How to read my scores

Generalities about score

The score language was originally designed as an interactive interface to Soundblaster Pro. It has, therefore, some limitations, such as:

9 channels (or voices) numbered 0 to 8
cannot play glissando
cannot play crescendo/diminuendo on a single note

In the millenia since, Soundblaster Pro became unusable, as it conflicts with multitasking Windows. So I remap the score results to a midi file, which is quite general, but:

cannot create new instruments, e.g., by munging oscillators
does not allow interaction, e.g. the score printing "Gavotte" on the screen as it plays the Gavotte.

Some basic details:

rest are showed as r
pitches as shown; c5 is middle C, c6 an octave above, etc
chords are groups of pitches, separated by commas. If, for example, voice 2 meets the chord c,e,g then:
- voice 2 will play C
- voice 3 will play E simultaneously
- voice 4 will play G simultaneously
After that voices 3 and 4 become inactive, and have to be reactivated to play later.
durations as fractions ( quarter = 1/4 or just /4 ; dotted quarter 3/8 )
missing durations are copied from the previous duration.
In this piece, as the melody consists in notes of equal duration, it will often appear in the score as
c5 1/8 c5 c5 c5 c5 c5 c5 c5
text in balanced braces {} is comment, no influence on sound production
numerous instructions
The ones most relevant for this score:
sound voices; halt voices;
e.g. sound 12; halt all;
When a voice meets sound 12; the voices 1 and 2 become active, and start reading the score and emitting sound; when a voice meets these halt all; all the voices stop, and the piece actually ends.
One voice may activate or stop others, or itself.

goto label
the current voice plays the text following label: – the colon marks labels.

send voices to label
the voices play the text following label: – one voice may send other voices to labels.
In the score below there are many examples like:
halt 4; send 04 end107; end107: . . send 1 sca1; sound 1; sca1:
These are needed for synchronization, as several voices may read the same text at arbitrary times.
gosub label
The current voice goes to label and interprets the text there; eventually it meets the instruction ret and returns to the text after the gosub instruction.
This is quite standard notation in programming, in musical scores? refrains...

if cur = voice0 ( ... text ... )
Several voices may read the same text at arbitrary times. If the current voice is voice0, then the text in brackets is played; otherwise it is skipped.

vvol
the instruction for crescendo/diminuendo (vary volume). In the etudes, all the volumes are random.

tra_voices = transpo
the voices get transposed by transpo semitones; transpo may be positive, negative or zero. Exactly like orchestral transposing instruments.

