Man Linux: Main Page and Category List

NAME

       abcm2ps — translate ABC music notation to PostScript

SYNOPSIS

       abcm2ps [options]  [abc-file [file-options]]  [...]

       abcm2ps [-h]

DESCRIPTION

       abcm2ps  translates  tunes  written in the ABC music notation format to
       customary sheet music scores in PostScript. It is based on abc2ps 1.2.5
       and  was  developed  mainly  to  print  Baroque  organ scores that have
       independent voices played on multiple keyboards and a pedal-board.  The
       program  has  since  been  extended  to  support various other notation
       conventions in use for sheet music.

       Options given immediately after the command name apply to the run as  a
       whole; options given after an ABC file name apply to that file.

       Formatting  parameters can also be set in ‘format files’ and in the ABC
       files themselves.

OPTIONS

       -0        Split tunes across page breaks if necessary.

       +0        Start a new page if a tune doesn’t fit  on  the  current  one
                 (default).

       -1        Output one tune per page.

       +1        Output multiple tunes per page (default).

       -a a      Maximal  horizontal  compression when staff breaks are chosen
                 automatically. Must be between 0 and 1 (default: 0.65)

       -B b      Try to typeset b bars on each staff line.

       +B        Don’t try to typeset a fixed number of  bars  on  each  staff
                 line (default).

       -b b      Start measure numbering at b.

       -C        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -c        The  continuation symbol is implicitly appended to each music
                 line. This amounts to automatic line breaking.

       +c        Automatic line breaking is turned off (default).

       -D directory
                 Search format files in directory.

       -d length Set the vertical interstaff space to length (default: 46pt)

       -E        Output is generated in EPS format, one file per page.

       +E        Output is generated in multipage PS format (default).

       -e list   Select which tunes from an ABC file  to  print.   list  is  a
                 comma-separated  list  of  tune  numbers  (as  per  the  ‘X:’
                 header). The -e option must occur after an ABC file name  and
                 applies to that file. Ranges of tune numbers may be specified
                 like t1-t2; t2 may be  omitted  which  means  ‘all  remaining
                 tunes  until  the end of file’. Note that filtering may cause
                 problems, e.g., with global (non-tune) definitions in the ABC
                 file.

       -F file   Read the format file file.fmt.

       +F        Do not read the default format file.

       -f        Enable flat beams in bagpipe tunes.

       -G        Omit slurs on grace notes.

       +G        Draw slurs on grace notes (default).

       -g        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -H        Display the current values of the formatting parameters.

       -h        Display program usage hints and quit.

       -I length Indent the first line of the tune by length (default: 0).

       -jb[b]    Output  a  measure  number  every  b measures. If b is 0, the
                 measure number  appears  at  the  left  of  each  staff.  The
                 trailing  b  causes  a  box  to  be drawn around each measure
                 number (default: no measure numbering).

       +j        Don’t output measure numbers.

       -k        Equivalent to -j.

       +k        Equivalent to +j.

       -Lenc     Set the language encoding to  ISO-Latin-enc,  where  enc  can
                 take  on  values  from 0 to 6. The value 0 is equivalent to 1
                 but no PostScript encoding table is output (default: 0).

       -l        Generate landscape output.

       +l        Generate portrait output (default).

       -M        Suppress lyrics.

       +M        Include lyrics (default).

       -m length Set the left margin to length (default: 1.8cm)

       -N[mode]  Number pages according to the mode:

                 0         no page numbers

                 1         page numbers at top left of page

                 2         page numbers at top right of page

                 3         page numbers at top left  of  even-numbered  pages,
                           top right of odd-numbered pages

                 4         page  numbers  at top right of even-numbered pages,
                           top left of odd-numbered pages

                 For compatibility, -N is equivalent to -N2 (default: -N0).

       +N        Equivalent to -N0 (no page numbering).

       -n        Include notes and history from ABC tune ‘N:’ fields.

       +n        Omit notes and history from ABC tune ‘N:’ fields (default).

       -O name   Define the output file name. By default, the output file name
                 is  ‘Out.ps’  for  PostScript output and ‘Outnnn.eps’ for EPS
                 output (see -E). If this option is  given,  the  output  name
                 will  be  name  or namennn.eps, respectively. If name is ‘=’,
                 the output file name will be the name of the ABC source  file
                 with  the  extension  ‘.ps’  or  ‘.eps’.  If name is ‘-’, the
                 output is written to stdout.

