EasyABC / Tickets / #81 Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures

Frederic Aupepin - 2026-09-13

Hi,
Yes by default the option barfly is selected for abc2midi.
If you go to the settings and uncheck the barfly option it should work.

If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:

Frederic Aupepin - 2026-09-13

Milestone: 1.3.8 --> 1.4.0
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:

Steven Palm - 2026-09-14

Thank you for your work on this Apple Silicon version! This resolved the issue for me as well, it must be a change in the newer version of abc2mid (5.03 April 26 2025) versus the old one (4.84 January 20 2023).

If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:

James Hall - 2026-09-14

Will the Barfly options be fixed?
Unchecking turns it off, yes. But then hornpipes would not play correctly.
Air, Waltz, Polka, Barndance, Strathspey,Mazurka, March are all not working in barfly mode.

If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
- seymour shlien - 2026-09-15
  
  Hello James,
  
  I have been supporting abc2midi so far. The latest versions
  can be found on https://ifdo.ca/~seymour/runabc/
  on https://sourceforge.net/projects/abcmidi/ and on
  https://github.com/sshlien.
  
  The code in stresspat.c attached here initializes the
  barfly models. You are welcome to suggest additions
  to the code, that I could incorporate in future versions
  of abc2midi.
  
  Seymour Shlien
  
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "James Hall" hallflutes@users.sourceforge.net
  To: "[easyabc:tickets]" 81@tickets.easyabc.p.re.sourceforge.net
  Sent: Monday, September 14, 2026 4:38:22 PM
  Subject: [easyabc:tickets] #81 Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures
  
  Will the Barfly options be fixed?
  Unchecking turns it off, yes. But then hornpipes would not play correctly.
  Air, Waltz, Polka, Barndance, Strathspey,Mazurka, March are all not working in barfly mode.
  
  [tickets:#81] Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures
  
  Status: open
  Milestone: 1.4.0
  Created: Sat Sep 12, 2026 03:48 PM UTC by Paul Hardy
  Last Updated: Mon Sep 14, 2026 03:16 AM UTC
  Owner: nobody
  
  I downloaded 1.4.0 and it refuses to play many abc tunes. The problem looks to be ABCToMidi rejecting common rhythm and time signature combinations, such as 2/2 March, 2/2 Polka, 6/4 Jig, or 3/4 Air.
  
  AbcToMidi
  C:\Program Files (x86)\EasyABC\bin\abc2midi.exe - -o C:\Users\Paul Hardy\AppData\Local\EasyABC\cache\tempa97e8128-a819-4209-8e59-e292f6310e3e.midi -TT 440 -EA -BF
  5.03 April 26 2025 abc2midi
  voice mapping:
  1
  warning rhythm designator Polka 2/2 is not one of
  Hornpipe 4/4 Hornpipe C| Hornpipe 2/4 Hornpipe 9/4 Hornpipe 3/2
  Hornpipe 12/8 Double hornpipe 6/2 Reel 4/4 Reel C| Reel 2/4
  Slip Jig 9/8 Double Jig 6/8 Single Jig 6/8 Slide 6/8 Jig 6/8
  Ragtime 12/8 Strathspey C Fling C Set Dance 4/4 Set Dance C|
  Waltz 3/4 Slow March C| Slow March C March C| March C
  March 6/8 March 2/4 Polka k1 3/4 Polka 4/4 saucy 3/4
  Slip jig 3/4 Tango 2/4
  Error in line-char 28-97 : invalid R: designator
  writing MIDI file /C/Users/Paul Hardy/AppData/Local/EasyABC/cache/tempa97e8128-a819-4209-8e59-e292f6310e3e.midi
  
  AbcToMidi exited abnormally (errorcode 0x100)
  
  As example download https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/pgh_session_tunebook.abc and try the 4th tune (Albert Farmer's Bonfire Tune).
  
  Sent from sourceforge.net because you indicated interest in https://sourceforge.net/p/easyabc/tickets/81/
  
  To unsubscribe from further messages, please visit https://sourceforge.net/auth/subscriptions/
  
  Related
  
  Tickets: #81
  
  If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
- seymour shlien - 2026-09-16
  
  Here is a list of the stress patterns that are already
  built-in abc2midi. Note that abc2midi must match both the
  rhythm and the meter. C and 4/4 are different.
  Hornpipe 4/4
  Hornpipe C|
  Hornpipe 2/4
  Hornpipe 9/4
  Hornpipe 3/2
  Hornpipe 12/8
  Double hornpipe 6/2
  Reel 4/4
  Reel C|
  Reel 2/4
  Slip Jig 9/8
  Double Jig 6/8
  Single Jig 6/8
  Slide 6/8
  Jig 6/8
  Ragtime 12/8
  Strathspey C
  Fling C
  Set Dance 4/4
  Set Dance C|
  Waltz 3/4
  Slow March C|
  Slow March C
  March C|
  March C
  March 6/8
  March 2/4
  Polka k1 3/4
  Polka 4/4
  saucy 3/4
  Slip Jig 3/4
  Tango 2/4
  
  If you have a different rhythm and meter, you can define your own
  stress pattern using the %%MIDI ptstress command documented in
  https://abcmidi.sourceforge.io/#stress
  
  Seymour
  
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "James Hall" hallflutes@users.sourceforge.net
  To: "easyabc" 81@tickets.easyabc.p.re.sourceforge.net
  Sent: Monday, September 14, 2026 4:38:22 PM
  Subject: [easyabc:tickets] #81 Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures
  
  Will the Barfly options be fixed?
  Unchecking turns it off, yes. But then hornpipes would not play correctly.
  Air, Waltz, Polka, Barndance, Strathspey,Mazurka, March are all not working in barfly mode.
  