Sample score: the etude g#minDGM

{ ... rnd_3747 fit ... SRAND= 3747 fit odds for changes: new 1st 108 new 2nd 114 swap12 52 transpo 306 cancer 40 table 31 mirror 32 time signature= 8/8 2 beats, subdivided into 4 } names abc	The file colophon.txt, various details about the piece
gosub before	The introduction; see score below.
send 4 here here: tra_all = -4 { cmin ==> g#min } { 105: new2nd 0 0 0 0 x 3 0 = 3 0 3 0 3 0 3 0 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; c5 1/8 eb5 c5 eb5 c5 eb5 c5 eb5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; ab4,c4,eb4 4/8 r /16 r /16 eb4 /16 ab4 /16 c4 /16 eb4 /16 ab4 /16 c4 /16 {xden8} halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end105; end105: { 104: transpo 0 0 0 0 x 10 12 = 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; c5 1/8 d5 c5 d5 c5 d5 c5 d5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; d4,f4,ab4,c4 4/8 r /16 r /16 r /16 r /16 f4 /16 a4 /16 c4 /16 d4 /16 {xden8} halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end104; end104: : : { 102: new2nd 0 0 0 0 x 10 12 = 10 12 10 12 10 12 10 12 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; c6 1/8 bb5 c6 bb5 c6 bb5 c6 bb5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; r /16 r /16 r /16 r /16 g4 /16 bb4 /16 eb4 /16 c4 /16 {xden8} c4,eb4,g4,bb4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end102; end102: { 101: transpo 0 0 0 0 x 0 0 0 0 = 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; f5 1/8 f5 f5 f5 f5 f5 f5 f5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; bb4,d4,f4 4/8 f4,ab4,c4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end101; end101: tra_all = -1	Establishing G# minor at etude's start. Several measures, originally in C minor, now transposed to G# minor. Ident 101 corresponds to ident 1, 102 to 2, ... etc.
{ 0: START 0 0 0 0 x 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; c5 1/8 c5 c5 c5 c5 c5 c5 c5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; {xSPLIT} ab2 2/8 c3,eb3 2/8 r 1/8 eb4,g4,c4 3/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end0; end0: { 1: transpo 0 0 0 0 x 0 0 0 0 = 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; f5 1/8 f5 f5 f5 f5 f5 f5 f5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; bb4,d4,f4 4/8 f4,ab4,c4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end1; end1: { 2: new2nd 0 0 0 0 x 10 12 = 10 12 10 12 10 12 10 12 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; c6 1/8 bb5 c6 bb5 c6 bb5 c6 bb5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; {xDOWN} c5 1/8 eb4 g3 bb2 c5 1/8 eb4 g3 bb2 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end2; end2: : : { 7: transpo 0 0 0 0 x 3 0 = 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 chords ABOVE melody tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; c4 1/8 a4 c4 a4 c4 a4 c4 a4 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; {xSPLIT} r 1/8 c5,f5,a5 3/8 f4 2/8 a5,c5 2/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end7; end7: { 8: transpo 0 0 0 0 x 3 0 = 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 2 tonality cmin9 4013 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; d5 1/8 f5 d5 f5 d5 f5 d5 f5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; d4,f4,a4 4/8 bb4,d4,f4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end8; end8:	Measures with idents 0 to 8, all in C minor
{ 9: new1st 12 5 x 3 0 = 15 12 8 5 new tonality ebmaj } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; f5 1/8 eb6 c6 ab5 f5 eb6 c6 ab5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; f4,ab4,c4,eb4 4/8 r 1/8 eb4,f4,ab4,c4 3/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end9; end9: { 10: transpo 12 5 x 3 0 = 10 7 3 0 tonality ebmaj 1453 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; c5 1/8 bb5 g5 eb5 c5 bb5 g5 eb5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; c4,eb4,g4,bb4 2/8 c4,eb4,g4 3/8 eb4,g4,bb4 3/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end10; end10: : : { 12: new2nd 12 5 x 12 5 = 24 17 17 10 chords ABOVE melody tonality ebmaj 1453 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; bb3 1/8 c5 f4 f4 bb3 c5 f4 f4 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; {xSPLIT} bb5 2/8 d4,ab4 2/8 bb5,d5 2/8 ab4 2/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end12; end12: { 13: swap12 12 5 x 12 5 = 24 17 17 10 tonality ebmaj 1453 } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; f6 1/8 bb5 c7 f6 f6 bb5 c7 f6 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; bb3,d4,ab4 4/8 bb3,d4,ab4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end13; end13:	Measures with idents 9 to 13, in Eb major
