I intend to develop "Alternative Notation editing" for my own version of Musescore.
I'm considering developing an "Alternative Notation" version of Musescore. I know many people will disagree with the entire concept, but I am quite committed to it, and I wanted to discuss it on the forums.
Ideally, the user should be able to edit the notation without recompiling, reopening or constantly resetting something. Since a plugin would not be able to provide this, I will need to go deeper in the software. As of now, I haven't familiarized myself with the Musescore source code (I have only downloaded it). Does anyone have any suggestions about what classes or programs should be modified? Any opinions on how long such a project would take?
For the moment, I am only doing this for my own use. However, if I did wish to share it in the future, how could I legally/logistically do so? Since I might be making fundamental changes to the software, I'm guessing my project would permanently diverge from the main Musescore project. Even so, if I kept the "notation editing options" malleable, unobtrusive, and lightweight, could it ever be re-merged into the main project?
As a final note, I have no intention of trying to patent or sell ANYTHING relating to this project or alternative notation in general.
I appreciate any help and support I could get from this community, even among those who think Alternative Notation is Sisyphean. Thank you all.
Comments
Are you talking about fixing some annoying bugs or improving on what you see as a poor data entry mechanism? I haven't compiled anything in a zillion years and have managed to print a score or two.
In reply to What exactly do you mean by "edit the notation" by Zoots
I meant "alternative notation" in THIS sense:
http://musicnotation.org/
In reply to I meant "alternative by Brindisi
Interesting and I can certainly see some benefit.
I guess the major problem is the inertia in the existing system even if the alternative was perfect. We know the common typewriter keyboard isn't perfect and there are alternatives but the "inferior" one remains.
Good luck if you decide to proceed with your project.
"When you listen to the scale, which staff best represents what you hear?"
Well, even if the sound sample was made on an equally tempered midi synth, I definitely think the traditional staff represented better what I heard. In traditional tonal music, the accidentals are important. "Chromatic" derives from the Greek word chroma, which means colour. When you have a diatonic major scale, each note in the scale has its own tonal and melodic tension. When you add the chromatic tones, you add more colour to it. The chromatic scale is truly chromatic only in a tonal sense. Put chords to it and you could get something like C - A7 - Dm - B7 - Em - Dm - D7/C - G/B - E7 - F - Eb - G7/D - C. In tonal music there's a huge difference in Bb and A#. This is a thing that you either get or you don't. And if you don't, it's not a complicated thing to learn. I bet string quartet musicians could have a lot to tell about this topic, as well as choir leaders. And the other week I did some extra work trying to get the flutes in our wind band in tune. We were playing a march that modulates to Ab major in the trio part. The flutes should play a Db in 2nd octave. It was a fast passage, but it sounded out of tune, too sharp. We found out that it is a difficult tone to play in tune on a flute, but also that the flutists play it with same fingering as C# (of course!), but it's far more common for them to play a C# than a Db. And C# being sharper than Db, they kind of didn't pay attention to fine tuning, they just blew like they would blow a C#. And it was way too sharp.
That said, there is of course music, where your alternative notation fits in well. In dodecaphony there is no cromaticism in the tonal sense. Per definition, the 12 tone scale has 12 tones of equal steps and no tone has any tonal function. They are completely equal, or colourless. But to use this alternative notation for tonal music would simply mean that you lose a lot of information. Although there are already alternative ways of notation, like tablature for plucked instruments, where you have the same notation for A# and Bb.
In reply to The word "chromatic" is derived from colour by jotti
I almost forgot to leave a reply.
Thanks for your input. That makes perfect sense. Still, modern pianos and guitars are both tuned to equally-spaced pitches. As for "losing information", I feel that withholding interpretation could help people think more elegantly about harmony. As someone who has come late to music, I usually ignore notation altogether because it adds ten layers of complication to something I can easily figure out by ear.
That being said, I feel as though people like me are missing out on all the enormous intuition that notation provides. I may not read music very well, but I just love watching Musescore play through something I like and showing me how all the phrases are laid out. I might not know the name of the chords or the key signature, but it makes music make sense.
So, I really am Gung-ho about doing this. It might not be a popular idea around here, but I'm still hoping to get some technical advice (and maybe find out how long it should take).
Thank you and have a wonderful day!