>>>>> "James" == James Allwright <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
James> The inconsistency is deliberate. The point is that when you play a
James> hornpipe or anything else with dotted rhythm (or swing, or whatever
James> you want to call it), keeping a 3:1 ratio is rather harder than
James> keeping a 2:1 ratio and doesn't really add much musically apart from
James> a certain pedantic pleasure in knowing that you are playing exactly
James> what your notation says. This is why abc2midi makes the assumption
James> that a>b is meant to be played as a 2:1 ratio. I think this is in
James> accordance with the original spirit of '>' even if this is not spelt
James> out in the standard.
Not only is it not spelt out in the standard, something completely
different from this *is* spelt out in the (draft) standard. Which you
haven't ever proposed changing.
James> The effect of R:Hornpipe in abc2midi is to introduce '>' between 1/8
James> notes so that a piece written as a reel will come out sounding like
James> a hornpipe.
Nobody's complaining about a player program changing the way the music
is played because of an explicit R: statement. (As long as this is
documented.)
James> Because there is this aethetically displeasing discrepancy between
James> notation and performance, I have taken the view that '>' is a
James> function to be used only in a very specific setting and trying to
James> generalize it for other uses is courting trouble.
Again, the draft standard, and all of the experienced ABC writers I
know, disagree. '>' is a very useful way to make the ABC more
readable, as long as it produces the intended effect.
I agree that in many contexts the literal meaning specified by the
standard, and expected by most users, is aesthetically displeasing,
and I support the "%%MIDI ratio" command for changing it, but the
default value should be the one specified by the standard.
For those who haven't looked at it lately, the draft standard says:
Broken rhythms
==============
A common occurrence in traditional music is the use of a dotted
or broken rhythm. For example, hornpipes, strathspeys and certain
morris jigs all have dotted eighth notes followed by sixteenth
notes as well as vice-versa in the case of strathspeys. To
support this abc notation uses a > to mean `the previous note is
dotted, the next note halved' and < to mean `the previous note is
halved, the next dotted'. Thus the following lines all mean the
same thing (the third version is recommended):
L:1/16
a3b cd3 a2b2c2d2
L:1/8
a3/2b/2 c/2d3/2 abcd
L:1/8
a>b c<d abcd
--
Laura (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] , http://www.laymusic.org/ )
(617) 661-8097 fax: (801) 365-6574
233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139
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