Chris writes:
>composer = "Composer"; (Initials then Surname, eg. "J. S. Bach")
What about names like "C. M. von Weber"? On the one hand, the
surname is "von Weber" (and not just "Weber"), but on the other
hand, in a composer's index, I would look under "W" rather than
under "v".
What about the format "<surname>, <initial|first name>*",
e.g. "von Weber, C. M."?
>instrument = "Whatever";
General MIDI (GM) defines 128 instruments; maybe we optionally want
to specify a MIDI instrument that comes close (perhaps as a separate
header field midi_instrument).
>date = "1882"; (if known)
I would like to suggest to optionally allow to specify
month and day. Using a fully-fledged standard date format like
GMT probably would be overkill; but with existing software in
mind (including standard databases software) that is able to parse
and operate on such standardized formats, one might at least want
to keep compatible.
Perhaps we want to have separate fields for
- the date when the composition was finished, and
- the date when it was performed for the first time?
>style = "Style" - Early
> Mediaeval
> Renaissance
> Baroque
> Classical
> Romantic
> Modern
> Jazz
> Ragtime
> Blues
What about the category (chant, song, fuga, sonata, chamber music,
missa, symphony, opera, ...)? What about hierarchical ordered styles?
E.g.
Mediaeval
Gregorian Chant
Ordinarium
Graduale
Early Multi-Voice Music (sorry, don't know the english term ;-)
Parallel Organum
Faux Bordun
Troubadours
Notre Dame Epoche
Ars Antiqua
Ars Nova
Jazz
Ragtime
Spiritual/Gospel
New Orleans/Dixieland
Bebop
Swing
Combo
Big Band
Cool
Free
Rock
Blues
Rock & Roll
Soft
Hard
Heavy Metal
Pop
60s
70s
80s
90s
etc.
However, it is quite a difficult task to find a good hierarchy, and it
may be even more difficult to classify single pieces...
Perhaps there are existing catalogs of music which structures that may
also applied on mutopia?
Bye,
Juergen
