Forgeot=20Eric?= <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
| > It is just simply
| >incorrect to not make the normal distinction between ties and
| slurs in any
| >form of musical notation (which does include ABC), and, worst of
| all,
| >ultimately confusing to users if improper usage is allowed.  ...

| I don't think people, like me or John Chamber, who want in this
| case a more tolerant standard wish to confuse pple with the
| notions of slurs and ties.

In fact, we can't confuse people; they  are  already  confused.   The
simple  fact is that conventional printed music notation doesn't make
a real distinction.  True, some publishers claim to draw  those  arcs
slightly  differently.  But different publishers use different rules.
And simple examination of a stack of  published  music  will  quickly
convince  you  that  most of them have such poor quality control that
any claimed differences are wiped out in the printing  process.

All you can really say with accuracy is that printed music uses  arcs
that  connect  groups  of  two  or  more  notes,  and these arcs mean
different things in different circumstances.  Any differences in  how
they  are  drawn  are  mostly  accidental  artifacts  of the printing
process, and are best ignored unless you  *know*  that  a  particular
edition is using those differences consistently.

| And a last remark : in french we only use one word for the two :
| it is called "liaison", we would not confuse the two.

It's even worse than that, of course.  Those arcs  are  used  for  at
least  three  things in conventional music.  In English, we call them
ties, slurs and phrases.  I haven't yet  read  any  complaints  about
people  using  () in abc to indicate such things as bowing/breathing,
but I suppose I will eventually.  Printed music notates this  exactly
the  same way as it does phrasing.  The only difference is the length
of the group of notes, so it always  requires  musical  judgement  to
distinguish slurs from phrases.

| ... For ties between more than 2 notes like
| A3-A2-|A2 I don't find it really logical to allow (A3 A2 |A2), but
| why not ?

I've seen this, but it's rare.  I think most printers and  publishers
have at least managed to get this one right.  ;-)

In any case, if we want musicians to get such things right in abc, we
really  should  have distinct ways of representing ALL of the uses of
arcs  in  printed  music.   Conflating  slurs  with  phrases,   while
distinguishing ties, is guaranteed to just add to user confusion.

Is there a fourth use of these arcs that I haven't listed?


(Hey. Laura; does LilyPond distinguish all these?  Just curious.)


To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

Reply via email to