default-x vs adjacent notes

[Hans Vereyken]

How should the default-x of an adjacent note be (the default-x of the G4)?
this:

Code: Select all

<note default-x="29">
  <pitch>
    <step>G</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
  <notations>
    <arpeggiate default-x="-22" number="1"/>
  </notations>
</note>
<note default-x="19">
  <chord/>
  <pitch>
    <step>F</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
</note>


or this:

Code: Select all

<note default-x="19">
  <pitch>
    <step>G</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
</note>
<note default-x="19">
  <chord/>
  <pitch>
    <step>F</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
</note>


If the default-x of two adjacent notes is different, what to do with the default-x of for example an arpeggiate?

Code: Select all

<note default-x="29">
  <pitch>
    <step>G</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
  <notations>
    <arpeggiate default-x="-22" number="1"/>
  </notations>
</note>
<note default-x="19">
  <chord/>
  <pitch>
    <step>F</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
  <notations>
    <arpeggiate default-x="-12" number="1"/>
  </notations>
</note>


or

Code: Select all

<note default-x="29">
  <pitch>
    <step>G</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
  <notations>
    <arpeggiate default-x="-12" number="1"/>
  </notations>
</note>
<note default-x="19">
  <chord/>
  <pitch>
    <step>F</step>
    <octave>4</octave>
  </pitch>
  <duration>16</duration>
  <voice>1</voice>
  <type>whole</type>
  <staff>1</staff>
  <notations>
    <arpeggiate default-x="-12" number="1"/>
  </notations>
</note>


Setting the default-x differently for adjacent notes may be a (very small) problem when dealing with different fonts (and different note-head widths).
Setting the default-x the same for adjacent notes makes it unclear which notes should be adjacent (I know, the rules followed by 99% of the music are easy to follow).
When I look at Gould p 49 I see there are different methods for adjacent notes (although not recommended).
If a MusicXML application want's to support this different methods it has only the default-x to rely on (and only in exports of certain score-writers). But the default-x attribute isn't meant to give any semantic information, so maybe something like <adjacent>left</adjacent> and <adjacent>right</adjacent> can help us?
Thanks!

[Michael Good]

Hello Hans,

In MusicXML 3.0, the default-x attribute should indeed be set differently for this type of adjacent note. This means that the arpeggiate values would also be set differently.

Hopefully the issues caused by different fonts and notehead widths will be easier to deal with once music fonts are using SMuFL more often, including SMuFL's metadata features.

[Hans Vereyken]

Thanks Michael!