Kathleen
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The proper order would be:
word-sign expression - position - up bow - octave indicator - note - fingering
Check out the new DeGarmo Introduction to Braille Music 3rd edition for a nice new updated General Order of Signs in the Appendix.
Available here: https://nfb.org/programs-services/braille-certification/music-braille-transcribing
Sorry I don't think the simbraille worked for some reason. Here's a pdf of the braille Mr Owens sent per your question.
Hi Robert,
Here is the response from Mr. Owens:
Yes plectrum strokes can be doubled as in MBC.
However in the example used the alignment should appear as below:
#G C--D-EL L EMDL- L EL-FM-
<B<B?? ? ? L ? ?N L ?? ??
,G ,C ,G
#AJ FLE-FMDL
? ? ? ?@C
,D ,G
If you look at examples 9.lj & k you'll see an example of proper alignment. Example 9.11 has an error as the lines of the parallel should be shifted 1 space to the right.
Also notice that at the end of measure 10 there is a slide rather than a shift. Which slide you use depends on whether you're sliding into another note, plucking or not plucking the 2nd note or sliding out of a note.
These are the sort of things we need to look at for further explanation so I welcome any questions and/or suggestions in order to make this as clear as possible.
I just replied to your other post about tablature! If you want to use the new system just published, you can find it under the Resources tab above. Be sure to discuss it with your client and give them access to the Code as well, so they know how to read it once you've transcribed it.
Under the Resources tab above, you can download the new Owens System of Braille Tablature if you would like to use it for your tablature transcription!
Be certain that you send your client a link to the document as well, so that they will know how to read it. Also be sure YOU understand it well enough to transcribe it well!
Hi Robert,
I would not do it as you've done in the example. Single-line format should be single-line, not two lines like that. I would just braille it as you would any other piece. Intervals are read upward in the bass clef, so when the octave intervals begin, you'd braille the 2nd octave G with a doubled octave interval after it. The directions tell the reader what they need to know. No reason to add parentheses that aren't there in print or make it more complicated than it needs to be!
Quite honestly, I have no idea to what these numbers are referring. Is there any guidance from the text? Preface material? Is this a method book?
I think the way you have handled it is pretty good. The only thing different you need to do is precede the negative numbers with a word sign indicator. Otherwise they don't read as numbers, but as some strange combination of intervals. I also don't think you need all the music asterisks nor the music parentheses. One TN at the first instance would suffice, explaining how you are treating the numbers. After that, they should be aware of them as they come along. But you definitely need the word sign indicators before each one.
Hope that helps!
Kathleen
Hi Robert,
It appears as though the Xs are marking places where the parts cross - in the first example, the baritone sings below the bass at the Xs. In the second, the tenor sings below the lead.
How you transcribe that is up to you - but I would probably place the x as a word-sign expression before each note above which it is printed. Unless it's indicated in the score that that's exactly what the Xs are there for, you don't have to explain them. But do put in a TN saying how you are transcribing the Xs.
Kathleen
Hi Julia,
This is indeed very strange notation. I've never seen this kind of thing before, and no, there is no guideline or rule for this.
At first it looked like it was referring to "high" and "low" fingering which most often is notated with an H, L, minus sign or plus sign following the finger number, but then I noticed an arrow not following a fingering (measure 6 after the 2nd G) and an arrow after a 0 or open string (measure 13).
I don't think I would use up bow and down bow signs for these, since the down bow is used for its true purpose on the first note. So I think you'll have to create something to represent those arrows. You may choose to use word sign expressions where the arrows appear: "ua" for up arrow and "da" for down arrow. (I wouldn't use just u and d since the d stands for decrescendo.) And be sure you include a transcriber's note indicating what you are doing!
I know that will make the measures even more cluttered than they already are with position signs and fingerings on almost every note! But I can't think of a clearer way. If you think of something else that works, please share!
Hope that helps a bit!
I consider the n.b. (no break or no breath) to apply to the preceding notes. I would put the one in the first example after the dotted half note. If you are continuing in the same parallel, the forte would follow the n.b. directly.
Likewise, in the second example, I'd put it after the half note on beat 3. If you split the parallel between beats 3 and 4 and you put the n.b on the new parallel with beat 4, it's too late - the singer will likely have taken a breath after beat 3. They'll need to see it directly following the note to which it applies.
hope that helps!
Good morning, Julie!
The Owen's System has been tested and approved by the NBA Music Committee. It is not an official BANA code but hopefully it will be in the future. It is not incorporated in the braille music lessons. (There are many things in the Music Code 2015 that are not in the music certification course...)
My suggestion is that you take a look at it and get a sense of what it entails. There will be webinars and articles about it coming up as well to give some foundational info about it. If, once you feel comfortable with the concepts, you receive a request to transcribe tablature, you can certainly use this code - with the very important step of providing your client with an accessible version of the code along with the music they requested! If they don't have the code to reference, they'll never understand what's going on.
Kathleen
I would say, then, without seeing the whole thing, that when the upper staff is divided into two parts, you should assume it's soprano and alto. The stem signs are used when they sing unison on a note. Otherwise, the lower note is alto.
When there are three parts, the middle part would be soprano 2.
Hope that helps
Hi Robert,
Those two measures aren't enough for me to guide you either way. I'd have to see the majority of the music - for example, are soprano and alto parts printed on different staves or on the same staff? Can you give me some more excerpts to see the soprano and alto divisions versus the times when the soprano divides into 2?
Kathleen
I follow the general guidelines for ensemble scores for choral music where there is no other specific guideline that pertains to only choral music. So yes, I put long word-sign expressions above the music parallel, in between the lyrics and the music, that is, when it pertains to the entire parallel.
