Keywords Make Reorchestration Easier

The note-list is difficult to reorchestrate, since different synthesis instruments have different parameters, possibly in different orders. With the scorefile approach, this is not a problem. Parameters unrecognized by one instrument are simply ignored. A new parameter keyword may be added to a scorefile at will. Of course, it will have no effect unless the program that reads the scorefile is sensitive to that parameter.

Scorefile parameters can be thought of as messages whose precise meaning depends on what application or instrument responds to the message. Different instruments can implement the same parameter in different ways. For example, a pseudo-wind instrument can interpret a crescendo to mean “blow harder” while a pseudo-string instrument can interpret it to mean “move the bow faster and press harder”.