Barlines
REPRESENTATION
barlines — "common system" for representing barlines
DESCRIPTION
Several Humdrum representations employ a common system for representing barlines. This common system is described below. (N.B. This common system is not intended to preclude other ways of representing barlines in Humdrum.)
In the common system, barlines are represented as logical entities,
with optional signifiers for specifying the precise visual appearance
of the barlines. Barlines are logically signified by the presence of
an equals-sign ` (=) in the first column of a spine. Immediately
after the equals sign there may follow an optional integer value
indicating the measure number (e.g.
=107 — for measure 107). In
addition, a lower-case alphabetic character may be appended to the
measure number — as in:
=14b. This convention permits the user to
distinguish measure numbers for first and second endings, etc. Measure
numbers refer to the measure immediately following the barline, thus
the token
=23` occurs just prior to the encoded data for measure 23.
Double barlines are indicated by a minimum of two successive equals
signs ` (==). Several consecutive equals signs may be encoded in
order to enhance readability (e.g.
=======).`
An additional attribute for barlines is the pause — which is
represented by the— icolon (;). Thus the token ` =4; means that the
barline starting measure number 4 has a pause written above or below
it, while the token
=====;` means that a double barline contains a
pause indication.
Barlines can be visually rendered in a variety of ways. Where
appropriate, users can specify more precisely the notational
appearance of the barline by appending additional signifiers to the
basic signifiers identified above. Barlines may be normal or heavy in
width. Barlines of normal width are represented by the addition of the
vertical bar (|
). Heavy barlines are signified by the exclamation
mark (!
). Dotted barlines are signified by the double quote
character ("
). Partial barlines (extending between the second and
fourth lines) are signified by the single quote character ('
).
Partial barlines (rendered as a short vertical stroke across the top
of the staff) are signified by the single greve character (`
).
"Invisible" barlines are signified by the minus sign (-
). In
addition, barlines may be associated with repetition marks —
pointing left, right, or in both directions. The repeat sign is
denoted by the colon character :
). (Note that this repeat sign is a
visual signifier, rather than a logical signifier of repetition; see
section labels (3) and thru (4) for information concerning
repetition.) All of these visual signifiers may be combined to form
complex visual representations, such as a triple barline consisting of
a normal line, followed by a heavy line, followed by a normal line,
followed by a repeat indicator. See EXAMPLES below.
SIGNIFIERS
The following table summarizes the mappings of signifiers and signifieds for "common system" barlines.
- 0-9 measure numbers
- a-z alternate measures
- ; pause
- = barline
- == double barline
- | normal width visual rendering
- ! heavy width visual rendering
- ' partial barline (from second to fourth line)
- ` partial barline (short stroke at top of staff)
- - invisible barline
- repeat sign —– ————————————————
Summary of kern-like Barline Signifiers
[]{#EXAMPLES}
EXAMPLES
Several examples of "common system" barlines are given below:
\
=
unnumbered barline
=29
the beginning of measure 29
=29;
the beginning of measure 29 with pause
=29a
first occurrence of measure 29
=29c
third occurrence of measure 29
=29c;
third occurrence of measure 29 with pause
==
double barline
==;
double barline with pause
====;
double barline with pause
=|
unnumbered barline, normal line width
=!
unnumbered barline, heavy line width
==|!
double barline, normal line followed by heavy line
=29|
beginning of measure 29, normal line width
=:|:
barline with left and right repeats, normal line width
=:||:
barline with left and right repeats, two normal-width lines
='
unnumbered barline, rendered with partial barline (mid)
=29`
beginning of measure 29, rendered with partial barline (top)
=29-
beginning of measure 29, no barline drawn
==:|!
double barline with repeat, normal/heavy lines
==|
logical double barline, visually rendered as single normal line
|
not a barline
29|
not a barline
———— —————————————————————–
PERTINENT REPRESENTATIONS
The following Humdrum representations employ "common system" barline
signifiers:
\
cents absolute pitch representation in hundredths of semitones deg relative scale degree representation degree absolute scale degree representation diss sensory dissonance representation dur event duration (in seconds) embel representation for embellishment tones freq frequency representation fret generalized fretted tablature representation harm representation for Western functional harmony kern core pitch/duration of common practice music notation melac melodic accent representation MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface notation mint melodic interval representation pc pitch-class representation pcset Fortean pitch-class set representation pitch American National Standards Institute pitch notation recip beat-proportion representation semits semitone absolute pitch representation solfg French solfège (pitch) representation specC spectral centroid representation spect discrete frequency spectrum representation synco represent degree of metric syncopation takt beat-position representation text vocal text representation time relative elapsed time (in seconds) Tonh German Tonh\o’o\(..'he (pitch) representation URrhythm represent Johnson-Laird beat prototypes for a passage vox# representation of number of concurrently active voices —————— ———————————————————-
SEE ALSO
` humsed, num`