Here's an obscure bug for medieval music afficiandos

[dj]

Hi, Sherry:

This one is so obscure that I'm not even sure it's a bug.

Attached is a piece from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana that I'm working on for a possible future production.

Based on medieval music styles, this piece emulates neumic writing by having long bars of mostly untimed lines. For instance, at bar 6, 9 and 22, along with others, the time-sig is 24/4.

On playback, in Window View, if and only if the long time-sig bars are the first bar displayed on the screen after a page change, the display flickers and jumps at each beat, as the playback cursor is updated.

If the playback is stopped and restarted, the flicker doesn't occur. It also usually corrects itself part-way through the bar in question.

As I said, so obscure that it's not truly a bug, just an odd bit of behaviour.

David

[Sherry C]

Hi David,

I also see the flicker that you're talking about, so it's not just a video card or memory issue.

Here are the details for what I'm seeing:

1. The long-time bar must be first on the page (per your observation).
2. It only happens for the first 4-6 beats of the bar - afterward it corrects itself.
3. It doesn't always happen (eg. some long-time bars don't flicker).
4. The ones that it does happen for are measures 9, 13, 25, 29, 41, and 45 (I tested this by resizing the Composer window to force long-time bars to "just fit")
5. The "flicker" is actually a flash-back to the previous page.
6. It also happens (and for longer duration) in Page view (which I find strange).

I'm writing this up, though given the relative infrequency of such music, I'm not sure where it will fall in the scheme of things.

Thanks for the very cool file that illustrates the problem

ttfn,
Sherry

Task 2553

[dj]

Hi, Sherry:

I haven't gotten around to looking at this music in page view, yet, so I didn't see the page view behaviour.

Here's an English translation of the lyric:

The merry face of spring turns to the world,
sharp winter now flees, vanquished;
bedecked in many colours, Flora reigns,
the harmony of the woods praises her in song. Ah!

Lying in Flora's lap, Phoebus once more smiles,
now covered in many-coloured flowers
Zephyr breathes nectar-scented breezes.
Let us rush to compete for love's prize. Ah!

In harp-like tones the sweet nightingale sings,
with many flowers, the joyous meadows are laughing,
a flock of birds rises up through the pleasant forests,
the chorus of maidens already promises a thousand joys. Ah!

Carmina Burana, if you don't know it, is based on sectarian (and often erotic) poems from the 12th to 14th centuries, collected by monks at the monastery of Beuern in Germany. The iconic O Fortuna, which opens the work, is one of the most ripped-off pieces of classical music there is -- for beer ads and football games, mostly.

I want to do a fully staged version of the work, with Orff's similar piece, the Catulli Carmina, as a second act. Catulli Carmina is based on the love poems of Catallus. Orff wanted them both to be staged pieces, but that is rarely done these days.

It may take a few years to reach fruition.

David

[Sherry C]

Hi David,

Thanks for the history - it's always fascinating to me to learn the stories behind so much music (I had no idea about the beer commercials, though - we haven't had TV for over 22 years ).

Your stage production project sounds like a long labor, but one of love (pun intended ). As always, I'd love to hear it. One of the things that I appreciate about your compositions and arrangements is the new twist in instrumentation (at times) while keeping the feel and nuances of the period. Cool stuff

ttfn,
Sherry