"The Braeburn Rag" melody line for concertina w/musicxml,pdf link

[Matt Heumann]

A classic ragtime piece I wrote in 1979, but only the melody. It needs a left hand accompaniment, so have at it you musicians!!!

Dropbox link for pdf & musicxml: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/8uu3qxpuqn1wjndqexoot/AI8EMt0LUlKVcAfsSrfoCEw?rlkey=hi72jwwyemw6cylzk918qlw64&st=jj4u6bf7&dl=0

 

 

Edited August 1, 2025 by Matthew Heumann
corrected video feed

[Roger Hare]

Here's the ABC code I generated from that musicxml file. It's pretty much the first time I've done that, and I don't quite know how it went. I had to do a few things to the 'first draft' of the ABC code: 2nd endings were designated as '1' for example, so I changed them to '2'. There appeared to be a couple of missing opening '|:'s which I inserted. There also appeared to be one underfull bar which I 'corrected'. The 'boogie woogie' text appeared as text annotations, so I left 'em in.

 

I also added accompaniment chords (courtesy of ABCMus), and inserted spaces for readabilty. Here it is FWIW:

 

X:1
T:The Braeburn Rag
%A lightly edited version of a tune supplied by the composer as a musicxml file.
%Rudimentary accompaniment chords generated by ABCMus, setting 0.
C:Matthew C. Heumann 1979
M:2/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=80
K:Cmaj
%%MIDI program 0
%%text Solo melody line - moderate
%%rightmargin 8cm
%%text Introduction
"Am" z/4 a/b/4a/ e2- e/ || "Dm" z/4 f/g/4f/ d2- d/ | "Em" e/dc/ BA | "Em" G2 [Bg]2 | 
%%rightmargin 1cm
|: "C" g/^f/g/a/ g/=f/e/d/ | "C" c/eE/ G/c/e | "Em" B/BG/ AB | "C" c/G,A,/ B,/C/D/E/ | "C" g/^f/g/a/ g/=f/e/d/ |
"C" c/eE/ G/c/e | "G" d/d^c/ de | "C" g-g>ef/^f/ | "C" g/^f/g/a/ g/=f/e/d/ | "C" c/eE/ G/c/e | "G" d/d^c/ d^d |
"Am" e2 z3/4 G,/<A,/B,/4 | "C" C/>D/E/>F/ G/>A/B/>c/ | "Dm" d/>e/f/>g/ af | "C" e/eec/d | "C" c2 [Ec]2 :|
|: B/A/G/F/ "C" E/D/C/B,/"_emphasized boogey woogey swing" | "C" C/G,/A,/G,/ C/G,/A,/G,/ | "Em" B,/G,/A,/G,/ B,/G,/A,/G,/ | "C" C/G,/A,/G,/ C/D/E/G/ | "Em" B/A/G/F/ E/D/C/B,/ |
"C" C/D/E/G^F/G/A/ | "Em" B/BB^F/G | "C" E2 G2 | "Em" B/A/G/F/ E/D/C/B,/ | "_emphasized boogey woogey swing" "C" C/G,/A,/G,/ C/G,/A,/G,/ | "G" B,/G,/A,/G,/ B,/C/D |
"C" C z EG | "F" c/A/c/AG/F | "C" G/E/G/ED/C/A,/ | "C" G,/A,/C/EG,/A, |1 "C" C2- CG :|2 "Am" C2 z/ E/F/^F/ |] 
|: "C" G/c/e/g^f/g | "Am" a/^g/a/=ge/c | "Am" a/^g/a/b/ a/=g/f/e/ | "G" d/^c/d/e/ d/=c/B/A/ | "G" G/B/d/g^f/g |
"Am" a/^g/a/=ge/c | "G" d/ddB/A | "C" G2- G/E/F/^F/ | "C" G/c/e/g^f/g | "Am" a/^g/a/=ge/c | "Am" a/^g/a/ba/b |
%I'm pretty sure the 2nd ending was underfull - 'C3 z/' -> 'C3 z'. RJH
"Am" c'2 z/ g/a/b/ | "C" c'/a/f/ge/c | "Dm" d/B/G/AF/D/ | "C" G/E/C/DB,/G, |1 "Am" C2 z/ E/F/^F/ :|2 "C" C3 z |]
|: "C" G/^F/G/A/ G/=F/E/D/ | "C" C/E/G<ec | "F" F/A/c<dc | "C" C/E/G<ec | "C" G/^F/G/A/ G/=F/E/D/ | "C" C/E/G<ec |
"G" d/dc/ BA | "C" GF ED | "C" G/^F/G/A/ G/=F/E/D/ | "C" C/E/G<ec | "G" d/d^c/ d^d | "C" e2 e2 |
"C" g/^f/g/a/ ge | "Am" c/B/c/d/ cA | "C" G/GGE/D |1 "C" C2- C2 :|2 "C" G/GGE/D |] "C" G/GAG/A | c2- [CEGc]2 |]

 

I dunno - it ain't perfect by any means, but it sounds not entirely unlike the YouTube clip up there ^^^?

