Introduction

Abc2midi is a program that converts an abc music notation file to a MIDI file. The program was developed by James Allwright in the early 1990s and has been supported by Seymour Shlien since 2003. The program contains many features, such as expansion of guitar chords, drum accompaniment, and support for microtones, that do not exist in other packages. This guide focuses on those features that are particular to abc2midi. It assumes a general understanding of the abc notation syntax. Some knowledge of the MIDI standard is also an asset.

First, abc2midi has some serious limitations and perhaps a few known bugs. Abc2midi ignores all D.C. (Da Capo), D.S. (Da Segno), al Fine symbols. You will either need to explicitly repeat sections or use the P: command to control these repeats. There are many limitations in the handling of lyrics and the creation of Karaoke MIDI files. If the lyrics, are embedded in repeats (eg. |: and :|) they will not be repeated in the MIDI file. To create a proper MIDI file you will have to expand the repeats explicitly in the abc file (eliminating the repeat symbols). This is particularly important, if there are different lyrics in the repeats. In general the repeat symbols cause a minor annoyance since it is common to leave out the opening repeat (|:) in common music notation. Abc2midi needs to know where it returns during a repeat; it silently inserts the opening repeat when it is missing but it may put it in the wrong place if there is an anacrusis. When a music line contains overlays using (sometimes called splits), they are not handled correctly when they occur in a part (eg. P:A). I have not figured out how to do it properly. (The software to handle splits is very complicated since they are put into a separate tracks. The handling of repeats and splits is hard enough.)

Abc2midi is coded in C language; the latest version of the source code is found in the abcMIDI-20*.zip package which can be downloaded from http://ifdo.ca/~seymour/runabc/top.html or http://sourceforge.net/projects/abc/. Executables for some systems can be found in The ABC Plus project.

The source code was designed to compile on many different platforms and operating systems. As a result, there is no graphical user interface built in; however, other programs such as runabc provide the graphical user interface to abcMIDI and other packages.

It is necessary to run abc2midi from a command window in order to supply run time parameters. (This applies to all programs in the abcMIDI package.) If you double click on one of the executables, the screen might blink but nothing else will happen.

Abc2midi creates either a type 0 or type 1 MIDI file. If the abc tune is simple (no voices or accompaniment), abc2midi creates a type 0 file consisting of only one track. For other tunes, abc2midi creates a type 1 file or a multitrack MIDI file. The first track conventionally contains ancillary information such as the name of the tune and other comments. The other tracks contain the different voices and accompaniment.

The MIDI standard provides 16 channels, each of which can be controlled independently. Commonly, the channels are mapped into separate musical instruments, allowing 16 instruments to be played at the same time. The different instruments are referred to as programs and there is a special MIDI command which maps a channel to a specific program. There are 128 possible programs available and they are referred to by a number from 0 to 127.

Abc2midi automatically assigns a new track and channel to each voice in the abc tune. (You can change the channel assignment, with the %%MIDI channel command.) If the voice contains splits, i.e. distinct music lines in a measure, the voice will be mapped into multiple tracks. The bass/chord accompaniment is put into one track but the bass and chordal accompaniment have different MIDI channels. The drum and drone accompaniments are also put into separate tracks and channels.

Since abc2midi creates an audio representation of the abc file, there are a number of commands that are particular to this program that may be embedded in the abc file. These commands are all prefixed with %%MIDI starting from the first column of the line. There are about 40 such commands. For example,

%%MIDI program 64

To avoid the problem of breaking up a music line in order to place a %%MIDI command, for example,

A2 B2|\
%%MIDI drumon
C2 D2|

A2 B2|[I:MIDI= drumon] C2 D2|

[I: MIDI = program 73 MIDI=chordprog 29]

Some other commands embedded in the abc body are enclosed by exclamation marks, e.g. !mf! and affect abc2midi. There are a few parameters included in the K: and V: field commands which are particular to abc2midi. For example,

K: C transpose=-2

Key Signature Extensions

K:Eb
K:EDor
K:EbDor

4 sharps EMaj  F#Dor G#Phr A#Lyd B#Mix C#Min
3 sharps AMaj  BDor CPhr DLyd EMix F#Min
2 sharps DMaj  EDor FPhr GLyd AMix BMin
1 sharp  GMaj  ADor BPhr CLyd DMix EMin
0 sharp  CMaj  DDor EPhr FLyd GMix AMin
1 flat	 FMaj  GDor APhr BLyd CMix DMin
2 flats  BbMaj CDor DPhr ELyd FMix GMin
3 flats  EbMaj FDor GPhr ALyd BbMix CMin
4 flats  AbMaj Bbdor CPhr DLyd EMix FMin
5 flat   DbMaj Ebdor FPhr GLyd AbMix BbMin

K: DLoc % 3 flats

K: G ^c^g

K:G clef=soprano octave=-1 transpose=-1

X:1
T:tranposing
M:1/8
L:2/4
K:C
V:1
K:C transpose=-1
CDEF|GABc|
V:2
K:C
CDEF|GABc
V:1
CDEF|GABc|
V:2
CDEF|GABc

