Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I copied the bass parts for most of the tunes in the 3LF repertoire into my PDA (because I don't currently have a working printer[*], am now playing bass on a few tunes I didn't used to, and have a few more tunes where I just need a little reminder how the bass line starts). This is going to be enough to be useful, but could still use improvement, because this exercise highlights some of the limitations of the tools I'm using. Neither ABC Viewer nor ABassC handles key changes mid-tune, ABC Viewer only knows treble clef and doesn't scroll, ABassC knows bass and treble clefs and scrolls but doesn't fit many notes on the screen at a time, neither can display more than a single voice, and each gets confused over bits of valid ABC syntax (that is, they don't always simply ignore parts of the standard that they don't implement). So porting the tunes to PalmOS meant deleting a bunch of header fields from each, as well as deleting all but the lowest voice, and what I've wound up with will be good enough to peek at for reminders before going on stage, but not good enough to play from when I'm practicing a part I don't already know. Also, ABassC has the limitation that I have to tell it which file to open by tune number and both programs require that all the ABC files be memos in the same PalmOS "category", which would be fine when dealing with a handful of tunes, but becomes unwieldy when the list of tunes gets long.

The last time I looked, I didn't see anything better (feel free to make suggestions if you know an app I missed), so I guess I'm going to have to learn what's involved in programming for PalmOS and see what bits of code from these apps I can understand well enough to rip off (*cough*) learn and borrow from. This will require acquisition of a fairly large Round Tuit.

What I'd like, whether I eventually have to write it myself or not, is a tool which reads ABC files, and

1. understands all of the standard syntax (draft revised standard preferred) that affects what it displays and silently ignores the rest, so I don't need to create special versions of files for the PDA,
2. scrolls smoothly, and/or includes the end of the previous screen on the new one when advancing,
3. allows a choice of magnification, rendering size, whatever you want to call it, so more notes / more legible tradeoffs are under user control,
4. allows the user to specify which voices of a multiple voice arrangement are displayed (up to some number that seems sane for such a tiny screen),
5. can display double-stops and chords in the staff,
6. displays chord names (if present) at the user's option,
7. understands and displays key changes and meter changes,
8. understands 1st- and 2nd-endings, and
9. allows tunes to be selected by title, rather than by ABC "tune number".

Of course, one question that needs to be asked is, "is this too much to ask in a PalmOS application?" I really don't know. But I guess I'll find out ... eventually.

It still won't be a substitute for a laptop with a music-stand mounting socket and a footswitch to control scrolling, but it'll be easier to carry. And I've already got the PDA.

[*] Actually, I have at least one functioning printer; the problem is that the computer that had been acting as the print server is dead, and hooking up the printer to another machine will require rearranging furniture or doing major machine-shuffling (both hardware and software). Fixing this situation is indeed on my to-do list, but keeps getting bumped down in the queue by more urgent tasks.

From Buffy The Vampire Slayer:

Buffy: Your logic does not resemble our Earth logic.

Xander: Mine is much more advanced.