GABC-like chant notation on modern staff?
  • CantorCole
    Posts: 81
    Hello all,

    I am wondering if there is an easy way to format chants (similar to GABC), but on a 5-line modern staff. In order to make English adaptations of chants more organ-friendly, I have to take the GABC code, transpose if necessary (which is of-itself time-consuming), and add a 5th line + staff signature + accidentals in microsoft paint. Does anyone have a better method?

    Thank you,
    CantorCole
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 400
    Are you looking for square notation in a five line staff with a modern clef, or for rendering gabc in modern notation all along?
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,544
    I would transpose by hand in notation software if you must, then use the tools to transpose to your preferred key. (My assumption was perhaps wrong: I think I now understand, something like the special vesperal that Jeff O posts about sometimes)
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 400
    Here's what LilyPond can do. (And here's the source code.)

    With https://github.com/igneus/lilygabc it would be even possible to include an existing gabc file in a LilyPond document with no additional transcription work involved, just setting up the non-standard staff and clef globally. But with adaptations of Mass propers you are bound to regularly run into all the issues LilyPond has with rendering melismatic pieces, so it's of no use for you.
    square_notation_modern_staff.png
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  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,962
    The Weimann graduals are available via CCW that do exactly this. It rather saddens me that this never caught on, as it is the best of both worlds in a way.
    Thanked by 1DavidOLGC
  • GerardH
    Posts: 507
    @CantorCole, while it would still require manual effort, using InkScape or some other vector graphic software instead of MS Paint would be much more effective. You can use it to edit SVG or PDF files directly (but don't use PNG or other raster filetypes). There are almost certainly better ways, but this would be a good start.
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