Laurie writes: | Jack said "...Your suggestions have exactly the expressive power I was | asking for, with one minor omission: the label <dotted minim> = <minim> you | get in staff notation when the metre changes...." | | Q:1/2 -- sets the beat to minim | abc abc | Q:3/2 -- sets the beat to dotted minim which therefore equals the old minim
Well, yes, for the purposes of software. But if this just produced the dotted minim above the staff in the printed music, few if any musicians would have even the slightest idea what was intended. If they noticed the inexplicable note above the staff, they'd mostly guess that it was some sort of printer's hiccup, since it obviously has no musical meaning. Unless, of course, the note head is too close to the staff, in which case they'd treat it as a g note (which would also obviously be a mistake after the first playing). To get it treated as anything other than a mistake, you'd have to say Q:1/2=3/2 and the displayed/printed output would have to show the two notes with the '=' in between. (And I suppose we should also state in the spec that the first length is the old beat and the second is the new, or half the people writing abc players would do it the other way 'round. ;-) To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
