+ <-- previous page + + Table of Contents next page --> +
+ +
+The description of the music for one voice begins with the staff and voice
+number, followed by a colon. For example:
+
+3 1: +
+3: +
+1-4 2: // voice 2 of staffs 1, 2, 3, and 4 +1,2,4: // voice 1 of staffs 1, 2, and 4, +1,3,6-7 1-2: // voices 1 and 2 on staffs 1, 3, 6 and 7 +5-8 1,2: // voices 1 and 2 on staffs 5, 6, 7, and 8 +
+If you want notes to go to one voice on some staffs
+and a different voice on others,
+this can be specified using an ampersand. For example:
+
+1 1 & 3 2: +
+// Voices 1 and 2 on staff 2, +// as well as voice 2 on staff 4 +// and voice 1 on staffs 6, 7, and 9 +2 1-2 & 4 2 & 6-7,9 1: +
+It is possible to have up to +40 +staffs +and up to +three voices per staff. +While there can be voice crossings, in general voice 1 should be the "top" +voice, voice 2 the "bottom" voice, and voice 3 the "middle" or "extra" voice. +With the first two voices, Mup tries hard to avoid any "collisions" +between notes, rests, and other things. Since voice 3 is an extra voice, +there are some cases when overlap with the other voices +is basically unavoidable, but there are some techniques +discussed later that let you +tweak placement +when necessary. +
++As an alternative to this voice-at-a-time input style, there is +also a chord-at-a-time input style, which will be covered +later. +
++The rest of the line contains a list of chords, with a semicolon at the +end of each chord. Each chord has a +time value. +The time values of all +the chords in the line must add up to the +time signature. +Time values are given as follows: +
| Input | Meaning | +
| 1/4 | quadruple whole (not valid for notes) | +
| 1/2 | double whole | +
| 1 | whole | +
| 2 | half | +
| 4 | quarter | +
| 8 | eighth | +
| 16 | sixteenth | +
| 32 | thirty-second | +
| 64 | sixty-fourth | +
| 128 | 128th | +
| 256 | 256th | +
+Any of these time values can be followed by one or more dots, to indicate +a dotted note. Each dot increases the time value by 50% of the preceding +note or dot. +
++It is also possible to specify time as two or more times to be added together. +For example, 2+8 would indicate the time of a half note plus the time of +an eighth note, or in other words, a half note tied to an eighth note. +The expression can also include subtractions, like 2.-16. When subtractions +are present, it isn't clear what time values you want Mup to use, +so it will start with the largest possible time value and add enough +additional chords to add up to the total. For example, if you were to use +1-4, indicating a whole note minus a quarter note, +Mup will use a dotted half note, even though there are a number of +other ways to represent that total time, such as a half note tied to a +quarter note. +
++If a time value is not specified for the first chord in a measure for a +given voice, the default timeunit value +is used. You can set the default value using the +"timeunit" parameter +as described in the +"Parameters" section. +If that parameter is not set, the default is the denominator (bottom +number) of the +time signature. +For chords after the first, if a time value is not specified, the time +value for the previous chord is used. +
+
+There are three kinds of "chords."
+The first type consists of one or more
+pitches, given by the letters "a" through "g".
+Parentheses
+can be placed around the pitch if you want
+the note to be printed in parentheses.
+(If the pitch is modified by an
+accidental
+or
+octave,
+which will be
+discussed later, those must also be included inside the parentheses.)
+The second is a rest, which
+is designated by the letter r. The third type is a "space," designated
+by the letter s. Space is basically
+a placeholder that takes up time, but doesn't print anything. It is useful
+when a certain voice only has notes during part of the measure. It can also
+be useful for specifying "pickup" measures to account for the time before
+the first note in the measure. For example:
+
+// a pickup measure +1: 2.s;8.c;16d; +bar +1: e;g;e;c; +endbar +
+If all voices contain spaces, no space is actually taken up on output. +Most of the time, this will be what you want. For example, +when you are using space for a pickup, the +space is just to add up to a measure, and you don't want any actual blank space +at the beginning of the piece. Once in a while, however, you +may want space to actually be allocated on output, perhaps +to be able to allow space for some special notation. In that case, +you prefix the "s" with a "u" to indicate an uncollapseable space. +
++If a given voice is omitted for a particular measure, +Mup defaults to a measure of space. +
+
+There is a special duration of "m," which means an entire measure.