TheBraeburnRag.pdf TheBraeburnRag.mid

Edited August 1, 2025 by Roger Hare

[Jim Besser]

Great stuff, Matt.  Sounds like you're channeling Kerry Mills! Some of my favorite music.

[RAc]

On 8/1/2025 at 9:44 PM, Roger Hare said:

I also added accompaniment chords (courtesy of ABCMus)

It is encouraging to see that harmonization is still a human domain - ABCMus apparently does not understand a whole lot about ragtime. There are several places in the tune that yelp for intermediate dominants and/or modulations where the software dumbly inserts its best guess what fits the key.

 

Thanks for your work, Roger!  

[RAc]

So here is my take on harmonization - you may run both through Michael's tool and see which one you prefer. There is more ancy stuff one could do, but for mysewlf I like to leave it as is. Enjoy!

 

There were more understuffed bars in the C which I fixed, and I believe that all measures in the introduction are also misnotated (understuffed), but I did not feel in a position to change that.

 

Quote

X:1
T:The Braeburn Rag
%A lightly edited version of a tune supplied by the composer as a musicxml file.
C:Matthew C. Heumann 1979
M:2/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=80
K:Cmaj
%%MIDI program 0
%%text Solo melody line - moderate
%%rightmargin 8cm
%%text Introduction
"Am" z/4 a/b/4a/ e2- e/ || "Dm" z/4 f/g/4f/ d2- d/ | "Em" e/dc/ BA | "Em" G2 [Bg]2 | 
%%rightmargin 1cm
|: "C" g/^f/g/a/ g/=f/e/d/ | "C" c/eE/ G/c/e | "Em" B/BG/ AB | "C" c/G,A,/ B,/C/D/E/ | "C" g/^f/g/a/ g/=f/e/d/ |
"C" c/eE/ G/c/e | "G" d/d^c/ de | "C" g-g>ef/^f/ | "C" g/^f/g/a/ g/=f/e/d/ | "C" c/eE/ G/c/e | "G" d/d^c/ d^d |
"E" e2 z3/4 G,/<A,/B,/4 | "Am" C/>D/E/>F/ G/>A/B/>c/ | "Dm" d/>e/f/>g/ af | "C" e/ee"G"c/d | "C" c2 [Ec]2 😐
|: "G"B/A/G/F/E/D/C/B,/"_emphasized boogey woogey swing" | "C" C/G,/A,/G,/ C/G,/A,/G,/ | "Em" B,/G,/A,/G,/ B,/G,/A,/G,/ | "C" C/G,/A,/G,/ C/D/E/G/ | "G" B/A/G/F/ E/D/C/B,/ |
"C" C/D/E/G^F/G/A/ | "B7" B/BB^F/G | "Em" E2 G2 | "G" B/A/G/F/ E/D/C/B,/ | "_emphasized boogey woogey swing" "C" C/G,/A,/G,/ C/G,/A,/G,/ | "G" B,/G,/A,/G,/ B,/C/D |
"C" C z EG | "F" c/A/c/AG/F | "C" G/E/G/ED/C/A,/ | "C" G,/A,/C/E"G"G,/A, |1 "C" C2- CG :|2 "C" C2 z/ E/F/^F/ |] 
|: "C" G/c/e/g^f/g | "Am" a/^g/a/=ge/c | "A7" a/^g/a/b/ "D7"a/=g/f/e/ | "G" d/^c/d/e/ d/=c/B/A/ | "G" G/B/d/g^f/g |
"Am" a/^g/a/=ge/c | "G" d/ddB/A | "C" G2- G/E/F/^F/ | "C" G/c/e/g^f/g | "Am" a/^g/a/=ge/c | "A7" a/^g/a/ba/b |
%I'm pretty sure the 2nd ending was underfull - 'C3 z/' -> 'C3 z'. RJH
"ADim" c'2 "G" z/ g/a/b/ | "F" c'/a/f/"C"ge/c | "G" d/B/G/"Dm"AF/D | "C" G/E/C/"G"DB,/G, |1 "C" C2 z/ E/F/^F/ :|2 "C" C3 z |]
|: "C" G/^F/G/A/ G/=F/E/D/ | "C" C/E/G<ec | "F" F/A/c<dc | "C" C/E/G<ec | "C" G/^F/G/A/ G/=F/E/D/ | "C" C/E/G<ec |
"G" d/dc/ BA | "C" GF ED | "C" G/^F/G/A/ G/=F/E/D/ | "C" C/E/G<ec | "G" d/d^c/ d^d | "E7" e2 e2 |
"C" g/^f/g/a/ ge | "Fm" c/B/c/d/ "F"cA | "G7" G/GGE/D |1 "C" C2- C2 :|2 "C" G/GGE/D |] "C" G/GA"G"G/A | "C"c2- [CEGc]2 |]

 

Edited August 5, 2025 by RAc

[Roger Hare]

4 hours ago, RAc said:

It is encouraging to see that harmonization is still a human domain - ABCMus apparently does not understand a whole lot about ragtime. There are several places in the tune that yelp for intermediate dominants and/or modulations where the software dumbly inserts its best guess what fits the key.

