Jean-Francois Moine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> skrivis:
| - there are a limited number of clefs (treble, alto and bass), and
| AFAIK there are only 7 usual clefs. The clefs are named by their root
| note (G for treble, C for alto and F for bass), and by their line
| number (lines are numbered 1 for the lowest, and 5 for the highest).
| The 7 clefs are (from highest to lowest):
| G(2) - C1 - C2 - C(3) - C4 - F3 - F(4)
| - so, a generalized clef indication could be:
|
| clef=<clef_type_and_pitch><line_number>
|
| Examples:
|
| clef=G normal treble clef
| clef=f abc(m)2ps 'clef=bass' behaviour (transpose 2 octaves lower)
| clef=F, abc2midi 'clef=bass' behaviour (no transposition)
| clef=C4 alto clef on the 4th line without transposition
|
| Who can do simpler?
Simple, perhaps, but this would probably lead to a lot of confusion
among musicians. It is based on the idea that clefs are doing some
sort of transposition, but few musicians will be able to make much
sense of this. People who use alto and bass clef rarely if ever
consider them any sort of transposition. A cello isn't a viola that
transposes down an octave. A piccolo isn't a flute that transposes up
an octave. They just play in different octaves, but this is hardly
ever called "transposition".
Transposition refers to a situation where, if you finger a G on your
instrument, F or _B comes out. If you finger a G and a G (or g) comes
out, this is not transposition. Similarly, saying that "clef=f" or
"clef=F," does some sort of transposition makes very little sense,
and doesn't help me know how I should type the ABC.
It would be better to adopt notation that says unambiguously how the
clef and ABC notes are to map to the staff. Possibly the simplest and
least confusing scheme was mentioned by someone (who was it?) a few
months ago: Give a clef=<name> and also a middle=<note> clause if you
want to be precise. The clef name could be one of the three letters
CFG, or one of the three common English names. (Maybe we should
include the Italian names, too?)
With this scheme, some common clefs might be:
clef=G middle=B (standard treble clef)
clef=G middle=d (French violin clef)
clef=C middle=c (alto clef, abc(m)2ps version)
clef=C middle=C (alto clef, another version)
clef=C middle=A (alto clef on 4th line)
clef=F middle=d (bass clef, abc(m)2ps version)
clef=F middle=D, (bass clef, another version)
clef=F middle=B (bass clef on top line)
clef=F middle=f (bass clef on middle line)
You could also use clef=treble, clef=alto or clef=bass, of course. An
interesting case would be a double (piano) staff described as:
V:1 clef=treble middle=b
V:2 clef=bass middle=D
This would be reasonable for piano music, since all notes on either
staff would need at most one comma or apostrophe. Note that this
doesn't agree with anyone's idea of the "right" default for treble or
bass clef. But your typical pianist would like it.
This notation would make it easy to correct ABC that was written for
a different program than the one you're using. Rather than
laboriously changing all the commas in a bass line, you could just
insert a "middle=d "or "middle=D," clause in one line (K: or V:) in
the header, and it would come out looking good.
This could be useful even for people who only use treble clef. It's
common to see tunes written out in a range that is in the middle of a
flute or violin's range, which is an octave high for most human
voices. You could add "middle=b" to the tune and get it printed an
octave lower, where vocalists are used to reading. Similarly, you
could raise a vocal line to the top of the staff for your flutist by
inserting "middle=B," into the header.
(The original discussion included a more complicated scheme that let
you map an arbitrary line to an arbitrary note. That would certainly
be a possibility, but the question was "Who can do simpler?")
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