On 22 Mar 2007 at 11:57, John Howell wrote: > At 9:24 AM +0100 3/22/07, Johannes Gebauer wrote: > >On 22.03.2007 dhbailey wrote: > >>I agree with Darcy on this point. The numbers are only to locate the > >>physical measure on the page, so all full measures should be counted > >>in a straight line from the first one through the final one. > > > >Well, even if you agree, you are still in disagreement with all major > >publishers, at least in Europe, which publish classical music, > >including contemporary as far as I can see. > > Am I the only one to whom this discussion seems equivalent to > medieval theologians arguing how many angels can dance on the head of > a pin? (And why the head, anyhow, when dancing on the point would > take much more skill?!!!) A disputation full of sound and fury, > signifying nothing!!!
No, no, no! It's much more like the discussion [] > So how about this for a first principle? Every measure SHOULD have > and MUST have a unique identifying number, assigned in serial order to > aid quick and accurate locating of that measure. Period. End of > statement. > > Would anyone care to argue against that principle? Yes. > And explain why? Because you're describing the *music*, not the score. If you were listening to someone play, the 2nd ending of a 16-bar period would still be the 16th bar after the first measure of the period. It's 16 twice, or it's 16 for first ending and 32 for the second. I find this latter overly fussy, so would never do it, as it's easy enough to say "2nd ending." > Without appealing to convention or other authority? I'm appealing to *music*, i.e., what is heard. In the case of single-bar 2nd endings, there is simply no ambiguity in identifying which measure is being discussed, as the 1st and 2nd ending brackets clearly differentiate the two measures 16. However, in cases where there's some reason this is ambiguous, if it makes it clearer, then I would say to number in whatever fashion makes the most sense for the *musical* situation. > (Yes, as stated that could be read to mean that partial bars and > pickup bars also should have unique numbers, but that's a DETAIL, so > keep it outa here!!!) There's an unambiguous convention for partial bars and pickups -- number any bar with a downbeat. Period. That's how you determine phrase lengths, too (and a measure that constitutes an ellision between two phrases can be counted in both, but that's entirely *different* can of worms!). -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
