needs a window with 96 columns, fixed-width font): X:5 T:Meine Seel' erhebt den Herren S:Bach/Riemenschneider #358 C:J.S. Bach M:C L:1/4 V:1 V:2 V:3 bass V:4 bass K:GMin V:1 d2 f2 |d d d d |e2 d2 |c2 c2 |HB4 | V:2 G2 F2 |F ^F G A |G F2 G |G2 F2 |HF4 | V:3 B,2 C2 |D C B, A,|B, C2 B,|B,2 A,2|HD4 | V:4 G,2 A,2|B, A, G,^F,|G, A, B, G,|E, C, F,2|HB,,4| % V:1 d2 f2 |c c c G |B2 A2 |HG4 | V:2 F4 |F F E G |G2 ^F2 |HD4 | V:3 B,4 |A, C C C |D3 C |HB,4 | V:4 B,2 D,2|F, A, G, E,|D, C, D,2 |HG,,4| % V:1 d2 f2 |d d d d |e2 d2 |c2 c2 |HB4 | V:2 G2 A2 |F3 ^F |G A B2- |B B B A|HF4 | V:3 B,2 C2 |D C D2 |D C B, F |G2 F C|HD4 | V:4 G,2 F,2|B, C B, A,|B, C F, D,|E, C, F,2|HB,,4| % V:1 d2 f2 |c c c c |c2 G A|B2 A2 | G4- |G4- |G4 |H G4 |] V:2 z4 |F G A B |c2 C2 |D2 D C |=B, D G F |E4- |E2 D C |H D4 |] V:3 z2 F, G,|A, B, C2- |C D =E ^F|G2 =F E | D =B, C D-|D G, C2- |C2 =B, A,|H=B,4 |] V:4 B,, C, D, E,|F,3 G,|A, B, C2 |B,, C, D, E,| F,2 E, D,|C, D, E, F,|G,4 |H G,,4|] (Note, this is deliberately *not* designed for good staff notation output - I've put each line of the chorale as a separate system in the ABC source, the last one would be denser than the first three). If you can't make your ABC source human-readable you shouldn't be using it. If all you want is staff notation, Finale or Sibelius will do it better. It's the other uses of ABC that make it unique, and most of those uses depend on readability. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack> * food intolerance data & recipes, Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files, and my CD-ROM "Embro, Embro". ------> off-list mail to "j-c" rather than "abc" at this site, please <------ To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
