Anybody know of software that will convert normal musical staff notation into ABC? I'd love to submit some tunes, but I find ABC unfathomable and extremely slow to do by hand (at least compared to standard notation)
You can only convert staff notation to ABC if it was created by either ABC or MIDI format and you have the ABC or MIDI source files.
Using "Melody assistant" ( http://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/melody.htm ) you could key in new tunes via the PC keyboard (or better still a small cheap MIDI piano-keyboard), and the notation would displayed as notes on staff. Then save as a ABC file and submit to this site.
I think you can do simple tunes with this software just using the free version.
It's a lot easier than you first think to convert music from standard notation to ABC "by hand". You can learn ABC in an hour or so and after you've done the first tune or two, it's fairly straightforward.
What I find more difficult is transcribing a tune from my head to dots or ABC. The easy tunes are ok but the more complicated ones are---er--complicated. I just need more practice, I suppose.
I find ordinary notation much easier - I don't have to think what the name of any note is and just by looking at the shape of the dots I can tell what something sounds like, and whether it makes sense - a string of letters cannot do the same. In any case I will give Melody Assistant a go - it's easy enough to put dots into MIDI using Sibelius.
Standard Notatin to ABC conversion software
Standard Notatin to ABC conversion software
Anybody know of software that will convert normal musical staff notation into ABC? I'd love to submit some tunes, but I find ABC unfathomable and extremely slow to do by hand (at least compared to standard notation)
# Posted on March 12th 2005 by gaiteirojack
Re: Standard Notatin to ABC conversion software
You can only convert staff notation to ABC if it was created by either ABC or MIDI format and you have the ABC or MIDI source files.
Using "Melody assistant" ( http://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/melody.htm ) you could key in new tunes via the PC keyboard (or better still a small cheap MIDI piano-keyboard), and the notation would displayed as notes on staff. Then save as a ABC file and submit to this site.
I think you can do simple tunes with this software just using the free version.
Jim
Jim
# Posted on March 12th 2005 by Worldfiddler
Re: Standard Notatin to ABC conversion software
It's a lot easier than you first think to convert music from standard notation to ABC "by hand". You can learn ABC in an hour or so and after you've done the first tune or two, it's fairly straightforward.
Have you seen Steve Mansfield's turorial?
http://www.lesession.co.uk/abc/abc_notation.htm
What I find more difficult is transcribing a tune from my head to dots or ABC. The easy tunes are ok but the more complicated ones are---er--complicated. I just need more practice, I suppose.
# Posted on March 12th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: Standard Notatin to ABC conversion software
Are there any lions or tigers in this "tu-ror-ial"?
# Posted on March 13th 2005 by geoffwright
Re: Standard Notatin to ABC conversion software
I find ordinary notation much easier - I don't have to think what the name of any note is and just by looking at the shape of the dots I can tell what something sounds like, and whether it makes sense - a string of letters cannot do the same. In any case I will give Melody Assistant a go - it's easy enough to put dots into MIDI using Sibelius.
# Posted on March 15th 2005 by gaiteirojack