ABC %%gchord MIDI 'template' for 3/2 tunes

[Roger Hare]

I can generate accompaniment chords for 3/2 hornpipes (using the chord generator in ABCMus), but when I try to

play back the tune from within EasyABC, the chords do not sound - there is no template for 3/2 tunes built in to

EasyABC (or possibly into abc2midi, I guess?).

 

I've read the relevant parts of Guido Gonzato's manual, but I'm not sure I've fully understood it, because although

I've tried to create a couple of templates using the %%MIDI gchord ...... directive, I've had only indifferent success...🙁

 

Can any of the real experts out there suggest a %%MIDI gchord ...... incantation which will provide an acceptable

sounding accompaniment for 3/2 hornpipes (or for 3/2 tunes in general, for that matter)?

 

Should I also be including %%MIDI beat and/or %%MIDI beatstring directives to complement the %%MIDI gchord

directive? I don't seem to be able to get my head around this little part of ABC...🙁

 

Thank you

Edited December 28, 2024 by Roger Hare

[Michael Eskin]

Describe what you want (or point me to a recording with the backup pattern you want) and I can see what I can come up with.

[Michael Eskin]

With my abcjs-based tool, I had to change from 3/2 to 6/4 to get %%MIDI gchord to work:

 

Example live in my tool:

 

https://michaeleskin.com/abctools/abctools.html?lzw=BoLgBAjAUAKuBSBDAdgUzAS2WALgC3QBkVUoBhBAOnlWQGdaoAlcAZgHoAmMPAewCdkABwxDSALXCcADNIBsYeLzzYyeRAFsARqn50wAHgBWAYwACOfhgA21jCkoaMOSqgAmAVwB8UAMrghK2QcdzAAWV8wXgAzMA9kAGtkXgB3bAEMAHMsKAA5cCZUE14NDVo3UJx49GiBMAB5azcwADErcrooMPA5dgAWKABFcAguAF4ADmkoQhH2CagAaXAAESgAUnWwgEkV7bBMkz5+ZuiALwuTC7Ori6gAH3AKsAAiFZfozjdue9eAQReiD6r3en1CJi+P1eAFENC9UMCXgC-pw-gAhMAQlFgX5vF7fCGvADiLzRqO4ZKJPygMLhqEh-xeELJmPJOJBHy+NU4iG4L2hAHZAZwAHqZKFIwEKED3B7gaKZDm8z7sl4krSccWM+m8jmfb6q2EvcX014tADETM4KtJcO+LNxAPphLxKIN-KFJjRfxFRJxNMlfwUzzx+olAKBes1iGJAApYQBKF4arWO+EKEzNZ0S95uvkkslayXRdwmVXvNzS+5AA&format=noten&ssp=10&cce=1&name=Jane_in_the_Lane&editor=1

Jane in the Lane 3.txt

Edited December 28, 2024 by Michael Eskin

[Roger Hare]

 

1 hour ago, Michael Eskin said:

Describe what you want (or point me to a recording with the backup pattern you want) and I can see what I can come up with.

Michael, thank you for that response.

 

Problem is, I'm not really quite sure what I want...🙁

 

I'm not aware of any recordings of 3/2 hornpipes (but see final remarks below), so I don't really know how they should sound. Even though they have a sort of association with Lancashire and the North-West of England (which is where I am), not many folks actually seem to play them out in the open.

 

Please don't spend too much time on this, because, since I posted, I've done a bit of digging, and found a couple of examples with %%MIDI beatstring and %%MIDI gchord directives in Paul Hardy's Session Tune Book. Here's the ABC code for one of these tunes:

X:3040
T:Cobbler's Hornpipe
%A lightly edited tune from Paul Hardy's Session Tune Book, 2024.
R:Triple Hornpipe
C:Trad. Playford 1701
O:England
Z:Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook 2024 (see www.paulhardy.net). Creative Commons cc by-nc-sa licenced.
M:3/2
L:1/4
Q:1/2=100
K:Em
%%MIDI beatstring fpppmpmpmppp
%%MIDI gchord czfzczfzczfz
"Em" G2 EF/G/ "Am" A/G/F/E/ | "D" F D2 AGF | "Em" G>ABA/G/ "C" E/F/G | "Em" B, E2 G "D" F"Em"E :|
|: "Em" e2 e/f/g fe | "D" f d2 agf | "Em" g>aba/g/ "D" f/g/f/e/ | "Em" B e2 G "D" F"Em"E :|

so that:

%%MIDI beatstring fpppmpppmppp
%%MIDI gchord czfzczfzczfz

sequence may be what I'm looking for - I need to do a bit of playing around to see how I get on.

