[mup] / mup / docs / overview.txt


                               MUP Overview

       1.  OVERVIEW OF THE MUP MUSIC PUBLICATION PROGRAM

       Mup is a shareware program for printing music. It takes an
       input file containing ordinary (ASCII) text describing
       music, and produces PostScript output for printing the
       musical score described by the input.  Arkkra Enterprises
       was established to make Mup readily available at low cost to
       anyone who would like to use Mup.

       A Mup input file can contains several kinds of sections or
       contexts.  The description of musical notes is given in the
       "music" context.  There are contexts for defining page
       headers and footers.  There are also several contexts used
       for setting various parameters.  For example, there is a
       "score" context in which global aspects are listed, such as
       the number of staffs, the time signature, page margins, etc.
       It is also possible to set parameters for individual staffs
       and even individual voices. (Each staff can have up to three
       independent voices.)  Any parameter that can be set for an
       individual voice can also be set for a staff, and any
       parameter that can be set for a staff can be set for the
       score as a whole. The actual value used for a given
       parameter is obtained by searching from the most specific
       (i.e., voice), to the most general (i.e., score) until a
       value is found. All values are given a default at the score
       level, so that everything will always resolve to some value.
       Parameters include items such as:

          - Number of staffs

          - Number of voices per staff

          - Time signature

          - Key signature

          - Clef

          - Transposition amount

          - Whether to use beams or flags on notes of 8th note
            duration or shorter

          - Margins

          - Which staffs to group with braces or brackets, and what
            labels to use

          - How tightly to pack output together, both horizontally
            and vertically.

          - Whether to print measure numbers

       Mup can handle up to 40 parallel staffs. Each staff can have
       a different key signature, clef, and transposition value.
       Staffs can be 5-line, 1-line, or tablature (1 to 9 lines).
       It is possible to print a subset of staffs or voices.
       Guitar grids are supported.

       Music data is organized into measures. Each measure consists
       of data for one or more voices followed by a bar line.  Data
       for each voice consists of one or more chords. Each chord
       consists of a time value and one or more notes, and possibly
       additional items associated with the chord. To minimize
       input, an omitted time value defaults to being the same as
       the previous time value, and if the notes are omitted, the
       notes of the previous chord are used.  There are also two
       special kinds of "notes": rests and space.  Time values from
       double whole through 256th are supported, as well as
       tuplets, and any number of dots.  Notes are specified by a
       letter 'a' to 'g', which may be followed by an accidental
       (#, &, x, &&, or n for sharp, flat, double sharp, double
       flat, and natural respectively), and an optional octave. The
       octave can be an absolute number 0 to 9 or one or more + or
       - signs to indicate one or more octaves above or below the
       default octave.  It is also possible to specify that octave
       marks are to be printed.

       Individual notes or entire chords can be tied or slurred to
       notes in the following chord.  Slides, bends, and phrase
       marks can also be specified.  Mup takes care of all details
       of drawing appropriate curves and splitting the curves
       across scores or pages if necessary.

       Grace notes can be specified before any chord. It is also
       possible to specify that notes are to be printed in "cue"
       (small) size rather than regular size, or that "X" or
       diamond shaped notes are to be used.  Shaped note used in
       "Sacred Harp" music are also supported.

       Each measure ends with a bar line. There are several types
       of bars: an ordinary bar, a double bar, a heavy bar to end
       the song, and bars with repeat signs.  There is also an
       "invisible bar" which allows for organizing the input into
       bars without having the bar lines printed on the output.

       First and subsequent endings can be specified at bar lines.
       Rehearsal marks can be requested at any bar line.

       Macros can be defined to minimize input or improve
       readability.  There is a generalized  "if" clause that lets
       you produce different outputs based on macro values.  It is
       also possible to "include" one file in another.

       Lyrics can be specified for zero or more verses, above,
       below or between staffs. You can control the font and size
       used for the lyrics.

       Music symbols or words can be placed relative to staffs and
       notes.  This may include musical marks such as fermatas and
       accents, as well as words to indicate tempo or dynamics,
       etc.

       Since both the input and output of Mup are ASCII text files,
       it is easy to write programs to do various transformations.
       For example, a program could be written to move voices from
       one staff to another, or any sort of PostScript filter
       program could be used on the output.

       Mup will optionally provide output in standard Musical
       Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) format, for performance
       rather than PostScript output for printing.

