Comments

ABC question

ABC question

Sometimes when browsing the tunes I see in the comments where others have posted ABCs of alternative versions. I can never get them to work at concertina.net pasting them into the ABC converter. It always says there is an error.

Can you recommend an alternative conversion tool or maybe if there's a common error I can strip out or fix. I'm afraid I don't know how to read ABC.

# Posted on December 30th 2007 by sbhikes

Re: ABC question

In most cases, you just need to check to make sure all the fields are in what you've copied and pasted. For example, the Tune-O-Tron won't convert abcs if they don't have the "X" field. So you may need to add X: 1

Same with Key, Meter, and default note Length. Those are the crucial ones.

# Posted on December 30th 2007 by Will CPT

Re: ABC question

Yup, Will has it, almost certainly.

Most folks skip the "headers" -- that introductory coding -- when posting in the comments.
make sure there's:

X:1
T:Whatever the title is
M:whatever the meter is (4/4, 6/8 9/8 you know)
K: whatever the key is

...then you're good to go

# Posted on December 30th 2007 by fidkid

Re: ABC question

Thank you. X marks the spot. So long as it's not the last field before the score. Putting it last seemed to give me a blank image.

# Posted on December 30th 2007 by sbhikes

Re: ABC question

Also, sometime cut'npaste gives blank lines, get rid of them, the conversion will stop at the blank.

# Posted on December 30th 2007 by spindizzy

Re: ABC question

or download the abc using the relevant button in tunes then cut and paste the full abc into your converter

# Posted on December 30th 2007 by geoffwright

Re: ABC question

sbhikes - I guess you have got the answer. But now we are talking about ABC converters, Concertina.net is a great converter, but try this one - It's really fine too. It not only converts ABC, but also converts to different keys (if you like), and it allows you to to put several ABC's in line (just remember to change the X:1 - X:2..........and so on).

http://www.folkinfo.org/songs/abcconvert.php

# Posted on December 31st 2007 by ceili

Re: ABC question

Although some programs may still work without this, there is an order for two of the header fields.

X: should be the first
K: should be the last

These are mandatory, As far as I know, all other headers are optional. According to the 2.0 draft, omitting M: is the same as M:none, If not present, a default L: is set from the meter.

# Posted on January 1st 2008 by Jon Freeman

Not a member yet? Sign up!

forgotten your password?

Frequently Asked Questions

Enter your email address to have your password sent to you.