| 1 | <HTML> |
| 2 | <HEAD> |
| 3 | <TITLE>New Mup Features</TITLE> |
| 4 | </HEAD> |
| 5 | <BODY> |
| 6 | <H1>New Mup Features</H1> |
| 7 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 5.3</H2> |
| 8 | <P> |
| 9 | Version 5.3 is primarily focused on ease of use enhancements. |
| 10 | The largest item is the additional of a companion program, called Mupmate, |
| 11 | that provides an interface for editing, displaying, and playing Mup files |
| 12 | with the kinds of menus and windows that many people are used to. |
| 13 | The Help menu will take you right to the |
| 14 | <A HREF="uguide/index.html">Mup User's Guide,</A> |
| 15 | which has also had improvements made. |
| 16 | If you are a user who prefers the command line interface that Mup |
| 17 | has always had, don't worry; we like to use that too, |
| 18 | and have no intention of dropping support for it. |
| 19 | </P> |
| 20 | <P> |
| 21 | Windows users now only need to |
| 22 | <A HREF="obtain.html#windows">download a single file</A> |
| 23 | and execute it to |
| 24 | install everything (although you still need to get and install GSview and |
| 25 | Ghostscript separately, if you want to use that for viewing the PostScript |
| 26 | files). Other users can also just download a single file that contains |
| 27 | both program and documentation. |
| 28 | </P> |
| 29 | <P> |
| 30 | Other new features in 5.3 include: |
| 31 | <UL> |
| 32 | <LI> |
| 33 | Error and warning messages have been enhanced to show you the text |
| 34 | of the line of input where the problem was found. |
| 35 | <LI> |
| 36 | There is a new |
| 37 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#pgsize">pagesize parameter</A> |
| 38 | that lets you specify paper size by common names like letter or a4, |
| 39 | as an alternate to specifying |
| 40 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#pgheight">pageheight</A> and |
| 41 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#pgheight">pagewidth</A> in |
| 42 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#units">inches or cm.</A> |
| 43 | <LI> |
| 44 | There is a new |
| 45 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#vcombine">vcombine parameter,</A> that lets |
| 46 | you enter notes on separate voices, yet have them printed on a common stem |
| 47 | when possible. Typical uses are: |
| 48 | <UL> |
| 49 | <LI> |
| 50 | To have separate |
| 51 | <A HREF="uguide/midi.html">MIDI</A> tracks for different voices, yet have the |
| 52 | voices printed on common stems. |
| 53 | <LI> |
| 54 | For a style of printing where a single |
| 55 | stem is used for the two voices on a staff except when the voices share a |
| 56 | common note, when two opposing stems are printed. |
| 57 | </UL> |
| 58 | <LI> |
| 59 | The |
| 60 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#scorepad">scorepad parameter</A> now accepts an |
| 61 | optional maximum value, in addition to the minimum value. |
| 62 | </UL> |
| 63 | </P> |
| 64 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 5.2</H2> |
| 65 | <P> |
| 66 | <UL> |
| 67 | <LI> |
| 68 | There is now a |
| 69 | <A HREF="uguide/ifclause.html">generalized 'if' clause'</A> that is |
| 70 | much more flexible and powerful than the simple |
| 71 | <A HREF="uguide/macros.html">ifdef and ifndef.</A> |
| 72 | These provide capabilities somewhat similar to the preprocessors for |
| 73 | the C and C++ languages. |
| 74 | <LI> |
| 75 | Complicated |
| 76 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#time">time signatures</A> are now supported. |
| 77 | This includes a numerator with two or more numbers added together, |
| 78 | like 3+4 / 4, or two or more fractions added together, like 3/4 + 3/8. |
| 79 | Alternating time signatures, such as when a piece continuously |
| 80 | switches between 3/4 and 6/8, are also supported. |
| 81 | <LI> |
| 82 | The |
| 83 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#beamstyl">beamstyle</A> |
| 84 | and |
| 85 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#timeunit">timeunit</A> |
| 86 | parameter values associated with a |
| 87 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#time">time signature</A> |
| 88 | are now remembered, so that if you later change back to the same time signature, |
| 89 | you don't have to also set the beamstyle and timeunit at the same time; |
| 90 | the value used previously for that time signature will be |
| 91 | restored automatically. |
