Last Tuesday 13 July 2004 02:43, ricktaylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxx was like: > > Entering textual representation of music and following certain _markup_ > > rules is not programming. ?If it were so, simply scoring should be > > considered programming, too. > > ?It probably is in csound. Surely it counts as scripting, like an html page or postscript file and thus can be considered the 'source' of a piece of music. > ?I think the above methods need to somehow be extended to work with > samples. Either that or computer audio needs its own form of musical > representation. > > ?Maybe we need to just skip the idea of any sort of representation outside > of a song or audio file? If so... maybe we need to break with tradition a > bit and make "song" files themselves provide a higher degree of > functionality? A score needs to be a human-readable explanation of how to realise the piece of music so that it sounds the way the composer intended. The use of samples in a piece would need specifying in the same place as the rest of the instrumentation with clear directions of how to get hold of these samples. These things could easily be represented by an icon and a link. > > I don't think that computer programs should reflect the physical world > > we operate in. ?Not always anyways, there surely are better ways of > > dealing with certain issues. > > ?I think they should probably reflect the "reality" they deal with. > ?I also think they need an overhaul. I think scoring is an art form in itself, I also think that the conventional form of musical score is an anachronism that belongs with the musical fashions of 1700 to 1950. I also enjoy working with the random factor of interpretation so I like to present my performers with alien looking musical maps to explore sometimes, but I wouldn't want to do that to my community choir, I'd never hear the end of it! ~They get conventional scores ;-)~ If you deal with any amount of electronic instruments, then your scoring language will require considerable extension. If it contains computerised elements, then we may as well use existing computer conventions to describe those elements. I think the reality of that is burning it all to CD and distributing that with the score if it's that important to the piece. Then you get to the point where it works out cheaper just to put the score on the CD as well and have done with it! Usually I find there's enough room for several demo versions, and there you have it, rehearsal copies for all into the bargain. cheers tim hall
