Re: removing accordeon support & solfa ?

[Jim]

Han-Wen et al,

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:47:21 +0100, Han-Wen Nienhuys wrote:
> 
> I am revamping parts of the fonts. Almost all of the font is ok,
> and the larger parter could even be called elegant, save for two
> groups of glyphs, 
> 
>  * The accordeon symbols
> 
>  * The solfa heads.

It looks like the solfa heads are meant to recreate the shaped note
printing system used in the singing schools of early American New
England and the rural south.  If I'm wrong on this then please
disregard, but if I'm correct then I'd like to throw my 2 cents in.

I'm no Shape Note scholar, but I sing Shape Note regularly and I work
and sing with a REAL Shape Note scholar of some reputation.  She
actually has a music typesetting business, often employing her own
Shape Note fonts.  (In Finale I think.)

The current solfa shapes and names appear to imitate one of the many
7-shape systems developed for the singing schools.  The only 7-shape
book in my library, The Harmonia Sacra (25th edition, 1993), uses a
7-shape system from 1851 that matches some, but not all, of the shapes
and names in the current solfa set.

As far as I know, the 7-shape systems are really only of historical
interest these days.  Current composers of Shape Note music (yes, it's
living tradition) all use the 4-shape system found in most Shape Note
books, e.g. The Sacred Harp.

> I suspect that these glyphs haven't been used for a long time.

Probably correct, but I'd like to encourage the development and
maintenance of the 4-shape system for use in Lilypond.  I know it's
something I'd like to have available to me.

> They do not conform to layout the standards of the feta font, and IMO
> they look pretty ghastly. For this reason, I want to remove them. Are
> there any objections?
> 
> -- 
> 
>  Han-Wen Nienhuys   |   address@hidden   |  
> http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanwen


============
Jim Van Horn
Seattle, WA  USA