ABC looks complicated!

[DaveRo]

55 minutes ago, alex_holden said:

It's written in the Javascript language and can run inside a web browser window, but the code doesn't have to live on a remote web server...

That documentation mentions bookmarklets, which are bookmarks containing javascript, and I suspect it was written some years ago. Some browsers no longer support bokmarklets. Firefox mobile doesn't, and ISTR last time I tried one on iOS safari it didn't work. I suspect browser-makers regard them as a security risk.

 

But it should be possible to embed the abc2svg (scalable vector graphics) code using a browser addon - maybe somebody has? I do something similar with my mudcat addon - embed a module to convert non-Roman letters into html codes.  PM me if you want to try it - using Firefox.

Edited May 9, 2022 by DaveRo

[Jillser Nic Amhlaoibh]

Question: I was under the impression that people who don't know notation have used a form of ABC's to jot tunes down for quite awhile, pre-dating computers - is it that recent (computer era) a creation? 

[alex_holden]

3 minutes ago, Jillser Nic Amhlaoibh said:

Question: I was under the impression that people who don't know notation have used a form of ABC's to jot tunes down for quite awhile, pre-dating computers - is it that recent (computer era) a creation? 

 

It's not entirely a new idea, but the ABC standard formalises things like how you denote the octave and length of each note, and the header lines that specify metadata like the title, composer, key, time signature, tempo, etc. By standardising all that stuff, correctly formatted ABC can be interpreted by a computer program that draws a pretty score or plays it back, which wouldn't be possible if everyone used their own slightly different version.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

A very lively debate, I started!

But there's only one thing about ABC or other tech; what happens if power goes down? Or battery runs out... At least doing things by hand the only battery or power that will one day 'runout'.. is one's own mortality! Hopefully a way off yet! 😄😄😄😄😄

[hjcjones]

12 hours ago, LazyNetter said:

I've had a similar question all the time, that is I've never seen anyone in Europe and United States use the numbered musical notation that is common in China and Japan

I have seen something similar, but I think it's used for musical analysis and comparison, rather than as notation for musicians to play from.  For example, it enables a database of tunes to be searched for a sequence of intervals independent of the actual key.

[hjcjones]

9 hours ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

I like writing the music down by Hand, as it's something I have done for decades now. It is like calligraphy, or lettering; a skill in its own right.

 

That's entirely understandable.  Nevertheless I would suggest getting at least a passing familiarity with ABC, so that you can take advantage of the huge resource of tunes which have already been transcribed and are available online.  Even if you don't write or edit it yourself, it might be useful to know how to convert ABC into notation using either a webpage or programme.

[Daniel Hersh]

4 minutes ago, hjcjones said:

That's entirely understandable.  Nevertheless I would suggest getting at least a passing familiarity with ABC, so that you can take advantage of the huge resource of tunes which have already been transcribed and are available online.  Even if you don't write or edit it yourself, it might be useful to know how to convert ABC into notation using either a webpage or programme.

 

I agree.  FYI, there's a good online abc converter at https://www.mandolintab.net/abcconverter.php .

[Peter Laban]

4 hours ago, Jillser Nic Amhlaoibh said:

Question: I was under the impression that people who don't know notation have used a form of ABC's to jot tunes down for quite awhile, pre-dating computers - is it that recent (computer era) a creation? 

 

It's always a source of confusion. A system for joptting down tunes using the names of the notes has been in use in Ireland (and probably elsewhere) for a long time. The computer based ABC notation is different, relatively recent and somewhat similar as it also uses the names of the notes but adds elements that allow the notation to be converted into staff notation.

[David Barnert]

8 hours ago, Jillser Nic Amhlaoibh said:

Question: I was under the impression that people who don't know notation have used a form of ABC's to jot tunes down for quite awhile, pre-dating computers - is it that recent (computer era) a creation? 

4 hours ago, Peter Laban said:

 

It's always a source of confusion. A system for joptting down tunes using the names of the notes has been in use in Ireland (and probably elsewhere) for a long time. The computer based ABC notation is different, relatively recent and somewhat similar as it also uses the names of the notes but adds elements that allow the notation to be converted into staff notation.

 

Chris Walshaw, who developed the abc Music Notation Protocol has said that he first envisioned it as a way to jot tunes down with a pencil and paper in a way that didn’t require the paper to be lined. It was only later that he formalized it to its application to computers and the internet.

