In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Calum Galleitch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >On Tuesday 15 July 2003 8:05 pm, Bernard Hill wrote: >> In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Jean-Francois Moine >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >> >> >Note that different lengths on grace notes are also handled by abcm2ps. >> >For compatibility, the unit length is a quaver for a single note, and >> >a semi-quaver when many notes. >> >> Aargh! Another inconsistency from the standard! Why not leave it as the >> standard dictates, ie default given by L: ? > >L: has nothing to do with it. From the standard which is distributed with >abcm2ps (1.7.3). This hasn't changed in 1.7.6. > >$ Grace notes can be written by enclosing them in curly braces, {}. For >$ example, a taorluath on the Highland pipes would be written {GdGe}. The >$ tune `Athol Brose' (in the file Strspys.abc) has an example of complex >$ Highland pipe gracing in all its glory. Although nominally grace notes >$ have no melodic time value, expressions such as {a2} and {a>b} can be >$ useful and are legal although some packages may ignore them. >$ The unit duration to use for gracenotes is not specified by the abc >$ file, but by the package, and might be a specific amount of time >$ (for playback purposes) or a note length (e.g. 1/32 for Highland pipe >$ music, which would allow {ge4d} to code a piobaireachd 'cadence'). > >This would seem to imply that the package can pretty much do what it likes >without breaking the standard; it canheed gracenote duration directives, or >not; it can set a standard duration according to the phase of moon or the key >signature (or not).
Musically speaking, a grace note is any form of note written smaller. It may be an appoggiatura or an acciaccatura, ie non-slashed or slashed. Playback and where time is "stolen from" is a separate issue. > >> You do not encourage programmers to include abc compatibility with >> exceptions link this. > >Not an exception. Look ma, it's in the standard. > >This is *very* useful, and moreover, the one reason that abcm2ps is useful to >me. By simply specifying K:HP, the entire program reverts into highland pipe >mode, and I don't have to do any further mucking around to get pipe music >entered correctly. And a damn sight more easily than with programs >'specially built' for the job... > >> >> >Also, when K:H[pP], the unit length is >> >a demi-semi-quaver. >> >> ... and suppose someone writes dsqs (c'// - then what?? If the standard does not talk musical sense then it needs to be changed... > >Are pipers likely to do that? Given that I can't even guess what that means, >and that c' is two notes higher than any pipe chanter I've ever seen can >reach, I'm guessing the likelihood is low... Maybe not. You see I don't read naked abc, my computer reads it for me and tells me what and abc-type c' really is. Just because abc uses a non-standard notation - to me, c is middle C, c' is one octave higher etc... (not that there's much agreement about octave naming anyway). -- Bernard Hill Braeburn Software To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html