> A more focused (and less loaded) question: the developer of abc2ps included
> an "R" (roll) command which puts a cap-like symbol over a note. Is this in
> fact a standard notation in some form of music I don't know about? Or am I
> assuming that his roll is percussion related, when in fact it applies to some
> other instrument(s)?
>
> The reason I'm asking, is that if this is a completely useless notation symbol,
> then I would propose to the developer(s) that it be replaced by something more
> useful - for me, anyway.
>
> - Chris
In Irish dance music, the roll is a standard decoration--actually
a standardized way to play either two or three melody notes. (Exactly how
it's played depends on the instrument playing it---fiddles and accordions
play rolls quite differently.)
Since Breanann Breathnach's time, the usual notation for this is a
kind of cap over the note, but early implementations of abc put a twiddle
over the note instead, so that's probably the more standard notation in
the abc world now. Abc2ps has a choice in the C-code: I think it's
"DECO_IS_ROLL" which you can set to zero or one before compiling to get
the behavior you want: that is, when the abc is "BE ~E2", it controls
whether you get the roll sign over the E2 or the twiddle. Some
implementations of abc use RE2 to denote roll, ~E2 to get the twiddle.
My own feeling is that the twiddle denotes a turn, which is quite
different from a roll, and I want "~E2" to come out with the roll sign
over the E2, not the twiddle. Else it breaks a couple of MB's of my
abc's, and rather than replace the twiddles by R's in all my files, I'd
rather simply use a program which can be configured to interpret the roll
correctly.
Cheers,
John Walsh
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