Time signatures
Kristaps Andersons
4/4 is wrong, what’s displayed is actually 2/4, while 4/4 has four beats per measure.
While 6/8 is not wrong as such, most mandingue rhythms are in 12/8 (again with 4 beats per bar not just 2)
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It is of course possible to notate by using 2 bars of 6/8 but is less convenient and conceptually not right.
Pasha Agapov
Hi Kristaps! Thank you for your feedback!
I understand that the notation in the app might not be completely correct from the western notation point of view. What I have now is a blend of the western notation with the block notation that is used in books like Mamady Keïta's "A life for the Djembe".
If I annotate the binary signature as 2/4, then I would need to make the notes into 16ths, which will be twice as short as the 8ths in the 6/8, and also would require a double beam. That doesn't feel right to me. What do you think?
As for 6/8 vs. 12/8, I agree in principle, however, most passport accompaniments and many Dunun parts are two-beat and not four beat, so if I only leave the 12/8 option, you would need to type them twice. I don't see how 6/8 is less convenient than 12/8. Can you give an example?
Kristaps Andersons
Pasha Agapov: In Mamady’s book there’s also 4 blocks of notes in binary rhythms, that’s what I meant. For visual clarity it is better to have all parts as long as the longest cycle. You only input the part once, but you look at it all the time.
By the way it would also be good to condense the scores somehow, so that 3 dunun + bell parts could fit in screen.
Pasha Agapov
Kristaps Andersons: Actually, what you suggest is very close to what I have in mind for the next version: have two ways of laying parts out: one "condensed" where the part takes as little space as possible (including "collapsing" empty bars), and another "rolled out" where all parts are laid out in a common timeline (much like in all music software) so you can instantly tell how the parts go together. Bars that are produced by repetition can be rendered differently (say, grayed).
I also thought about a "compact" view where bells are rendered on top of the drum parts for dunduns (like in Mamady Keita's book). However, I'm not 100% sure how it should work because now you can have bell & drum rhythm patterns completely independent (which isn't necessarily a good thing!), and also it's easier to type parts on the keyboard when the bells & drums are separate. Maybe they should "fold" and "unfold" as you edit them?
Kristaps Andersons
Pasha Agapov: Sounds like a great idea! I like the timeline view precisely because of that reason - to see how different parts align, but it's not necessary at playback time. So having a choice would be great.
Regarding the bells, conceptually they should be separate, because there are styles that don't use bells, but it would be good to have them visually together like in MK's book. If they are together, it could work like this - when pressing the bell symbol, the cursor does not advance, you have to type either space or a drum stroke to go further. When pressing the bell second time the bell disappears.
Just suggesting. Thank you for developing the app!