OUR MODUS OPERANDII

1. What You Need

The transcriptions of manuscripts that you can download from our site have been transcribed into the “ABC” music notation system using ABC2WIN (for PC) software. This produces a simple ASCII text file. You will need to download the appropriate ABC software (see ABC Homepage) in order to turn the text file back into music notation that can be seen, heard and printed using your computer. Any ABC software you choose will do this. However, they all deviate from the current ABC 1.6 Standard to some degree, and you may find that you have to do some tweaking if you don’t use ABC2WIN.

2. Why ABC?

We have chosen to transcribe the manuscript collections using the "ABC" tune notation system because: -
• ABC programs are available for all operating systems (see ABC homepage);
• These programs are cheap, or even free;
• The programs and files together take up hardly any space on the computer;
• The programs are reasonably simple to operate;
• ABC music files can be downloaded from the Internet quickly;
• Producing printed copy of the tunes is usually easy;
• Listening to the tunes is simply done, either through the internal speaker or through a soundcard;
• ABC music files are simple text files, transportable between both ABC programs and text editing programs;
• ABC files can be converted to Midi and Postscript, and other music notation programs.
• ABC files printed as text can be read, and transposed back to “proper” staff notation, even without the aid of a computer, and are therefore not at the mercy of technology.

3. Why ABC2WIN?

We have chosen particularly to transcribe and format the tunes using the "ABC2WIN" program (for PCs) over the various other ABC programs, as it seems to us at the moment to be of most use for our purposes. It is available for $20 (?) for the registered version, which gives truly excellent print quality, or totally FREE if you don't mind either a) less tweakable, lower resolution, Bitmap files for printing in MSPAINT or similar, or b) printing in Postscript. This means that anyone who has even a passing interest in the subject (in this case traditional music) can afford to investigate it without having to buy into more sophisticated, but more expensive, music notation software.

4. Limitations Of ABC2WIN

Using ABC2Win has at present one or two drawbacks: -
• ABC2 WIN has only one voice, so melody and bass parts cannot be played or displayed together.
• The clef specifier is not available to ABC2WIN (unlike Barfly), so when a bass part has to be transcribed, which in our collections is not uncommon, we have to write it on the given treble clef and then imagine the bass clef sign and the correct key signature. This can be done OK, but plays in the wrong key in PlayQabc, and is difficult to transpose using "ABCToolz", should the need arise.
• Occasionally your "default note length" (the <L:> field) in a tune may be mysteriously altered by Gremlins while everybody is in bed, and all the quavers get turned into crochets, crotchets to minims, minims to semi-breves, et al., in one or several tunes in a file. This seems to be re-calculated spontaneously in files that have been moved (e.g. downloaded), or files that have some metrical changes within individual tunes, even a tune that is in the act of being printed. It can be quite difficult to spot in some of our tunes, many of which are in unfamiliar idioms. Seeing at what speed they play back in PlayQabc can sometimes be a useful clue to this, when you are not sure if this has happened. I have recently taken to indicating the intended ruling note value in the “History” box, where it can’t be altered, for cross checking purposes: especially where I feel there may be some doubt. But it has not been possible to alter all my files in this way, due to the prohibitive time involved.
• There are no signs available in ABC2Win for "pause" marks and other musical dynamics/punctuation, so:-
• Musical punctuation and comments have to be entered above the staff within quotation marks, which in other programs is really the domain of guitar chords, etc. This is a problem for users of Midi, to which ABC can be converted, as the Midi then attempts to play your comments as if they were guitar accompaniment (and fails). There is nothing we can do about this within the current ABC standard and still keep the punctuation and comments.
• The use of "W:" to insert comments on the page after the tune I find temperamental. Sometimes, and unpredictably, it prints a whole line of empty stave after the W: comment, for no reason that I can fathom. It is useful when it works, but it does seem to make it’s own mind up about why and when. I use it when appropriate but it might not come out right on your machine.

