Re: Swing indications in text markup?

[Marcus Brinkmann]

At Sat, 7 Aug 2004 09:02:30 -0700,
David Rogers wrote:
> On Aug 7, 2004, at 5:50 AM, Marcus Brinkmann wrote:
> 
> > Real Jazzers write them in straight 8ths, 'nuff said.  Chance is that
> > if you don't know what it should sound like, it doesn't matter if it's
> > written in 1:1, 3:1, 2:1, it just won't come out the right way.
> >
> > That said, I'd love it if you could instruct it to be swing and have
> > the midi converter interprete it correctly (at least in a first
> > approximation).
> 
> 
> Written in straight 8ths, yes; and if there's any chance of 
> misunderstanding, write "swing" at the top - along with that little 
> diagram mentioned by the original poster if you want.

Exactly.  With some people, you need to write Bossa in there to get
them out of the swing ;)
 
> Midi is a different story altogether. Machine-produced midi renditions 
> sound so mechanical anyway - would it really be worth all the work to 
> get pseudo-swing that never sounds quite right?

It should be fairly straight-forward to implement, I might give it a
try eventually.  It seems worth to me for proof-listening to swing
melodies of course, in particular if they are fast and have complex
rhythms (ie, the eights are bound to longer notes of varying lengths,
and syncopes).

I also think that giving the midi interpreter just a tad of rhythmic
feeling could be useful, so that it can stress notes a bit at the
right places most of the time, so you don't get lost when hearing to
it.

A note to midi converter can not only be good for proof-reading, but
also as a quick way to get an impression on an unfamiliar melody or
rhythm at the right speed.  The two suggestions above aim at making
this a bit more practical.  There are some very simple rules that can
be applied for better rhythm and pronounciation.  Of course, the proof
is in the experiment.

Thanks,
Marcus