On Mon, 26 Mar 2007, Mark Hall wrote:

> Hello all, I am writing a thesis relating to 'abc', and I would like to
> know why you use 'abc' as apposed to alternative notation software? Your
> responses and opinions would be welcomed and may be used with your
> permission. Thanks, mjh


I like the idea of text based music notation software. I only need a good
editor (I use vim on my Linux box) to get started. Sibelius and Finale are
great, but expensive and not what I need.

I can make really fine scores with abcm2ps. There are alternatives that I
can use like Mup ( which I also like and use ) and Lilypond ( which seems
to have a lot of power ). But what makes ABC special is that it is, more
than these alternatives, quite human-readable. A simple song that is
notated in ABC can be played or sung by a human being, not only by a
computer.

--

Martin