| 92 | (Note that if you have existing Mup files that rely on the old behavior, |
| 93 | they may need small modifications, but that should be rare.) |
| 94 | <LI> |
| 95 | It is now possible to |
| 96 | <A HREF="uguide/chrdattr.html#stemdir">force stem direction</A>on voices 1 and 2 |
| 97 | even when the other voice is not space. |
| 98 | <LI> |
| 99 | Improvements have been made to how the |
| 100 | angle for beams is calculated. |
| 101 | The "best" angle for a beam is sometimes somewhat subjective, |
| 102 | but in general, these changes will result in more |
| 103 | cases where beams are horizontal or less sloped, |
| 104 | <LI> |
| 105 | There are also additional ways you can control beams: |
| 106 | A new |
| 107 | <A HREF="uguide/ichdattr.html#slope">slope interchord attribute</A> |
| 108 | lets you force a specific slope. |
| 109 | The new |
| 110 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#sshorten">stemshorten parameter</A> |
| 111 | lets you determine how much a chord's stem |
| 112 | is allowed to be shortened when it is beamed. |
| 113 | And the existing |
| 114 | <A HREF="uguide/chrdattr.html#stemlen">len chord attribute</A> |
| 115 | can now be set for |
| 116 | just one end of a beamed set of chords as an alternative to |
| 117 | setting it at both ends. |
| 118 | <LI> |
| 119 | <A HREF="uguide/index.html">The HTML version of the Mup User's Guide</A> |
| 120 | now includes 'next page' and 'previous page' links on each page. |
| 121 | </UL> |
| 122 | </P> |
| 123 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 5.1</H2> |
| 124 | <P> |
| 125 | <UL> |
| 126 | <LI> |
| 127 | You may specify <A HREF="uguide/chordinp.html#duration">a time value that is the |
| 128 | summation of several time values.</A> This can be used to obtain |
| 129 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#beamstyl">beaming</A>, |
| 130 | <A HREF="uguide/lyrics.html">lyrics</A>, or |
| 131 | <A HREF="uguide/tuplets.html">tuplets</A> with durations that |
| 132 | cannot be represented with a single time value, like a half note plus |
| 133 | an eighth note. It also gives an alternate way to specify |
| 134 | <A HREF="uguide/ichdattr.html#tie">chord ties.</A> |
| 135 | <LI> |
| 136 | <A HREF="uguide/crossst.html">Cross-staff stems</A> are now supported. |
| 137 | <LI> |
| 138 | You can now explicitly specify a direction of "up" on |
| 139 | <A HREF="uguide/roll.html">rolls</A> to get an upward arrow drawn at the |
| 140 | top of the roll. (Before, only a downward roll would get an arrow.) |
| 141 | <LI> |
| 142 | Mup will now allow you to |
| 143 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#beamstyl">beam across spaces</A> as well |
| 144 | as rests. |
| 145 | <LI> |
| 146 | There is a new |
| 147 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#restsymm">restsymmult parameter.</A> |
| 148 | Setting it to y will cause Mup to use an alternate style for |
| 149 | multirests of eight measures or less, which uses rest symbols. |
| 150 | <LI> |
| 151 | There is a new string sequence that will be replaced by |
| 152 | <A HREF="uguide/headfoot.html#pagenum">the page number of the last page.</A> |
| 153 | This may useful to be able to automatically get output |
| 154 | like "Page 2 of 4 pages." |
| 155 | <LI> |
| 156 | There is a new option for printing of |
| 157 | <A HREF="uguide/tuplets.html">tuplet</A> numbers, |
| 158 | where the number is always printed, but the bracket is never printed. |
| 159 | <LI> |
| 160 | If you want to have the same |
| 161 | <A HREF="uguide/lyrics.html">lyrics</A> |
| 162 | above some staffs and below others, |
| 163 | it is now possible to specify that on a single input line, |
| 164 | rather than requiring two. |
| 165 | <LI> |
| 166 | Improvements have been made to how voice 3 is placed, |
| 167 | which will often eliminate the need to manually specify a |
| 168 | <A HREF="uguide/chrdattr.html#hoffset">horizontal offset.</A> |
| 169 | </UL> |
| 170 | </P> |
| 171 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 5.0</H2> |
| 172 | <P> |
| 173 | <UL> |
| 174 | <LI> |
| 175 | Mup now supports the |
| 176 | <A HREF="uguide/shaped.html">shaped notes</A> |
| 177 | often used in "Sacred |
| 178 | Harp" music, also sometimes called "fasola" notation. |
| 179 | New note head characters are available for the most common system of 4 shapes, |
| 180 | as well as a system with 7 shapes. |
| 181 | As part of this feature, there is a new |
| 182 | <A HREF="uguide/shaped.html#hdshape">headshape context</A> |