       +O        Revert  to  the  default  output  file  name   (‘Out.ps’   or
                 ‘Outnnn.eps’)

       -o        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -P        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -p        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -Q        Print tempo (metronome) indications (default).

       +Q        Omit tempo (metronome) indications.

       -R        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -S        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -s scale  Set  the page scale factor to scale. Note that the header and
                 footer are not scaled (default: 0.75).

       -Tn[voice], +Tn[voice]
                 Activate  (or  deactivate)  tabulature  drawing.  n  is   the
                 tabulature  number  as  defined in %%tabulature, and voice is
                 the voice name, full name or subname as  found  in  V:.  When
                 this  is  absent,  the  option applies to all voices. Up to 4
                 such options may be given. See also format.txt.

       -u        Use implicit decorations as in abc2ps (default: off)

       -V        Output version number and quit.

       -v        Obsolete option; ignored.

       -w length Adjust the right margin such that the staff width  is  length
                 (default: none)

       -x        Include the ‘X:’ tune number in the title.

       +x        Do not include the ‘X:’ tune number in the title (default).

FORMATTING PARAMETERS

       The  following  formatting parameters can be used in format files. They
       can also occur in ABC files when they are preceded  by  %%,  or  as  I:
       headers (even in the middle of a music line).

       abc2pscompat boolean
                 If  true,  set  M  as  the +tenuto+ decoration and do a pitch
                 translation if the notes are too high for a bass clef.  Also,
                 an octave translation is applied to bass and alto parts.

       alignbars int
                 Align  the  bars  of  the next int lines of music. This works
                 only when the  music  contains  only  one  voice  (no  V:  or
                 %%staves) (default: 0).

       aligncomposer int
                 Define  where to display the composer field. A negative value
                 displays it flush-left, a  value  of  zero  centered,  and  a
                 positive value flush-right (default: 1).

       annotationfont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  annotation  font  to  font with size size (default:
                 Helvetica 12)

       autoclef boolean
                 Adjust the clefs when they are not defined in  ‘K:’  or  ‘V:’
                 lines (default: 1).

       barnumbers int
                 Synonym for measurenb.

       barsperstaff int
                 Try  to  typeset  with int bars per line (default: 0; command
                 line: -b, +b)

       beginps   Start a sequence of PostScript code lines extending until the
                 next endps line. This parameter may only occur within ABC and
                 format files, not on the command line.

       botmargin length
                 Set the bottom margin to length (default: 1cm)

       breakoneoln boolean
                 If this is set, on finding  an  end-of-line  (eoln),  pretend
                 that  there  was  a  space before the next note or rest. This
                 prevents a beam to  be  continued  between  two  input  lines
                 (default: 1).

       bstemdown boolean
                 If  this  is  set,  the stem of the note on the middle of the
                 staff extends downwards. Otherwise  it  extends  up  or  down
                 depending on the preceding note (default: 0).

       comball boolean
                 If this is set together with combinevoices, voice combination
                 takes place in all cases.  Otherwise,  notes  which  are  too
                 close together in pitch are not combined.

       combinevoices boolean
                 If  this  is  set,  simultaneous  notes  of the same duration
                 belonging to voices on  the  same  staff  are  combined  into
                 chords (default: 0).

       composerfont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  ‘composer’  font  to  font with size size (default:
                 Times-Italic 14)

       composerspace length
                 Set the vertical space before the  composer  name  to  length
                 (Default: 0.2cm)

       contbarnb boolean
                 If this is not set, the bar numbers of second repeats are set
                 to those of the corresponding first repeats. If this is  set,
                 all bars are numbered sequentially (default: 0).

       continueall boolean
                 If  this  is  set  to  true, ignore the line breaks in a tune
                 (default: 0; command line: -c, +c)

       dateformat format
                 Format for date and time output.  The  admissible  values  of
                 this  parameter  are  described  in the documentation for the
                 strftime(3) C library function. Note that percent signs  need
                 to be escaped (default: "b e, Y H:M")

       deco name c_func ps_func h wl wr [str]
                 Define a decoration. This is an experimental feature which is
                 subject to  change  in  future  releases  and  requires  good
                 knowledge   of  the  internals  of  abcm2ps.  See  the  files
                 format.txt and deco.abc for details.

       dynalign boolean
                 When set, horizontally align dynamic marks (default: 1)

       encoding enc
                 Set the language encoding to  ISO-Latin-enc,  where  enc  can
                 take values from 0 to 6. The value 0 is the same as 1, but no
                 PostScript encoding table is output.

