What is typical about the way pop music is notated? How do existing file formats and software applications cope with this?

1. Dec. 2010 Think Tank Pop Music Notation Software Wijnand Schepens

2. What is so special about the notation of pop music? What is pop music? Pop music Folk music “Classical” Rock Blues Contemporary Jazz

3. Art music information flow Score / Sheet music Common Music Notation (CMN)

4. Pop music information flow score ?

5. “Covering” a pop song (partial) score

6. Folk music information flow (partial) score

7. What is the “essence” of a song? Philosophical implication

8. What can we do with a score? storage storage performance SCORE distribution analysis editing SOFTWARE ? DIGITIZATION !

9. Is CMN suitable/appropriate for the notation of pop music? How about software? File formats Applications for viewing, editing, playing, … Core questions

10. Full score (fragment) -complex rhythm (syncopation) -microtiming -microtonality (e.g. blue notes, glissandi, …) -timbre, sound effects Hard to read

12. Chord sheet (1) Chord labels Lyrics

13. Chord sheet (2) Meta-information Chord labels Song structure Lyrics

14. Chord sheet (3) Meta-information Chord labels Song structure Timing?

15. Chord sheet (4) Meta-information Metric structure Song structure Chord labels Timing?

16. Chord sheet (5) Meta-information Fret diagrams Chord labels Song structure Bars

17. Chord sheet (6) Meta-information Fret diagrams Lyrics Chord labels Guitar tablature(no timing)

18. Tab sheet Meta-information Instrument-specificinstructions Guitar tablature(no timing) Lyrics cues Song structure

19. Tab sheet (2) Chord labels Bars (numbered) Harmonyrhythm Guitartablature Song structure

20. Lead sheet (1) Meta-information Metric structure Lyrics Notes (rhythm+pitch) Parlando lyrics?

21. Lead sheet (2) Chord labels Metric structure Lyrics Backing lyrics? Notes (rhythm+pitch)

22. Lead sheet (3) Meta-information Metric structure Chord labels Song structure Lyrics Notes (rhythm+pitch)

23. Lead sheet (4) Meta-information Metric structure Chord labels Song structure Notes (rhythm+pitch+articulation)

24. Lead sheet (5) Pitch for dummies Lyrics(multipe lines)

25. Lead sheet (6) Notes (rhythm+pitch) Same notes (pitch+fingering)

26. Lead sheet (7) Fret diagrams Chord rhythm

27. Lyrics with rhythm

28. song structure lyrics chord labels notes rhythm (time) pitch (frequency) dynamics, accents bars, measures instrument specific: fingerings fretboards phrasing … Partial score ingredients Mix and match…

29. Are common music formats appropriate/suitable for partial scores? Are common software applications up to the task? If not, what should be changed? Core questions (2)

30. CM7, CMaj7, C C+7(#9), Calt, C7 C6, Am7/C Chord labels Standardization? Normalization? Check validity? Toggle style? Simplify? Transpose? (#5 #9)

31. Wikifonia.org

32. = incremental addition of information possibly by multiple users Example: 1. lyrics 2. song structure 3. chord labels 4. bars 5. fret diagrams 6. tablature (pitch) 7. chord rhythm 8. lyrics rhythm 9. melody pitches 10. tablature rhythm 11. add bass-part … Wiki-flow repetition normalization tapping

33. Measure-centric Note-centric Hiding is possible (but awkward) Chord label treatment is variable Sibelius, Finale…

34. MusicXML Measure-centric Chord labelsbetween notes Note-centric Lyrics attached to notes

35. Space alignment (monospaced font!) Very popular on internet(OLGA, napster, ultimate-guitar, …) - Alignment not always clear - Editing is awkward - Not standardized  hard to handle for computers Text-based

36. ASCII tab Structure, cues: Informal!

37. ChordPro Chord labels between lyrics Structure tags STANDARD ? DOCUMENTATION ?

38. Flexibility and standardization flexible hand-written ? ? ? text-based free standardized Sibelius, Finale… ChordPro MusicXML rigid

39. Develop software and file formatsfor handling partial scores Avoid note- and measure-centricism Allow untimed information Allow flexible combination of separate streams … Our research

40. = online lead sheet editor Chord labels, lyrics, structure, metric, notes Wiki workflow To be used in wikifonia.org Ched

41. = XML-format and API for the representation of complex time structures Applications: Pop, jazz, folk, … Karaoke Contemporary music Pre-classical music Non-western music Poetry Choreography, movement Light show Robot control Scheduling, planning … Chronicle

42. Questions? That’s all folks!

43. Lilypond MIDI (+Karaoke) Other formats

44. Pop music uses “partial” scores Most formats and software applications are Note-centric Measure-centric Conclusions

45. thoughts System breaks versus line breaks ex: lied om lied (intro): difference between classical and pop? Pop: composer is performer Pop: audio, not score How well does software cope? (partial info, non-CMN like chord labels ..) How well do formats cope? Nomenclature badly standardized (chord sheet, leadsheet, tab, …) Notations by amateurs: errors, inaccuracy (inherent??) Software / usability: Transpos. Chord reduction Auto fingering… TUBS, tracker notation, module file Integer notation Transpositie wordt veel gevraagd. Bestaat ook in tekstfiles Fret diagram = chord grid

46. http://www.songwriting-software.com/music-writing-software.html Lyricist: http://www.virtualstudiosystems.com/LyrProd3/index.htm http://chordsheeteditorword.codeplex.com/: MS Word plugin for chord sheets (with transposition). Textual alignment (?) Song sheet: http://www.dsbsoft.com/ (ChordPro + formatting) (niet zelfde als Song Sheet Generator: gebruikt ook ChordPro ?) ScoreChart: http://www.filebuzz.com/fileinfo/17467/Score_Chart.html Karaoke-editors Sib/fin etc. BiaB / Chord Composer … editors…