| 183 | and a new |
| 184 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#notehead">noteheads parameter</A> |
| 185 | that lets you define what shapes will be used for notes. |
| 186 | <LI> |
| 187 | Note head shapes can also be specified on |
| 188 | <A HREF="uguide/shaped.html#chord">specific chords</A> |
| 189 | or |
| 190 | <A HREF="uguide/shaped.html#note">a specific note within a chord.</A> |
| 191 | This makes it possible to do things like have both normal |
| 192 | and X-shaped notes on the same stem. |
| 193 | <LI> |
| 194 | There are new "slash" |
| 195 | <A HREF="uguide/shaped.html">note heads,</A> |
| 196 | often used to indicate |
| 197 | repeated chords, and a new "blankhead" note head, that can be |
| 198 | used if you just want a stem without any note head. |
| 199 | <LI> |
| 200 | There is a new |
| 201 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#stemlen">stemlen parameter</A> |
| 202 | that lets you set the default stem length. A common use for this would |
| 203 | be to set this parameter to 0.0, |
| 204 | to not have any stems at all (sometimes used for chant). |
| 205 | <LI> |
| 206 | It is now possible to change the |
| 207 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#clef">clef,</A> |
| 208 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#defoct">defoct,</A> |
| 209 | and |
| 210 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#release">release</A> |
| 211 | parameters in the |
| 212 | <A HREF="uguide/midmeas.html">middle of a measure.</A> |
| 213 | <LI> |
| 214 | You can now include |
| 215 | <A HREF="uguide/prnttext.html#postscript">raw PostScript</A> |
| 216 | in the input to the copied to the output. This could be used, |
| 217 | for example, to include a picture or logo with your music. |
| 218 | <LI> |
| 219 | In addition to the old way of specifying |
| 220 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#key">key signature,</A> |
| 221 | by stating the number of sharps or flats, |
| 222 | it is now possible to specify the key by name, as in "a major" |
| 223 | or "c# minor." |
| 224 | <LI> |
| 225 | There is a new |
| 226 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#swing">swingunit parameter.</A> |
| 227 | Some styles of music are often written with straight eighth notes |
| 228 | or dotted-eighth-sixteeen notations, but where the players "know" |
| 229 | that the composer really wants the music played |
| 230 | with the first note in each pair twice as long as the second, |
| 231 | as if it were a quarter-eighth triplet. |
| 232 | This parameter will make Mup's MIDI output automatically follow that kind of |
| 233 | performance convention. |
| 234 | <LI> |
| 235 | It is possible to |
| 236 | <A HREF="uguide/bars.html#setreh">set the rehearsal letter or number</A> |
| 237 | to a specific value, to override the automatic incrementing. |
| 238 | This might be especially useful when there are multiple songs or movements |
| 239 | in a single Mup file. |
| 240 | </UL> |
| 241 | </P> |
| 242 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 4.6</H2> |
| 243 | <P> |
| 244 | <UL> |
| 245 | <LI> |
| 246 | There are new |
| 247 | <A HREF="uguide/headfoot.html">top, bottom, top2, and bottom2 contexts</A> |
| 248 | that let you define a second layer of headers and footers. These new |
| 249 | contexts can be changed multiple times in a file, so you can use different |
| 250 | headings and footing for different songs or movements within a file. |
| 251 | <LI> |
| 252 | There is a new |
| 253 | <A HREF="uguide/prnttext.html#block">"block" context,</A> |
| 254 | that lets you place blocks of text in your musical scores. |
| 255 | <LI> |
| 256 | There is a new |
| 257 | <A HREF="uguide/prnttext.html#paragrph">paragraph</A> command for printing |
| 258 | long sections of text that you would like to have automatically wrapped |
| 259 | around unto as many lines as needed. The right margin can be justified |
| 260 | or ragged. |
| 261 | <LI> |
| 262 | For Linux, in addition to being available in tar.gz format, Mup files are now |
| 263 | <A HREF="obtain.html#linux">available in rpm package format,</A> |
| 264 | for very quick-and-easy installation. The |
| 265 | MS-DOS/Windows Mup files are now available as |
| 266 | <A HREF="obtain.html#windows">self-extracting zip files,</A> |
| 267 | so you don't need to have |
| 268 | an unzip program to unpack them. |
| 269 | <LI> |
| 270 | The |
