preliminary proposal: New Unicode characters for Arabic music half-flat and half-sharp symbols

[Garth Wallace via Unicode]

What happened to the previous proposal? As I recall, there was some good
discussion after an email from you back in 2015 <
http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2015-m03/0118.html> and
Michael Everson offered assistance, but no formal proposal has been
submitted to the Documents Register since then.

These symbols are also used in Turkish notation and Western microtonal
notation. They are far more common than MUSICAL SYMBOL QUARTER TONE SHARP
and MUSICAL SYMBOL QUARTER TONE FLAT, which AFAICT only appear in the
Unicode code charts and nowhere else.

On Tue, May 15, 2018 at 10:47 AM, Johnny Farraj via Unicode <
unicode at unicode.org> wrote:

>
> Dear Unicode list members,
>
> I wish to get feedback about a new symbol submission proposal.
>
> Currently the Miscellaneous Symbols table (2600-26FF) includes the
> following characters:
>
> 266D ♭ MUSIC FLAT SIGN
> 266F ♯ MUSIC SHARP SIGN
>
> while the Musical Symbols table (1D100 - 1D1FF) includes the following
> characters:
>
> 1D12A �� MUSICAL SYMBOL DOUBLE SHARP
> 1D12B �� MUSICAL SYMBOL DOUBLE FLAT
> 1D12C �� MUSICAL SYMBOL FLAT UP
> 1D12D �� MUSICAL SYMBOL FLAT DOWN
> 1D130 �� MUSICAL SYMBOL SHARP UP
> 1D131 �� MUSICAL SYMBOL SHARP DOWN
> 1D132 �� MUSICAL SYMBOL QUARTER TONE SHARP
> 1D133 �� MUSICAL SYMBOL QUARTER TONE FLAT
>
> None of these matches what's used in Arabic music notation.
>
> I am proposing the addition of 2 new characters to the Musical Symbols
> table:
>
> - the half-flat sign (lowers a note by a quarter tone)
> - the half-sharp sign (raises a note by a quarter tone)
>
> [image: Inline image]
> [image: Inline image]
>
>
> These are the correct symbols for Arabic music notation, and they express
> intervals that are multiples of quarter tones. it would be really nice to
> be able to include them directly in an HTML page or rich text document
> using a native code rather than an image.
>
> I am the primary sponsor of this proposal. As far as my credentials, I am
> the owner of http://maqamworld.com, the most widely used online resource
> on Arabic music theory, in English.
>
> My co-sponsor is Sami Abu Shumays, author of http://maqamlessons.com,
> another important online reference for Arabic music theory.
>
> Together, we are in the process of publishing a book on Arabic music
> theory and performance with Oxford University Press, coming out late 2018.
>
> I can also enlist the support of many academics in the music theory field
> who specialize in Arabic music.
>
> I welcome any feedback on this proposal.
>
> thanks
>
> Johnny Farraj
>
>
>
>
>
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