Re: producing "archival" scores

[Aaron Dalton]

Jason Merrill wrote:
>> There is not now, nor ever will be, some universal music language.
>> MusicXML is an option, but not one everybody will choose.  One could ask
>> the exact same question by replacing 'lilypond' with 'MusicXML'.  The
>> issue with archival (it seems to me) is a format whose source will
>> "always" be readable and whose output will "always" be viewable.  Seems
>> to me Lilypond and MusicXML are the only ones that provide both of
>> these.  They also seem to me to be the only two options that are
>> non-proprietary so others will not have purchase anything to access your
>> work.  Whether you prefer MusicXML or Lilypond is a matter of taste,
>> methinks.  Obviously the people on this list are going to have a marked
>> bias towards Lilypond, but that is indeed another question.
>>
>> I could argue that Finale is also "a music interchange format that is
>> widely supported."  MusicXML is just one more way of encoding music.
>> Any format that uses plain text as source and a non-proprietary compiler
>> I think is a perfectly decent archival option.
> 
> There's an important distinction to be drawn here.  MusicXML vs
> Lilypond is not just a matter of taste because the two clearly have
> different goals.  MusicXML is objectively a terrible format for
> inputting music from a computer keyboard.  However, according to
> Wikipedia, "MusicXML is supported to varying degrees by over 75
> different notation programs, including the two leading scorewriting
> programs, Finale and Sibelius."  Because it is supported by many
> different programs of all types (graphical and ascii, free and
> non-free, etc.), and because it is open so that any project can add
> support for it, MusicXML is currently a viable "interchange format."
> 

I hear what you're saying now about "interchange."  It would indeed be
ideal if Lilypond could export to MusicXML or whatever other interchange
language you want.  Fortunately, I'm almost positive a script could be
written for this.  I'd keep pushing and see what suggestions people
have.  It really should be within the realms of possibility.  You could
consider sponsoring the project.  If you decided to do that, let me know
what it would cost.  I would be happy to pitch in a little.  I'm
preparing some manuscripts for publication and such a script might come
in very handy.

Cheers!
-- 
Aaron Dalton       |   Super Duper Games
address@hidden   |   http://superdupergames.org