+It can only be used with a rest, space, or "rpt" (repeat). For example:
+
+1 1: mr; +1 2: ms; +
+A measure rest looks like a whole rest, but is centered in the measure.
+It should be used when a whole measure is a rest, regardless of the time
+signature.
+However, if you want to force use of a symbol other than the whole rest
+symbol, you can specify a duration before the mr, and the rest symbol for that
+duration will be drawn instead.
+
+4mr; // use a quarter rest symbol +1/4mr; // use a quadruple whole rest symbol +2.. mr; // use a double-dotted half rest +
+Using "m rpt" will cause the
+measure repeat symbol to be printed, indicating
+the measure is just like the previous measure. Measures repeats
+will automatically be numbered, unless the
+numbermrpt parameter
+is set to n. If there is more than one voice, you only need to
+specify the mrpt on voice 1. If you do specify other voices as well,
+they must be either a mrpt or ms.
+
+1: c;d;e;f; +bar + +// another measure just like the first +1: m rpt; +bar + +// the space between m and rpt is optional +1: mrpt; +bar +
+Each pitch letter in a chord may be followed by an accidental. +Valid accidentals are: +
| Input | Meaning | +
| # | sharp | +
| & | flat | +
| x | double sharp | +
| && | double flat | +
| n | natural | +
+The accidental can be placed inside +parentheses if you want it to be printed +within parentheses. +
+
+An octave indicator may be specified after the pitch letter
+or optional accidental.
+The octave can be specified in either of two ways:
+absolute or relative. A number from 0 to 9 is
+used to specify an absolute octave. Octaves run from C up to B. Octave 4 is
+the octave starting on middle C. Octave 3 is the octave below that, etc.
+A relative octave is specified by one or more plus or minus signs, and
+indicates that number of octaves above or below the default octave. For
+example:
+
+c // c in the default octave +e++ // e two octaves above default octave +f#--- // f# three octaves below default octave +b&6 // b flat in octave 6 +
+The default octave can be set using the +"defoct" parameter, +which is described in the +"Parameters" section. +If that parameter is not +set, the default octave is the octave containing the note associated with +the middle line of the staff, based on the current +clef. +In other words, the default octaves are: +
| Clef | Octave | +
| frenchviolin | 5 | +
| 8treble | 5 | +
| treble | 4 | +
| soprano | 4 | +
| mezzosoprano | 4 | +
| alto | 4 | +
| treble8 | 3 | +
| tenor | 3 | +
| baritone | 3 | +
| bass | 3 | +
+If a chord is omitted, the values for the previous chord are reused. This +works for pitches, rests, and spaces. For normal, +5-line staffs, +the pitches for the first chord of every measure +must always be specified, since there is no previous chord. +
+
+Putting all these things together, here are some examples:
+
+// Two eighth notes, each b#, followed by an eighth +// note d, eighth note e, and half note e, with the +// last 3 notes being in the next higher octave. +1 1: 8b#; ; d+; e+; 2; + +// Whole note C-E-G chord in default octave +// for voice 2 of staff 1 +1 2: 1ceg; + +// Four quarter notes on staff 2, voice 1. +// The last is in the octave above the default octave. +2: 4g; a; b; c+; +
+For +1-line staffs, +it is never necessary to specify a pitch, since all notes +go on the single staff line. You can, however, specify a pitch if you wish. +The pitch will be ignored for the purposes of printing, but will be +used for +MIDI output. +If you don't specify a pitch, it is arbitrarily set to middle C. +
+