5. NEW - Compatibility with non-ABC2win programs

Due to the limitations of the current ABC 1.6 Standard, each of the different ABC software developers have introduced their own extensions to the standard, to increase the functionality of their particular ABC program. Unfortunately, not all of the extensions are recognized by other programs, and some of them contradict each other. Some of the conventions that we used in previous versions of the Village Music Project Website, whilst being perfectly acceptable to ABC2WIN, and not mistakes, have proven to be problematic when transferred to other programs.
Some such examples are
• the aforementioned “abuse” of quotation marks to contain comments instead of guitar chords (disaster in Midi),
• or the use of < |] > for thin/thick end of tune bar lines, which Postscript considers to be an error.
The first example, and some others, we can do nothing about under the current standard, as it is too useful. The second is fixable in ABC2WIN, but not in Barfly (the current favourite Mac abc program), which requires it in some circumstances.
I should emphasize that the changes that I have been able to make in updating the VMP files, constitute no difference to the way ABC2WIN itself reads or otherwise uses the files, compared to previous versions; they ‘merely’ increase the files’ friendliness to non-ABC2WIN users. As such, I can see no reason why ABC2WIN allowed me to do the “deviations” in the first place, you may hear me grumbling!
• All lines of music text in the tune body now end in EITHER 1) an exclamation mark, necessary in ABC2WIN to force a new line of music on the page. Other programs ignore/exterminate anything after an exclamation mark, ending that line of music but disappearing any remaining text, instead of putting it onto the next line. OR 2) a backslash, to deny a new line of music notation. Lines of text can be kept quite short with the backslash, and use of the exclamation mark preserves your intentions even outside of ABC2WIN, highlighting word-wrap interference during internet transmission by it’s absence, for example.
• A tie < - > can only be used between two notes of the same pitch. All slurs must be indicated within round brackets
i.e. e-e = good, (de) = good, d-e = bad.
Even though ABC2WIN permits this last example, other programs don’t.
• Repeat marks at the beginning of the tune are conventionally missed out and therefore optional, but repeat marks within a tune, between parts A and B for instance, are the cause of many errors. You should use :||: on one line if it is followed by more music on that line, or :|! on one line and |: on the next, but not :|| on one line and : on the next, for example, or ::!. Abc2win allows certain amounts of vagueness in this area and still gauges your intention, but other programs don’t necessarily do so.
• Tempii have been entered as jigs = Q:120 for example, which PlayQabc interprets as one beat, or one and a half crotchets, at 120 beats per minute (bpm). Unfortunately Barfly thinks it means one crotchet only, at 120 cpm. I could have been more literal and put Q:1/4=180, as Barfly doesn’t do crotchet and a half’s. However, my metronome and me both understand beats per minute. You’ll have to fix this yourself if and when required, I’m afraid.
• ABC2Win provides plenty of useful boxes in the Headers section of the tune, which we use for various bits of information. Unfortunately, not all other abc programs display these, and unless you trouble to look at a file in it’s text version, this information is lost to you.