| 271 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#visible">visible parameter</A> |
| 272 | now accepts a value of "whereused." |
| 273 | With this value, when a staff has no notes on an entire score, |
| 274 | that staff is not printed. This might be used, for example, |
| 275 | to save paper on an orchestral score by only printing staffs for |
| 276 | instruments when they are actually playing. |
| 277 | <LI> |
| 278 | There are new parameters |
| 279 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#mnumfont">measnumfont,</A> |
| 280 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#mnumfam">measnumfontfamily,</A> |
| 281 | and |
| 282 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#mnumsize">measnumsize,</A> |
| 283 | to control the appearance of |
| 284 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#measnum">automatic measure numbers.</A> |
| 285 | <LI> |
| 286 | It is now possible to |
| 287 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html">unset parameters</A> |
| 288 | in voice or staff context, to make them revert to their values |
| 289 | in the next more general context where they are set (staff or score). |
| 290 | <LI> |
| 291 | When a repeatstart gets moved to the beginning of a score, sometimes |
| 292 | you'd like the bar line at the end of the previous score to be a double |
| 293 | bar rather than single bar. It is now possible to |
| 294 | <A HREF="uguide/bars.html">specify that.</A> |
| 295 | <LI> |
| 296 | There is a new |
| 297 | <A HREF="uguide/cmdargs.html#Foption">-F option</A> |
| 298 | that is like the -f option, except it derives the name of the output |
| 299 | file based on the name of the input file, rather than you needing to |
| 300 | specify an output file name. |
| 301 | <LI> |
| 302 | The Mup input file name is given in the PostScript output file, |
| 303 | so that PostScript viewer programs like gv can use it in their window title. |
| 304 | <LI> |
| 305 | There is now a |
| 306 | <A HREF="maillist.html">majordomo mailing list available for |
| 307 | registered Mup users.</A> This is a forum for talking with other Mup users, |
| 308 | to discuss questions and tips on using Mup. |
| 309 | </UL> |
| 310 | </P> |
| 311 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 4.5</H2> |
| 312 | <P> |
| 313 | <UL> |
| 314 | <LI> |
| 315 | There is a new |
| 316 | <A HREF="uguide/cmdargs.html#xoption">-x option</A> |
| 317 | that lets you extract a portion of a song. This can be |
| 318 | especially useful for MIDI, where you might want |
| 319 | to listen to just a few measures |
| 320 | in the middle or end of a piece. But it also works in printing mode, |
| 321 | so you can print just an excerpt of a piece. |
| 322 | <LI> |
| 323 | It is now possible to specify "subbeams," both with |
| 324 | <A HREF="uguide/ichdattr.html#custbeam">custom beaming</A> and via the |
| 325 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#beamstyl">beamstyle parameter.</A> |
| 326 | This can be used when there are a lot of very short notes, |
| 327 | and you want to subdivide the beam groupings. |
| 328 | <LI> |
| 329 | The drawing of phrase marks, ties, and slurs has been re-implemented to |
| 330 | produce more aesthetically pleasing curves. |
| 331 | <LI> |
| 332 | There is a new special character, |
| 333 | <A HREF="uguide/textstr.html#space">called \(space),</A> |
| 334 | which is printed like |
| 335 | a normal space on output, but which is not treated like a space when Mup is |
| 336 | looking for word or syllable boundaries. The most common use for this would |
| 337 | probably be on |
| 338 | <A HREF="uguide/lyrics.html">chant lyrics,</A> |
| 339 | where you want several words to be sung to the same note. |
| 340 | It might also be useful in cases where Mup would normally split a long |
| 341 | string at a word boundary to avoid running off the edge of a page, |
| 342 | but for some reason you want to prevent that splitting. |
| 343 | <LI> |
| 344 | It is possible to |
| 345 | <A HREF="uguide/linecurv.html">print a text string centered above a line.</A> |
| 346 | This is likely to be the most useful for printing "gliss." by a wavy |
| 347 | line for a glissando, but it can be used on any kind of line. |
| 348 | <LI> |
| 349 | There are some new <a HREF="userpgms.html">user-donated files,</A> |
| 350 | including a Windows installer, and Mup syntax files for nedit and vim. |
| 351 | </UL> |
| 352 | </P> |
| 353 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 4.4</H2> |
