ABC (music notation)
| ABC / ABCPlus | |
|---|---|
| File extension : |
.abc
|
| Developed by: | Chris Walshaw et al |
| Initial release: | 1991 |
| Current version: | 2.1 (as of December 2011) |
| Type: | Public License |
| Container for: | Digital sheet music files |
| Standard (s) : | ASCII |
| Website : | abcnotation.com |
ABC or ABCPLus is a non-commercial , open standard for the notation of music in text form ( ASCII ). It serves as an input and markup language in music software and as a storage format for music files.
General
ABC musical notation was published by the English mathematician and musician Chris Walshaw, primarily to notate traditional monophonic melodies from Western Europe . ABC was registered by Steve Allen as a MIME type; files with text in this notation have the file extension .abc .
In contrast to comparable standards such as LilyPond or MusicXML , ABC is syntactically easy to read and can therefore be easily interpreted by humans as musical notation even in text form .
ABC text files can also be read in by music notation programs as well as sequencers and audio players , provided they support the file format.
history
Since its publication in 1991, the possibilities have been expanded and the ABC music notation has also been used, for example, to notate more complex classical compositions.
At the beginning of 2006 the valid standard is version 1.6, version 1.7.6 and 2.0 are in draft. Various extensions to the standard are already used by some programs. Henrik Norbeck has created a version of the standard in the BNF format.
On December 21, 2011, the official version 2.1 of the language standard was published, which enjoys considerably broader software support than previous drafts and isolated solutions.
Version 2.2 has been worked on since February 2013.
Versions
| version | publication | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 1991 | Initial release |
| 1.6 | 2006 | Considerable expansion |
| 2.1 | 2011 | Current version |
example
The transcription of a piece from a Franconian musician's manuscript from 1784 serves as an example of the ABC music notation .
| ABC music notation |
| ASCII text |
X:1 T:Ohne Titel C:Aufgezeichnet 1784 A:Seibis nahe Lichtenberg in Oberfranken S:Handschrift, bezeichnet und datiert: "Heinrich Nicol Philipp zu Seibis den 30 Junius 1784" M:4/4 L:1/4 K:D dd d2 | ee e2 | fg ad | cB cA |\ dd d2 | ee e2 | fg ad | ed/c/ d2 :| |:\ fg ad | cB cA | fg ad | cB cA |\ dd d2 | ee e2 | fg ad | ed/c/ d2 :| |
| grades |
|
List of ABC supporting music notation programs
- ABassC , a text-based note editor for PalmOS and PocketPC
- ABC Convert-A-Matic , text-based web application
- ABC Explorer
- abcjs , includes a note renderer for ABC, written in JavaScript
- abcm2ps creates a score in PostScript format from ABC files
- abcMIDI converts ABC to and from MIDI; available for GNU / Linux and Windows
- abctab2ps , text-based music notation program that extends the ABC to include Spanish, French and German lute and guitar tablature
- EasyABC ,
- Five Line Skink , Java program
- CodiMD , HackMD , web applications for collaboratively created notes
- Zap's abc , for Android
- Zupfnoter - Web application for the direct creation of underlay notes for table harps from ABC ( magic harp , Veeh harp etc.)
Web links
- Official website for ABC by Chris Walshaw (English)
- Introduction to ABC notation
- Official website for ABCPlus (English)
- Introduction to the ABCPlus notation (German; PDF; 1.0 MB)
- Online search for files in ABC music notation format (English)