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FIXMSXPART(1)                                                    FIXMSXPART(1)


NAME

       fixmsxpart - corrects note spacing in a single-staff MusiXTeX part


SYNOPSIS

       fixmsxpart [-v | --version | -h | --help]

       fixmsxpart [-d | --debug] infile[.tex] [outfile[.tex]]

       Converts a single-staff MusiXTeX part (possibly derived from a multi-
       instrument score and as a result having irregular note spacing) to a
       single-staff part with proper spacing determined by the notes
       themselves.

       If outfile is not specifed, standard output is used.


USAGE

   Generating a Single-Instrument Part
       To generate a single-instrument part from (a copy of) the MusiXTeX
       source for a  multi-instrument score, add

           \input musixtnt

       to the preamble, set

           \instrumentnumber1

       and use the \TransformNotes macro defined in musixtnt.tex to discard
       all but one part.  For example, the following line placed after
       \startpiece (but before any note commands) would be appropriate for a
       four-instrument score (arguments #2, #3, #4, and #5, separated by three
       &s), and will result in a part for the second of these (#3):

           \TransformNotes{#2}{#3}

       Argument #1 is a scaling parameter and should not be modified.  It is
       essential that every \znotes, \notes, \Notes, \NOtes, etc. command in
       the score match the macro  pattern exactly; insufficient (or too many)
       note segments will result in lost text and possibly compilation
       failure; see msxlint(1).  It is assumed by \TransformNotes that notes
       commands are terminated by \en (rather than \enotes).

       Some additional manual changes to the source will be necessary:

       +  adjustments of \setname1, \setclef1, \setsign1 , \setmeter1 and
          \setstaffs1 commands, as necessary;

       +  ensuring that tempo and roadmap markings (D.C., Fine, etc.) are in
          the appropriate instrument segment;

       Finally, if the modified score is compiled and viewed, it may be seen
       that horizontal spacing designed for multiple instruments often
       produces bad spacing for a single instrument.  This can be corrected
       manually (and very tediously) but it is what fixmsxpart was designed to
       fix (much more conveniently).

   Correcting Horizontal Spacing Using fixmsxpart
       The \notes \Notes \NOtes \NOTes...  commands in a part derived from a
       multi-instrument score are unreliable, and so fixmsxpart determines the
       spacing for ordinary notes by the note commands themselves; for
       example,

       +  \qa, \qu, \ql, \qp result in \NOtes;

       +  \ca, \cu, \cl, \ds result in \Notes;

       and so on.  Spacing commands \sk and \hsk in the input are discarded
       (but \qsk, \hqsk and explicit uses of \off{...} are preserved).

       fixmsxpart determines the spacing for beamed notes by the beam
       multiplicity: \ib... results in \Notes, \ibb... results in \notes, etc.
       Some beam-termination commands (\tb...) are problematic because the
       immediately-following beam note \qb... must be spaced according to the
       spacing before the \tb... command. This is handled by setting a
       variable new_beaming when processing the \tb... command and only
       updating beaming to new_beaming when processing the subsequent beam
       note.  This isn't needed for the abbreviations \tqb, \tqh, \ztqb and
       \ztqh which combine beam-termination and specification of the final
       beam note.

       Pointed notes are not given extra space automatically. They should be
       given extra space manually in the score by using either a \roff-like
       command on the subsequent note or the \qsk or \hqsk spacing commands.

       Additional features of fixmsxpart transformation:

       +  Successive whole-bar rests are accumulated into a multi-bar rest,
          with appropriate adjustment of the bar number.

       +  \alaligne and \alapage commands are replaced by \bar.

       +  \mulooseness, \eject, \linegoal, \song{top | bottom}, \group{top |
          bottom} and \akkoladen commands are commented out.

       +  \instrumentnumber...  commands become \instrumentnumber1.

       +  \nostartrule is added to the preamble.

       +  Simple slurs or ties initiated by \slur or \tie are normalized by
          setting the n parameter to 1 on the assumption that the new note
          spacing is correct.


LIMITATIONS

       Only single-staff instrumental parts are supported. User-defined macros
       are not expanded.  A few esoteric MusiXTeX commands and constructions
       are not supported.


SEE ALSO

       msxlint(1)

       musixdoc.pdf


AUTHOR

       This program and manual page were written by Bob Tennent
       <rdt@cs.queensu.ca>.

                                  2015-02-05                     FIXMSXPART(1)

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