Channels and Programs

%%MIDI channel n

%%MIDI program [c] n

X: 10
T:Avon Jig
% Nottingham Music Database
S:Pauline Wilson, via Phil Rowe
M:6/8
Q:1/4=180
K:Em
%%MIDI program 5 10
%%MIDI program 6 20
%%MIDI program 7 30
%%MIDI program 8 40
%%MIDI channel 5
B|"Em"e2e B2B|GAB E3|"D7"FED AGF|FED AGF|
%%MIDI channel 6
"Em"e2e B2B|"Em"GAB E3|"D7"FED A2A|"Em"GEE E2::
%%MIDI channel 7
D|"G"G2G B2B|"D7"ABA D3|"G"G2G B2B|"Am"d2d "D7"cBA|"G"G2G B2B|"D7"ABA D3|\
%%MIDI channel 8
"Em"EFG "A7"FED|"Em"E3 -E2:|

X: 10
T:Avon Jig
% Nottingham Music Database
S:Pauline Wilson, via Phil Rowe
M:6/8
Q:1/4=180
K:Em
%%MIDI program 10
B|"Em"e2e B2B|GAB E3|"D7"FED AGF|FED AGF|
%%MIDI program 20
"Em"e2e B2B|"Em"GAB E3|"D7"FED A2A|"Em"GEE E2::
%%MIDI program 30
D|"G"G2G B2B|"D7"ABA D3|"G"G2G B2B|"Am"d2d "D7"cBA|"G"G2G B2B|"D7"ABA D3|\
%%MIDI program 40
"Em"EFG "A7"FED|"Em"E3 -E2:|

Guitar Chords

X: 3
T:Dennis Murphy's
% Nottingham Music Database
S:via PR
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:D
d/2e/2|:"D"f/2g/2f/2e/2 d3/2B/2|AD FA|"Em"GE e3/2d/2|"A7"cB c/2B/2A|
"D"f/2g/2f/2e/2 d3/2B/2|"D"AD FA|"Em"GE "A7"e3/2f/2|"D"ed d2::
"D"Af f/2e/2f|"G"Bg g/2f/2g|"D"Af f/2e/2d|"A7"e/2f/2e/2d/2 BA|
"D"Af f/2e/2f|"G"Bg g3/2a/2|"A7"ba gc|"D"ed d2:|

 m, 7, m7, maj7, M7, 6, m6, aug, +, aug7, dim, dim7, 9, m9, maj9, M9,
11, dim9, sus, sus9, 7sus9, 5

The chord notation also allows chords such as "G/B" or "G/b". The note following the / is interpreted in one of two ways:

If the note following / does not exist as part of the given chord, it is added to the chord below the root note of the chord (G in the above example).

If the note following / does exist in the chord, then the notes of the chord are rearranged so that it becomes the lowest pitch note of the chord. This is known as an inversion of the chord. It does not matter whether the note following the / is upper or lower case. They are both treated the same. The following examples are equivalent.

X:1
T: chord types
M: 2/4
L: 1/4
K: C
%%MIDI gchord fc
"C/E" z2| "CM7/G" z2| "C/F" z2|"C/f" z2| 

X: 2
T: chords expanded
M: 2/4
L: 1/4
K:C
"^C/E"E,, [CG,E,]| \
"^CM7/G"G,, [ECB,G,]| \
"^C/F"F,,, [G,E,C,]| \
"^C/f"F,,, [G,E,C,]|

You may find some abc tunes that abuse this notation and use quotes for things that are not guitar chords. Usually these are tunes that have been typeset but never played by a computer. If you do not want to just delete things in quotes, you can insert one of the characters _, ^, @, < or > after the first quote e.g. "_Chorus" "_Very Loud". This causes abc2midi to ignore the following text. However, typesetting programs should recognize the first character as telling them where to print the following text.

Abc2midi expands the guitar chords into a specific pattern of notes and places them into a separate track in the midi file. For common time signatures such as 2/4,3/4 and 4/4, there are specific patterns already defined; for unusual time signatures, the user must define the patterns. For example:

expands to

The guitar chord consists of two components, the bass note and the chord. Each component is assigned a separate MIDI channel, so that the user is able to play them on separate instruments. For example, listen to the following arrangement of Dennis Murphy's Reel The abc file containing these special instructions abc2midi is shown here.

X: 3
T:Dennis Murphy's
% Nottingham Music Database
S:via PR
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:D
%%MIDI program 64
%%MIDI chordprog 24
%%MIDI bassprog 45
%%MIDI beat 87 77  67 4
%%MIDI chordvol 88
%%MIDI bassvol 82
d/2e/2|:"D"f/2g/2f/2e/2 d3/2B/2|AD FA|"Em"GE e3/2d/2|"A7"cB c/2B/2A|
"D"f/2g/2f/2e/2 d3/2B/2|"D"AD FA|"Em"GE "A7"e3/2f/2|"D"ed d2::
"D"Af f/2e/2f|"G"Bg g/2f/2g|"D"Af f/2e/2d|"A7"e/2f/2e/2d/2 BA|
"D"Af f/2e/2f|"G"Bg g3/2a/2|"A7"ba gc|"D"ed d2:|

Here is an explanation of all the %%MIDI instructions.

