Chant notation on Abc2svg - abcnotation - simple modern, square on modern and similar to Lagall
  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    For those unfamiliar with "abc notation" and abc2svg, see:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_notation
    https://abcnotation.com/wiki/abc:standard:v2.1
    "Making Music with Abc 2" - https://abcplus.sourceforge.net/abcplus_en.html
    http://moinejf.free.fr/abcm2ps-doc/features.html
    http://moinejf.free.fr/abcm2ps-doc/index.html
    http://moinejf.free.fr/js/edit-1.xhtml

    I was experimenting with some possibilities of the ab2svg editor and when seeing a type of notation with different "note heads" (depending on which musical note it is, the notation changes the shape of the head) I glimpsed the possibility of putting figures for Gregorian chant.

    With the %%beginsvg/%%endsvg function and the %%deco function it is possible to specify some special things. So I created an svg path for quilisma and for oriscus using https://yqnn.github.io/svg-path-editor/

    image

    and then I created the following code to use in the abc2svg editor:
    __________________________________________________________
    %% quilisma and oriscus %%
    %%beginsvg

    -0.217 -3.072 0.14 -4.673 C -2.016 -7.282 -3.179 1.144 -1.596 -2.136
    c 0.659 -2.853 0.679 -2.096 1.067 -0.136 C -0.335 -1.166 0.461 -0.913
    0.732 -1.942 C 1.411 -4.212 1.392 -5.202 1.702 -1.961 c -0.116 1.164
    1.5 1.871 1.359 -1.161 c 0.19 -0.74 0.97 -1.514 0.693 4.985 C 3.759
    2.308 2.964 3.356 2.4 2.226 C 1.955 1.26 1.159 1.473 0.963 2.246
    C -0.085 4.032 -0.493 2.09 -1.075 1.877 c -0.952 0.039 -0.291 1.417
    -1.942 0.912 z"/>
    -0.217 -3.072 -0.157 -3.911 C -3.416 -2.936 -2.106 -3.326 -1.788
    -3.255 C -1.045 -3.609 2.868 0.752 3.026 -3.469 c 0.009 -0.569 0.32
    -0.435 0.617 0.173 c 0.326 0.638 0.203 1.947 0.163 2.779 C 3.738
    2.351 3.129 2.561 2.062 2.561 C 0.92 2.637 -0.139 1.276 -1.435 1.028
    c -1.048 0.083 -0.441 1.241 -1.213 1.875 z"/>


    .sW {stroke-width:0.9}
    .bW {stroke-width:0.9}

    %%endsvg
    %%deco head-quilisma 0 quilisma 0 0 0
    U:q=!head-quilisma!
    %%deco head-oriscus 0 oriscus 0 0 0
    U:o=!head-oriscus!
    U:i=!wedge!
    U:n=!stemless!
    %%notespacingfactor 1
    %%scale 0.9
    -------------------------------------------------------------

    With this code it is possible create things like this : (the melody is random,
    I just wanted to demonstrate the possibilities of the notation)

    image
    Thanked by 2a_f_hawkins bhcordova
  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    -
    Abc2svg with oriscus and quilisma.pdf
    110K
  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    Then I also created a set with simple one-note neumes with a one-key shortcut for each one.

    With this another code it is possible do this:
    image

    and this:

    image
    modern-square1.png
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    modern-square-abc2svg.pdf
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    modern-square2.png
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  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    There are few options for shortcuts (many of the letters are used in the standard abc code) so to make all variations of complex neumes with ligatures (neumes of two, three and four notes or more) it would be necessary to use the
    %%deco function without shortcuts :
    !head-"name you want to give for the special symbol in svg"!.

    As an example of this, I made the clivis with a second interval: !head-cl1!

  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    In addition to these two codes (the simplest only with oriscus and quilisma and the most elaborate with several types of simple neume) I also made one code with three sizes of tractulus, four sizes of virga, three sizes of oriscus and with a different design in augmentative liquescence and quilisma.

    So it is possible to note with this complex code in a notation similar to lagall (http://www.gregoriana.nl/0216lagal.htm ).

    I made it with the purpose of elaborating a notation for a choir with people who don't read modern notation, to interpret my transcriptions according to a mensuralist interpretation of the chant (that's why, in the three sizes I made, it is more or less proportional with approximately twice and triple the size).

    It would be possible to use this system for a semiological notation of nuances or it would be possible to change the svg path with the proportions you want to adjust to your practice of nuances (thus having a performance music score).

    image

    image
    abc2svg_nuanced_mensured_chant.pdf
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    abc2svg_nuanced_mensured_chant-1.png
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    abc2svg_nuanced_mensured_chant-2.png
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  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    Maybe I'll make a version similar to the last one but with a design inspired by Laon notation and adding stylized letters "m" "T" and "a" (for "tenete" and "auge") but that's not really very necessary because you can use a cool Carolingian font in %%annotationfont that already solves it.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,721
    Speaking of fonts, what is the font name of that fantastic drop cap? I love it, and I've never seen that one before, and I've searched multiple times for different drop cap fonts.
    Thanked by 1Lincoln_Hein
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,721
    By the way, if you are just wanting to do modern stemless transcriptions perhaps with a squiggle note here and there, this is easily achievable in Dorico, fwiw. Dorico has support for true open meter music, and there is a notehead editor, where you can define some alternate glyphs, and then you can assign those noteheads at will. Very slick and doesn’t require coding savvy, as GABC does.
    Thanked by 1Lincoln_Hein
  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    The drop cap font is Eileen caps Black:

    https://tug.org/FontCatalogue/eileencapsblack/
    https://www.wfonts.com/font/eileen-caps
    https://www.dafont.com/eileen-caps.font
    Thanked by 2ServiamScores CHGiffen
  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    image
    modern-square3.png
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  • Lincoln_Hein
    Posts: 89
    with transpose:

    image
    modern-square3.png
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