                 Alternatively, enc may take one of the predefined values  us-
                 ascii,   iso-8859-1,   iso-8859-2,   iso-8859-3,  iso-8859-4,
                 iso-8859-9, iso-8859-10, or native (meaning encoding  vectors
                 will  not  be changed). If enc is anything else, it must be a
                 string which is taken to be PostScript commands that set up a
                 suitable encoding vector.

       exprabove boolean
                 Draw  expression  decorations  above  the  staff.  If neither
                 exprabove nor exprbelow are  ‘true’,  expression  decorations
                 are  drawn  above the staff if there are lyrics on the staff,
                 and  below  otherwise.  exprabove   takes   precedence   over
                 exprbelow (default: 0).

       exprbelow boolean
                 Draw  expression  decorations  below  the  staff.  If neither
                 exprabove nor exprbelow are  ‘true’,  expression  decorations
                 are  drawn  above the staff if there are lyrics on the staff,
                 and  below  otherwise.  exprabove   takes   precedence   over
                 exprbelow (default: 0).

       flatbeams boolean
                 Draw  flat  beams in bagpipe tunes (default: 0; command line:
                 -f)

       font font [encoding]
                 Define a font and its encoding. Use this parameter  when  you
                 want  to  refer to specific fonts in ABC files/tunes. It must
                 occur before any PostScript output is written, generally in a
                 format  file. encoding defaults to the encoding set up by the
                 encoding parameter.

       footer text
                 Define the text printed at the bottom of  every  page.  There
                 may be one or two lines. When there are two lines, these must
                 be separated by the characters ‘\n’  (not  a  real  newline).
                 Each  of  the lines consists of three areas, left, center and
                 right, which are separated by tabs (real tabs, not ’\t’)  and
                 may  be  empty  - if the left area is empty, the text must be
                 quoted.

                 If the footer begins with ‘-’, it will not be printed on  the
                 first page of the document.

                 The ‘$’ character introduces variable expansion:

                 $d        The  date  and time of last modification of the ABC
                           file

                 $D        The current date and time

                 $F        The current input file name

                 $Ix       The value of header x of the tune

                 $P        The current page number

                 $P0       The current pagenumber (when even)

                 $P1       The current pagenumber (when odd)

                 $T        The current tune title

                 $V        ‘abcm2ps-’ followed by the program’s version number

                 For  example,  the  command  line option -N3 is equivalent to
                 ‘%%header "$P0        $P1"’ (note the  two  tabs).  (Default:
                 none)

       footerfont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  footer font to font with size size (default: Times-
                 Roman 12)

       format filename
                 Read the format file filename (default: none).

       freegchord boolean
                 Prevent the characters ‘#’, ‘b’ and ‘=’ to  be  displayed  as
                 the  sharp  sign,  the  flat  sign,  and  the  natural  sign,
                 respectively, in guitar chords. When this flag  is  set,  the
                 display  of  the  accidentals  may  be forced by escaping the
                 characters (‘\#’, ‘\b’ and ‘\=’) (default: 0)

       gchordbox boolean
                 Draw a box around guitar chords. Can be set to  ‘true’  using
                 ‘%%gchordfont’ below. (Default: 0)

       gchordfont font [encoding] size [box]
                 Set  the  guitar  chord  font  to font with size size. If box
                 is specified, draw  a  box  around  guitar  chords  (default:
                 Helvetica 12, no box)

       graceslurs boolean
                 Draw  slurs on grace notes if true (default: 1; command line:
                 -G, +G)

       gracespace float float float
                 Define the space before, between, and after the  grace  notes
                 (default: 6.5 8.0 12.0)

       header text
                 Define  the  text  printed  at the top of every page. See the
                 footer parameter above for the syntax (default: none)

       headerfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the header font to font with size size  (default:  Times-
                 Roman 12)

       historyfont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  font  for  history  entries  to font with size size
                 (default: Times-Roman 16)

       hyphencont boolean
                 If an under-staff lyrics line ends with a hyphen, put another
                 hyphen at the beginning of the next line (default:0)

       indent length
                 Indent the first line of a tune by length (default:0; command
                 line: -I)

       infofont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  information  line  font  to  font  with  size  size
                 (default: Times-Italic 14)

       infoline boolean
                 Display  the  rhythm  (‘R:’), the origin (‘O:’), and the area
                 (‘A:’) of the tune on a single ‘information  line’  (default:
                 0)

       infoname letter tag
                 Define   the   headers  to  be  printed  after  a  tune  when
                 writehistory is set. The tag is  printed  before  the  actual
                 header  value. By default, this outputs the R, B, S, D, N, Z,
                 and H  headers,  with  tags  ‘Rhythm:’,  ‘Book:’,  ‘Source:’,
                 ‘Discography:’,  ‘Notes:’,  ‘Transcription:’, and ‘History:’,
                 respectively.

