Brodhead Music Typography

BEAM.EXE

BEAM in its default mode creates Ted-Ross style beams that eliminate wedges and other graphic blemishes, as described in The Art of Music Engraving and Processing. However...

BEAM ships with a series of beam charts (as Score files) that the user can edit and which BEAM will use when editing beams. There are 8 charts: one each for unisons, seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, and octaves. Each chart contains up-and-downstemmed eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second-note note pairs, with pairs ranging from far above to far below each staff. Altogether the 8 charts contain over 800 beams. You can edit the charts as you desire, and then "feed" the charts into BEAM using a command-line switch. BEAM then uses your beam slant information in editing beams. And, yes, it's intelligent about end-note spacing—the closer together the endnotes, the smaller the slope, using a method that is clear and predictable. BEAM also automates the editing of tremolo beams—if you've ever spent any time editing tremolos, BEAM will eliminate your work. But BEAM does a lot more than that—among other functions, BEAM will:

Edit stemmed tremolos (i.e. those attached to individual notes or chords) so that the tremolo does not touch the closest notehead and also so that the note stem is the proper length (which is often a problem with flagged notes). The distance between the tremolo and the closest note head may be set by the user, and the p12 and p17 values of the tremolo may also be set.
Allow the user to angle beamed tremolos (i.e. those that fall underneath a beam.) The p4 values of the revised tremolos are then edited so that the tremolo clears the beam. Alternatively, BEAM will convert angled tremolos to straight tremolos, if the user desires.
Adjust stem lengths to their proper position. A flaw in Score's stemming formula often results in note stems that jut past the edge of an associated beam; BEAM takes care of this. At the user's request, BEAM will incorporate the effects of Score's STM command into its stemming procedure.
Center tuplet numbers over the rhythmic center of the beam, which is normally a difficult edit using p16.
Edit cross-staff beams (!) and adjusts associated note stems appropriately.
Create French-style beaming, in which note stems touch the innermost ligature of a beam but go no further.
Automate the creation of stemlet notes (in the style of Elliott Carter.)
Edit the horizontal positions of rests that crash into beams.
Allow the user to designate the minimum horizontal space required for a specific slope.

BEAM is a 32-bit console application...

"What does that mean?"

BEAM looks and feels like a DOS application, and has a text type-out interface like PAGE, JUST, and SCORLAS. In reality, however, it is a true 32-bit program. Therefore, BEAM requires Win95, Win98 or higher MicroSoft OS to operate, even though it can be run in a DOS box in those operating systems.

BEAM is a program no Score user should be without—order your copy today!

Download order form for BEAM!

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