[Chris Ghent]

Simple ABC systems are OK for simple music. The Irish system (all capitals, comma after the letter for lower octave, no punctuation for middle octave, apostrophe after for high octave) can be sight read at speed by people bought up in that system.

 

ABC Notation can handle very complex music; here's a couple of lines in a tune I transcribed recently for a friend in a different country. She put the script into the aforementioned mandolin tab site to read and print it.  The question mark was a note I couldn't pick!

 

({c}[DAd]2{f}[ADd])A ([DAd]2{f}[ADd])A|([CGc]2{e}[CGc])A ([CGc]2{e}[CGc])A|([DAd]2{f}[ADd]) ([DAd]2{f}[ADd])|[Ae]"?"([Aea][Aea][Aeg][Ae])ed{e}d|
[DAd]edA [DAd]edA|([CGc][CGe][CGc])A ([CGc][CGe][CGc])A|GA[Gc]d (3ege dc|{B}Ac{c}GA ED{A}DD|

[David Barnert]

16 hours ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

what happens if power goes down? Or battery runs out... At least doing things by hand the only battery or power that will one day 'runout'.. is one's own mortality!

 

And what happens if the dog eats your notebooks? At least everything on my computer is backed up.

[Roger Hare]

Of course, if you're a masochist with too much time on your hands, you can modify any ABC

script to include a partial rendering of the ABC code itself, as part of the score, along with

the standard staff notation. A sort of 'belt and braces' approach:

I was asked to supply note-names below the notes by someone running a whistle class, and

from that it was only one step further to convert the note names to ABC names. What fun...😎

 

 

 

ach.abc

Edited May 10, 2022 by lachenal74693

[RAc]

54 minutes ago, lachenal74693 said:

 

 

Interesting! Obviously, the question arises why the sharps are ommitted from the F,G and A names? Is that deliberate?

[Roger Hare]

51 minutes ago, RAc said:

Interesting! Obviously, the question arises why the sharps are ommitted from the F,G and A names? Is that deliberate?

Yes.

 

Why? Because in the ABC code for a tune in the key of Amajor, Fs, Gs and As are written as 'F', 'G' and 'A'

(or 'f', 'g', 'a', etc. depending on the octave), and I write the ABC notes as encountered in the ABC script.

I do the same for all key signatures. I read the file into memory and then close it (so I can't 'mangle' the

original ABC code). I then do the necessary scanning of the music lines in the in-memory code, make

the required changes, and write the modified ABC to a completely new file...

 

I did think about explicitly writing the accidentals as accidentals, but the sharpening (or flattening) of the

notes is implicit in standard staff notation, so I decided to go with that convention. Explicit accidentals in

the ABC code are written as such (see the 'D's and 'ds' in the example I posted).

 

I hope that explains it adequately...

Edited May 10, 2022 by lachenal74693

[David Barnert]

1 hour ago, RAc said:

Obviously, the question arises why the sharps are ommitted from the F,G and A names?

1 hour ago, lachenal74693 said:

Because in the ABC code for a tune in the key of Amajor, Fs, Gs and As are written as 'F', 'G' and 'A'

 

Surely you must both mean F, G, and C or am I going nuts? The key of A major doesn’t have an A#.

[hjcjones]

ABC mirrors standard music notation. Sharps and flats which are part of the key signature are specified in the K: header field and there is no need to mark individual notes, any more than you would when writing notation. Only true accidentals which are not in the specified key need to be identified.

 

As well as major and minor, ABC allows you to specify modal key signatures and even to customise them.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

7 hours ago, David Barnert said:

 

And what happens if the dog eats your notebooks? At least everything on my computer is backed up.

Well, you can't guard against everything! But, all I do is scan document into computer, and have spare copy anyhow. Then into card folder for the originals, because Windows 8 is so badly designed ( in my opinion) that you cannot see where the hell everything has gone in first place! ( No recent files listing)! There, I feel I have got that off my chest for now.

 

[RAc]

9 hours ago, David Barnert said:

 

Surely you must both mean F, G, and C or am I going nuts? The key of A major doesn’t have an A#.

 

yes, of course. F,G and C is what I meant to write. The soft keyboard on my tablet yields unpredictable output. Sorry for that and thanks for pointing it out! Poor Roger obviously followed me in falling down the trap door...

Edited May 10, 2022 by RAc
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