Based on a quick look at the results of a Google search for "How do you notate a crescendo?", my previous short look at MusicXML in connection with pedaling, and hazy recollection from my music arranging course, this is my best guess on how you handle crescendo and decrescendo.Nicholas wrote: ↑09-08-21 3:03 pm Crescendo/decrescendo don't have any explicit before/after dynamics specified in MusicXML. Maybe I'm just not clear on the rule. Does a crescendo step the current dynamic up one "step"? Say, from mf to f? Or from pp to p? Is it two steps? What does the dynamic increase to if a crescendo follows an fff? Do any of those answers change if it's a "long" (say, multi-measure or even multi-line) direction vs. a "short" one?
From https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ho ... o-in-music:
Based on my superficial understanding of MusicXML, there would be from 1 to 3 elements marking a crescendo.Crescendos can appear in sheet music notation in two forms—one precise, the other leaving room for a player's or conductor's interpretation.
Composers indicate the looser form of crescendo notation with the actual word crescendo (abbreviated cresc. on musical scores). The word appears at the point where the music begins to increase in volume. Ideally, the musical score will also indicate the climactic point of the crescendo passage by showing the dynamic marking the crescendo is building up to, such as forte (f) or mezzo-forte (mf). However, be aware that not all musical passages contain such dynamic markings, which leaves the crescendo marking more open to interpretation.
The more precise form of crescendo notation involves symbols that look like hairpins, inequality symbols, or alligator jaws. In most cases, "hairpin" is the standard term musicians use. Hairpin crescendo symbols show the crescendo’s exact length and the prescribed volume at the beginning and end of the crescendo.
- The starting element, the word or the starting location of the hairpin
- The ending element, the penultimate dynamic if started by a word, or the ending location of the hairpin
- The penultimate dynamic if using a hairpin
I assume the issue is performance of a MusicXML crescendo that lacks a penultimate dynamic. The worst is crescendo notation with the word and no penultimate dynamic because there is no indication of where or at what level the dynamic change ends. I don't think anyone expects much from a Synthesia interpretation of such notation.
Where the length is not specified, one measure is probably an acceptable default.
Where the penultimate dynamic is not specified, a change of two dynamics, e.g. p to f, might be a good guess. BUT the lack of a penultimate dynamic means no dynamic marking anywhere following the crescendo marking. Otherwise, that dynamic is presumptively the penultimate dynamic.
This table, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamics_(music), relating dynamics to MIDI key velocities might be useful:
Code: Select all
Symbols pppp ppp pp p mp mf f ff fff ffff
Logic Pro 9 dynamics[24] 16 32 48 64 80 96 112 127
Sibelius 5 dynamics[25] 20 39 61 71 84 98 113 127
MuseScore 3.0 dynamics[26] 16 33 49 64 80 96 112 126
MakeMusic Finale dynamics[27] 10 23 36 49 62 75 88 101 114 127
SmartScore X2 dynamics[28] 29 38 46 55 63 72 80 89 97 106
SmartScore 64 dynamics[29] 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Now I'm going back and forth. I suppose the result of following my plan is always incorrect. Your suggestion of defaulting to one measure might sometimes be correct. I suppose that's better.
You're right that at least the duration is well-specified in that case.
