Re: sharping naturals

[David Raleigh Arnold]

On Sat, 25 Jul 2015 02:18:40 +0200
David Kastrup <address@hidden> wrote:

> Kieren MacMillan <address@hidden> writes:
> 
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I’m no Scheme expert, of course… but it seems there should be
> > a relatively easy way to code a music function which says
> > “take all pitches [entered as ’naturals’] and add any
> > accidentals which exist in the corresponding key signature
> > entry for that pitch class”, no? i.e., if the input is ‘c’,
> > and there’s a C# in the key signature, output cis; if the
> > input is ‘d’, and there’s a Db in the key signature, output
> > des; etc.
> 
> What _is_ the current key signature?
> 
> \key a \major \transpose c d { \key f \major \transpose d f { a
> b c d e f g } }
> 
> What should the result be?  Is f \major supposed to be fis
> \major ?  Are we talking about \transpose cis d or \transpose c
> d ?
> 
> You can define rules LilyPond will be able to follow, sure.
> But at what point will they stop making sense to humans and
> other tools?
> 
> > If this input were wrapped in a function, then the final
> > input code would really be no less readable/manipulable than
> > if it were wrapped in a \transpose.
> >
> > Just a thought,
> 
> Getting dogmatic about LilyPond's input language and declaring
> it as God-given at least has the advantage that one avoids
> extended discussions about recurring bad ideas every three
> months.
> 
> Where would Bach's "Kunst der Fuge" had been if "b a c h" had
> not spelled out a theme unambiguously?  I'm sure if I think
> hard enough, I can come up with more strained references to
> authority to bolster my case.
> 
> "I am no expert but it seems there should be a relatively easy
> way" is a good way to start sentences that will cause actual
> experts to go into conniptions.
> 
> "You don't want to go there" is something nobody ever believes
> me, so I have to settle for "if you want to go there, you'll
> need to learn how to do it yourself, and by the time you know
> how to do it, you'll understand why it's a bad idea".

Was the key signature a bad idea? Writing music by hand, do you
write all the chromatic signs or write a key signature? The only
difference with writing and typing is that a program can type
whatever chromatic signs you want in for you. 

Kindest regards, Rale

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