Hey list,
I'm notating a piece for 6-string bass with heavy harmonic use, including chords with different fretted harmonics. Attachment 1 (the hand-drawn bar) shows how I want this measure to go: root notes in voice 2, harmonics in voice 1, with a chord composed of a 7th fret harmonic on the 1st string and 5th fret harmonics on the 2nd and 3rd strings. Here are the problems:
1. \harmonicByFret and \harmonicByRatio can't be used within chords, it can only apply to a full chord, so you can't mix different harmonics within the same chord.
To mix harmonics in the same chord, you'd have to make an extra voice, and so I did (see Attachment 2 for a picture of the output).
\version "2.18.2"
\score {
\new TabStaff
{
\set Staff.stringTunings = \stringTuning <a,,, e,, a,, e, a, cis>
\tabFullNotation
\relative c,, {
<<
{ r4 \harmonicByRatio #1/4 <e\3 a\2>2. | }
\\
{ b'2.\5 b4\5 | }
\\
{ r4 \harmonicByFret #7 cis2.\1 | }
>>
}
}
}
This presents us with two more problems:
2. The harmonics in the first voice are severely augmenting the fret number in the second voice (it's not a huge issue in this tiny example, but in the full file I'm working on I have a line of 78 commas in a row for the first note of the second file to get it on the right fret), and
3. The harmonics don't form a coherent chord, but rather a staggered display with a collision between the stem from voice 1 and the note from voice 3.
In an attempt to fix problem 2, one might try swapping the apostrophe out for a comma on the first note of voice 2. This yields the result that can be seen in Attachment 3. While the root fret number has been fixed, the harmonic has mysteriously moved down two strings.
What's going on here? I don't see in any of the snippets or manuals any evidence that the harmonics should influence the pitch of other voices in this way--is it a bug?--and I also can't find a good way to make a mixed-harmonic chord. Does anyone have any ideas/solutions?
Thank you!
Attachment 1.jpg
Attachment 2.jpg
Attachment 3.jpg