       infospace length
                 Set the vertical space before the information line to  length
                 (default: 0).

       landscape boolean
                 Set  page  orientation  to  landscape  if  true  (default: 0;
                 command line: -l, +l).

       leftmargin length
                 Set the left margin to length (default: 1.8cm; command  line:
                 -m)

       lineskipfac float
                 Set  the  factor  for  spacing between lines of text to float
                 times the font size (default: 1.1)

       maxshrink float
                 Set how much the output may be compressed  horizontally  when
                 staff  breaks are chosen automatically. float must be between
                 0 and 1 (default: 0.65; command line: -a)

       maxstaffsep length
                 Set  the  maximum  vertical  inter-staff  space   to   length
                 (default: 800pt)

       maxsysstaffsep length
                 Set  the  maximum vertical system inter-staff space to length
                 (default: 800pt)

       measurebox boolean
                 Draw a box around the measure numbers if  true  (default:  0;
                 command line: -j or -k).

       measurefirst int
                 Start  measure  numbering of the tune at int.  This parameter
                 is obsolete and should be replaced with  %%setbarnb  (outside
                 the tune body)

       measurefont font [encoding] size [box]
                 Set  the  font  for  measure numbers to font at size size. If
                 [box] is specified, draw a  box  around  the  measure  number
                 (default: Times-Italic 14, no box).

       measurenb int
                 Draw  a  measure  number  every  int  bars.  If int is 0, the
                 measure number appears at the left end of each staff. If  int
                 is  -1, no measure numbers are displayed at all (default: -1;
                 command line: -j or -k).

       musiconly boolean
                 If true, no lyrics are output (default: 0; command line:  -M,
                 +M)

       musicspace length
                 Set  the  vertical  space before the first staff of a tune to
                 length (default: 0.2cm)

       notespacingfactor float
                 Set the note spacing factor to float. This value is  used  to
                 compute  the  natural  space notes take up. The base space of
                 the crotchet (quarter note) is always 40pt. When the duration
                 of  a note type is twice that of another note type, the space
                 it takes up is multiplied by this factor. The  default  value
                 increases   the  note  space  by  a  factor  of  2  when  the
                 corresponding note’s value increases by a factor of  4.  That
                 is, the space of a semibreve is 80pt and that of a semiquaver
                 is 20pt. Setting this value to 1 sets all note spaces to 40pt
                 (default: 1.414).

       oneperpage boolean
                 If  true,  output one tune per page; if false, multiple tunes
                 are output per page if there is sufficient room (default:  0;
                 command line: -1, +1).

       pageheight length
                 Set the page height to length        (default: hardcoded)

       pagewidth length
                 Set the page width to length (default: hardcoded)

       parskipfac float
                 Set  the  factor for spacing between text paragraphs to float
                 (default: 0.4)

       partsbox boolean
                 Draw a box around the part names if true (default: 0)

       partsfont font [encoding] size [box]
                 Set the font for part names to font with size size. If box
                 is  specified,  draw  a box around the part names.  (default:
                 Times-Roman 15)

       partsspace length
                 Set the vertical space before a new part to length  (default:
                 0.3cm).

       postscript text
                 Define  a postscript sequence to be included in the header of
                 the output file.  This formatting parameter may  be  used  to
                 override  any  postscript function or to define new functions
                 for use in deco. It should be  processed  before  any  output
                 occurs,  that is, in a format file or at the beginning of the
                 first ABC file.

       printparts boolean
                 Print the part indications (‘P:’ header) (default: 1).

       printtempo boolean
                 Print tempo (metronome) indications  (‘Q:’  header)  if  true
                 (default: 1; command line: -Q, +Q).

       repeatfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for repeat bracket numbers/texts to font at size
                 size.

