[smufl-discuss] Re: Organ Tablature Subset

[Michael Scott Cuthbert]

John,

Would it be possible to use existing code-points outside of the SMUFL proposal for all of these figures?  For instance:
http://www.w3.org/TR/MathML2/script.html
for the swashes and http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/0305/index.htm for the octave sign?

Best,
Myke

> On May 24, 2015, at 14:53, jmckean83 <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm not active in the development of either music fonts or notation
> software, but I find the idea of the SMuFL both interesting and important. I
> noticed that one area of music notation that isn't accounted for in the
> current standard is organ tablature. Although this notation is rather
> obscure and not widely known (let alone used) nowadays, it was the basis of
> most notated keyboard music in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries; even J.S.
> Bach grew up with organ tablature (rather than staff notation) being his
> 'first language' (musically speaking). Like lute tablature, there were
> different national conventions; German organ tablature has two versions:
> 'old' and 'new' organ tablature.
>
> I am hardly an authority on organ tablature, so I would not be in a position
> to help advise with the creation of a subset of characters that would cover
> its notational needs. Because it is mostly letter-based, the basis of the
> subset would probably be similar to some of the lute tablatures already in
> the standard. In addition, there would have to be a combining overline (to
> indicate octave) and a swash version of each letter -- the only way to
> indicate accidentals in organ tablature is to add a swash to the letter
> representing the semitone below the desired pitch.
>
> Anyway, it's just a thought. The standard would be more comprehensive and
> might even stimulate interest in finding new computer-based ways of notation
> organ tablature if it were included.
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://smufl-discuss.50501.x6.nabble.com/Organ-Tablature-Subset-tp805.html
> Sent from the smufl-discuss mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
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[jmckean83]

Dear Myke,

Thanks for your reply. It's true that it would not be difficult to create a specialist typeface for German organ tablature using existing Unicode code-points; the letters could use the basic Latin alphabet slots, the accidental (swash) characters could use the calligraphic glyph range, the octave line could use the combining overline, the note stem flags could use the pre-existing SMuFL slots, etc. However, the nature of these characters is so distinctive that it would preclude including organ tablature glyphs in a single font that aims to account for all music notation symbols (e.g. Bravura), since it would mean giving up 'normal' letterforms of the Latin alphabet and relying on the standard appearance of note flags for the tablature notation as well. Moreover, there are some symbols (e.g. the distinctive 'tic-tac-toe' crosshatch for running 8ths, 16ths, etc.) for which there is no obvious pre-existing code-point, which would ultimately have to be put in a private use slot.

My main reason for suggesting the addition of an organ tablature range isn't because it is desperately needed; it just seemed like a potential oversight given SMuFL's aim of being comprehensive. It seems strange to me that a range exists for German Renaissance lute tablature (which, after all, only consists of stylized letters, which easily could have used pre-existing mathematics Fraktur letter code-points) but that German organ tablature is not accounted for.

Just a thought!

Best,
john