ABC2ABC(1) General Commands Manual ABC2ABC(1)
NAME
abc2abc - a simple abc checker/re-formatter/transposer
SYNOPSIS
abc2abc file [ -s ] [ -n ] [ -b ] [ -r ] [ -e ] [ -t semitones ] [ -nda ] [ -u ] [ -d ] [ -v ] [ -v] [-nokeys] [ -nokeyf] [
-usekey(sharps/flats)] [ -OCC ]
DESCRIPTION
abc2abc is a simple abc checker/re-formatter/transposer. It will check whether the file given on the command line obeys basic abc syntax.
If you want to check an abc tune, it is recommended that you use abc2midi with the -c option. This performs extra checks that abc2abc does
not do.
The output of abc2abc goes to standard output. Use redirection to save it to a file.
OPTIONS
-s Rework spacing in the file (which affects how notes are beamed together when the music is printed out). This option does not appear
to be working correctly.
-n X Reformats the abc file with line breaks every X bars.
-b Don't do bar checking.
-r Don't do repeat checking.
-e Don't report errors.
-t n Transpose tune by n semitones. This function will also work with K: none or one of -nokeys or -nokeyf. If a voice is assigned to
channel 10 (drum channel) using a %%MIDI channel 10 command, then this voice is never transposed.
-nda Convert double accidentals in guitar chord to another chord though strictly not correct.
-u Update notation; the older notation + + for chords is replaced by [] and s s for slurs is replaced by ().
-OCC Accept the old notation for chord. Normally this is turned off, since it conflicts with abc draft standard version 2.0 for decora-
tions (eg. +crescendo(+).
-d Re-notate the tune with all note lengths doubled. The unit length specified by the L: field command is halved (e.g. L:1/8 to
L:1/16).
-v Re-notate the tune with all note lengths halved. The unit length specified by the L: field command is doubled (e.g. L:1/8 to L:1/4).
-ver Prints version number and exits.
-V X For multivoiced abc files (i.e. contains V: field commands), only voice X is copied.
-X n For a file containing many tunes, the X: reference numbers are renumbered sequentially starting from number n.
-nokeys
No key signature will be assumed. Instead, sharps and naturals will be placed wherever they are needed.
-nokeyf
No key signature will be assumed. Instead, flats and naturals will be placed wherever they are needed.
-usekey sf
This will force abc2abc to output the notes in the key signature keys[sf] where sf specifies the number of flats (-negative) or
sharps (+positive) in the key signature. It is a number between -5 and +5 inclusive.
* Normally abc2abc will convert the deprecated notation for decorations (eg. !ppp!) to the abc version 2.0 draft standard (eg. +ppp+). If
you do not wish to change to this standard include the -OCC flag.
SEE ALSO
abcmtex(1), abc2midi(1), midi2abc(1), mftext(1)
AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Anselm Lingnau <lingnau@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de> and is now supported by Seymour Shlien <sey-
mour.shlien@crc.ca> for the GNU/Linux system.
VERSION
This man page describes abc2abc version 1.44 from August 13 2005.
14 August 2005 ABC2ABC(1)