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Author Topic: ABC discussions  (Read 21827 times)

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Simon

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #60 on: September 01, 2010, 08:04:54 AM »

Because ABC is text, it is trivial to edit individual tunes into a collection or copy and paste them out of one, all without the aid of any special software.
One of the main advantages of this is that ABC is great for (folk) music archives. There's plenty of open source software to read ABC. Music software is changing rapidly. For word processing everybody is using OpenOffice now (or the microsoft equivalent), but it's not that long ago that WordPerfect was the standard software. If you couldn't open WP files with Word you'd have to keep an ms-dos computer with wordperfect 5.1 to access your document archive. In 15 years programs like Finale or Sibelius are probably gone, and given the current conversion problems I'm not sure if their successor we will be able to open our current Finale scores then.
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Graham Spencer

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #61 on: September 01, 2010, 10:32:10 AM »

I accept much of what is said in support of ABC, and it must have something going for it as so many people use it. It's just that personally I find it counter-intuitive and I just can't (ok - maybe can't be bothered to!) get my head round it. Then, a lot of people use MS Word & MS Publisher, and I don't like and don't use either of them, either!  Must be me.......

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Andrew Wigglesworth

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #62 on: September 01, 2010, 01:31:24 PM »

Anahata ... Emacs ftw !!!1!!!1

Sorry, I just had to come out with that  >:E

Now for the sensible ABC bit.

I'm not a great reader (of musical scores that is), but have been known to note down "aide memoirs" in ABC for which it's quick and easy. It's also very portable, I can stick it on any computer, PDA, email programme and there it is.

Going back to Emacs, it's just text  8)

Alison Scott

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #63 on: September 01, 2010, 01:35:58 PM »

I do think that abc is unbeatable for quick transcription of a melody line in a flexible format -- and the way that huge libraries of abc tunes have sprung up is really helpful for finding tunes. I use Barfly on the Mac to see staff notation as I type abc, and Tunebook for abc-on-the-run -- I have lost count of the number of times that someone has mentioned a tune in a session, and a few seconds later I have a copy (in dots, not abc) to review. Although there are people who read abc straight off the page, it's probably better to think of it as a piece of code to be interpreted using software of your choice.

However, I do think Lilypond, difficult though it is to use, is far more flexible and beautiful for the creation of high quality printed music. I'm very frustrated that there aren't better abc-to-lilypond (and vice versa) conversion routines.

Andrew Wigglesworth

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #64 on: September 01, 2010, 01:42:05 PM »

However, I do think Lilypond, difficult though it is to use, is far more flexible and beautiful for the creation of high quality printed music. I'm very frustrated that there aren't better abc-to-lilypond (and vice versa) conversion routines.

I think Lilypad is analogous to TeX for text documents.  ABC is more akin to plain text.

Anahata

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #65 on: September 01, 2010, 01:43:48 PM »

Anahata ... Emacs ftw !!!1!!!1
???
I never mentioned Emacs...
Anyway I'm a vi user, so now we'll have to declare holy war on each other  >:E
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ladydetemps

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #66 on: September 01, 2010, 01:52:09 PM »

I use macs mainly but occasionally use a pc for  the internet if I have to. Prefer macs even after being brought up using PC's the past 5yrs I've turned to the 'mac' side. (I think doing a 2yr btec on computers did that..put me right off PC's).
Anyway...back on topic...I swap between computers and ABC works for me as otherwise I'd need the software to read other formats on every computer I use which is not possible as I use public networks.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2010, 02:07:42 PM by ladydetemps »
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Andrew Wigglesworth

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Re: Lilypond
« Reply #67 on: September 01, 2010, 02:05:06 PM »

How do you set that up? I would imagine if it's possible with Lilypond it's possible in ABC too, or does it rely on Lilypond embedding source line numbers in the PS... and gv knowing about this  ???

