Tentative typeset of tablatures

using MusiXTEX and lutefonts of Wayne Cripps

This pages results of a combination of TEX, MusiXTEX from Daniel Taupin (taupin@lps.u-psud.fr) and the
lute fonts of Wayne Cripps (wbc@cs.dartmouths.edu). Being an enthousiast user of the tab program of Wayne,
I de nitively encourage everybody who is confronted with the need for typesetting lute tablatures, to use this
program : it o ers both the inherent advantages of TEX and a simplicity of use, dedicated to the preparation of
lute tablatures. I consider the present work as a more or less scholar exercice, pretexting to reach some features
not directly available in Wayne's tab.
It results from this not only that the encoding of a tablature sheet by my method is a tedious and time
consuming job, but also that a big programming e ort should still be spent in order to make simple features
available. This can be related to the general fascination power of the lute : the most di cult steps you go in
approaching it are nothing compared to the di culty of playing the instrument
:::

This document is intended to be printed on a 600 dpi printer.

MusiXTEX is a character based musical typeset tool, based on systems, sta s, clefs, time symbols, bars and
notes (themself consisting of a head, a stem and some ag). Each note has a pitch which determines its position
on the sta in combination with the clef. Here, I decided to disconnect notes from their pitch : the tab sta is well
a musical sta ; time symbols above the tab-sta are well MusiXTEX notes (with or without heads, and with some
speci c layout parameters in order to obtain a certain aesthetic result); but, on the opposite, note symbols (letters
or gures) are alpha-numeric characters drawn on a position one has to encode. Here are a few bars of Anthony
Holborne.
(

ab f c
a c

ab a a b a b a
bc b c fa cc

Old printed tablature books look sometimes very primitive compared to some manuscript tablatures,
maybe because of the relatively limited possibilities of the very rst printing techniques. With such a modern
tool as MusiXTEX one can try to imitate manuscripts. There are at least two reasons for doing so : rstly some
manuscripts are in very bad conservation status, the music must be re-written; secondly manuscripts are very
e cient in making the music clear to understand while using a minimum of signs. This results sometimes in
tablatures which are more confortable to play. For instance, slant grids do make the grouping of notes more visual.
And long downward stems do better show the synchronism between upper and lower part of the music. From
Danyel's Rosa (Add. 3056) :

ab a b
c b
ac
)

Lute

c ba
ab
b
a
a
*

a
*

b ab

aa b
bc

(etc: : : )

aa c a b a ab f c a a c a a c
ca a
a
a
*

(m.caprace@brussels.saitrh.com { October 1996)

*
(etc: : : )

Note spacing and line breaking are basic problems in musical typesetting. At the beginning of music
printing, lines were lled with notes, equally spaced; line break occurred when the line was lled, whatever the
position of bars. For confortable playing, you need rather longer spacing for notes with longer duration. And
automatic line breaking relies generally on integer numbers of bars in each line. Herebelow are some measures of
a tablature for renaissance guitar by Fuenllana. First using equal spacing like in the original printed book, and
manual line breaking.

F~ata a D.

Now, the same music typeset with proportional spacing and automatic line breaking.

F~ata a D.

Obviously, manuscripts can present an unlimited number of variations in the notation of speci c musical
elements. For instance, the Thysius manuscript is handwritten on printed empty staves of 7 lines; in vocal pieces,
the bass courses (diapasons) are indicated by the letter a on the seventh line, subscripted with a gure that indicates
the rank of the bass course (nothing or 1 for the seventh course, 2 for the eighth course and so on).

ac a c ac a c a a a a a a c ac c aa
aa
bc
c c a. c c a c. . . . . b . . b a. c a. b a. b . b . . a
a
. a a
c a
a
a a a a
)

Psal. 23
Goudimel

ea a. c a. ea a. c e. aa a c. a c. a a. c . caa a. c . caa
c c ca ca c c c
*

aa aa c
b a. b . b c a .
c
a
a
a
*

a. c a a a c
a a a. .
c c c
a
)

Except for songs, multiple systems under each other are rarely found in old books. But they are nowadays
(m.caprace@brussels.saitrh.com { October 1996)

frequently used, for lyrics or text simutlaneously with instruments, or for the separation of voices in a polyphonical
tablature. Here follows an excerpt from John Dowland with a keyboard transcription of the tablature.

c
a
)

Lute

fh
aa

c c
a

fh hi f c a c
aa ] f
c

2
G R

Keyboard
transcription
]

I2R

The following piece is a canon for two lutes attributed to Francesco da Milano. The original manuscript
contains only a single line of tablature. Writing both musical lines one above the other makes the counterpoint
more visible and easier to synchronize during actual playing.

. . . . . . ..

Lute 1

.
. . .

Lute 2

. .

. .

. . .

. . . . . . . .
. .

. .

. .
. . . ..
. . . . .

. . . . . .

Lute duets have sometimes been typeset in the past in a very practical layout : one part on the left page, the
other one on the right page but bottom-up, so that both players could share the same book, playing one in front
of the other, on both sides of the same table. One may prefer to have both parts the one above the other on the
same page. The next piece was published by Phalese in 1578. In the same book he gives also a version for solo lute.
Here, the rst musical phrase of the lute duet is compared with the original vocal version by Claudin de Sermisy
(CMM 52 - IV). Diminutions in the lute version can clearly be distinguished. In order to underline di erences in
(m.caprace@brussels.saitrh.com { October 1996)
3

the treatment of the musica cta, I added some un-necessary accidents in the vocal staves. The text is written in
accordance with the superius voice.
com-

S.
A.

G R

T.
B.

I 2R

>
>

a a ac a cac
bc bc a b
a
combien est,
ab ab

cac a e ace e a c ac ac cac

a
a bc ac c ac bc bc a c

a c

Dont je ne puis re- cepvoir que

2
>

>

I2 -

tour6

ab aa aa ab ab c
c cc
a
-

\(

a c

ment
4

Je
<
O
:

>
(
>

>

Lute 2

sir

de-

Lute 1
Ad Quartam

est mal-heu reux le

bien

c a a
aeca

a c ab
aa

eca

b c b
aa

<
<
:

ea ab a a c ea ab ab c ea a c a aa aa e a c a c a ac a c a c
c
c a a c a c a c a c c ca
a

ac c
bc

aa b a a ab ab aa b b aa c a c a c c
c a bab c ac ac a c a
a

ab

It has been a pleasure for me to do this work and I would like to express my gratefulness to the persons
who introduced me into the world of the lute and the typesetting of music.
Michel Caprace

(m.caprace@brussels.saitrh.com { October 1996)