%%MIDI program 64

%%MIDI chordprog 24

%%MIDI bassprog 45

Since November 2011, abc2midi now accepts octave=n where n is between -2 and 2 inclusive in the chordprog and bassprog MIDI command. This shifts the pitch of the bass and chordal accompaniment by the specified number of octaves from their usual positions. For example,

%%MIDI bassprog 45 octave=1

%%MIDI gchord f2f2cz2

%%MIDI gchord fffff

%%MIDI gchord ghih

%%MIDI gchord ghig

%%MIDI gchordoff

%%MIDI gchordon

X:1
T: gchord multivoice extension
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: G
V: 1
%%MIDI gchord ghih
"G" z4| z4|\
%%MIDI gchordoff
z4|
V:2
%%MIDI chordprog 12
%%MIDI gchord GHIHG
z4|"D" z4|z4|

Chord name

%%MIDI chordname name n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6

%%MIDI chordname m 0 3 7
%%MIDI chordname 7 0 4 7 10
%%MIDI chordname m7 0 3 7 10
%%MIDI chordname maj7 0 4 7 11

%%MIDI droneon

%%MIDI droneoff

%%MIDI drone n1 n2 n3 n4 n5

For example: click on Banks and Braes.

X: 1
T:Banks and Braes
M:6/8
L:1/8
S:Slow March
K:HP
%%MIDI program 109
%%MIDI gracedivider 4
%%MIDI drone 70 45 33 61 54
%%MIDI droneon
|: {Gdc}d2{g}d{g}ede|\
{g}faf{gef}e2{g}d/2e/2|\
{g}f3/2e/2d{g}dB{G}A|\ 
{g}A3/2B/2d{gef}e2{g}A|
{Gdc}d2{g}d{g}ede|\
{g}faf{gef}e2{g}d/2e/2|\
{g}f3/2e/2d{g}dB{G}A|\
{g}A3/2B/2d{gdc}d2| {g}A:|

%%MIDI drum string [drum pitch numbers] [drum velocities]

%%MIDI drumon

%%MIDI drumoff

X:1
T:Macedonska Sedenka abridged sample
O:Macedonia
C:Trad.
R:kopanica
Z:http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/~jaffer/Music
Q:1/4=220
M:11/8
L:1/8
K:C
%%MIDI gracedivider 2
%%MIDI channel 1
%%MIDI program 1 71
%%MIDI chordprog 71
%%MIDI chordvol 40
%%MIDI bassprog 58
%%MIDI gchord f2c2c3f2c2
%%MIDI drumon
%%MIDI drum d2d2d2dd2d2 43 43 41 37 43 43
|:"G"dz ^fg gfa ~g2 =fe | ef df ~e2 d ^cd dG |
^cd ef dfd ~e2 ed |1 "D"^cd Bd ~=c2 B "G"BG dG :|2 "D"^cd Bd ~=c2 B "G"B2 z2 ||

%%MIDI drumbars n

X:1
T: splitting a drum string into two bars
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: G
%%MIDI drum zdzdzdzd 39 59 50 60
%%MIDI drumon
z4| z4| z4| z4|
%%MIDI drumbars 2
%%MIDI drum zdzdzdzd 39 59 50 60
z4| z4| z4| z4|

X:1
T: drum multivoice extension
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: G
V:1
%%MIDI drum dddd 45 45 45 45 70 50 60 50
%%MIDI drumon
z4|z4|\
%%MIDI drumoff
z4|
V:2
%%MIDI drum ddddd 54 54 54 54 54 70 50 50 60 50 
z4|\
%%MIDI drumon
z4|z4|

MIDI pitch assignment to drum channel

35. Acoustic Bass Drum	36. Bass Drum 1	37. Side Stick
38. Acoustic Snare	39. Hand Clap	40. Electric Snare
41. Low Floor Tom	42. Closed Hi Hat	43. High Floor Tom
44. Pedal Hi-Hat	45. Low Tom	46. Open Hi-Hat
47. Low-Mid Tom	48. Hi Mid Tom	49. Crash Cymbal 1
50. High Tom	51. Ride Cymbal 1	52. Chinese Cymbal
53. Ride Bell	54. Tambourine	55. Splash Cymbal
56. Cowbell	57. Crash Cymbal 2	58. Vibraslap
59. Ride Cymbal 2	60. Hi Bongo	61. Low Bongo
62. Mute Hi Conga	63. Open Hi Conga	64. Low Conga
65. High Timbale	66. Low Timbale	67. High Agogo
68. Low Agogo	69. Cabasa	70. Maracas
71. Short Whistle	72. Long Whistle	73. Short Guiro
74. Long Guiro	75. Claves	76. Hi Wood Block
77. Low Wood Block	78. Mute Cuica	79. Open Cuica
80. Mute Triangle	81. Open Triangle

Percussion Voice

When the drum pattern changes from bar to bar or contains more than one drum hit played at a time (chord), it is preferable to put the percussion in a separate voice. Setting the MIDI channel to 10 indicates that the notes address individual percussion instruments rather than specifying pitches. Here is an example showing how this is done.