Which editor(s) does this work with? I normally use vim but I promise not to get into a holy war if you're an EMACS user  ;)


:-P

VI VI VI

I use macs mainly but occasionally use a pc for  the internet if I have to. Prefer macs even after being brought up using PC's the past 5yrs I've turned to the 'mac' side. (I think doing a 2yr betc on computers did that..put me right off PC's).
Anyway...back on topic...I swap between computers and ABC works for me as otherwise I'd need the software to read other formats on every computer I use which is not possible as I use public networks.

I use a PCs (I suspect we all do, including Apple Mac users). Mine run GNU/Linux.

/me desperately scrambles to get back on topic (note to self ... this is not a software forum)

One of the things I habitually do is to get rid of the chords in ABC files, I just find them a distraction.

GbH

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #68 on: September 01, 2010, 06:06:44 PM »

It's just that personally I find it counter-intuitive and I just can't (ok - maybe can't be bothered to!) get my head round it.

What do you mean by that, exactly?  To use ABC in it's most basic (but useful) form you don't need to understand it - you just copy the text into an appropriate application and press the 'submit' button, maybe also selecting the output format if it doesn't default to what you want.

Obviously, if you want to write ABC from scatch, you need to sit and work through a tutorial - but even that's very logical.  As for reading ABC directly - yes, it's possible, but it was never meant to be used like that, so it's not a problem if you don't do that.
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SteveC

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #69 on: September 01, 2010, 06:57:47 PM »

Following this thread with interest. I too have been persuaded of the merits of abc but one big advantage I haven't seen mentioned here is fonts size.

This isn't specifically to do with abc but is related to ABC Navigator. My normal notation program, Notate, only prints at one font size. ABC Navigator allows you to change font size and print out those lovely big dots which are useful for a sneaky look at sessions and generally easier to read at any time.
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Simon

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Re: Lilypond
« Reply #70 on: September 01, 2010, 07:20:34 PM »

I use a PCs (I suspect we all do, including Apple Mac users). Mine run GNU/Linux.
Ogg, emacs, and complaining about assuming that pc means windows? You must be a true follower of Saint Ignucius  ;)
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Anahata

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #71 on: September 01, 2010, 07:25:07 PM »

Following this thread with interest. I too have been persuaded of the merits of abc but one big advantage I haven't seen mentioned here is fonts size.
I use abcm2ps, and I think ABC Navigator and ABC Explorer also use it as a back end.
In any case, abcm2ps has a huge range of adjustable parameters, all set to sensible defaults, such as typefaces, font sizes, overall scaling, stave separation, margins, whether to put certain notations like chords above or below the stave and so on.

As you say, this has nothing to do with ABC itself - most of those parameters are be set using pseudocomments, not as part of the ABC code.
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Andrew Wigglesworth

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Re: Lilypond
« Reply #72 on: September 02, 2010, 12:29:27 AM »

I use a PCs (I suspect we all do, including Apple Mac users). Mine run GNU/Linux.
Ogg, emacs, and complaining about assuming that pc means windows? You must be a true follower of Saint Ignucius  ;)

Who, me? Never heard of the guy  ;)

/me strokes his beard.

juker

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Re: ABC discussions
« Reply #73 on: September 02, 2010, 10:44:02 PM »



I like standard musical notation too. I don't think many of us can read ABC text at sight...

The trouble with "simple staff notation programs" is that there are many of them, their file formats are incompatible and most aren't free. If you just want a tune printed neatly for yourself they are fine, but if you want to send your Noteworthy Composer file to somebody who's only got Music Masterworks you both have  a problem.
Whereas ABC can be copied straight into an email or posted into a message here and we can all use it. There are online converters for ABC; you won't find many for other music file formats.

Because ABC is text, it is trivial to edit individual tunes into a collection or copy and paste them out of one, all without the aid of any special software.


Well that makes a lot of sense! This is the best explanation of the advantages of using ABC's that I have read. I am a notation reader too and always wondered what the attraction was with ABC's.
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