Phil Taylor writes:
>I think a lot of people find it very useful, although I agree that it
>would be nice to have an interchange format for stress programs.
>
And John Chambers writes
>Something that I've thought could be useful in a player: People using
>them to learn tunes could benefit from a basic sort of "style" list
>that would modify tunes to fit a style. The point here would be to do
>the standard, stereotypical things of that style. It's not a tool for
>producing masterful music without human intervention; it's a tool for
>helping novices learn the basics of a style. Most musical styles have
>a lot of things that are conventionally done, often without the
>musicians being very aware of what they're doing. Incorporating such
>things into a player could lead to a good teaching tool.
>
I think these are very good ideas. If there were a standard
format for writing stress programs, and if someone cobbled together a GUI
to make them easy to write, then people would be able to produce--for
instance--tutorials for various styles for distribution on the
internet. ("This is how a roll on G should sound <~G> Here it is in a
reel <|DG~G2 BG~G2|cAFA dBcA|...> . Press the slow-the-decorations button
to hear how the notes should be formed..." And even--there's no reason
not to be ambitious--- "This is the way the two-three slur in Sligo-style
bowing sounds...<FAuAB AFvED|...>") This wouldn't be as good as having an
instructor, or even an instructional video, but it would be better than
the written word alone, and would be compact, easily available, and
useful for a learner isolated from good instruction, as is (too) often the
case. Now that I think of it, if I ever get my hands on a Bulgarian
gaida, I'll be looking for something like this...
Cheers,
John Walsh
To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