 

Thanks for your work, Roger!  

Thank you for those kind words - we do our best...

 

I am simply not a good enough musician to reliably add accompaniment chords 'off my own bat', and should perhaps make it unambiguously clear that what I am doing is 'production-line grunt-work'.

 

I 'discovered' the automagic chord generation features of ABCMus 4-5 years ago, and slowly developed a way of using them over a period of time. It is entirely 'empirical' - because despite strenuous efforts, I have been completely unable to find any serious documentation for what looks like a pretty sophisticated facility. I am frightened to death of trying anything more sophisticated than what I actually do.

 

Result: a slightly wonky 'improvement' to a tune - sometimes. I'm sure a real musician could do a lot better.

 

I've done this to thousands of tunes over the last few years, and perhaps the best that can be said is that it keeps me off the streets, and out of the public-houses...🙂

[RAc]

Oh no, a hundred apologies, I did not mean to insult anyone - I was under the impression that the harmonization was purely machine generated... I would never call myself a musician either, that would be an insult to anyone who deserves that title.

 

I DO have the highest respect of what you are doing. There is nothing wrong with the harmonies you added, it is just that the ragtime idiom asks for a different harmonization (I happen to have a ragtimish personal history, so that is something I know less little about than many other musical topics).

 

Again, please accept my apologies, I do feel very very sheepish for involuntarily insulting you. 

[Roger Hare]

1 hour ago, RAc said:

Oh no, a hundred apologies, I did not mean to insult anyone - I was under the impression that the harmonization was purely machine generated... I would never call myself a musician either, that would be an insult to anyone who deserves that title.

 

I DO have the highest respect of what you are doing. There is nothing wrong with the harmonies you added, it is just that the ragtime idiom asks for a different harmonization (I happen to have a ragtimish personal history, so that is something I know less little about than many other musical topics).

 

Again, please accept my apologies, I do feel very very sheepish for involuntarily insulting you. 

Eh? What? Who? Me? If that is a reply to my previous post, I didn't think you were 'having a go' - never occurred to me for a moment. I was struggling to briefly explain what I did, and that it is a purely mechanical process - with all the shortcomings which go with that sort of approach.

 

There's a triple-whammy with that particular tune: 1) It's ragtime - which is 'challenging' (for me); 2) I was converting musicxml to ABC (which I hadn't done before), and I wasn't sure how 'robust' the generated ABC code was; 3) I'm a numptie who's a little unsure about the validity of what I'm doing in the first place... 

 

At first sight, I can't see any underfilled bars in the tune - I must check carefully. Great tune though!

 

Fun though, and as I said, it keeps me out of the public houses (my regular Wednesday drink-up has just been cancelled...🙁🙁🙁)!

 

 

 

[RAc]

8 minutes ago, Roger Hare said:

At first sight, I can't see any underfilled bars in the tune - I must check carefully. Great tune though!

 

Fun though, and as I said, it keeps me out of the public houses (my regular Wednesday drink-up has just been cancelled...🙁🙁🙁)!

Ok, first of all I feel much better now knowing that I did not offend you...

The measure I believe to be underfilled is circled in red in the attachment.

 

About the intro - it sounds very strange when I run it through Michael's tool, but when counting out the 16th notes, it appears to come out even.

 

[Roger Hare]

1 hour ago, RAc said:

[1] Ok, first of all I feel much better now knowing that I did not offend you...

[2]The measure I believe to be underfilled is circled in red in the attachment.

[1] Good! Glad we got that sorted out!

 

[2] I think you're right. My guess would be that the final 'D' in that group of barred notes 'should' be a quaver rather than a semi-quaver? That seems to make the note-count correct for that bar.

Edited August 6, 2025 by Roger Hare

[RAc]

yes, I did exactly that in my own harmonization, giving it the same rhythmic pattern as the preceding bar.

 

Unfortunately, I just now discovered that bar 35 has the same problem, I have not corrected that. Looks like there is a method to it, possibly @Matthew Heumann can jump in and clarify?

Edited August 6, 2025 by RAc

[Matt Heumann]

3 hours ago, Roger Hare said:

My guess would be that the final 'D' in that group of barred notes 'should' be a quaver rather than a semi-quaver? That seems to make the note-count correct for that bar.

OOppps, you are right, the last D in that measure should be a 1/8th note. I'm not extremely notation literate and rely heavily on the notation playback to "hear" mistakes. Guess I missed that. I'm including a link to the notation playback:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/djtlx2lwukkijhdrozfc9/Braeburn-Rag-melody.mp3?rlkey=k9rnv7phso07okxy4yqnqm5tw&st=p10s2bij&dl=0

Edited August 6, 2025 by Matthew Heumann

[Roger Hare]

59 minutes ago, Matthew Heumann said:

...and rely heavily on the notation playback to "hear" mistakes...

Moi aussi! The mistakes really stand out if you add accompaniment chords - the interruption in the rhythm is usually pretty obvious...