: : :
{ 24: transpo 12 5 x 12 5 = 11 4 4 9 new tonality dmin } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; b5 1/8 e5 e5 a5 b5 e5 e5 a5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; a3,c#4,e4,g4 4/8 a3,c#4,e4,g4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end24; end24:	Measure with id 24, in D minor
{ 25: transpo 12 5 x 12 5 = 10 3 3 8 chords ABOVE melody new tonality ebmaj } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; bb4 1/8 eb4 eb4 ab4 bb4 eb4 eb4 ab4 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; r /16 r /16 ab4 /16 bb3 /16 d4 /16 ab4 /16 bb3 /16 d4 /16 {xden8} bb4,d5,ab5 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end25; end25:	Measure with id 25, in Eb major
tra_all = 1 { gmin ==> g#min } { 106: table 12 5 x 12 5 = 4 9 9 2 new tonality gmin } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; a5 1/8 d5 e5 a5 a5 d5 e5 a5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; r 2/8 c2 /8 f3 /8 d4,a4,c5 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end106; end106: tra_all = -6 { dmin ==> g#min } { 107: transpo 12 5 x 12 5 = 11 4 4 9 new tonality dmin } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; a5 1/8 b5 e5 e5 a5 b5 e5 e5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; a3,c#4,e4,g4 4/8 a3,c#4,e4,g4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end107; end107: tra_all = -1 { amin ==> g#min } { 108: transpo 12 5 x 12 5 = 6 11 11 4 new tonality amin } if cur=0 ( sound 4; vvol rand/8+ 32 7/8; b5 1/8 e5 f#5 b5 b5 e5 f#5 b5 ) if cur=4 ( vvol rand/10 + 30 7/8; a3,c4,e4 4/8 a3,c4,e4 4/8 halt; ) halt 4; send 04 end108; end108:	Establishing G# minor at etude's end. Measures with idents 106 to 108. Each in a different scale – see new tonality comment – but all minor. The instructions tra_all = n transpose all of them to G# minor.
gosub after halt all;	Play coda (see score below) then stop.
before: tra_all=-1 send 1 sca1; sound 1; sca1: vvol rand/8+31 2/1; if cur=0 ( a6 1/16 a6 a6 a6 g6 f6 e6 d6 c6 r a5 g5 f5 e5 d5 r b4 a4 g4 f4 e4 r c4 b3 a3 b3 c4 r e4 f#4 g#4 a4 b4 r d5 e5 f#5 g#5 a5 r r r r r r r r r ) if cur=1 ( r 1/16 r r r r r r r r r r r a4 b4 c5 r e5 f#5 r a5 b5 r d6 e6 r g#6 a6 r c7 d7 r f#7 g#7 r g6 f6 r d6 c6 r a5 g5 r e5 d5 r b4 a4 halt; ) a4,e5,c6,a6 1/1 r/2 ret	The introduction consists of G# minor scales in both hands, and the chord G#,D#,B,G#. The scales go in opposite directions. Notice tra_all=-1, which means transpose down one semitone; written A actually sounds G#, etc.
after: tra_all=-1 send 1 sca2; sound 1; sca2: vvol rand/8+31 2/1; if cur=0 ( a4 1/16 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 a4 b4 c5 d5 e5 r g#5 a5 b5 c6 r e6 f#6 g#6 a6 r c7 d7 e7 f#7 r a6 g6 f6 e6 r c6 b5 a5 g5 r e5 d5 c5 b4 r ) if cur=1 ( a6 1/16 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 a6 g6 f6 r d6 c6 r a5 g5 r e5 d5 r b4 a4 r f4 e4 r c4 b3 r b3 c4 r e4 f#4 r a4 b4 r d5 e5 r g#5 a5 halt; ) send 1 arp3; sound 1; arp3: vvol rand/8+31 2/1; if cur=0 ( a7 1/16 a7 a7 e7 c7 a6 r a1 e2 c2 a1 r a1 e2 c2 a1 r a1 e2 c2 a1 r a1 e2 c2 a1 a1 r r r r r ) if cur=1 ( r 1/16 r r r r r r a7 e7 c7 a6 a6 e6 c6 a5 a5 e5 c5 a4 a4 e4 c4 a3 a3 e3 c3 a2 a2 e2 c2 a1 a1 halt; ) a2,c3,e3,a3 /1 ret	The coda consists of G# minor scales in both hands, arpeggios G#,D#,B,G# in both hands, and a final chord G#,B,D#,G#. Notice tra_all=-1, which means transpose down one semitone; written A actually sounds G#, etc.

Generalities about score

numerous instructions

Sample score: the etude g#minDGM