X: 1
T: drum voice
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
Q:1/4=120
K:C % 0 sharps
V:1
%%MIDI channel 10
%%MIDI program 0
C,,C,, D,,C,,z2 C,,2| \
C,,C,, D,,C,, C,,D,, C,,2| \
C,,C,, D,,C,,z2 C,,2| \
C,,C,, D,,C,, C,,D,, C,,2| \

Note C,, maps into MIDI pitch 36 which is interpreted as Bass Drum 1 and note D,, maps into MIDI pitch 38 which is interpreted as Acoustic Snare. When the notes are displayed using abcm2ps, the following score is seen.

It is awkward to have all the strings of commas; also, the Bass clef should be replaced with a percussion clef. The MIDI drummap command allows the user to remap the MIDI pitches in the drum voice to more convenient ABC notes. For example:

X: 1
T: drum voice - remapped
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
Q:1/4=120
K: C
V:1 clef=perc
%%MIDI channel 10
%%MIDI program 0
%%MIDI drummap G 36
%%MIDI drummap D 38
GG DGz2 G2| \
GG DG GD G2| \
GG DGz2 G2| \
GG DG GD G2| \

%%MIDI drummap G 36 maps MIDI pitch 36 to G instead of C,,. Likewise, D is mapped to MIDI pitch 38. The score can now appear as follows.

The following table indicates the default note to percussion assignment.

Abc note assignment to MIDI drum channel

B,,, Acoustic Bass Drum	C,, Bass Drum 1	^C,, Side Stick
D,, Acoustic Snare	^D,, Hand Clap	E,, Electric Snare
F,, Low Floor Tom	^F,, Closed Hi Hat	G,, High Floor Tom
^G,, Pedal Hi-Hat	A,, Low Tom	^A,, Open Hi-Hat
B,, Low-Mid Tom	C, Hi Mid Tom	^C, Crash Cymbal 1
D, High Tom	^D, Ride Cymbal 1	E, Chinese Cymbal
F, Ride Bell	^F, Tambourine	G, Splash Cymbal
^G, Cowbell	A, Crash Cymbal 2	^A, Vibraslap
B, Ride Cymbal 2	C Hi Bongo	^C Low Bongo
D Mute Hi Conga	^D Open Hi Conga	E Low Conga
F High Timbale	^F Low Timbale	G High Agogo
^G Low Agogo	A Cabasa	^A Maracas
B Short Whistle	c Long Whistle	^c Short Guiro
d Long Guiro	^d Claves	e Hi Wood Block
f Low Wood Block	^f Mute Cuica	g Open Cuica
^g Mute Triangle	a Open Triangle

Beats

%%MIDI beat a b c n

The loudness of the notes indicated above the following notes would be appropriate for a, b, c and n set to 95, 85, 75 and 2 respectively.

This would sound like this. Without the accents it would sound like this. Some instruments such as the church organ have no emphasized notes. It may be appropriate to have all notes played at an even level by including the following command.

%%MIDI nobeataccents

%%MIDI beataccents

!ppp! = %%MIDI beat 30 20 10 1
!pp!  = %%MIDI beat 45 35 20 1
!p!   = %%MIDI beat 60 50 35 1
!mp!  = %%MIDI beat 75 65 50 1
!mf!  = %%MIDI beat 90 80 65 1
!f!   = %%MIDI beat 105 95 80 1
!ff!  = %%MIDI beat 120 110 95 1
!fff! = %%MIDI beat 127 125 110 1

An alternative way of specifying where the strong and weak stresses fall within a bar uses a beatstring.

%%MIDI beatstring 

'f' means velocity a (normally strong), 'm' means velocity b (medium velocity) and 'p' means velocity c (soft velocity). For example, if the time signature is 7/8 with stresses on the first, fourth and sixth notes in the bar, we could use the following:

%%MIDI beatstring fppmpmp

which would be played as follows:

By default, the velocities associated with the strong, medium and weak beats are 105, 95 and 85. To change them, issue the %%MIDI beat command or insert the dynamic indicators like !mf! in the bar.

Stress Model

Phil Taylor has introduced a more sophisticated stress algorithm in his BarFly program for the Mac. This model not only changes the loudness of the notes but also alters the duration of the notes. The bar is split into a number of equal segments where each segment is assigned a note loudness (velocity) and an expansion factor. The partitioning of the bar into segments and the segment coefficients depend upon the rhythm designator (eg. jig) and the time signature. Abc2midi provides two different models that apply this stress program. The first model which modifies the articulation of the notes rather than the duration of the beats and it was easiest to implement. The second model, which closely resembles BarFly, actually distorts the time scale in the bar or beat by expanding or contracting the segments. Abc2midi uses built in tables (based on Phil Taylor's models) which store the various configurations. All the configurations preserve the duration of the musical bar.

To hear the affect of the different models, listen to the following MIDI files produced from the double jig, 'Sailor's Wife' .

