[MEI-L] Encoding Notre Dame Polyphonic Neumes

[Joshua Stutter]

David,

> I know it’s transitional in a sense
I think you're absolutely correct here, no-one really knows how to begin
to interpret this music and it's always changing. What we thought in the
mid-20th century was that it was completely rhythmic but now, we don't
really know.

I think it's bound up in the fact that there are two distinct styles in
this music: the "Perotinian" style which is very clearly in modal rhythm
throughout with a consistent, repeating tenor usually in mode V or other
voices (3- and 4-part) that must move in rhythm in order to stay
synchronised. Then there's the "Leoninian" style which... could be anything.

If it's any help, the small example I'm attempting is very much of the
latter form, so to force it into a mensural context would be misleading.

My assignment is due in the middle of next month so I think if I can get
the customization to work (still not working, see my other post) and
simply add a <divisio> element, then I might encode in a mensural
context, leave out the durations and use @synch to align.

Joshua.

On 19/03/2019 13:56, David Lewis wrote:
> Just to say that I agree with Karen. I know it’s transitional in a sense, but I think it’d be immensely helpful to have someone work on modal notation as a part of the *mensural* notation model. I think it raises some issues that we should probably be looking into anyway.
>
> Is @synch of any use for alignment? It’s not something I’ve used before.
>
> David
>
>> On 17 Mar 2019, at 10:02, Karen Desmond <kdesmond at brandeis.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Joshua,
>>
>> Quick comment. first, I’m really glad someone is looking at modal notation. My first instinct though would be to not use the neumes module, as many of the things you are trying to do may have support within the measural module - where you have elements like ligatures, and note values like longs and breves, though I know of course that this not mensural and eventually would need at least its own notationtype attribute (and module?). I don’t think using the neume names is appropriate for this repertory as the theorists didn’t use these. For modal notation probably the most important thing you want to encode is how many notes within a ligature and for the specific case of the conjunctura, that the type of ligature is a conjunctura (possibly using the form element of conjunctura). You’re right that properly encoding the divisio is important - whether it truly functions as a rest, or a divisio syllabarum, etc.
>>
>> The alignment is a more complex issue. Ideally you would probably want to number the perfections and then you would simply tag your tenor notes as occurring within a certain perfection. However in the duplum the ligatures could begin in one perfection and end in another - i.e. if in a discant section in mode 1 you had a 3-note ligature, the notes would be long breve long but the first long is in the first perfection and the third is the second perfection, unless of course you had perfection be a sub-element of ligature in the tag hierarchy. 
>>
>> Best
>>
>> Karen
>>
>> On Sat, Mar 9, 2019 at 9:27 AM Joshua Stutter <josh at yokermusic.scot> wrote:
>> Dear all,
>>
>> Fairly new MEI user, trying to encode some 13th-century Notre Dame notation into MEI for a class. MEI has good support for many neumes, but I'm attempting to get them to work in a polyphonic context, align correctly and with good semantics. Here is a small example which I'm attempting to encode:
>>
>> <notre-dame-example.jpg>
>>
>> Most of the neumes can be notated and typed with the exception of the complex neume FGBGA which does not have a name. This is fine as this music does not stick to the usual neume types.
>> My first issue arises when trying to show the first tenor note D is aligned with the porrectus GFG. How would I go about achieving this without using semantically-incorrect spacers or invisible rests or durations? What I really wish for is the possibility to encode sections of polyphony in groups that are aligned together, i.e. the first three neumes in the organal voice in one group, then the porrectus in a new group with the tenor virga.
>>
>> The second issue is the vertical lines. They are not barlines, nor always rests. They are divisiones with a complex and context-sensitive function. Sometimes they function as rests, sometimes they are alignment marks, sometimes syllable marks.
>>
>> The first attached file 'benedicamus-domino.mei' encodes this example naively. Nothing is aligned and I use <barLine> where divisiones are.
>>
>> The second attached file 'benedicamus-domino-wish.mei' is how I wish to encode this file, using a made-up element       <alignmentGrp> that can contain anything a <section> contains. I have also replaced the <barLine> with another made-up element <divisio>.
>>
>> Needless to say, I'm not concerned with the output in verovio, as very little neumatic notation is supported anyway, but instead encoding the alignment and elements correctly. Is something like this possible in MEI already or will I have to dabble in ODD? If I must, are there any links to a good workflow and documentation for using ODD with MEI?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for responding to this quite complex question,
>>
>> Joshua Stutter.
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>> -- 
>> ---
>> Karen Desmond
>> Visiting Fellow, Clare Hall, and Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge (Lent/Easter 2019)
>> Assistant Professor of Music, Brandeis University
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