ABC transcription help

[squidgirl]

I've been wanting to do some more whistle and flute transcriptions using ABC, but I've never been clear on how best to match up the musical symbols available in ABC with the kinds of ornamentation we have on the whistle. So in the past I've just done vanilla abc => pdf => dead trees, and written in ornament symbols by hand with old-fashioned graphite. But I'd much prefer to have it all in abc format.

First of all, has any standard usage developed here? Or is anyone willing to elaborate on a system that works well for them?

In an ideal world, I'd love find other learners to share and re-check each others' transcriptions, and in that case a shared abc symbology would be essential. I've found that I get more crunchy/nutritious/(procrastinate-able) stuff done if I have buddies to share progress with. But I'm miles ahead of myself there.

In the here and now, I'd just love some suggestions on which abc notation to use for transcribing whistle music.

[Ben Steen]

Could you describe which ornamentation you want to transcribe? There's been alot going on with abc standards recently, but it really come down to what you need to put/to see on the page.

[squidgirl]

I like to note tonguing and breathing, as well as the usual slides, cuts, strikes, rolls, short rolls... I think that's about all I'm able to hear/identify using Transcribe! (the software).

ETA: It sounds like my experience with ABC is very dated, also. Thanks for the heads-up on that.

[cboody]

I stuck together a compilation of various ornaments in ABC some time back. Maybe it can help you:

They apparently work just fine with current versions of abcm2ps and EasyABC



T Trill
M Mordent
P Lower Mordent (Pralltriller)
L Emphasis mark (or vertical episema in Gregorian notation)
H Fermata
I Inverted fermata
S Segno
R Roll
u Up Bow
v Down Bow
J slide up

X:21
T:Accents and ornaments
M:none
K:C
~A TA MA PA LA HA IA SA RA vA uA JA|]
w: tilde T M P L H I S      R   v u J  

X:4
T:Key signature, Accidentals and Decorations
M:C
K:A
L: 1/4
^C=C_C ^G=G_G | .F/.G/.A/ Ma/Mg/Mf/ Jc J^c J[c^f] J[c^g] |\
{f}e {C}D {cd}c {E^c}a2 {dedc}d|
uc vc'-c'/Mb/Mc'/Ma/ | (b4 | b/).a/.b/.c'/ | ~A ~g \
% RA Rg MA Mg | .A .g vf/-g/ (u.a/.b/) | uR~M.c2 Hg4 || % abcm2ps: '-' is not a slur
RA Rg MA Mg | .A .g (vf/g/) (u.a/.b/) | uR~M.c2 Hg4 ||

X:5
T:Standard decorations
M:none
L:1/8
K:C
~C.D JENF HCRD TEuF vcLB MAPG ScOB|
w: \~ . J N H R T u v L M P S O
w: grace dot slide tenuto fermata roll trill upbow downbow \
w: emphasis lmordent umordent segno coda

X:6
T:All decorations
M:none
L:1/8
K:C
!0!C!1!D !2!E!3!F !4!G!5!A !+!B!accent!c|\
w:~0 ~1 ~2 ~3 ~4 ~5 ~+ accent
!breath!C!crescendo(!D !crescendo)!E!D.C.!F !diminuendo(!G!diminuendo)!A !f!B!ffff!c|
w:breath crescendo( crescendo) D.C. diminuendo( diminuendo) ~f ffff
!fine!C!invertedfermata!D !longphrase!E !mediumphrase!F !mf!G!open!A !p!B!pppp!c|
w:fine invertedfermata longphrase mediumphrase mf open ~p pppp
!pralltriller!C!sfz!D !shortphrase!E !snap!F !thumb!G!turn!A!wedge!B!D.S.!c|
w:pralltriller sfz shortphrase snap thumb turn wedge D.S.

X:7
T:Non standard decorations
C:Composer
O:Origin
R:Rhythm
M:none
L:1/8
K:C
!turnx!G!invertedturn!A !invertedturnx!B !arpeggio![EGc]|\
w:turnx invertedturn invertedturnx arpeggio
!trill(!c4-|!trill)!c3|
w:trill( trill)

X:8
T:Decorations on two voices
T:(also in 'd:' lines)
%%infoline 1
C:Composer
O:Origin
R:Rhythm
M:C
%%staves (1 2)
K:C
V:1
~c.dJeNf cdef|aabc' gabc'|!coda!cdef gfec||
d: * * * * HRTu|!mf! |!sfz! *** ***!D.S.!
V:2
CDEF CDEF|ffga efga|C D EF [EG]FEC||
d: ~.JN HRTu|~.JN HRTu|!5!!4!M* !5! M
d: | |* P !3! !4!

[Kypfer]

In the here and now, I'd just love some suggestions on which abc notation to use for transcribing whistle music.

My reference is the documentation supplied with ABCExplorer http://abc.stalikez.info/abcex.php , specifically Irwin Oppenheim's "The ABC Music standard 2.0" available in the "ref" sub-directory when ABCExplorer is installed on a PC.

Having said that, cboody's reply above seems to cover just about everything in a very concise manner ... I'll keep a copy of that, thanks

[squidgirl]

Thank you Chuck, I remember you giving me a hand out of ABC jams in the past. Your cheat sheet was exactly the sort of thing I was needing.

Whereas I used to recreationally study language specifications with my morning coffee, those days seem to be over, at least for now. I have a chronic illness requiring continuous medication, and one of the side effects I have to put up with these days is the loss of the focused overview requisite for math, programming, or language specs. I function just fine out in the world and have greatly reduced symptoms, but I now get lost in specifications and documentation.

So that's why I needed to ask for assistance here. It's kind of embarrassing, but life is what it is, and I'm thankful for the help.

[benhall.1]

So that's why I needed to ask for assistance here. It's kind of embarrassing, but life is what it is, and I'm thankful for the help.

I wouldn't be embarrassed, squidgirl. Your question has elicited some extremely helpful advice which will be useful to many, myself included. So you just keep asking for help. That way, I won't have to.

[Ben Steen]

Hello, squidgirl, I see Chuck has provided you with an excellent reference sheet.

Here's another one I've seen on a discussion about ABC Rolls;

initial cut: {c}B
separating cut: AB{d}BA
evenly timed triplet (3Bcd
2-16ths-&-an-eighth triplet: B/c/d
short roll: ~B2
evenly timed short roll: {d}B{A}B
another short roll: {d}B>{A}B
another short roll: {d}B{A}<B
long roll: ~B3
evenly timed long roll: B{d}B{A}B


Hope it helps.

Thanks, Chuck!

[Mr.Gumby]

initial cut: {c}B
separating cut: AB{d}BA
evenly timed triplet (3Bcd
2-16ths-&-an-eighth triplet: B/c/d
short roll: ~B2
evenly timed short roll: {d}B{A}B
another short roll: {d}B>{A}B
another short roll: {d}B{A}<B
long roll: ~B3
evenly timed long roll: B{d}B{A}B


Hope it helps.

I bet you didn't get that off a whistle discussion. It would be quite a challenge to find a whistleplayer who plays the B rolls like that.

[Ben Steen]

As Mr. Gumby pointed out the earlier Abc examples I posted were not written for the purpose of transcribing whistle ornamentation. Cheers, Peter! Those examples are better suited to fiddle. Sorry for any confusion.

I'll try again. Here's a brief bit of abc I prepared to illustrate a cut, tap, short roll & long roll as it might be transcribed for whistle. It's very basic, but if you run it through abcm2ps or concertina.net you can get a pdf w/those basic examples*.

X:1
T:Abc Notation: Cut, Tap & Roll
M:none
L:1/8
K:C
"Cut"F{A}G "Tap"e{d}e "Short Roll"{A}F{E}F ~A2 "Long Roll"G{A}G{F}G ~G3|
w:F {A}G e {d}e {A}F {E}F ~A2 G {A}G {F}G ~G3
%%stretchlast

*Unfortunately by using the w:field to indicate the abc code directly below the notation it does not read the tilde (~) in the output file.