       rightmargin length
                 Set the right margin to length (default: 1.8cm)

       scale float
                 Set the global page scale factor  to  float.  This  does  not
                 apply  to  headers  and footers (default: 0.75; command line:
                 -s).

       setdefl boolean
                 When true,  output  some  indications  about  the  note/chord
                 and/or  decorations  for  purposes  of  customisation.  These
                 indications are stored in the PostScript variable defl. Note:
                 This  is a potential compatibility problem. The parameter was
                 introduced in version 4.9.4.  (default: 0)

       setfont-1 font [encoding] size

       setfont-2 font [encoding] size

       setfont-3 font [encoding] size

       setfont-4 font [encoding] size
                 Set up alternate fonts for strings. In most strings, you  can
                 switch  to  one  of the alternate fonts using $1..$4; $0
                 switches  back  to  the  default  value  for   that   string.
                 (default: Times-Roman 0)

       shiftunisson boolean
                 Usually  in  multi-voice tunes, when two voices are in unison
                 there is often only one note head. If this flag is  set,  two
                 note  heades  are  output  (one is shifted) if one is a minim
                 (half note) and  the  other  a  crotchet  (quarter  note)  or
                 shorter,  i.e.,  a "black" note, or if one note is dotted and
                 the  other  is  not.  The   parameter   is   really   spelled
                 "shiftunisson" (default: 0).

       slurheight float
                 Set the slur height factor to float (default: 1.0).

       splittune boolean
                 If false, a tune is output on a new page if it doesn’t fit on
                 the one currently being output. If true, a tune may be  split
                 across page breaks (default: 0; command line: -0, +0).

       squarebreve boolean
                 If true, display breve notes in a square shape (default: 0)

       staffnonote boolean
                 If  false,  staves  not containing notes are suppressed. This
                 includes staves that only contain visible rests (default: 1)

       staffsep length
                 Set the vertical inter-staff space to length (default:  46pt;
                 command line: -d)

       staffwidth length
                 Set  the  right  margin  such  that the staff width is length
                 (default: none - but see paperwidth and rightmargin).

       stemheight float
                 Set the stem height to float (default: 20.0)

       straightflags boolean
                 If true, use straight  flags  on  stems  (mostly  useful  for
                 bagpipe tunes (default: 0)

       stretchlast boolean
                 If  true,  stretch the last staff of a tune to fill the whole
                 line even though it may be underfull (default: 0)

       stretchstaff boolean
                 If true, stretch all underfull staves to fill the whole  line
                 (default: 1)

       subtitlefont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  font  for  subtitles  (second  and  subsequent ‘T:’
                 headers in a tune) to font with size  size  (default:  Times-
                 Roman 16)

       subtitlespace length
                 Set   the   vertical   space  before  subtitles  (second  and
                 subsequent ‘T:’  headers  in  a  tune)  to  length  (default:
                 0.1cm).

       sysstaffsep length
                 Set  the vertical system interstaff space to length (default:
                 36pt).

       tablature arguments
                 Define a tablature for the current voice. See format.txt  for
                 the details.

       tempofont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  font for tempo (metronome) indications to font with
                 size size (default: Times-Bold 15)

       textfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the text font to font with  size  size  (default:  Times-
                 Roman 16)

       textoption int
                 Set  the default text option to int.  This option is used for
                 text  between  %%begintext  and  %%endtext.   int  may  be  a
                 keyword; see begintext for values.

       textspace length
                 Set the vertical space before text blocks to length (default:
                 0.5cm).

       timewarn boolean
                 If true, a cautionary time signature is added to the  end  of
                 the  line  before  if  a  time signature change occurs at the
                 beginning of a line of music (default: 0).

       titlecaps boolean
                 If true, output the tune title in uppercase letters (default:
                 0)

       titlefont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  title  font to font with size size (default: Times-
                 Roman 20)

       titleformat text
                 Defines the format of the tune title. This  format  overrides
                 the  standard  way  the  tune  title  is displayed. text is a
                 sequence of letters, numbers, and commas. A letter stands for
                 an ABC header (reasonable values include A, B, C, D, H, N, O,
                 P, R, S, T, X, and Z, but  any  letter  may  occur)  and  can
                 optionally  be followed by a number. This number may be 0 (to
                 center the header), 1 (to display it flush-right), or -1  (to
                 display  it flush-left); if no number is given the default is
                 0. A comma causes the next field(s) to be  displayed  farther
                 down the page. Unrecognized characters will be ignored. As an
                 example, "%%titleformat T-1 T1 T1, R0 C1 A1" will display the
                 first  title  header  flush-left, the second and third titles
                 (if any) flush-right, then the rhythm centered and  a  little
                 bit lower, and the composer and area on the right.

