>>>>> "John" == John Chambers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
John> Hmmm ... I'm not sure that abc2ps does this "right". I just did a
John> quick test with the file:
John> X: 1
John> T: TEST: Notes in header and music
John> N: Line 1 of note in header.
John> N: Line 2 of note in header.
John> K: C
John> [|CDEF GABc|]
John> N: Line 1 of note in music.
John> N: Line 2 of note in music.
John> [|cBAG FEDC|]
John> What abc2ps did was to collect the four N: lines and produce them at
John> the bottom. If the intent was to attach notes to the lines of music,
John> this intent was lost.
I don't actually want them interrupting the tune. I just want them
next to the line of music for the convenience of writers and readers
of the ABC. I want the tune printed with standard spacing between all
staves, and the notes at the bottom.
What I typically do to "attach" the note to a particular note or word
is to put a text annotation like "(1)" on the note, and also in the N:
field, so that it functions like a footnote.
John> The current interpretation that abc2ps puts on N: lines seems to be
John> that they can appear anywhere, but are considered a single block of
John> notes that applies to the "tune" as a whole. This is valid in the
John> weak sense that the standard doesn't say anything about the subject.
John> Maybe we want to add a bit of verbiage that explicitly approves the
John> above sort of usage, and says that the N: lines inside the music are
John> associated with the adjacent line(s) of music and should be displayed
John> there.
I would vote against that, but if people are actually using the %%text
feature, maybe there should be an option like that.
John> | Phil> Perhaps the breve and longa should go in the standard.
Certainly the
John> | Phil> breve should, as it's sometimes used even in modern music. In
the
John> | Phil> meantime we're stuck with a8-a8, or even a4-a4-a4-a4.
John> |
Laura> | So you think a program that does handle longas should be
Laura> able to parse | a4-a4-a4-a4 as a16?
John> Maybe, as an option. But I'd prefer a default that says "display it
John> as I typed it" to avoid surprises. There are situations where a
John> string of tied notes is preferable to a long note, mostly because
John> this makes it easier for someone to count the beats. An option to do
John> reductions like this could come in handy at times, however.
I actually think having the standard say that a program should know
what to do with A16 is better. If the best the program can do is
A4-A4-A4-A4, that's better than what abc2ps does now. And that way
the user has the normal options for specifying tied notes if that's
better.
I made the suggestion as a straw man; I wasn't sure that everybody had
gotten my point about portability. (I.e., you should be able to use
ABC entered for a program that prints longas with a program that
doesn't.)
--
Laura (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.laymusic.org : Putting live music back in the living room.
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