Abc2midi by default uses the Beat model which also provides some support to the dynamic designators such as +mf+ (for mezzoforte), +ppp+ (for pianissimo) etc. To load the BarFly stress model instead, it is necessary to include the runtime parameter -BF in the execution string. For example,

abc2midi myfile.abc -BF

R: hornpipe

R: Double Hornpipe

**warning** rhythm designator Lesnoto 7/8 is not one of
Hornpipe 4/4 Hornpipe C| Hornpipe 2/4 Hornpipe 9/4 Hornpipe 3/2 
Hornpipe 12/8 Double hornpipe 6/2 Reel 4/4 Reel C| Reel 2/4 
Slip Jig 9/8 Double Jig 6/8 Single Jig 6/8 Slide 6/8 Jig 6/8 
Ragtime 12/8 Strathspey C Fling C Set Dance 4/4 Set Dance C| 
Waltz 3/4 Slow March C| Slow March C March C| March C 
March 6/8 March 2/4 Polka k1 3/4 Polka 4/4 saucy 3/4 
Slip jig 3/4 Tango 2/4 

%%MIDI ptstress myfolder/test.txt

The abcMIDI distribution package comes with several sample stress files in the pt/ folder. By default abc2midi will use stress model 2 but you can select model 1 using the following MIDI directive.

%%MIDI stressmodel 1

In order demonstrate how these stress models affect the note durations, consider the following simple test file.

X: 1
T:test
M:4/4
L:1/4
R: myrhythm
K:G
%%MIDI ptstress abcmidi/pt/test.txt
|cBAG|c/B/A/B/AG|

The stress descriptor file test.txt looks like:

4
120 1.4
60 0.6
120 1.4
60 0.6

If you are calling up the stress model manually using the %%MIDI ptstress directive, it is unnecessary to include the rhythm designator R: in the abc tune. Neverthesless, if you wish to use model 2, the -BF option must be included in the runtime parameters of abc2midi.

The %%MIDI ptstress directive allows you to specify the stress parameters directly without going through an intermediate file. For example,

%%MIDI ptstress 3 100 1.4 80 1.0 60 0.6

Larghissimo  1/4=40         Moderato       1/4=104
Adagissimo   1/4=44         Allegretto     1/4=112
Lentissimo   1/4=48         Allegro        1/4=120
Largo        1/4=56         Vivace         1/4=168
Adagio       1/4=59         Vivo           1/4=180
Lento        1/4=62         Presto         1/4=192
Larghetto    1/4=66         Allegrissimo   1/4=208
Adagietto    1/4=76         Vivacissimo    1/4=220
Andante      1/4=88         Prestissimo    1/4=240
Andantino    1/4=96

X:1
T:tempo
M:2/4
L:1/4
K:G
Q: "Adagio"
CD|EF|
Q: "Adagio" 1/4=40
GA|Bc|

%%MIDI beatmod n

The !crescendo(! and !crescendo)! delineate the start and end of a crescendo. Alternatively, you can use !<(! and !>)!. Abc2midi does not implement a gradual loudness increase, but instead increases the loudness at the start and end of the crescendo by a fixed amount. (See %%MIDI beatmod and %%MIDI deltaloudness for more information.)

%%MIDI deltaloudness n

X:1
T: crescendo
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: C
%%MIDI deltaloudness 30 
!mp!CDEF|!crescendo(!GABc!crescendo)!|cBAG|FEDC|

 break between words
-       break between syllables within a word
|       advance to next bar
_       indicates last syllable is to be held for another note
*       indicates a one note rest for the singer.
~       appears as a space but connects syllables each side into one.
\-      appears as - in the output
\       continuation character. Next w: field is part of the same line.

w: syll-a-ble    is aligned with three notes
w: syll-a--ble   is aligned with four notes
w: syll-a -ble   (equivalent to the previous line)
w: time__        is aligned with three notes
w: of~the~day    is treated as one syllable (i.e. aligned with one note)
                 but appears as three separate words

gf|e2dc B2A2|B2G2 E2D2|.G2.G2 GABc|d4 B2
w: Sa-ys my au-l' wan to your aul' wan\
w: Will~ye come to the Wa-x-ies dar-gle?

X:1
T:Multivoiced lyrics
M:2/4
L:1/16
K:C
V:1
C4 C4 | E4 G4 | c8 |]
w: 1 2 3 4 5
V:2
C4 E4 | C4 B,4 | C8  |]
w: 11 12 13 14 15

X:1
T: transpose 
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: C 
V: 1
cdef|gabc'|
V: 2 transpose=2
%%MIDI program 70
CDEF|GABc|
V:3
C,D,E,F|G,A,B,C|

X:1
T: transpose
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: C 
V: 1
cdef|gabc'|
V: 2
%%MIDI program 70
%%MIDI transpose 2
CDEF|GABc|
V:3
C,D,E,F|G,A,B,C|

Besides the MIDI transpose command, there is also the MIDI rtranspose command described as follows.

%%MIDI rtranspose n

K:G clef=soprano octave=-1 transpose=-1

  I:octave=-2
  B, C D E F
  I:octave=0

%%MIDI trim x/y

X: 1
T:Dennis Murphy's -- articulated
% Nottingham Music Database
S:via PR
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:D
Q:1/4=180
%%MIDI program 71
d/2e/2|
%%MIDI trim 0/4
f/2g/2f/2e/2 d3/2B/2|AD FA|GE e3/2d/2|cB c/2B/2A|
%%MIDI trim 1/4
f/2g/2f/2e/2 d3/2B/2|AD FA|GE e3/2f/2|ed d2|

%%MIDI chordattack n

%%MIDI randomchordattack n

X:1
T: arpeggiate
M: 2/4
L: 1/4
Q: 1/4 =60
K: C
%%MIDI chordattack 0
[CEGB] [GBDF]|\
%%MIDI chordattack 20
[CEGB] [GBDF]|