       titleleft boolean
                 If  true,  output  the  tune  title  flush  left  (instead of
                 centered) (default: 0)

       titlespace length
                 Set the vertical  space  before  the  tune  title  to  length
                 (default: 0.2cm).

       titletrim boolean
                 If  true,  if  the last word of a title starts with a capital
                 letter and is preceded by a comma and a space, this  word  is
                 moved  to  the beginning of the title. For example, T:College
                 Hornpipe,  The  is  printed  as  The  College  Hornpipe
                 (default: 1).

       topmargin length
                 Set the top margin to length (default: 1cm)

       topspace length
                 Set  the  vertical  space  at  the  top  of  a tune to length
                 (default: 0.8cm)

       tuplets when what value
                 Define how to draw tuplets.  The when parameter can be 0  (to
                 decide  automatically  whether to draw a slur or bracket over
                 the tuplet), 1 (to never draw one) or 2 (to always draw one).
                 The what parameter defines what to draw: 0 means a bracket, 1
                 a slur; 2 extends beams across rests  (does  not  work  yet).
                 The  value  parameter  defines  how to annotate the tuplet: 0
                 means to write a simple number (p), 1 writes nothing,  and  2
                 writes a ratio (p:q).

       vocalabove boolean
                 If  true, output lyrics above the staff (instead of below it)
                 (default: 0)

       vocalfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for lyrics inside a tune to font with size  size
                 (default: Times-Bold 13)

       vocalspace length
                 Set  the  vertical  space  between  a staff and its lyrics to
                 length (default: 23pt)

       voicefont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for voice names (default: Times-Bold 13).

       withxrefs boolean
                 If true, print the number from the ‘X:’ header  in  the  tune
                 title (default: 0; command line: -x, +x)

       wordsfont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the  font  for  lyrics at the end of a tune to font with
                 size size (default: Times-Roman 16)

       wordsspace length
                 Set the vertical  space  before  the  end-of-tune  lyrics  to
                 length (default: 0.5cm)

       writehistory boolean
                 If  true,  output  notes  and history (‘N:’ and ‘H:’ headers)
                 (default: 0; command line: -n, +n)

       The following formatting parameters can only occur inside tunes and not
       in a format file:

       %%begintext [mode]
                 Start  printing  a  free-form  text.  The  text to be printed
                 appears on the subsequent lines of the the input file up to a
                 line containing %%endtext.  The text lines may start with %%.

                 The parameter may be:

                 obeylines Line breaks in the input file are kept (default)

                 align or justify
                           Lines are justified

                 ragged or fill
                           Line  breaks  are  ignored  but  output  is   left-
                           justified

                 center    Lines are centered

                 skip      The text lines are not printed at all

       %%center text
                 Print one line of centered text

       %%EPS filename
                 Include filename as an EPS file

       %%endtext Finish a block of free text started by %%begintext

       %%multicol command
                 Define multicolumn printing. command may be:

                 start     Save  the  current  vertical  position and left and
                           right margins. These margins may then be changed to
                           print music or text.

                 new       Reset  the  vertical  position  to the place of the
                           previous start  and  restore  the  left  and  right
                           margins. These can then be changed again to display
                           another column.

                 end       Restore the left and right margins  and  skip  down
                           the page to a ‘safe place’.

       %%newpage [int]
                 Start  a  new  page,  restarting  page  numbering from int if
                 applicable.

       %%repbra int
                 Repetition brackets are normally displayed as  written  in  a
                 voice. %%repbra 0 suppresses them for the current voice.

       %%repeat [n [k]]
                 Replace a sequence of notes by one or many repeat marks. When
                 placed after a bar line, n indicates the number  of  measures
                 to  be repeated, either 1 or 2. If n is 1, k gives the number
                 of repetitions of the preceding measure. If n is 2, k is  not
                 used. When placed after a note or rest, n gives the number of
                 notes and rests to be repeated, and k  gives  the  number  of
                 repeats. When omitted, n       and k default to 1.

       %%score definition
                 See below.