| 354 | <P> |
| 355 | <UL> |
| 356 | <LI> |
| 357 | Many of the changes in this release were to make Mup conform more closely with |
| 358 | established guidelines or rules for musical notation. |
| 359 | This mainly involved small adjustments to cosmetic details, like |
| 360 | how accidentals and dots are placed. |
| 361 | For mid-score clef changes, the clef is now placed before the barline, |
| 362 | as it should be, rather than after. |
| 363 | There is also an improved algorithm for determining where to |
| 364 | end the underscores on lyrics. |
| 365 | <LI> |
| 366 | The use of labels, both |
| 367 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#label">labels associated with individual staffs</A> |
| 368 | and labels associated with staffs grouped by |
| 369 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#brace">braces</A> or |
| 370 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#bracket">brackets</A>, |
| 371 | has been made more flexible. |
| 372 | It used to be that the "label" was only used on |
| 373 | the very first score, with "label2" used on all subsequent scores. |
| 374 | Thus resetting label after the beginning really had no effect. |
| 375 | Now, however, whenever a new label is specified, that label will be used for the |
| 376 | next score, going back to label2 for subsequent scores. |
| 377 | As an example, this might be useful if staff 1 was used for just soprano |
| 378 | at the beginning of the song, |
| 379 | so you wanted label="Soprano" and label2="S" |
| 380 | for that portion, but later soprano and alto share the staff, so you would |
| 381 | like label="Soprano/alto" to clearly point out the change, but then |
| 382 | revert to just "SA" on subsequent staffs, to conserve space. |
| 383 | <LI> |
| 384 | You can specify a bulge direction for |
| 385 | <A HREF="uguide/noteattr.html#ntie">note ties,</A> |
| 386 | <A HREF="uguide/noteattr.html#nslur">note slurs,</A> |
| 387 | <A HREF="uguide/ichdattr.html#tie">chord ties,</A> and |
| 388 | <A HREF="uguide/ichdattr.html#slur">chord slurs,</A> |
| 389 | if you wish to override Mup's choice of direction. |
| 390 | <LI> |
| 391 | You can now use \s(PV) or \s(previous) in a text string to return to |
| 392 | the previous |
| 393 | <A HREF="uguide/textstr.html#size">size.</A> |
| 394 | <LI> |
| 395 | The |
| 396 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#clef">8treble clef</A> is now supported. |
| 397 | This is like the treble8 clef, except the 8 is printed above the G clef |
| 398 | rather than below it, to show notes that sound an octave <I>higher</I> than |
| 399 | a normal treble clef. |
| 400 | <LI> |
| 401 | <A HREF="uguide/phrase.html">Phrase marks</A> can now have |
| 402 | an optional line type modifier of dotted or dashed. |
| 403 | </UL> |
| 404 | </P> |
| 405 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 4.3</H2> |
| 406 | <P> |
| 407 | <UL> |
| 408 | <LI> |
| 409 | There is a new |
| 410 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#rehstyle">rehstyle parameter</A> |
| 411 | that controls whether rehearsal marks are boxed, circled, or plain. |
| 412 | <LI> |
| 413 | It is no longer necessary to specify verse numbers for |
| 414 | <A HREF="uguide/lyrics.html">lyrics</A> |
| 415 | (unless you want to skip a verse). If not specified, each |
| 416 | succeeding set of lyrics for a given staff and place defaults |
| 417 | to having a verse number one more than the previous verse. |
| 418 | <LI> |
| 419 | There is a new way to |
| 420 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#sylpos">force the position of individual lyrics syllables</A> |
| 421 | that is particularly useful for ensuring that verse numbers or the |
| 422 | beginnings of poetic lines align consistently on all verses. |
| 423 | <LI> |
| 424 | There are new |
| 425 | <A HREF="uguide/cmdargs.html#Eoption">-E and -C options</A> |
| 426 | that let you see how macros expand, which can help you in debugging |
| 427 | very complex macros. |
| 428 | <LI> |
| 429 | There is a new |
| 430 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#staffpad">staffpad parameter</A>, |
| 431 | and the value of the |
| 432 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#scorepad">scorepad parameter</A> |
| 433 | can now be negative. Using negative values for these can let you |
| 434 | jam staffs or scores closer together in cases where |
| 435 | Mup is spacing them wider apart than is really necessary. |