%%MIDI grace a/b

X:1
T: grace fraction
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: C
%%MIDI grace 1/4
{E}D2 {GFE}D2| {DCDC}C4|
%%MIDI grace 1/2
{E}D2 {GFE}D2| {DCDC}C4|
%%MIDI grace 3/4
{E}D2 {GFE}D2| {DCDC}C4|

A different approach (which is now the default) assumes that the grace notes always have fixed duration specified by a fraction of the unit length. To use the other approach you would specify

%%MIDI gracedivider b

X:1
T: grace divider
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: C
%%MIDI gracedivider 4
{E}D2 {GFE}D2| {DCDC}C4|
%%MIDI gracedivider 2
{E}D2 {GFE}D2| {DCDC}C4|

Note that the MIDI command has no effect on grace notes introduced using the M, R, T, !trill!, !mordent! indications.

In some cases, you may want abc2midi to ignore all grace notes markings. To do this, add the -NGRA (no grace notes) to the runtime parameter list.

Portamento

X:1
T: portamento
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: C
%%MIDI program 2
CDEF|GABc| 
%%MIDI portamento 60
CDEF|GABc| 
CEGB|dfac'|

To apply portamento to either the bass or chord accompaniment, add one or both of the commands:

%%MIDI portamento bass n
%%MIDI portamento chord n

Pedal

X:1
T:Ped in pianomusic
M:C
L:1/8
K:C treble
K: clef=bass
Q:1/4=60
%%MIDI program 70
+ped+G,A,B,C+ped-end+DE|

%%MIDI control [bass/chord] n1 n2

%%MIDI control 7 50

%%MIDI control 10 0

K: G
^/F F ^^/2F F|

Microtones are implemented using the MIDI pitchbend control command. The command affects all notes in a specific MIDI channel. When several notes are played at the same time (chords), it is necessary to place the individual notes of the chord in separate MIDI channels. This introduces another level of complexity. The additional channels for playing chords must be pre-allocated using the following MIDI command.

%%MIDI makechordchannels n

Tuning

abc2midi mytune.abc -TT 445.0

Repeats

X: 5
T:Bobbin Mill Reel
% Nottingham Music Database
S:Mick Peat
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:D
A/2|"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 fA|"G"Be "A"cA|"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 f/2e/2d/2c/2|"Em"Be "A"aA|
"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 f/2e/2d/2c/2|"G"Be "A"cA|"G"B/2c/2d/2B/2 "A"c/2d/2e/2c/2|\
"D"d2 dA:|
% ...

abc2midi Bobbin_Mill_Reel.abc 
Warning in line 11 : Assuming repeat
writing MIDI file Bobbin_Mill_Reel5.mid
Warning in line 8 : Bar 0 has 1/2 units instead of 4 in repeat

X: 5
T:Bobbin Mill Reel
% Nottingham Music Database
S:Mick Peat
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:D
A/2|:"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 fA|"G"Be "A"cA|"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 f/2e/2d/2c/2|"Em"Be "A"aA|
"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 f/2e/2d/2c/2|"G"Be "A"cA|"G"B/2c/2d/2B/2 "A"c/2d/2e/2c/2|\
"D"d2 dA:|
% ...

X: 7
T:Bobbin Mill Reel
% Nottingham Music Database
S:Mick Peat
M:4/4
L:1/4
P:A
K:D
P:A
A/2|"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 fA|"G"Be "A"cA|"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 f/2e/2d/2c/2|"Em"Be "A"aA|
"D"d/2c/2d/2e/2 f/2e/2d/2c/2|"G"Be "A"cA|"G"B/2c/2d/2B/2 "A"c/2d/2e/2c/2|\
"D"d2 dA:|

abc2midi Bobbin_Mill_Reel.abc 
writing MIDI file Bobbin_Mill_Reel6.mid
Error in line 12 : Found unexpected :|
Error in line 12 : Found unexpected :|
Error in line 12 : Found unexpected :|

One workaround is to include the command +invisible+ which will hide the |: when abcm2ps converts the tune to common music notation. For example:

X:3
T:Ein Tuger Welscher Tanz
C:Hans Neusiedler
M:C|
L:1/8
K:C
%%staves [(1 2)]
V: 1 clef=treble-8 stem = up
V: 2 clef=treble-8 stem = down
[V:1] +invisible+ |: z2 c2 B4|c4 d4 |d2 c2 =B2 c2-| ccAB c4 :|
[V:2] +invisible+ |: x2 [CE]2 [G,D]4 | x4 [V:2 stem=up] FEFG [V:2 stem=down] &[CE]4 _B,4 |[_B,F]2 [CE]2 [G,D]2 [A,E]2| [G,D]4 [CG]4 :|

Miscellaneous

%%MIDI ratio n m

%%MIDI ratio 2 1

%%MIDI ratio 3 1

X: 1
T: Balance the Straw
R: jig
Z: 1997 by John Chambers  http://eddie.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: G
D \
| "G"G2B B>AB | "C"c2A A>ce | "D7"d>ed cAc | "G"G2B B2D \
%%MIDI ratio 3 1
|  "G"G2B B>AB | "C"c2A A>ce | "D7"d>ed cEF | "G"G6 |
% rest truncated

