Since there is so much interest in dynamic markings among the post-baroque
PMX users, I'm working on implementing them. Here are some issues I'm
facing. I'll gladly consider any feedback, the sooner the better.
There will be two classes of marks, letter-groups (e.g., pppp, mf) and
hairpins. Each letter-groups is associated with a single note. Each hairpin
is associated with two notes, a starting note and an ending note. PMX will
calculate default positions for all, below the staff, but these can be
overridden.
1. For letter groups, should default horizontal position be
centered (\ccharnote) or left-justified (\zcharnote)? Should it be tweaked
depending on stem direction, so that for up-stems it is indexed to the
middle of the notehead while for down-stems it is indexed to the stem
itself?
2. All the same questions apply for hairpin starts and hairpin endings.
3. If there is both a letter-group and a hairpin start or stop on the same
note, should the position of one and/or the other be automagically tweaked
to avoid a crash? If so, which, the hairpin, or the letter-group? Should the
tweak be horizontal or vertical?
4. If there is both a letter-group and a hairpin start or stop on the same
note, should the vertical positions be made the same by default? Without
any special checks, they could come out differently if the hairpin's
vertical position is controlled by the note at the other end of the hairpin.
5. Syntax for hairpins. I am now using "D<" and "D>". They act as toggles:
the first one starts it, and the next one in the same line of music ends it.
There is a slight incompatibility with this use of ">" and "<". They have
already been used to trigger horizontal tweaks of accidentals. (But ">" is
also used as an ornament.) It would be possible to use "c" and "d" instead
of or in addition to "<" and ">"
6. I'm certain to use the default position as the reference point for
user-defined vertical and horizontal tweaks, since that's the way it is with
ornaments. But I could allow the user to give an absolute position. For
example "Dp-2-1" will mean to move the "p" down 2\internote and left one
notehead width from the default position. But "Dp=-2-1" could mean to
position the letter 2\internote below the bottom staff line and one notehead
width to the left of the left edge of the note. Then "Dp=" would be
equivalent to "Dp=+0+0". Would that option be useful enough to put it in?
7. Some may want symbols vertically centered between staves using \zmidstaff
etc. I could make it an option to switch the vertical default to this. Is
this worth it? Possible syntax "Dp*" and "Dp*-2-1". Should it be possible
to make this the global default, e.g. with "AD*" or maybe just "A*"?
Comments?
--Don Simons