| 436 | <LI> |
| 437 | It is now possible to have more than one voice on |
| 438 | <A HREF="uguide/tabstaff.html">tablature staffs</A> |
| 439 | just like on non-tablature. |
| 440 | <LI> |
| 441 | It is now possible to |
| 442 | <A HREF="uguide/newscore.html">temporarily override margins</A> |
| 443 | on a particular score. This can let you indent one score differently |
| 444 | than the others, or end a piece with a shorter-than-normal score. |
| 445 | <LI> |
| 446 | There is now an "alt pedstar" value for the |
| 447 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#pedstyle">pedstyle parameter</A> |
| 448 | This is like the "pedstar" value |
| 449 | except that when there is a pedal "bounce," |
| 450 | only a "Ped" is printed, rather than a "* Ped." |
| 451 | <LI> |
| 452 | There is a new |
| 453 | <A HREF="userpgms.html">user-donated program</A> called |
| 454 | <A HREF="ftp://ftp.arkkra.com/pub/dos/user.pgms/winmup11.zip">Winmup</A> |
| 455 | which provides a Windows front-end for the MS-DOS version of Mup. The |
| 456 | <A HREF="ftp://ftp.arkkra.com/pub/dos/user.pgms/winmup11src.zip">Visual Basic source |
| 457 | code for Winmup</A> is also available. |
| 458 | <LI> |
| 459 | Several miscellaneous changes were made to improve the quality of |
| 460 | printed output and to improve portability. |
| 461 | Current Mup users may find the layout of some songs may change |
| 462 | somewhat when they upgrade. |
| 463 | </UL> |
| 464 | </P> |
| 465 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 4.2</H2> |
| 466 | <P> |
| 467 | <UL> |
| 468 | <LI> |
| 469 | A <A HREF="uguide/param.html#vscheme">third voice per staff</A> |
| 470 | is now supported. |
| 471 | <LI> |
| 472 | It is now possible to |
| 473 | <A HREF="uguide/chrdattr.html#hoffset">adjust the horizontal placement of notes.</A> |
| 474 | <LI> |
| 475 | It is now possible to |
| 476 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#beamstyl">beam across rests.</A> |
| 477 | <LI> |
| 478 | The optional |
| 479 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#measnum">automatic measure numbers |
| 480 | at the beginnings of scores</A> are now printed in a larger size. |
| 481 | <LI> |
| 482 | <A HREF="uguide/altinp.html">The chord-at-a-time input style</A> |
| 483 | has been made more versatile. Previously, |
| 484 | if a voice was mentioned in a pattern, that voice could not be used for |
| 485 | voice-at-a-time input style in that measure, even if the pattern was |
| 486 | never actually used. Now the restriction only applies if the pattern is |
| 487 | actually used. |
| 488 | <LI> |
| 489 | Strings can be printed |
| 490 | <A HREF="uguide/textstr.html#boxed">enclosed in a circle or elipse.</A> |
| 491 | <LI> |
| 492 | There is a new |
| 493 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#beamslp">beamslope parameter</A> |
| 494 | that controls the maximum tilt for beams. |
| 495 | <LI> |
| 496 | There is a new |
| 497 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#pad">pad parameter</A> |
| 498 | that provides an additional way to control how close together |
| 499 | note groups are placed horizontally. |
| 500 | <LI> |
| 501 | There is a new |
| 502 | <A HREF="uguide/midi.html">MIDI "port" keyword.</A> |
| 503 | This can let you assign different tracks to different ports on |
| 504 | multi-port MIDI devices, allowing for more than 16 channels. |
| 505 | <LI> |
| 506 | The minimum values for the |
| 507 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#scoresep">scoresep</A> and |
| 508 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#staffsep">staffsep</A> parameters |
| 509 | can now be set as low as 6, rather than the previous minimum of 9. |
| 510 | </UL> |
| 511 | </P> |
| 512 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 4.1</H2> |
| 513 | <P> |
| 514 | <UL> |
| 515 | <LI> |
| 516 | <A HREF="uguide/textmark.html#grids">Guitar grids</A> can now be |
| 517 | printed, either |
| 518 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#gridused">where they are used in the music,</A> |
| 519 | or |
| 520 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#gridend">summarized at the end of a song.</A> |
| 521 | There is also a |
| 522 | <A HREF="userpgms.html">library of pre-defined grids</A> |
| 523 | that you can |
| 524 | <A HREF="uguide/include.html">"include"</A> in your music. |
| 525 | <LI> |
