Github Psalm Tone Tool - English?
  • HildegardeVonBingen
    Posts: 14
    I'm sure many here are familiar with the GitHub Psalm Tone tool (and if you're not, the link can be found here)

    I tried setting it to Psalm 8 and checking the "English" checkbox, but nothing happened. The same seemed to be happening (or rather, not happening) no matter what psalm or canticle I used. Does anyone know of a similar psalm tone tool that I can use for English psalm chanting? School music teacher here, so quick plug-and-play systems like this are super helpful in streamlining my prep. I teach eight different grades of music (!) fulltime.

    Thanks!
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,211
    AFAICT you need to insert your own text (I believe that Ben Bloomfield would need to pay to license the text used in the lectionary/office, which wouldn’t be the same everywhere that uses English as it is).

    But there is nothing comparable.

    Checking the English box only changes the centering of notes from vowels (the Latin default that works for some/most Romance languages) to syllables (which works for English).
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 641
    God bless you for your work! I’m not affiliated with the site, but if I’m not mistaken, there is no English content built into the site; for anything in English one must put the text in the box themselves. Guessing this is due to simony copyright restrictions on the official liturgical texts and most other Bible translations.

    So you can paste in the text you want, and then set the tone and other options to your liking. There is an additional step I’ve not yet figured out – perhaps adding áccents to certáin sýllables? – for it to produce usable output. Just typing in plain English, like “God has gone up with a shout * the Lord with the sound of a trumpet” results in unsingable gobbledegook with the cadences in the worst possible places. I’ve just given up on using it and set the first verse manually in Gregorio, and the rest underneath in Word; or just put an image of the tone at top and do it all in Word.
    Thanked by 2tomjaw HildegardeVonBingen
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,211
    If you can use Gregorio, I would just go ahead and format the psalms to the tones the way you like with the formatting all in one format, i.e. LaTeX, just like Ben Bloomfield did for Latin.

    It’s of course a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of work to do that in Word.

    As to the problem, it would require playing around with the settings for the tone (that’s what the gabc without syllables does, on the left side) which you can adjust manually and then save locally as a custom tone.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • HildegardeVonBingen
    Posts: 14
    Thanks, y'all. I have used GABC before, so I'm familiar with the tools, but if memory serves it was quite time-consuming to set even one antiphon...so I'll leave playing around with it for a later date.

    Gamba, I appreciate the recommendation of setting the first verse in Gregorio and formatting the rest in Word!
  • AngelaRAngelaR
    Posts: 342
    The Source and Summit Editor (which is free to use whether you are a subscriber or not) makes things easier than using straight GABC. You can copy the coding of the tone you want from the Psalm Tone Tool, paste it into the Editor, and then add your English words/syllables from there. I’ve found it is much easier to do this when I have a coding template already, and it’s so easy to pull it from the Tool. Gregobase also allows an export through the Editor, so you can grab more involved coding that way too.

    OR you can point the text. This is what I did with my kids when I was teaching. I used Tone VIIIG and just put a + or - under a respective syllable, + for go up, and - for go down. They picked it up quickly.
    Thanked by 1HildegardeVonBingen
  • HildegardeVonBingen
    Posts: 14
    Thanks, Angela! I'll try this out!
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 501
    A gentle word of caution: the adaptation of Gregorian psalm tones for use with English texts is not straightforward.

    I have seen situations in which the psalm tone has been preserved at the expense of the text.

    May I suggest Anthony Ruff’s paper on the subject as a useful starting point?
  • Earl_GreyEarl_Grey
    Posts: 927
    Yes, I've not had much success with the psalm tone or reading tone tool when working with English texts. I find it easier to simply point the text and not attempt to notate it, unless one wants to spend a lot of time on the project.
    Thanked by 1GerardH
Add a Comment