If the tune specifies a hornpipe rhythm, (eg. R:hornpipe) and the meter is 4/4, then abc2midi will automatically convert sequences of eighth notes to broken rhythm. For 2/4 time signature, the conversion applies to sixteenth note sequences. (These conversions do not apply when one of the stress models is selected.)

barlines

%%MIDI nobarlines

%%MIDI barlines

%%propagate-accidentals not

%%propagate-accidentals pitch

%%propagate-accidentals octave

M:2/4
L:1/8
K:Eb
%%propagate-accidentals not
A =A A2|

temperament

%%MIDI temperamentlinear octave_cents fifth_cents

%%MIDI temperament 1200.5 698.0

More details on linear tempered scales can be found on the site http://www.xs4all.nl/~huygensf/scala/ The pitch of each note is modified using a MIDI pitchbend command to comply with the scale. In order to handle chords, each note of the chord must be played on a different MIDI channel.

The normal musical scale has a temperament of

%%MIDI temperamentlinear 1200 700

%%MIDI termperamentnormal

X:1
T:Fuga (Sonata III BWV 1005)
T:Excerpt
C:J. S. Bach
M:C|
L:1/4
%
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 120 70
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 240 140
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 600 350
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 701.955 386.31
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1800 1050
%
% Fifth sizes for some temperaments:
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 705.882353    % 17-EDO
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 694.736842    % 19-EDO
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 709.090909    % 22-EDO
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 696.774194    % 31-EDO
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 702.439024    % 41-EDO
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 697.674419    % 43-EDO
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 701.886792    % 53-EDO
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 698.0         % fifth=698 cents
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 696.57843     % 1/4-comma meantone
% %MIDI temperamentlinear 1200.0 701.955001    % Pythagorean
%%MIDI temperamentnormal                      % 12-EDO
K:C
%
V:1 treble
%%MIDI program 110 % Fiddle
g2 | e f/g/ ag | f2 _ba | g a/g/ fg | a2 x2 |
V:2 merge
%%MIDI program 110 % Fiddle
B2 | c2 ^c2 & E2 E2 | d2 d2 & x2 G2 | _e2 z =e & G2 x G | fedc |
V:3 merge
%%MIDI program 110 % Fiddle
ED | C2 A,2 | D2 G,2 | C2 z C | F2 ^F2 |
%
V:1
x2 g2 | _a2 =a2 | _b2 z =b | c'_bag | ^fe/d/ g2 |
V:2
B c/d/ ed | c2 fe | de/d/cd | e2c2 & G2 x2 | c2 _BA/G/ |
V:3
G2 C2 | F2 D2 | G2 z2 | C2 _E2 | D2 z2 |
%
V:1
g a/_b/ag | f2f2 | e2e2 | ^f2x2 | x2 g2 | g2fe/d/ |
V:2
^c2 z ^c & x2 x E | d=c_BA | =B2 A2 & ^G^F/E/ E2 |\
AB/c/BA | G=FB2 | A2A2 & E2x2 |
V:3
E2 x A, | D2D2 | D2 CB,/A,/ | ^D2 zD | ExE=D | ^CB,/A,/ D2 |
%
V:1
^g2 z=g | gf/e/f2 | fe/d/ ef/e/ | de/f/ gf | e2
V:2
B2 z _B | A2 A=B/=c/ & E2x2 | d2c2 & G2G2 | x2B2 & x2 D2 | G x
V:3
DE/F/ED | ^C2D2 | B,2=C2 | FE G,2 | C2

Here are sample MIDI files produced from the above source that you can listen to.

normal temperament	17 divisions/octave	19 divisions/octave
22 divisions/octave	31 divisions/octave	41 divisions/octave
120-70	120-140	600-350

Chord Channels

%%MIDI makechordchannels n

%%MIDI pitchbend [bass/chord]  

%%MIDI snt k pitch

X:1
T: Single Note Tuning
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: C
%%MIDI program 60
C
%%MIDI snt 60 60.3
C
%%MIDI snt 60 60.6
C
%%MIDI snt 60 60.8
C

%%MIDI fermatafixed

%%MIDI fermataproportional

In some cases, you may want abc2midi to ignore all fermata markings. To do this, add the -NFER (no fermatas) to the runtime parameter list.

MIDI Commands Applying Globally

%%MIDI C
%%MIDI nobarlines
%%MIDI barlines
%%MIDI fermatafixed
%%MIDI fermataproportional
%%MIDI ratio
%%MIDI chordname
%%MIDI deltaloudness

%MIDI C 48
%%MIDI nobarlines
%%MIDI ratio 5 1
%%MIDI chordname ugly 1 2 3 4
X: 1
T: test global settings
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: C
"G"CDEF|"Gugly" D>EF>C|^ABDA|AAC2|

Run Time Parameters

[seymour@localhost abc]$ abc2midi
abc2midi version 2.26 January 05 2009
Usage : abc2midi  [reference number] [-c] [-v] [-o filename]
        [-t] [-n ] [-RS] [-NFNP]
        [reference number] selects a tune
        -c  selects checking only
        -v  selects verbose option
        -ver prints version number and exits
        -o   selects output filename
        -t selects filenames derived from tune titles
        -n  set limit for length of filename stem
        -RS use 3:1 instead of 2:1 for broken rhythms
        -quiet suppress some common warnings
        -Q default tempo (quarter notes/minute)
        -NFNP don't process !p! or !f!-like fields
        -NFER ignore all fermata markings
        -OCC old chord convention (e.g. +CE+)
 The default action is to write a MIDI file for each abc tune
 with the filename N.mid, where  is the filestem
 of the abc file and N is the tune reference number. If the -o
 option is used, only one file is written. This is the tune
 specified by the reference number or, if no reference number
 is given, the first tune in the file.