| 526 | <A HREF="uguide/textstr.html#special">Non-ASCII characters from the Latin-1 alphabet</A> can now be typed directly |
| 527 | into strings in Mup input, rather than needing to be specified by name. |
| 528 | Shortcut names have also been added for guillemots. |
| 529 | <LI> |
| 530 | The maximum |
| 531 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#staffs">number of staffs</A> has been raised to 40. |
| 532 | <LI> |
| 533 | The |
| 534 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#stlines">stafflines</A> |
| 535 | and |
| 536 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#stscale">staffscale</A> |
| 537 | parameters can now be changed at any bar line rather than only at the |
| 538 | beginning of a song. Changing either of them forces a new score. |
| 539 | <LI> |
| 540 | The <A HREF="uguide/param.html#staffsep">staffsep</A> |
| 541 | parameter can now be set on a per-staff basis, rather than just |
| 542 | for the score as a whole. |
| 543 | <LI> |
| 544 | There are new parameters that allow you to control the order that items |
| 545 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#aboveord">above,</A> |
| 546 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#beloword">below,</A> |
| 547 | and |
| 548 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#betwnord">between</A> |
| 549 | staffs are stacked. |
| 550 | <LI> |
| 551 | It is now possible to |
| 552 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#nummrpt"> |
| 553 | turn off the automatic numbering of measure repeats</A> |
| 554 | and the |
| 555 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#prmultn"> |
| 556 | printing of multirest numbers.</A> |
| 557 | <LI> |
| 558 | It is now possible to |
| 559 | <A HREF="uguide/chrdattr.html#dist">specify the vertical placement of a rest character,</A> |
| 560 | if you want to override Mup's automatic placement. |
| 561 | <LI> |
| 562 | It is now possible to |
| 563 | <A HREF="uguide/textstr.html#strcat">concatenate strings.</A> |
| 564 | This is likely to be most useful in |
| 565 | <A HREF="uguide/macros.html">macros,</A> |
| 566 | but can be used anywhere strings are used. |
| 567 | <LI> |
| 568 | There is a new |
| 569 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#firstpg">firstpage parameter,</A> |
| 570 | which is similar to the |
| 571 | <A HREF="uguide/cmdargs.html#poption">-p command line option,</A> |
| 572 | for setting the first page number. |
| 573 | <LI> |
| 574 | There is a new |
| 575 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#restcomb">restcombine parameter,</A> |
| 576 | which is similar to the |
| 577 | <A HREF="uguide/cmdargs.html#coption">-c command line option,</A> |
| 578 | for automatically combining a sequences of rest measures into |
| 579 | <A HREF="uguide/multirst.html">multirests.</A> |
| 580 | <LI> |
| 581 | Music symbols that occur inside ital or boldital strings will |
| 582 | <A HREF="uguide/textmark.html#italmus">automatically be made italics</A> |
| 583 | to match the string. |
| 584 | <LI> |
| 585 | It is possible to |
| 586 | <A HREF="uguide/lyrics.html#centered">vertically center lyrics.</A> |
| 587 | This is useful when there is a refrain with identical words for all |
| 588 | verses, and you only want it printed once. |
| 589 | <LI> |
| 590 | It is now allowed to have a |
| 591 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#brace">brace</A> |
| 592 | to the left of |
| 593 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#bracket">brackets,</A> |
| 594 | to group a subset of staffs. |
| 595 | (Previously, only brackets were allowed to be nested that way.) |
| 596 | </UL> |
| 597 | </P> |
| 598 | <H2>New Features in Mup Version 4.0</H2> |
| 599 | <P> |
| 600 | <UL> |
| 601 | <LI> |
| 602 | There is now an |
| 603 | <A HREF="uguide/altinp.html">alternate input style,</A> |
| 604 | in which you can enter music a chord at a time rather than a voice at |
| 605 | a time. For certain kinds of music, this may be more natural, |
| 606 | and allow you to enter music more quickly. |
| 607 | <A HREF="uguide/chordinp.html">The previous input style</A> |
| 608 | has also been made more flexible, such that it |
| 609 | is now possible to specify that one line of input will go to voice 1 |
| 610 | on one staff or set of staffs and voice 2 on another staff or set of staffs. |
| 611 | These enhancements make it easier to do things like input a vocal score and |
| 612 | <A HREF="uguide/pianored.html">automatically get a piano reduction.</A> |
