Simon Wascher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > The problem is that there are situations where it is necessary to have > part of the tempo indicator displayed and parts not. > > Example: > > Q:1/4=120 - Allegro % displaying "Allegro" and playing 1/4=120 > > In your proposal how can this be done ?
Q:1/4=120 note="Allegro" % and switch off display of metronome speeds Again: Whether or not a metronome marking is displayed should depend on a style setting within the notation program. It doesn't need to, and in fact shouldn't, be specified in the ABC standard. The ABC standard doesn't specify the font and point size of tune titles, either -- if I want to prepare a publication using ABC-notated music this is a stylistic decision on my part since I am designing the publication. Similarly, it is a stylistic decision on my part whether I want metronome markings or historical notes displayed with the music, or how far the staves should be from each other, or how wide the margins are, and so on. An ABC file should contain all the requisite information but should make as few stipulations as possible about what programs will actually do with that information. For example, in a book of traditional Scottish reels and jigs for dancing there is no need to include metronome speeds, since these are obvious to a SCD musician, but they can still be useful for a playback program. So you just set your notation program to suppress the `Q:' line metronome speeds. But the same ABC-notated tune could figure in a book of dance tunes from all over the world, and since it wouldn't be obvious to somebody who plays Scandinavian or Israeli dance music how fast a jig or reel should be played (or `Ivanica', for a Scottish musician), you will probably want to include metronome speeds after all. So you switch them on in your notation program. Why should you have to change the ABC-notated tune to control exactly what is being printed? > > supposed to do). We don't need special syntax for every single ABC > > header field when there is a general pattern that we can apply, like the > > `key=value' convention outlined above. > > Remember : the minus sign only is used in cases where something is *not* > printed. so it is additional syntax, not alternative. Yes, but we don't put C:W. A. Mozart - if we don't want the composer to be printed. We tell the notation program to leave that field out. This makes your `Q:' syntax a special case. Unnecessary special cases are ... well, unnecessary. Anselm To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