6. Our Conventions

The first thing you will probably notice in our collection is that the amount of information provided in the Headers of each individual tune tells you lots about that tune. This information stays with the tune, even if the tune subsequently gets copied to another of your files, for working on, comparing, or whatever. This information includes not just key, tempo, etc., but also what MS collection it came from, multiple titles, and the fact that it is a VMP transcription and who transcribed it, etc.
So we have certain information that needs to go with the tunes, and we use the “Headers” in a way that was perhaps not intended. Remember that I have ABC2WIN in mind in the following notes.
• The tune title always has its individual reference number attached, which will then appear in any index you make, helping you to distinguish between different versions of the same tune.
• The definite article is included where given in the MS, but removed to the end of the title and placed immediately after a comma.
• Alternative titles are given in the second and third boxes, with “aka” = “also known as” when it is supplied by us from an external source to the MS, and without “aka” if the alternative title is supplied from within the MS itself. This appears in the index when required, however it doesn’t print out with the tune (except in Postscript), so I have now additionally put the alternative titles in the “Composer:” box, when there is room.
• Use of the “Rhythm” box, e.g. "Jig". For the brave, can be subjective. I always have a go. BUT, calling "Soldier's Joy" a hornpipe will result in PlayQabc playing it dotted, unless you go into the OPTIONS MENU, then DIRECTORY, FILE SIZE, etc. and in the PLAY FEATURES section UN-tick where it says "use simple rhythms". Since possibly most of the Hp’s we see are in fact un-dotted it makes it imperative to do this. Likewise, PlayQabc has a funny idea about "reels". (See below).
• Tempo is chosen in order for the tune to be readily understood, coupled with my own personal inclination. It is emphatically not meant to be “correct” and you can play it as fast or slow as seems appropriate to you.
• I'm afraid I'm not musically sophisticated, and tend to leave the use of Modes to you, (let us know if you have the inclination to re-Mode for us). My aim with key signatures is limited to getting the right number of sharps and flats at the beginning of the tune, which given the often subjective nature of harmony may be no bad thing after all. Also I’m not convinced that PlayQabc knows about modes.
• We ALWAYS enter tunes in the order in which they appear in the original manuscript/book. They are automatically assigned a tune number within the collection that we cannot then easily over-ride, and which is important within the larger scheme of things.
• We use only the conventions permitted by the latest version of ABC2Win. You will find these under "HELP", which you can print out, also in the ABC definition file, also in the Quickhelp box (yellow question mark) in the "Tune in ABC notation" window. Also there is somewhere a page you can print out called THE ABC NOTATION MONSTER TUNE which is very useful. See section 5 of this introduction for exceptions. As explained above, we now try, not always successfully, to avoid clashes with Barfly and other abc programs.

