Re: Fixed Measure Widths

[D Josiah Boothby]

> I think that the problem of mainstream jazz notation cannot be resolved 
> simply answering that it's bad tipography: is simply a kind of notation that 
> needs some different layout according to a  precise musical practice: if one 
> has to play in a gig lots of compositions that are based on  8+8, 4+4 or 
> 16+16 melodic/harmonic structures, and play them immediatly, maybe only 
> looking at the chord changes, this specific layout is really useful, based on 
> the music.

Yes and no. It is bad typography, but it is also great copyediting. The 
convention of fixed measure widths is one which is a product of having
inexpensive printing capabilities but having to edit and copy by manually
cutting and pasting. When copying by hand, it is much easier to just set up a
straightedge and draw measure lines once than it is to do it for every measure
that comes up. Similarly, if corrections have to be made to the score or
parts, the editors don't have to find the exact lengths of the measures in the
score and parts: they can just draw up a measure of the length that all of the
measures share, and apply the correction to all of the places that need
correcting with minimal time and effort.

Copyediting and engraving are no longer separated by technology. Programs 
like lilypond and finale allow us to make corrections easily and for 
little or no expense. Printing is generally not an issue (eg, almost 
anyone can print for little or no expense). So in a sense, we no longer 
have to choose between having the constraints of copyediting and the 
elegance of professional quality engraving -- at least for technological 
reasons. Instead, we have the option of engraving/copyediting the way we 
want to see the music set on the page. Do you use a calligraphy pen 
(hand-engraving) or a typewriter (copyediting), or do you use a computer 
program that attempts to mimic the two?

The workaround Graham pointed out shows that with lilypond, the task of 
imitating a convention which seems to be fairly straightforward shows 
itself to be fairly difficult to implement. The easiest way to get around 
this is to accept fluid measure lengths, with breaks every four measures 
-- keeping the phrase structure intact. Solo sections will have the same 
measure lengths as long as all that exist in the measures are chord 
slashes and chord symbols.

> By the way, jazz tunes written with Finale are not particulary nice...

Just last week, I had a job with a local jazz ensemble (I'm a (french) 
horn player, so this is pretty uncommon) and had to transpose a couple 
parts, so since I was already punching out parts with lilypond, I copied 
one piece that was so badly done in finale that I could barely read it. I 
got compliments for all of the parts that I did.

Josiah