Asalato Notation Software

A text-driven generator for Asalato sheet music.

Setup

1. Ensure you have python 3.7 or later installed
2. Install all necessary libraries with the following command:

pip install -r ./requirements.txt

Usage

To run the program, use the following command:

usage: main.py [-h] [--dest DEST] filename

positional arguments:
  filename              input file path

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --dest DEST, -d DEST  pdf output file path

Notation Language

Metadata

The metadata section of the document is used to define high-level information, such as the composer, title, and paper properties.

\meta {
  \paper {
    \size letter
    \margin 0.5in             # margin to use on all sides
    \marginLeft 0.25in        # overrides default margin on a per-side basis
    \marginRight 0.25in
    \marginTop 0.75in
    \marginBottom 0.75in
  }
  \title "My First Score"
  \subtitle "with western notation" {       # all text objects can optionally specify the following properties
    \font "Calibri"                         # font family (defaults to "Arial")
    \fontSize 16                            # font size (default depends on text object)
    \fontWeight 50                          # font weight (defaults to 50, should be in range 0-100)
    \italic                                 # if added, italicizes text (defaults to False)
  }
  \composer "J.S Bach"
}

Score

Each document can have any number of scores, which is where musical notes and symbols are defined. By using mutliple scores, you can seperate your document based on movements, exercises, etc.

\score {
  \header "Header for this score"
  \layout {
    ...
  }
  \voice "My Voice" {
    ...
  }
}

Score Layout

The layout section of the score allows you to define how you want your different musical "voices" to appear on the document. This is done by defining staffs, each corresponding to exactly one voice. Note, one voice can have multiple staves (e.g. one for traditional notation and one for western notation).

If a staff isn't associated with a voice, it will not appear in the rendered score.

\layout {
  \staff "Player 1"           # Note, only 1 staff is supported per score at this time
  \notationScale 1.2          # scales up/down all notes, articulations, etc. based on the provided factor
  \noteSpacing 2.0            # scales up/down the horizontal spacing between each note based on the provided factor
  \staffSpacing 1.8           # scales up/down the vertical spacing between staffs based on the provided factor
  \extendLastLine             # if added, the final line in the score will take the full width of the document
}

Score Voices

Each voice contains all relevant information about notes, as well as time signatures and dot value associations. Changes in time signature or dot value only need to be defined in one voice, and will be inferred in all other voices.

Note, inside the \left and right sections is where notes will be defined. More information on that can be found in the Asalato Notation section below

\voice "Player 1" {
  \right {              # defines all of the notes played in the right-hand
    \time 4/4           # time signature is 4/4
    \dotValue 1/8       # each note will get an eigth-note
    .  .  FI .  .  FO
  }

  \left {               # defines all of the notes played in the left-hand
    FI .  .  FO .  .
  }
}

\voice "Player 2" {
  \right {
    FI .  FI .  FI .
  }

  \left {
    .  FO .  FO .  FO
  }
}

In addition to standard notes, tuples are supported. When adding a tuple, it is important to clearly define how many dot values it should span across.

tuple {
  \duration 4           # 4 1/8 note lengths (1/2 measure)
  FI . FO
}

Each note can also have modifiers applied to it. These render additional components in-line with the given note, such as articulations, dynamics, and knocks. Each modifier should be included directly after the note it is modifying:

FI\ff\knock   # adds fortissimo dynamic marking and knock marking to the same note.

Asalato Notes

The full list of supported Asalato notes is included below:

Note	Notation	Parameters
flip	FI
flip	FO
flip grab	FI+
flop grab	FO+
click flip	CI
click flop	CO
click flip grab	CI+
click flop grab	CO+
den down	DD
den up	DU
den down grab	DD+
den up grab	DU+
airturn	AT
airturn_fake	AF
flip throw	FI*#	# is the number of flips (e.g. 0.5)
flop throw	FO*#	# is the number of flips (e.g. 0.5)
airturn throw	AT*#	# is the number of flips (e.g. 0.5)
rest	.
shake	|
catch	x

Modifiers

A full list of supported note modifiers is included below:

Asalato Notations	Notation
knock	\knock

Articulations	Notation
accent	\accent
staccato	\staccato
tenuto	\tenuto
stacatissimo	\stacatissimo
marcato	\marcato
marcato staccato	\marcatoStaccato
accent staccato	\accentStaccato
tenuto staccato	\tenutoStaccato
tenuto accent	\tenutoAccent
stress	\stress
unstress	\unstress
marcato tenuto	\marcatoTenuto

Dynamics	Notation
PPPPPP (x6)	\pppppp
PPPPP (x5)	\ppppp
PPPP (x4)	\pppp
PPP (x3)	\ppp
PP	\pp
P	\p
MP	\mp
MF	\mf
F	\f
FF	\ff
FFF (x3)	\fff
FFFF (x4)	\ffff
FFFFF (x5)	\fffff
FFFFFF (x6)	\ffffff