Hybrid Notation & Illumination (please add constructive criticism)
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    As a spin off from my Hybrid Notation (see on other threads on the forum) I am also creating digital illuminations. I did one of the Salve Regina a while back... it might be on this forum somewhere.

    Here is an illumination (low Rez) of the Pater Noster using a Russian Icon as the background. If you zoom in you will see things you cannot see from viewing at 100%.

    In JMJ,

    FK

    (file is updated, see below)
    Thanked by 4Chant_Supremacist hilluminar Roborgelmeister CHGiffen
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    Ave Maria

    (file has been updated, see below)
    Thanked by 3hilluminar Roborgelmeister CHGiffen
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    (Oops… forgot the te on the salicus.) Also, I think the dots on the punctum need to be larger. I like using dots between syllables instead of hyphens, and those dots would probably work well for the dots on the punctum. I am thinking of using conventional red staves on the Pater. Will post later on today.

    Do you all see anything else that could be improved upon before I start cranking out the rest of the prayers?

    The Pater will be the light background template and the Ave the dark background template, and I’m trying to set in place a good prototype template for each. The drop shadow on the neumes kind of works for the light background, but it might be overkill for the dark background.

    These are intended for a 6 x 9 devotional booklet for members of the Confraternity of the Holy Face and a newly established Sacred Music Society of Reparation. However, they could be printed as 11 x 17 or larger for scholas that use a music stand and a pointer.

    (Found this discussion from 2009)

    https://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/discussion/2479/gregorian-chant-and-calligraphy/p1
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    There were a lot of wrong notes in the first Ave Maria... also the Te sign on the salicus was missing. Tweaked some of the neume shapes, put consistent dot (from the text hyphens) on the punctum and refined the shadow on the neumes. Also changed color of Do clef and custos to white. I think I am getting closer to a good template.
    aveMariaRev1.pdf
    556K
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    Here is an updated Pater Noster.
    paterNosterRev2.pdf
    573K
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    This is an updated Pater Noster with added glowing floating Seraphim and a glowing Christ.

    (NOTE: the glows are not showing correctly... they are much more subtle on the source file and I will try to output a pdf that is accurate when I fix the color space.)
    paterNosterRev3.pdf
    2M
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    pater with better color space... and one with a white glowing Christ.

    paterNosterRev4.pdf
    2M
    paterNosterRev5.pdf
    636K
  • FSSPmusic
    Posts: 459
    These look nice overall, but the horizontal spacing leaves something to be desired. In the Pater, the text is hyphenated only once, at tentati-onem, and even there the notes are still a bit cramped. In the second line, -niat and Fiat have no more space between the two notes than a distropha, and the end of hodie looks like the second note actually overlaps the first. Of course there's precedent for this kind of cramped spacing in medieval manuscripts, but since you're using Vatican edition bar lines and Solesmes rhythmic markings, it might be more user-friendly to follow the modern convention of leaving the width of a punctum between syllables.
  • francis
    Posts: 11,249
    @FSSPmusic

    Thank you for taking the time to offer comments.

    Here is my philosophy:

    As a typographer, I lean toward no hyphens to give presidence to the text. I find the wide spacing with a lot of hyphenation to be hard to read naturally as you lose the sense of Latin accent's. The notes get too far spread apart and don’t seem to align with the natural tempo of what one is actually chanting.

    Computerized typing has kind of ruined the longstanding art of engraving. If one looks at a Schirmers edition for instance, you will see that the notes are much more condensed, even horizontally compressed.

    Also, IMHO, chant engraving has wandered too far away from artistic engraving and too much toward utilitarian ugliness. What one reads (mystical manuscripts) should be just as beautiful as what one is saying (mystical meaning) and singing (mystical aural delivery).

    Nevertheless, I will examine your observations and see how I might adjust the issues you have mentioned. I also need to dig out the previous manuscripts of these pieces and compare more closely.

    Thanks again.
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