 

I also found a couple of triple hornpipes with a simpler %%MIDI sequence:

%%MIDI beatstring fppmpp
%%MIDI gchord czfczf

and an even simpler sequence for a minuet in 3/2:

%%MIDI beatstring fpp
%%MIDI gchord ccf

So I may actually have partially answered my own question...

 

I didn't think about looking for recordings, but I just found this recording of Barham Down - I need to look/listen and see if I can link what's happening to appropriate %%MIDI directives...

CobblersHornpipe.mid

CobblersHornpipe.abc

Edited December 28, 2024 by Roger Hare

[Roger Hare]

7 minutes ago, Michael Eskin said:

With my abcjs-based tool, I had to change from 3/2 to 6/4 to get %%MIDI gchord to work etc.

Ah! Thank you - your second post arrived as I was finishing my reply to your first post. I never thought of actually changing the meter from 3/2 to 6/4 - 6/4 does seem to be hard-wired into EasyABC/abc2midi (whichever it is). I need to investigate that approach too! Thanks for that example - given me something to think about/listen to...

[Michael Eskin]

Cool. I wan't aware of the beatstring command, might have to look into adding it to my tool.

I have something similar in my tool:

 

%%MIDI gchordstress <stress_pattern>
 

And a similar command for duration scaling.

 

%%MIDI gchordduration <duration_scaling_pattern>

 

details here:

 

https://michaeleskin.com/abctools/userguide.html#midigchord

 

 

[Roger Hare]

7 minutes ago, Michael Eskin said:

Cool. I wan't aware of the beatstring command, might have to look into adding it to my tool...

I was aware of it in a sort of background mode, but I don't think I had clocked it's utility till I saw the example(s). I think that to get this to fly right you probably need to use both? I was certainly having no luck till I saw the code in PH's Tune book - and stole it. I think I begin to see the way forward a little more clearly...

[Roger Hare]

...and I just found another version of that Cobbler's Hornpipe with a different set of %%MIDI instructions.namely:

%%MIDI gchord fcHcfc
%%MIDI beat 100 95 80

which also sounds OK. More work needed...

CobblersHornpipe2.abc CobblersHornpipe2.mid

[Michael Eskin]

Oh, looking at the abcMIDI spec, %%MIDI beat and %%MIDI beatstring is I think primarily for the melody.

https://abcmidi.sourceforge.io/#beat

abcjs implements %%MIDI beat but not %%MIDI beatstring

There is no standard specifically for gchord volume or duration scaling, which is why I rolled my own.
 

[Roger Hare]

1 hour ago, Michael Eskin said:

Oh, looking at the abcMIDI spec, %%MIDI beat and %%MIDI beatstring is I think primarily for the melody...

Yup. I'm looking at GG's manual right now and it's all a bit clearer. At one point it seems to be saying that %%MIDI beat and %%MIDI beatstring are different ways of doing the same thing - which is more to do with the melody than with the chords (as you say). I'm guessing that the whole thing is really subjective - we hear both the chords and the melody together, and if you've a tin ear like mine, it's difficult to separate the two effects when listening to the whole thing. Still, I'm a lot further forward than I was this morning. Time for a little experimentation...

 

Thanks again for your input - very helpful!

Edited December 28, 2024 by Roger Hare

[Michael Eskin]

I just go straight to the mothership for all things abcMIDI:

https://abcmidi.sourceforge.io/

 

Edited December 28, 2024 by Michael Eskin

[Roger Hare]

11 hours ago, Michael Eskin said:

...the mothership...

https://abcmidi.sourceforge.io/

That's useful. Thanks!