7. Making The Best Use Of Our Files With ABC2WIN

Our tweaks. If you don’t use ABC2Win you may look away now!
In order to fully benefit from our work of formatting, you need to do some alterations to the ABC2WIN settings.
The “PAGE LAYOUT" button you want is right in the middle of the tool bar on the MUSIC page. Alternatively it can be got to from the SELECT TUNES window via the “WINDOWS" drop down menu, and from other places via the "OPTIONS" drop down menu, and lets you change all sorts of settings. My suggestions follow.
• Under "note and bar end characteristics" tick “Auto thick-thin bar ends”.
• Under "page numbers" UN-tick “Show page numbers” (unless you want them for something specific they only tend to get muddled up).
• Under "scaling and staff values" tick “Auto set Guitar”.
• Under "tune space and layout" tick "justify last line", which gives us some consistency of appearance, as usually the tunes have been formatted by us to four bars per line. I used to try and save space by cramming it up (i.e. jigs on three lines) but since I can't predict other people's ABC settings or computers or programs I now usually make everything four bar Vanilla.
• While you are in amongst the Menus, you might as well have a look at the DIRECTORY, FILE SIZE, PLAYBACK etc., which you will find in several places, usually in the OPTIONS drop down menus in the various windows. Set the default directory as required. You don't have to keep your tunes in the ABC folder, you may prefer to have them in "traditional" as opposed to, say, "jazz" (not that I am, of course!)
• Under "play features", tick "ignore rolls" and tick "use simple rhythms", as otherwise it automatically plays anything you describe as a hornpipe as if it were dotted, and has a very odd view on how a reel should sound.
• Set "max number of tunes in file" anywhere you like up to 3,000.This enables you to conflate all your tunes into a BIG LIST file from the "copy tunes to file" button in the FILE MENU.
• Also in the OPTIONS menu of course, is the ability to list all titles, or not, which saves tunes from being duplicated when you are selecting a whole collection for printing; and "sort titles", which puts them in Alphabetical order and back again.
When you've finished tinkering don't forget to press the "save all settings" button before exit-ing otherwise you'll have it all to do again the next time you open ABC.8. Editorial Intervention
If we were doing "paper" publishing I would certainly aim for something like the editorial policy of the late Gordon Ashman in "The Ironbridge Hornpipe", published by DRAGONFLY MUSIC, viz. "In editing John Moore's work, I have intervened as little as possible. Where Moore has made musical errors, I draw the readers attention to the problem, but unless absolutely necessary, I have not made corrections; where this is the case, I have used editorial square brackets."
However, we have to work within the constraints of ABC2WIN's view of what constitutes an “error”; my following remarks may end up being superceded by those constraints. A large problem is caused by the useful fact that the tunes can be PLAYED BACK by “PlayQabc”. Any use of this facility can be entirely spoiled by difficulties within the musical grammar of the MS. Therefore, to aid PLAYBACK, certain changes are actually MADE rather than merely RECOMMENDED.
• Changes to rests, repeat marks, lead-in notes, to make tune repeats work properly, are permitted, as long as there can be no doubt as to the original intention. It has to be borne in mind that even printed dance music in those days appears to have treated repeat marks et.al. as discretionary.
• Anything that MAY be an alteration, for instance "correcting" key signatures, time signatures, note lengths, is only done with EXTREME CAUTION, each change then being fully recorded WITHIN the tune either with explanatory text above, or using an Asterisk or some such, in quotes before the offending passage, (which puts an asterisk, or such, above the passage when printed out). Readers who wish to know what the change was may then refer to the tune abc, where it is recorded after at the end of the tune, or in the “NOTES:” box.
• Alternatively "Cr" or “crot” or “crs” above a note means that the note was a crotchet or crotchets in the MS. Similarly "Qu" "qu's" = quaver(s) in ms. Similarly changes may be recorded as for instance "E2fGAB in ms", "Cmaj in MS” “Semi-quavers in bar three shown as minims in MS", etc.
• Actual changes in the sense of replacing missing bars may be treated in the same way, for instance "bar 6 missing, presumed error, reconstructed as per…." and this will usually be found in the blue boxes.
• Sometimes it has been thought useful to intervene in a more or less major fashion, in which case the original unedited version appears separately for comparison.
• Where we feel that there is something wrong in the MS but have managed to avoid the temptation of making the change, then we may place a "?" above the appropriate part of the music, again indicating to the reader that they may find further information in the tune's “NOTES” box. E.g. “Notes: C in bar 4 would perhaps be better sharp?"
• The tempo has been entered on no authority other than what seemed appropriate to me at the time, usually based on my own experience/fancy, tempered with the need to make the tune intelligible. They often seem wrong to me now, looking back at a tune from a distance in time, but there you are, eh? You must make your own judgements for your own requirements. You should be aware that Barfly and some other programs don’t always agree with ABC2WIN over the interpretation of the Q: instruction (see above).

The aim throughout is to make the tune available as it appears to have been intended in the MS in the first place, but represented in modern music notation. This is different in intention from producing a facsimile, which in time you may find elsewhere on the VMP site.

Any editorial changes are kept to an absolute minimum, but certainly recorded with the "W:" key after the tune or in quote marks ("") above the tune.

In all these changes the intention is for it to be transparent what the changes or reconstructions have been, and the original MS should be apparent and recoverable underneath, as there may be a variety of opinion as to what had been the intended key, etc. If there is no indication that something has been changed, then you may be sure nothing has been changed – no matter how bizarre the end result may seem.

All the ABCs have been checked against the originating MS photocopy by a second transcriber before adding to the website, which picks up the vast majority of inevitable errors; however, the odd snag does slip through, though always to do with beaming or formatting and almost never the actual notes.9. Your Use Of The Tunes

Despite any drawbacks, ABC2Win remains cheap, or free, and the tunes have been researched and transcribed at considerable trouble, by many busy people in their spare time gratis, and are then given to you, copyright excepted, entirely free. Please download/print out the material as entire collections, to ensure their integrity and ultimate long-term survival. We would ask in return that if you use tunes from our site, in either paper or CD publication, or research, or in any other way, then please at least acknowledge the fact that you have done so, and our contributors may thereby feel some reward. Wholesale surreptitious theft of our work for your personal gain will be mightily frowned upon. Lifting of some tunes for gain may also involve infringement of somebody’s copyright. Drop us a line if you find the site useful and then we can assess our impact.

Chris Partington, Feb. 2005