On Wed, Jul 09, 2003 at 01:10:13AM +0100, Jack Campin wrote: > > K:Hp ... > > Both of those could be handled if HP were something other than a key > signature in ABC. In the first case it's a typesetting directive, in > the second case it's also forcing an instrument-dependent interpretation > of the key signature at playback time. Either way a signature like > > K:D Mixolydian HP > > or > > K:C Dorian Hp > > would handle it. > > And much more importantly > > (3) This goes for ordinary pipe tunes too. In the Aird examples > Bruce pointed to, I used Hp signatures to signal that the pitch > set of the tune (range as well as signature) was that of the > pipes. But I'd have preferred to state the mode as well, like > > K:D Major Hp > > If this were available in ABC I'd use it in every pipe tune > I transcribed. > > If there were two separate ways to indicate bagpipeness - one saying > what the pitch set was, another indicating the typesetting convention > to use - some new possibilities would open up. A header line saying > "typeset this as for the pipes" is not the only kind of idiomatic > typesetting you might want: for example, vocal music usually has a > separate flag for each individual syllable, which looks unreadable > to a fluteplayer, so a "flute" typesetting style might beam these ...
Yes. I dropped using Hp when modes became supported, because I felt that in most cases it was more important to have the mode - but, either way round, the current usage loses information, which is a pity. It would be nice to be able to mark things like bagpipeness, and probably many other such. I'm not sure an extension to K: is quite the right way to do it, though ? A "style-sheet" approach (which seems to have been mentioned here a few times recently) might well be Right for the typesetting aspects (if we had such a thing agreed&implemented, of course), but there's another point, which is that bagpipeness isn't just a matter of typesetting style, it's a fact - on-the-ground stuff about history, what you might expect it to sound like, etc etc, and also, more specifically, range. It would be very nice to be able to mark tunes as containing notes within the range of instrument X - which isn't "style". Though your "flute" and "vocal" examples are closer to pure style ... So, maybe "%%idiom:Hp" ? Or, for that matter, "%%idiom:Up", "%%idiom:Dwhistle", "%%idiom:flute". Or, to get ambitious, "%%idion:vocal:soprano". Or whatever. Some of which would imply a range of notes, others of which wouldn't, but could anyway be present in a header without upsetting any software that didn't look for them while still providing information to a reader ? And if anybody implemented something like stylesheets these could "recommend" a suitable one ... -- Richard Robinson "The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
