Since the discussion is about music printing and publishing software, I have to put in my 2 cents worth.
I can claim that I am a programmer also, since I write (sometimes sloppy) HTML, but this entry method (as in alexander's message below) is way too much hassle for me. I will contend (and defend this contention to whatever length someone desires in a debate) that SCORE is the ultimate program for setting high quality tablature. Yes, Fronimo is a reasonably well-thought-out tablature program, and Francesco has done a marvelous job of creating beautiful and highly legible fonts, but Fronimo still lacks the flexibility necessary for high-quality publishing, and SCORE had that already more than twenty years ago. Output I created in 1989 is here: http://lutegroup.ning.com/profile/Libertylute Yes, I know that PDF files were not around then, but the PostScript files I just converted into these PDFs bear creation dates of 16 July 1989. This transcription was done a few weeks after I acquired the program, so I used a standard font (Zapf Chancery). Remember, you couldn't just download any font you want off the Internet in those days -- it took a while to locate and purchase ware back then. I was obviously not completely satisfied with the solution for the "d" tablature character, since I used a couple of different versions. Now days, lots of nice tab fonts are available, and it is much less difficult to create your own than it was then. The point here is the spacing of the music and the page layout in general. Any almost infinitesimal variation in staff size and placement is available. Any almost infinitesimal variation in the size and location of any object on the staff is available. Each object on the page, including each character, has its own parameters, and they are editable by the user. The horizontal spacing of the ojects on a staff is done with a simple letter command (LJ, for "line up and justify"), generating this effortless-appearing layout. Regards, Daniel Heiman On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 19:54:24 -0500 alexander <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Lilypond is not in the lute tablature business. However, the > abctab2ps - is. For the love of VIm - it is perfect. This file: > > X:1 > T:Lacrimae > C:Dowland, 1600 > L:1/4 > M:C| > K:Bb > %%pageheight 11 in > %%staffwidth 7.7 in > %%titlespace 0.2 in > %%musicspace 0.2 in > %%staffsep 0.5 in > %%systemsep 0.5 in > %%indent 0.5 in > %%leftmargin .5 in > %%tabfontsize 11 > %%tabfontscale 1.4 > %%barnumbers 0 > %%scale 0.7 > %%taballflags=f > %%strictness1 0.5 > % > V:1 clef=alto name=Viol > V:2 clef=frenchtab name=Lute > % > %System 1 > [V:1] g3 f/e/ d2 b4 a g ^f4 | g2 d3 dff | e2 c2 d3 a | b2g2a2f2 | g1 > b3/2 a/ g1 ^f2 b2 | > [V:2] [,,bcca3] ,,a1 [,,bc,a] ,,d ,a ,,,a [,,,cd] ,,d/,,b ,,d2 > [,aa,c] ,a |\ > [,,bcca1] ,a a ,,,,,a [,d,,,d/],b,a,,d [,ab,,d1] ,,a | > [,,d,a] ,,b [,,a,d] ,,,c [,,a,c] ,,,c ,,,b2 |\ > [,,,c,a1] ,a3/2 ,,d/ [,abc],c [,daa1] ,,d [,aa,c2]| [,,,cd1] > ,a ,,d2 [,aa,c] [,ab,,d1] ,d | > %System 2 > [V:1] a g g3 ^f/=e/ ^f2 | g8 || \ > g/G/B/c/ d/e/c/d/ B/c/A/B/ G/A/B/c/ d/c/B/A/ G/A//B// A/G/ > [V:2] [,bd,a] ,,b [,,ded] ,,,c [,,a,c] ,a2 ,,d1 |\ > [,,ccca3/2] ,b/ ,a ,,d ,,c ,,a [,ac,,a1] ,,,c ,,,,,a2 ||\ > [,,bcca3] ,,a1 [,,bc,a] ,,d ,a ,,,a [,,,cd] ,,d/,,b > %System 3 > [V:1] ^F/D/[K:bass]A/d/ D/[K:alto]d//c// d//c//B//A// |\ > B//A//G//F// G//F//G//A// B/>A/ G//A//B//c// d//c//B//A// > B//c//d//e// f/>e/ d//f//e//d// |\ > e/>d/ e//d//c//B// c/d/e/c/ > [V:2] ,,d2 [,aa,c] ,a |\ > [,,bcca1] ,a a ,,,,,a [,d,,,d/],b,a,,d [,ab,,d1] ,,a | [,,d,a] ,,b > [,,a,d] ,,,c > %System 4 > [V:1] d/A/^F/D/ [K:bass] D/d/ a/g//a// |\ > b/g/d/G/ [K:alto] G/B/A/B/ A/G/F/E/ D/A/G/A/ | G//A//B//c// > d//e//f//d// g//f//e//d// e//d//c//B// A/[K:bass]D/^f/A/ [K:alto] > d/=f/e/d/ | > [V:2] [,,a,c] ,,,c ,,,b2 |\ > [,,,c,a1] ,a3/2 ,,d/ [,abc] ,c [,daa1] ,,d [,aa,c2] | [,,,cd1] ,a > ,,d2 [,aa,c] [,ab,,d1] ,d | > %System 5 > [V:1] e//d//c//B// c//G//A//=B// c//_B//A//G// A//B//c//B// > A//G//^F//=E// D> AG/A/ | G\ > g3-g/d/=B/G/ G2 || [K:alto] b3 a g f b3 a/g/ a2 | > [V:2] [,bd,a] ,,b [,,ded] ,,,c [,,a,c] ,a2 ,,d1 | [,,ccca3/2] ,b/ ,a > ,,d ,,c ,,a [,ac,,a1] ,,,c > ,,,,,a2 || [,dff,d4] [,aba,d2] [,dbad] [,,,ca1] ,b ,,d ,,,,d > |] > > produces this result: > http://wa4.images.onesite.com/vokaria.onesite.com/large/lachrimaeclipped. jpg?v=156150 > > There are different fonts available etc. > http://www.lautengesellschaft.de/cdmm/ > > alexander > > Luca Manassero <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Thank you. > > I guess one needs to do some really serious tweaking to get a > lute-like > > tablature output, thou. > > Best, > > Luca > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >
