The cents command is able to translate any of the pitch-related representations listed below. In each case, a tuning standard of A4 equals 440 hertz is assumed. For descriptions of the various input representations (including **cents) refer to Section 2 (Representation Reference) of this reference manual.

It is recommended that output files produced using the cent command should be given names with the distinguishing `.cnt' extension.

**cents	hundredths of a semitone with respect to middle C=0
**freq	fundamental frequency (in hertz)
**fret	fretted-instrument pitch tablature
**kern	core pitch/duration representation
**MIDI	Music Instrument Digital Interface tablature
**pitch	American National Standards Institute pitch notation (e.g. "A#4")
**semits	equal-tempered semitones with respect to middle C=0 (e.g. 12 equals C5)
**solfg	French solfège system (fixed `doh')
**specC	spectral centroid (in hertz)
**Tonh	German pitch system

Input representations processed by cents.

-h	displays a help screen summarizing the command syntax
-p n	output precision of n decimal places
-t	suppresses printing of all but the first note of a group of tied **kern notes
-x	suppresses printing of non-cents signifiers

The -p option can be used to set the precision of the output values to n decimal places. The default precision is integer values only (n=0). Note that cents is able to process **cents as input; this feature allows the user to round-off existing **cents data to a specified precision.

The -t ensures that only a single output value is given for tied **kern notes; the output coincides with the first note of the tie.

In the default operation, cents outputs non-pitch-related signifiers in addition to the cents value. For example, the **pitch token "A5zzz" will result in the output "2100zzz" -- that is, after translating A5 to 2100 cents, the "zzz" signifiers are retained in the output. For some applications, echoing non-pitch-related signifiers in the output is useful. However, in other situations, the result can prove confusing -- especially, when the non-pitch-related signifiers are numbers. Consider the case of the **kern token "8aa"; after translating `aa' to 2100 cents, the non-pitch-related signifier `8' will also be output, hence the value 82100 -- which will undoubtedly cause confusion. The -x option is useful for eliminating non-pitch-related signifiers from the output. For most **kern inputs, the -x option is recommended.

cents -tx input > output.cnt

produces the following result:

!! `cents' example.

**cents	**cents	**cents	**deg	**metpos	**cocho	**cents	**embell
*M2/4	*M2/4	*M2/4	*M2/4	*M2/4	*M2/4	*M2/4	*M2/4
*	*	*	*	*tb8	*	*	*
=1	=1	=1	=1	=1	=1	=1	=1
1500	800	0	1foo	1	r	-1600	ct
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1700	-300	200	2	3	9.89	-1300	upt
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1300	-400	1000	1	2	7.07	-1400	ct
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
100	100	100	6	3	7.135	100	sus
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
=2	=2	=2	=2	=2	=2	=2	=2
800	r	.	5	1	r	r	.
.	.	.	7	3	5.5	-1500	ct
.	200	-1200 -800	1	2	8.11	-1200	ct
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	200 500	.	2	3	7.33 6.4	-1200 -900	ct
=3	=3	=3	=3	=3	=3	=3	=3
r	700	.	r	1	r	-1300 -1000	.
===	===	===	===	===	===	===	===
*-	*-	*-	*-	*-	*-	*-	*-

• Pertinent description in the Humdrum User Guide
• Index to Humdrum Commands
• Table for Contents for Humdrum User Guide