Pointing and Notation of Vernacular Texts (GABC)
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 365
    I am perpetually frustrated by the amount of effort that is needed to notate ANY vernacular texts in chant for liturgical use.

    We don't have a book of notated collects and other 'presidential chant', so there's a whole world of pain involved in setting these one by one... Often on the off-chance that this-or-that-priest can be persuaded to cast off his clericalism and just 'do' what he's supposed to do. How I'd love to see a fully notated "Book of the Chair (and more)"... without having to do the whole thing myself!

    With psalms, whether one is using adapted Gregorian tones, the Westminster tones, Meinrad, Bevenot or Gregory Murray... there's potentially hours of (unpaid, thankless and unrecognised) work there.

    Pointing, alas, is not foolproof... as most of us have experienced by now!

    I have delighted in the ability of GABC to notate any Latin psalm. Absolutely fabulous when working with a competent choir for the widest range of contexts!

    Having now cursed the darkness sufficiently... a question: Does anyone know how to adapt GABC for vernacular texts to achieve the same stupendous results as one already has available for Latin texts?
  • GerardH
    Posts: 411
    I'm not sure I understand what you mean. What can GABC do for Latin that it can't do for English?
    Thanked by 1ServiamScores
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,724
    I hate to say it's the poor man's way out, but this is partly why I do a lot of transcriptions into modern, stemless notation. It's very easy in Dorico where you have genuine support for open meter, and can go back and plop barlines wherever you want them.

    This is also why, when I am using square note notation, I'm increasingly turning to putting the formula at the top and just poínting the téxt in paragraphs below. I also get graphics out of GABC engines and do a lot of manual shifting in Affinity Publisher because it's easier to manipulate things in that environment sometimes.
    Thanked by 1Charging3296
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    It has been my experience... the NO... never mind.
  • Earl_GreyEarl_Grey
    Posts: 892
    Priests are simply expected improvise the tone formulary, not read from a notated or pointed text. "In these or similar notes..."

    Unfortunately, many of the improvised tones are not that similar to the standard formulary.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,724
    I just giggle every time they don’t read ahead and crash at the cadences because there are too many notes in the formulary left over, and too few syllables. Every. Time.
    Thanked by 1trentonjconn
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 354
    @Palestrina

    Having now cursed the darkness sufficiently... a question: Does anyone know how to adapt GABC for vernacular texts to achieve the same stupendous results as one already has available for Latin texts?


    By "GABC" you actually mean Benjamin Bloomfield's Psalm Tone Tool, right?

    If for a given pair of language and psalm tone set there are sufficiently formalized pointing rules, it is possible to create a general psalm pointing tool like that. I have built one for Czech psalms. http://zalmy.inadiutorium.cz/zalm/63.html But that's, of course, tens (if not some hundreds) of "hours of unpaid ... work".
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    To clarify, @Palestrina, your opening question was a little unclear because "GABC" is just the name of the notation used to represent square-notation scores.

    It looks like this, for example:

    title: Ave Maria;
    mode: 1;
    %%
    (c4)A(f)ve(c') Ma(d)ri(ixdh'iv)a(h.)


    GABC notation is used by Ben Bloomfield's nice Psalm Tone Tool website and quite a few other projects related to chant typesetting. It was invented for the software "Gregorio".
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
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