[seymour@localhost abc]$ 

[seymour@localhost abc]$ abc2midi dennis.abc
writing MIDI file dennis3.mid

Rather than naming the MIDI file after the abc file name, abc2midi can use the title of the tune to determine the file name. This is done using the -t option. The length of the file name is limited to 8 letters plus the .mid extension to be compatible with older operating systems. Any spaces, punctuation marks and special characters are eliminated. Words are separated by capitalization of the initial character. If you want the option of having a longer file name, also include the -n option. For example,

abc2midi collection.abc -t -n 12

To process only one particular tune in a abc file containing a collection of tunes, specify the X: reference number immediately after the filename. For example:

[seymour@localhost abc]$ abc2midi allreelsnum.abc 25 -t -n 20
writing MIDI file BeaverCreek.mid

To create a MIDI file for a specific file name, use the -o option. For example:

abc2midi dennis.abc -o test.mid

Many abc files and tunes do not specify any tempo. By default, abc2midi chooses a tempo of 120 quarter notes per minute, which is frequently painfully slow. To override this default, include the -Q option followed by a number specifying the number of quarter notes per minute. For example:

abc2midi dennis.abc -Q 180

Similarly, the default ratio for broken rhythms (e.g. A < B or B > A) can be set to 3:1 using the run time option -RS. This saves you the trouble of editing the abc file.

The abc2-draft standard http://abc.sourceforge.net/standard/abc2-draft.html has deprecated the !...! notation in favour of the +...+ notation. In order to comply with the change, abc2midi, abc2abc and yaps were modified to accept either convention. Thus you can use +trill+, +fermata+ +pp+ etc. as well as the deprecated notation (!trill! etc.). There is one conflict: in the early days of abc, notation chords were notated as +CEG+ instead of [CEG]. There is probably very little music using this convention still available on the Internet. If you need to handle the old chord notation, you must now add the option -OCC to abc2midi. Here is a sample file using the deprecated and new convention. Hopefully, there are not too many files using the old convention.

X:1
T: decorations
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: G
+<(+ [CE]4 +<)+  |[CE] +trill+  DEF|
!<(! [CE]4 !<)!  |[CE] !trill!  DEF|

In some cases, one may want abc2midi to ignore the dynamic directives !ff!, !fp!, etc. in the abc file and have the tune played at a steady loudness. To do this, add the -NFNP (no forte no piano) to the runtime parameter list.

To determine which version of abc2midi you are running, use the -ver parameter. For example:

[seymour@localhost abc]$ abc2midi -ver
2.26 January 05 2010

[seymour@localhost abc]$ abc2midi dennis.abc -v
Reference X: 3
scanning tune
handling grace notes
fixing repeats
writing MIDI file dennis3.mid
track 0, voice 0
assigning channel 0 to voice
End of File reached

Debugging Abc2midi

Users are always looking for more features, and new bugs are discovered as users become more adventurous. The abcmidi/doc/CHANGES file provides a history of my modifications to the abcmidi package. Certain features, such as tied notes, were particularly difficult to get working correctly. (For example, tied notes can occur in chords and triplets.)

Once a new bug is discovered, the first step is to identify and isolate it as much as possible. This involves creating a new abc file which is as simple as possible and demonstrates the bug. Examples of such files can be found in the CHANGES file referenced above. If the problem lies with the output MIDI file, then it is useful to examine the textual representation of the MIDI file using the -mftext output of midi2abc.

The MIDI file is created from the abc file in two passes. The next step is to determine which pass is faulty. An internal representation is created in the global arrays, feature[], pitch[],num[] and denom[]. To check the internal representation, run the program using a debugger, placing a break point on the function writetrack(). When the program stops at this break point, call the function dumpfeat(0,notes) which will display the contents of those global arrays. If the bug occurs in the internal representation, then the problem occurs in the first pass. The code in store.c or parseabc.c is suspect. Otherwise the code in genmidi.c should be checked out.

It is difficult to figure out some of the functions, so I usually run the debugger in step mode at the place where the faulty output is produced. It is also useful to scan the comments in the doc/CHANGES file which may shed some light on why the code was written this way. Usually after careful analysis, the source of the bug is identified. In most cases, the fix is just a small change.

It is a good idea to be very conservative in making any code changes so that it has little or no impact on the operation of the program. Radical changes usually lead to a whole proliferation of new bugs. If you are introducing a new feature, the added code should ideally be localized to a few new functions and it should be easy to revert to the older version in case unexpected bugs are introduced. This often means creating a new copy of some function, e.g. new_start_drone() which will eventually replace start_drone(). Once you are absolutely confident that the new code is reliable, you can eliminate the duplication.