| 613 | <LI> |
| 614 | It is now possible to |
| 615 | <A HREF="uguide/macros.html#quoting">transform a parameter passed |
| 616 | to a macro into a string.</A> |
| 617 | If you are a C programmer, you will find this works somewhat |
| 618 | like the # operator of ANSI C preprocessor macros. If you're not a |
| 619 | C programmer, suffice it to say that this allows Mup macros to be used |
| 620 | to do things they couldn't do before. |
| 621 | <LI> |
| 622 | There is a new special bar type, called |
| 623 | <A HREF="uguide/bars.html#restart">restart</A>, that lets you |
| 624 | end the current set of staffs and begin a new set of staffs on the same |
| 625 | line, as is sometimes done for a short coda. |
| 626 | <LI> |
| 627 | The symbols for accidentals (like # and &) are now translated to |
| 628 | their corresponding musical symbols everywhere in |
| 629 | <A HREF="uguide/textmark.html#chordmod">chords,</A> |
| 630 | rather than only if they immediately follow the letters A through G. |
| 631 | You can, however, turn off this automatic translation |
| 632 | for individual cases where you want them to be treated literally. |
| 633 | <LI> |
| 634 | <A HREF="uguide/chordinp.html#duration">Quadruple whole rests</A> are supported. |
| 635 | <LI> |
| 636 | It is possible to force a |
| 637 | <A HREF="uguide/chordinp.html#measdur">measure rest</A> |
| 638 | to be shown with a rest symbol other than the whole rest symbol |
| 639 | that is usually used. |
| 640 | <LI> |
| 641 | There is a new |
| 642 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#addxpose">addtranspose parameter</A>. This |
| 643 | enables you to use the |
| 644 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#xpose">transpose parameter</A> to change |
| 645 | the transposition on specific staffs for transposing instruments, |
| 646 | then use addtranpose to transpose the entire score into a new key. |
| 647 | <LI> |
| 648 | There is a new |
| 649 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#warn">warn parameter</A> which allows you |
| 650 | to control whether warning messages are printed or not. |
| 651 | <LI> |
| 652 | There is a new |
| 653 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#ontheline">ontheline parameter</A>. This |
| 654 | allows you to control whether notes on 1-line staffs are printed above, below, |
| 655 | or on the line. |
| 656 | <LI> |
| 657 | The |
| 658 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#dist">dist,</A> |
| 659 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#chdist">chorddist,</A> |
| 660 | and |
| 661 | <A HREF="uguide/param.html#cresdist">crescdist</A> |
| 662 | parameters can be |
| 663 | <A HREF="uguide/stuff.html#dist">overridden on individual items.</A> |
| 664 | A dist override can also be specified on |
| 665 | <A HREF="uguide/bars.html#reh">rehearsal marks.</A> |
| 666 | Each dist override can also include a modifier |
| 667 | to force items to a specific place, |
| 668 | even if they then overwrite other items that Mup would normally avoid. |
| 669 | <LI> |
| 670 | There is a new |
| 671 | <A HREF="uguide/cmdargs.html#moption">-M option</A> which is like the |
| 672 | -m option, except the name of the MIDI file is derived from the Mup |
| 673 | input file name, rather than requiring you to supply a name. |
| 674 | <LI> |
| 675 | If a given input file name does not exist, Mup will try appending .mup |
| 676 | to the name and attempt to open that file. |
| 677 | <LI> |
| 678 | It is now possible to specify an |
| 679 | <A HREF="uguide/chordinp.html#restspc">uncollapseable space</A>. |
| 680 | This may be useful when drawing "slash" marks and at other times. |
| 681 | <LI> |
| 682 | There is a new |
| 683 | <A HREF="userpgms.html">user-donated program</A> called midi2mup, which |
| 684 | is a Perl script that can convert a MIDI file to Mup input. |
| 685 | <LI> |
| 686 | The uguide gives examples of how to |
| 687 | <A HREF="uguide/verses.html">places verses as text blocks below the scores.</A> |
| 688 | </UL> |
| 689 | </P> |
| 690 | <H2>Coming Attractions</H2> |
| 691 | <P> |
| 692 | We're always interested in hearing about what features you would |
| 693 | like to see in the next version of Mup. |
| 694 | What features we add will depend on your input, so |
| 695 | please send us a note at |
| 696 | <A HREF="mailto:support@arkkra.com">support@arkkra.com.</A> |
| 697 | </P> |
| 698 | <!-- add link to home page --> |
| 699 | </BODY> |
| 700 | </HTML> |