       %%sep [h1 h2 length]
                 Print a separator (line) of length length with vertical space
                 h1 above and h2 below (defaults: h1 and  h2:  0.5cm;  length:
                 3cm)

       %%setbarnb int
                 Set  the measure number to int.  When not inside a tune body,
                 this is equivalent to %%measurefirst.

       %%staff num
                 Put the following material on  staff  num.  This  will  lead,
                 e.g.,  to beams between notes in different staves. Useful for
                 keyboard music; see, for example, sample4.abc.

       %%staffbreak length [f]
                 Leave a space of length in the current staff.  If  length  is
                 greater  than  0.5cm,  the left side of the staff (system) is
                 redrawn. In  a  multi-voice  tune,  a  staff  break  must  be
                 specified in each voice.

                 If  the  f  is  not  given,  the staff break is removed if it
                 occurs at the start or the end of a line.

       %%staves definition
                 See below.

       %%text text
                 Output a single line of text.

       %%vskip length
                 Leave  vertical  space  of  height  length.   length  may  be
                 negative,  in  which  case  the  following  material is moved
                 closer to that above.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

   Clefs
       Clefs can be given in K: and V: headers. The full syntax is

       [clef=]type[line][+8|-8] [middle=pitch]

       The ‘clef=’ can be omitted when the type is a clef name.

       type denotes the clef type. It may be:

       A note pitch (G, C, or F)
                 The pitch indicates which clef is  meant:  G  is  the  treble
                 clef,  C the alto clef and F the bass clef. It also gives the
                 name of the note that appears on the clef’s line.

       A clef name
                 The available clef names are treble (clef gives the pitch for
                 G), alto or tenor (C), and bass (F)

       perc or P In  percussion  mode,  accidentals change the glyphs used for
                 note heads. By default, sharp notes are drawn as ‘x’ and flat
                 notes  as  circled ‘x’. This may be changed by redefining the
                 PostScript functions pshhd and pflhd.

       none      No clef will be displayed.

       The line gives the number of the line within the staff  that  the  base
       clef  will be written on. The default values are 2 for the treble clef,
       3 for the alto clef, and 4 for the tenor and bass clefs.

       The +8 and -8 options draw an 8 above or below the staff, respectively.
       ‘middle=pitch’  (or  ‘m=pitch’,  for  short)  is  an alternative way of
       defining the line number of the clef: The  pitch  indicates  what  note
       will be displayed on the middle line of the staff.

       When no clef is specified, clef changes between bass and treble will be
       inserted automatically.

   Multi-voice typesetting
       Multiple voices may be defined within the header or the tune using

       V:name definition ...

       where name is a word  consisting  of  letters  and  digits  only  (like
       violin1).  In  the  tune  body, the following notes refer to this voice
       until another V: is encountered. A definition can be one of:

       clef=...  See above

       name=name or nm=name
                 The name will be displayed at  the  beginning  of  the  first
                 staff.  It  can  contain  \n  sequences which will force line
                 breaks. If it contains whitespace it must be double-quoted.

       subname=name or snm=name
                 The name will be displayed at the  beginning  of  all  staves
                 except  for the first. It can contain \n sequences which will
                 force line breaks. If  it  contains  whitespace  it  must  be
                 double-quoted.

       merge     The voice goes on the same staff as the previous voice.

       up or down
                 Forces the direction of the stems for the voice.

       dyn=up or dyn=down or dyn=auto
                 Forces  positioning  of  dynamic  marks  (above  or below the
                 staff) or reverts to automatic positioning (the default)

       gstem=up or gstem=down or gstem=auto
                 Forces the direction of the stems of grace notes  (always  up
                 or  always  down)  or  reverts  to automatic positioning (the
                 default)

       stem=auto Reverts to automatic positioning of note stems (up  or  down)
                 (the default)

       lyrics=up or lyrics=down or lyrics=auto
                 Places  lyrics  above  or  below  the  staff  or  reverts  to
                 automatic positioning (the default)

       gchord=up            or gchord=down
                 Places guitar chords above (the default) or below the  staff.

       stafflines=value
                 Sets the number of lines on the staff in question.  (default:
                 5)

       staffscale=value
                 Sets the scale of the associated staff up to 3.  (default: 1)
                   All other definitions are ignored.

       By default, each voice goes on its own staff. The ‘%%staves definition’
       pseudo-comment can be used to control staff assignment. The  definition
       consists  of  voice names (from V:) and pairs of parentheses, braces or
       brackets.

          ·  When a voice name is not within a pair of special characters,  it
             goes on a separate staff.

