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Views from the Choir Loft

GABC Transcription Tools

Veronica Brandt · June 8, 2013


AST WEEK I wrote about gregorio and GABC. There are so many developments happening that I’m sure I will be writing more about the system.

This week Benjamin Bloomfield released a new Propers Tool for his collection of GABC transcription tools.

That makes four tools:
Hymns
Psalm tones
Readings
and new this week: Propers!

Not so long ago, I would transcribe by hand from the Propers of the Church year set to tones (1962 Missal) from Guam (it’s a great book, but quite hard to read). Then, once I found the transcriber, I would get the text of the propers from Maternal Heart and cut and paste the text into the Psalm tone tool, select a mode and repeat for each antiphon. Now the new Propers Tool makes it as easy as choosing the Sunday from a drop down list. You can even select which ones to render with the full melody from the Graduale. The psalm toned Alleluia is rendered as in the simplified Alleluias in the back of the Liber Brevior, with the full jubilus and psalm toned verse.

Clicking the PDF link in the top right corner takes you over to Illuminare Publications Score Editor (also written by Mr. Bloomfield) with all five pieces ready to process into a single PDF.

One drawback is that there is no space for a translation, but there are a few ways you could add it in. There is a capability to insert text under the lyrics by enclosing the text in square brackets and inserting it between the syllable and the neume code.

Something like this: A[Humbly I adore thee](c)do(e)ro(g) te(g)
(Yes, that’s probably confusing, but may be helpful to some, otherwise there’s the comments box down there)

As is often the case with cutting edge software, the documentation is lagging behind a little, but there is good news there too. Gregowiki promises to be a treasure trove of helpful information. Already it has links to the tools I’ve already mentioned as well as tutorials and a handy cheat sheet.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Gregorian Chant Software, Gregorio Last Updated: May 14, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The main place should be given, all things being equal, to gregorian chant, as being proper to the roman Liturgy. Other kinds of sacred music, in particular polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful.”

— ‘2011 GIRM, §41 (Roman Missal, 3rd Edition)’

Recent Posts

  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
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