Class MARK

The MARK objects allow the user to specify marks outside of a NOTE or REST class. Marks designate extra information that to be applied to a NOTE or REST object such as articulations, modifications like tremolos or harmonics, printed text, etc.. After voices and staff assignments have been established, information in the MARK objects is dumped into the MARKS slots of NOTE and REST objects according to the values in the OFF and PARTID slots.

There are several advantages to using MARK objects as opposed to specifying marks in NOTE or REST objects. One is that many markings (dynamics, for example) might only need to be attached to notes that are in one voice, such as the bottom voice of a particular staff. Since voice assignments for notes might not be known until FOMUS decides them, MARK objects are the only way of insuring that the marks occur in the right place. MARK objects are also a convenient way of specifying marks for a range of parts, and make it easier to apply spanners such as slurs without having to juggle NOTE objects around.

MARK objects are passed to FOMUS by including them either in the EVENTS slot list of a PART object or in the global EVENTS list. The behavior in either case is exactly the same as with NOTE or REST objects.

Constructor: (MAKE-MARK &key :ID id :PARTID partid :VOICE voice :OFF off :MARKS marks)

Copy Function: (COPY-MARK mark &key :ID id :PARTID partid :VOICE voice :OFF off :MARKS marks)

Predicate Function: (MARKP obj)

Accessors:

OBJ-ID

This slot isn't used by FOMUS.

EVENT-PARTID

This slot is equivalent to the PARTID slot in the NOTE or REST class.

EVENT-VOICE

This slot is equivalent to the VOICE slot in the REST class, with the exception that a staff or list of staves can be specified instead of voices. Staves are indicated with a list beginning with the symbol :STAFF followed by one or more integer values. The integers represent staff choices and can either be negative or positive, negative indicating that the mark be placed in the uppermost voice of the staff (the staff number is the absolute value of the number given in this case) and positive indicating that the mark be placed in the lowermost voice of the staff. FOMUS chooses the option from the list that places the mark the closest to the specified offset. Following is an example of how to specify staves:

Example 4.7. EVENT-VOICE Slot Setting


'(:staff 1 -2)
                


Specifying a choice of staves like this allows the user to place marks like dynamics that apply to all voices but only need to appear in one place. In the case of the example above, a mark with this value in its VOICE slot that is applied to a grand staff is attached to a note in a voice on the inside of the staff.

As in the case of the REST class, when set to a list of voices, the MARK object is distributed to all of them.

EVENT-OFF

This slot is equivalent to the OFF slot in the NOTE or REST class, with the exception that offsets may also be wrapped inside a list and given a positive or negative value (for example, '(3), '(11.5) or '(-11.5)). When this list is used, it indicates that the marks in the MARKS slot are applied to events just before or after the given offset depending on its sign. Positive offset values indicate the mark is to applied to the event just following the offset and negative values indicate the mark is to be applied just before it (the absolute value of it). This makes it easier in some cases to place marks that indicate ends of spanners such as slurs, since marks that indicate the end of the spanner can actually be given the offset where the next spanner begins. FOMUS will place the end mark in the proper place (the event that immediately precedes the one at the indicated offset).

EVENT-MARKS

MARKS slots contain lists of marks. (In a NOTE or REST object, these marks are "attached" to that event.) Marks are specified as either symbols or lists of symbols and numbers. If it is a list, then the first element is the mark symbol followed by one or more arguments. Following is an example of what may appear in the MARKS slot:

Example 4.8. EVENT-MARKS Slot Setting 1


'(:accent :startslur- (:startslur- 2 :dotted) (:texttempo "accelerando"))
                


The MARK class can contain one extra mark that NOTE or REST objects can't contain. The symbol itself is :MARK and actually specifies another mark that is to be placed in the same voice at a different offset. It has the following format: '(:MARK off mark ...), specifying that another mark is to be placed in the same voice at the offset given. This special mark is necessary if the user specifies a staff instead of a voice and the mark is a symbol indicating the start of a spanner. It can also be used as a convenience, since only one MARK object needs to be instantiated to specify several marks that belong together. By specifying the end symbol here as part of a MARK mark, FOMUS recognizes the start and end marks as belonging to each other and will place them in the same voice. (Starting and ending marks that aren't paired in the same voice cause errors.) The offset argument that is the second element in this list uses the same extended syntax as the OFF slot in this class. The rest of the list after the second element is the mark symbol and the arguments that apply to that symbol. Following is an example:

Example 4.9. EVENT-MARKS Slot Setting 2


'(:accent (:startslur- 2) (:mark (-101) :endslur- 2))
                


The contents of the MARKS slots of MARK objects are dumped into the MARKS slots of NOTE and REST objects once voices and staves have been decided. See Marks for a more detailed explanation of marks and their usage.