> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Amelie Protscher <
amy@amelieprotscher.com>
> To: lilypond-user <
lilypond-user@gnu.org>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2021 08:58:27 +0200
> Subject: Nashville Number System, again
> Hi all,
>
> in 2015 we had a discussion on this list if and how Lilypond should
> support output of chord changes in the (relative-root) Nashville Number
> System. A few hacks have been proposed for the harmonic component of
> this type of notation, however, noone dared tackle the rhythmic markings.
>
> I'm now in the unfortunate position of having to prepare a large number
> of charts in Nashville notation this year and finding myself without a
> software to properly get the job done. As far as I know, there is only
> one app that properly supports the system (
https://www.1chartapp.com/)
> and it's available for iOS only.
>
> This email is mainly to gauge the amount of need for proper chord chart
> support within Lilypond, and also the readiness for devising solutions
> toward that end. So, if you're interested, I'd love to hear from you.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Amy
> --
> Dr. Amelie Protscher (
amy@amelieprotscher.com)
> Pianist, Bassist, Guitarist, Composer, Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 25, 14548
> Caputh, Germany
>
https://www.amelieprotscher.com/>
https://www.facebook.com/amyprotscherjazz/>
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO9A6rVmXjGxAGSsUL9Tt6g/Amy,
I was wondering if you could help clarify what these requirements are.
While I'm not too familiar with the Nashville system, I did some sessions there and had my charts Nashville'd by the producer.
The main rhythmic thing I learned about was that, for the chord notation, you would indicate an anticipation by putting a marking (I forget if it was a tenuto-like line, or an accent) over the chord symbol, and the symbol would actually be in the "wrong" place, on the next beat.
So, my first question is, is that the extent of the rhythmic notation that needs to be addressed, or are there others?
Given that the Nashville system, in this regard, does not follow notational norms of any other system, I suspect that some kind of intermediate processing would be necessary.
Which is to say, when evaluating chords, one possible approach would be to convert it. The basic idea would be if you see a chord start on an offbeat, do a few things:
* Lengthen the duration of the previous chord to fill out the rest of the beat
* Shorten the duration of the anticipated chord so that (in conjunction with the previous chord lengthening) it falls on the beat where it is displayed in the Nashville system
* Update the chord definition to "trick" it into displaying the accent/line over the chord symbol.
I am confident that others on this list could help with writing functions or engravers or whatever the technical approach would be to apply the first two rules, about basically quantizing chordal rhythms to be all on the beat.
Regarding the 3rd point, it is possible but you will need to create custom chord definitions that are constructed as follows.
For every chord you need to display, you will need to create two versions, the normal one, and the one with the marking above.
The normal ones are the normal ones, of course.
The ones with the markings could be distinguished by (and this is where semantics goes out the window) adding an unusual note to the chord, such as a 15th. The actual note does not matter, as long as it is something you will never find among the chords in your chart.
This extra note will only be used to distinguish the normal from the anticipated chord. The actual symbol will be the same, but you will add the anticipation marking above the chord as part of the chord formatting.
This 3rd part I could help with, if you would like to explore it more.
HTH,
Producer ~ Composer ~ Instrumentalist ~ Educator
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