Re: New figured bass capabilities and some request

[Han-Wen Nienhuys]

John Mandereau wrote:
> > what does +6 mean?
>
> It means the 6th is raised by a semitone; it is often (but not always)
> used for the leading-tone (the 7th degree of the scale).
>
> For example, let's take the dominant seventh chord (in C Major <g b d'
> f'>).
>
> Its 3rd inversion (i.e. its position with the 7th at the bass -- in C
> Major <f g b d'>) is described with bass figure +4, because the interval
> between the bass note and the leading-tone is a(n augmented) 4th.
>
> Similarly, the second inversion of this chord (with the 5th at the bass)
> is described with bass figure +6.

Ok, so the plus and slash refer to the harmonical function, whereas the 
sharp and flat refer to the alteration within the scale? So a

  <des f as ces>

in 3rd inversion would be denoted by +4 flat ?

> The "+" sign is so common in bass figures that it would be tiring for
> the user to type a long command for that, which would not be better than
> using a \markup. I guess you have good reasons not to modify the parser
> (in case you need do so to implement this syntax), but it would be
> convenient that a "plus" could be added to a bass figure by simply
> appending a single character, * or ~ or whatever is possible.

I'll have a look. It's unfortunate that we already have + for alteration 
upwards. Maybe we can use \+

> Is it worth documenting it in the manual? If so, I would be glad to
> submit a patch on the list.

Go ahead.

> I wonder why there is only one continuation line for two bass figures
> continued with the same duration. You must read the score carefully to
> see that the continuation line vertical position is between the two
> numbers, which is not obvious when you quickly read the score for the
> first time. IMHO it would be more legible if there was one line for each
> figure.

This was by special request of Trent. I wouldn't mind scrapping it (if 
Trent agrees, that is), as it was relatively hairy to do. I can easily 
add a property to switch this off, though.

--
 Han-Wen Nienhuys - address@hidden - http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanwen