consists of one or more Systems, each of which consists of a two dimensional grid where beat positions (within
measures) form the x-axis and staves (or to be more precise - location relative to the staves) form the y-axis. All
images which appear in foreground layers are linked to the background by two associations: every image has at least
one beat position in a measure, and every image is located some distance from at least one staff in the system.
These associations are essential for changing page or system layout and for cutting and pasting within documents
and between documents. While some images have only one beat position and staff assocation, others (eg. crescendo
marks) have two and some (eg. slurs) have three. When the underlying muisc structure is altered (by manual or
automatic adjustment of the beat or staff positions), the surface images are re-aligned to their associated staff and
redrawn at their corresponding beat positions. The figure below shows a collection of music images along with their
main associations. Although the positions of the Measures, Beats and Staves are different in the two music
examples, the image data (and their associations) remain the same.
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 3.0
= 69 Delicately
8 P
v I I I
|,. senmpre!
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 3.0
= 69 Delicately
-------- ----, "m t I I i i /
-------.-.-. ----..ir..... --------..---...... --......... --...........
--- I - ------
Pp~l~e
Image
GraceNote (16th)
Slur
GraceNote (16th)
PPP
GraceNote (16th)
GraceNote (16th)
Text (q = 69...)
Piano
Half note
P
Half note
Measure StaffAssociation: BeatPos
1: 0.219
1: 0.241
1:0.369
1:0.045
1:0.549
1:0.695
1: 0.886
1: 1.034
1: 1.0
2:0.884
2:1.0: StepsFromStaff
1:1
1:0
1:6
1:-5
1:7
1:10
1:18
1:14
1:7
1:-5
1:7
Image
TS Graphic
Text (sempre)
Pedal
QuarterRest
QuarterRest
Line (arrow)
QuarterNote
PP
LVBelow
QuarterRest
EighthRest
Measure: BeatPos
1: -0.36
1: 0.755
1: 0.406
1: 1.0
1: 2.0
1: 0.755
1: 3.0
1: 3.029
1: 3.19
2: 1.0
2: 2.0
StaffAssociation: StepsFromStaff
2:-3
2:-15
2:-12
2:4
2:4
2:-13
2:0
2:-7
2:-3
2:4
2:4
Figure. - Music Images with Beat Positions and StaffAssociations (Hamel - "I remember...")
4. Graphical Flexibility
In order to accommodate the diverse notational requirements of composers, NoteAbility has been designed to be
as flexible as possible. Any music image can be any size, any colour, and most of its attributes can be easily altered.
The size and attributes of an image are independent of any images (i.e. a staff or other notes in a chord) that it is
associated with or connected to.
(Lent et grave)
30
pp
N:--vTV 4 ff p e -. -
qj ip
--I
Figure. 2. Graphical Flexibility of Music Images (Ravel -" Le Jardin feerique")
0
