Re: [abcusers] Readability of abc
I won't say there's no reason to read abc notation at all, but I can say that I know a substantial community of traditional musicians in New Hampshire who use abc, and all use it to display musical notation, to listen to the tune in question and to exchange tunes; none use it to read directly. I suspect our usage pattern is pretty typical of the traditional music community in general. You know you've got it right when somebody turns up at a session with a tune on paper as a prompt - and it's your ABC on a slip the size of a bus ticket. I've had that happen to me. - Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760 http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack * food intolerance data recipes, Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files, and my CD-ROM Embro, Embro. -- off-list mail to j-c rather than abc at this site, please -- To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
[abcusers] Readability of abc
Jack Campin wrote: If you can't make your ABC source human-readable you shouldn't be using it. If all you want is staff notation, Finale or Sibelius will do it better. It's the other uses of ABC that make it unique, and most of those uses depend on readability. As a user of abc I have to disagree. I use abc because it's easier to write out than most other methods, and is completely adequate for my uses (melody line with chord names for traditional music) so I don't need most of the extra complication of other software. I use abc to write out tunes to aid my memory and to communicate them to others through e-mail or printed notation. I use it for proofreading (or prooflistening I suppose) what I write. I use it to learn new tunes that others have written out - but I do that through listening or viewing written notation from Barfly. I never try to read music directly from raw abc files - I find even sloppily hand-written notation easier to read; and if I have the abc file I can see neat musical notation on screen (and print it if desirable) and I can listen to the tune as well. I won't say there's no reason to read abc notation at all, but I can say that I know a substantial community of traditional musicians in New Hampshire who use abc, and all use it to display musical notation, to listen to the tune in question and to exchange tunes; none use it to read directly. I suspect our usage pattern is pretty typical of the traditional music community in general. Peter To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