       While Mup itself bucks the trend of graphical, mouse-driven
       input, it has proven to be a very useful and powerful method
       of capturing the complexities of musical notation, and there
       is a companion program, called Mupmate, that provides a
       graphical interface on top of Mup for those who are more
       comfortable with that kind of interface. The use of ordinary
       text input and PostScript output make it largely device
       independent. Mup was designed and written by people who are
       both musicians and computer programmers.  The result is a
       program that provides the capability to produce full-
       featured, very high quality musical scores with a minimum of
       effort. It is available ready-to-run for selected computer
       operating systems, and source code is also available so that
       it can be run on most platforms that have a C compiler.  You
       can get a copy of Mup to try out with no obligation, and if
       you like it, the registration fee is far lower than the
       price of most music publication software.
Commit	Line	Data
69695f33 MW	1
	2	MUP Overview
	3
	4	1. OVERVIEW OF THE MUP MUSIC PUBLICATION PROGRAM
	5
	6	Mup is a shareware program for printing music. It takes an
	7	input file containing ordinary (ASCII) text describing
	8	music, and produces PostScript output for printing the
	9	musical score described by the input. Arkkra Enterprises
	10	was established to make Mup readily available at low cost to
	11	anyone who would like to use Mup.
	12
	13	A Mup input file can contains several kinds of sections or
	14	contexts. The description of musical notes is given in the
	15	"music" context. There are contexts for defining page
	16	headers and footers. There are also several contexts used
	17	for setting various parameters. For example, there is a
	18	"score" context in which global aspects are listed, such as
	19	the number of staffs, the time signature, page margins, etc.
	20	It is also possible to set parameters for individual staffs
	21	and even individual voices. (Each staff can have up to three
	22	independent voices.) Any parameter that can be set for an
	23	individual voice can also be set for a staff, and any
	24	parameter that can be set for a staff can be set for the
	25	score as a whole. The actual value used for a given
	26	parameter is obtained by searching from the most specific
	27	(i.e., voice), to the most general (i.e., score) until a
	28	value is found. All values are given a default at the score
	29	level, so that everything will always resolve to some value.
	30	Parameters include items such as:
	31
	32	- Number of staffs
	33
	34	- Number of voices per staff
	35
	36	- Time signature
	37
	38	- Key signature
	39
	40	- Clef
	41
	42	- Transposition amount
	43
	44	- Whether to use beams or flags on notes of 8th note
	45	duration or shorter
	46
	47	- Margins
	48
	49	- Which staffs to group with braces or brackets, and what
	50	labels to use
	51
	52	- How tightly to pack output together, both horizontally
	53	and vertically.
	54
	55	- Whether to print measure numbers
	56
	57	Mup can handle up to 40 parallel staffs. Each staff can have
	58	a different key signature, clef, and transposition value.
	59	Staffs can be 5-line, 1-line, or tablature (1 to 9 lines).
	60	It is possible to print a subset of staffs or voices.
	61	Guitar grids are supported.
	62
	63	Music data is organized into measures. Each measure consists
	64	of data for one or more voices followed by a bar line. Data
65	for each voice consists of one or more chords. Each chord
66	consists of a time value and one or more notes, and possibly
67	additional items associated with the chord. To minimize
68	input, an omitted time value defaults to being the same as
69	the previous time value, and if the notes are omitted, the
70	notes of the previous chord are used. There are also two
71	special kinds of "notes": rests and space. Time values from
72	double whole through 256th are supported, as well as
73	tuplets, and any number of dots. Notes are specified by a
74	letter 'a' to 'g', which may be followed by an accidental
75	(#, &, x, &&, or n for sharp, flat, double sharp, double
76	flat, and natural respectively), and an optional octave. The
77	octave can be an absolute number 0 to 9 or one or more + or
78	- signs to indicate one or more octaves above or below the
79	default octave. It is also possible to specify that octave
80	marks are to be printed.
81
82	Individual notes or entire chords can be tied or slurred to
83	notes in the following chord. Slides, bends, and phrase
84	marks can also be specified. Mup takes care of all details
85	of drawing appropriate curves and splitting the curves
86	across scores or pages if necessary.
87
88	Grace notes can be specified before any chord. It is also
89	possible to specify that notes are to be printed in "cue"
90	(small) size rather than regular size, or that "X" or
91	diamond shaped notes are to be used. Shaped note used in
92	"Sacred Harp" music are also supported.
93
94	Each measure ends with a bar line. There are several types
95	of bars: an ordinary bar, a double bar, a heavy bar to end
96	the song, and bars with repeat signs. There is also an
97	"invisible bar" which allows for organizing the input into
98	bars without having the bar lines printed on the output.
99
100	First and subsequent endings can be specified at bar lines.
101	Rehearsal marks can be requested at any bar line.
102
103	Macros can be defined to minimize input or improve
104	readability. There is a generalized "if" clause that lets
105	you produce different outputs based on macro values. It is
106	also possible to "include" one file in another.
107
108	Lyrics can be specified for zero or more verses, above,
109	below or between staffs. You can control the font and size
110	used for the lyrics.
111
112	Music symbols or words can be placed relative to staffs and
113	notes. This may include musical marks such as fermatas and
114	accents, as well as words to indicate tempo or dynamics,
115	etc.
116
117	Since both the input and output of Mup are ASCII text files,
118	it is easy to write programs to do various transformations.
119	For example, a program could be written to move voices from
120	one staff to another, or any sort of PostScript filter
121	program could be used on the output.
122
123	Mup will optionally provide output in standard Musical
124	Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) format, for performance
125	rather than PostScript output for printing.
126
127	While Mup itself bucks the trend of graphical, mouse-driven
128	input, it has proven to be a very useful and powerful method
129	of capturing the complexities of musical notation, and there
130	is a companion program, called Mupmate, that provides a
131	graphical interface on top of Mup for those who are more
132	comfortable with that kind of interface. The use of ordinary
133	text input and PostScript output make it largely device
134	independent. Mup was designed and written by people who are
135	both musicians and computer programmers. The result is a
136	program that provides the capability to produce full-
137	featured, very high quality musical scores with a minimum of
138	effort. It is available ready-to-run for selected computer
139	operating systems, and source code is also available so that
140	it can be run on most platforms that have a C compiler. You
141	can get a copy of Mup to try out with no obligation, and if
142	you like it, the registration fee is far lower than the
143	price of most music publication software.