          ·  For  voice  names enclosed in brackets, a bracket is displayed at
             the beginning of each line that joins the staves of the voices in
             question.

          ·  For  voice  names  enclosed  in  braces, all the voices go on two
             staves (keyboard score). There can be at most four voices between
             a single pair of braces.

          ·  For voice names enclosed in parentheses, all the voices appear on
             a single staff.

       The ‘|’ character prevents measure bars from being  drawn  between  two
       staves.

       If  ‘%%staves’  occurs in a tune, all the voices not mentioned will not
       be output at all.

   The %%score directive
       The %%score directive occurs in the  ABC  draft  2.0  standard  and  is
       similar to the %%staves      specification described earlier. The rules
       are:

          ·  Voice names within parentheses form a "voice group" and go  on  a
             single  staff.  A voice name that is not within parentheses forms
             its own voice group and goes on a staff by itself.

          ·  Voice groups within braces form a "voice block" and are  preceded
             by  a  big  brace  in  the  output. This is especially useful for
             keyboard music.

          ·  Voice groups or voice blocks within brackets form a "voice block"
             and will be preceded by a big bracket in the output.

          ·  If  a  ‘|’  character  occurs  between  two voice groups or voice
             blocks, the bar lines in all of the  associated  staves  will  be
             continuous.

          ·  A  single voice surrounded by two voice groups can be preceded by
             an asterisk to make it into a ‘floating’ voice. This means  that,
             for  each  note of the voice, a separate decision is made whether
             it is printed on the preceding or  the  following  voice  group’s
             staff.

          ·  Voices  that  appear  in  the  tune  body  but not in the %%score
             directive will not be output at all. If there is  no  %%score
             directive, each voice will be output on its own staff.

          ·  A  %%score directive inside a tune resets the mechanism so voices
             can be removed or added.

   Voice overlay
       You can add notes to a staff without introducing a complete extra voice
       by  using  the  ampersand  (&).  A single measure can be split into two
       voices like

       |F2A2Bc&F2c2bc|

       The (&...&...&) construction allows splitting multiple measures:

       |!f!(&GG<G|GG F=E| E2  E(_D/E)|_D D  C      D |C4- |C
            &DC<C|CC_D C|=B,2_B,B,   |_A,A,(G,/A,/)B,|F,4-|F,)zzD=E|

       A double ampersand (&&) will allow overlaying more than  two  lines  of
       music but this feature has not yet been implemented.

   Lyrics
       Aligned  lyrics  under  a staff are written as a w: line directly below
       the staff line. For example:

       edc2 edc2|
       w:Three blind mice, three blind mice

       Each word in the w: line (delimited by blanks) is associated  with  one
       note, in sequence. The following special symbols modify this behaviour:

       *         Skips one note.

       -         Splits a word into two syllables which  are  associated  with
                 two adjacent notes. A ‘-’ is drawn between them.

       |         Advances to the next bar line

       ~         Is  output  as  a  space, but unites two words so they appear
                 under a single note.

       _         Draws a thin underscore from the previous note to the next.

       To include more than one line of lyrics,  use  multiple  w:  lines.  To
       include hyphens without splitting a word over multiple notes, use -.

       If  a  word starts with a digit, this is interpreted as a stanza number
       and outdented a bit to the left.

   Slurs and ties
       The direction of slurs and ties may be controlled using the (, and  (’,
       and -, and -’, constructions.

   Microtone pitches
       Microtone  pitches  are indicated by a fraction after an accidental, as
       in 3/4c. When omitted, the numerator defaultes to 1 and the denominator
       to  2 (so /c is the same as 1/2c). The numerator and denominator values
       may  not  exceed  256.  There  is  built-in  support  for  quarter-tone
       accidentals (1/2 and 3/2 sharps and flats); for other values, rendering
       functions must be defined using %%postscript (see features.txt).

   EPS inclusion
       EPS files may be included inside tunes using the pseudo-comment  ‘%%EPS
       file’.

SEE ALSO

       The   original  documentation  can  be  found  in  files  features.txt,
       format.txt,  and  options.txt,  which  on  a  Debian  system   are   in
       /usr/share/doc/abcm2ps.

AUTHOR

       This manual page was written by Anselm Lingnau <lingnau@debian.org> for
       the Debian system (but may be used by others).  Permission  is  granted
       to  copy,  distribute and/or modify this document as long as its origin
       is not misrepresented.