  [tickets:#81] Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures
  
  Status: open
  Milestone: 1.4.0
  Created: Sat Sep 12, 2026 03:48 PM UTC by Paul Hardy
  Last Updated: Mon Sep 14, 2026 03:16 AM UTC
  Owner: nobody
  
  I downloaded 1.4.0 and it refuses to play many abc tunes. The problem looks to be ABCToMidi rejecting common rhythm and time signature combinations, such as 2/2 March, 2/2 Polka, 6/4 Jig, or 3/4 Air.
  
  AbcToMidi
  C:\Program Files (x86)\EasyABC\bin\abc2midi.exe - -o C:\Users\Paul Hardy\AppData\Local\EasyABC\cache\tempa97e8128-a819-4209-8e59-e292f6310e3e.midi -TT 440 -EA -BF
  5.03 April 26 2025 abc2midi
  voice mapping:
  1
  warning rhythm designator Polka 2/2 is not one of
  Hornpipe 4/4 Hornpipe C| Hornpipe 2/4 Hornpipe 9/4 Hornpipe 3/2
  Hornpipe 12/8 Double hornpipe 6/2 Reel 4/4 Reel C| Reel 2/4
  Slip Jig 9/8 Double Jig 6/8 Single Jig 6/8 Slide 6/8 Jig 6/8
  Ragtime 12/8 Strathspey C Fling C Set Dance 4/4 Set Dance C|
  Waltz 3/4 Slow March C| Slow March C March C| March C
  March 6/8 March 2/4 Polka k1 3/4 Polka 4/4 saucy 3/4
  Slip jig 3/4 Tango 2/4
  Error in line-char 28-97 : invalid R: designator
  writing MIDI file /C/Users/Paul Hardy/AppData/Local/EasyABC/cache/tempa97e8128-a819-4209-8e59-e292f6310e3e.midi
  
  AbcToMidi exited abnormally (errorcode 0x100)
  
  As example download https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/pgh_session_tunebook.abc and try the 4th tune (Albert Farmer's Bonfire Tune).
  
  Sent from sourceforge.net because you indicated interest in https://sourceforge.net/p/easyabc/tickets/81/
  
  To unsubscribe from further messages, please visit https://sourceforge.net/auth/subscriptions/
  
  Related
  
  Tickets: #81
  
  If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
  - James Hall - 6 days ago
    
    From the list above these are missing C versions:
    Hornpipe 4/4
    Reel 4/4
    Polka 4/4
    Set Dance 4/4
    Polka 4/4
    
    From the list above these are missing 4/4 versions:
    Strathspey C
    Fling C
    Slow March C
    March C
    
    If they were duplicated in the software. It would fix a lot of the problems, except for
    Air, Waltz, Barndance, and Mazurka.
    
    If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
    - seymour shlien - 24 hours ago
      
      I have added most of the missing stress patterns to
      abc2midi. You can get the latest release from
      https://abcplus.sourceforge.net/#abcmidi
      The binaries in the ..cosmos.zip file should run
      on all platforms including Mac OS.
      
      Seymour
      
      ----- Original Message -----
      From: "James Hall" hallflutes@users.sourceforge.net
      To: "easyabc" 81@tickets.easyabc.p.re.sourceforge.net
      Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2026 8:30:13 PM
      Subject: [easyabc:tickets] Re: #81 Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures
      
      From the list above these are missing C versions:
      Hornpipe 4/4
      Reel 4/4
      Polka 4/4
      Set Dance 4/4
      Polka 4/4
      
      From the list above these are missing 4/4 versions:
      Strathspey C
      Fling C
      Slow March C
      March C
      
      If they were duplicated in the software. It would fix a lot of the problems, except for
      Air, Waltz, Barndance, and Mazurka.
      
      [tickets:#81] Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures
      
      Status: open
      Milestone: 1.4.0
      Created: Sat Sep 12, 2026 03:48 PM UTC by Paul Hardy
      Last Updated: Mon Sep 14, 2026 08:42 PM UTC
      Owner: nobody
      
      I downloaded 1.4.0 and it refuses to play many abc tunes. The problem looks to be ABCToMidi rejecting common rhythm and time signature combinations, such as 2/2 March, 2/2 Polka, 6/4 Jig, or 3/4 Air.
      
      AbcToMidi
      C:\Program Files (x86)\EasyABC\bin\abc2midi.exe - -o C:\Users\Paul Hardy\AppData\Local\EasyABC\cache\tempa97e8128-a819-4209-8e59-e292f6310e3e.midi -TT 440 -EA -BF
      5.03 April 26 2025 abc2midi
      voice mapping:
      1
      warning rhythm designator Polka 2/2 is not one of
      Hornpipe 4/4 Hornpipe C| Hornpipe 2/4 Hornpipe 9/4 Hornpipe 3/2
      Hornpipe 12/8 Double hornpipe 6/2 Reel 4/4 Reel C| Reel 2/4
      Slip Jig 9/8 Double Jig 6/8 Single Jig 6/8 Slide 6/8 Jig 6/8
      Ragtime 12/8 Strathspey C Fling C Set Dance 4/4 Set Dance C|
      Waltz 3/4 Slow March C| Slow March C March C| March C
      March 6/8 March 2/4 Polka k1 3/4 Polka 4/4 saucy 3/4
      Slip jig 3/4 Tango 2/4
      Error in line-char 28-97 : invalid R: designator
      writing MIDI file /C/Users/Paul Hardy/AppData/Local/EasyABC/cache/tempa97e8128-a819-4209-8e59-e292f6310e3e.midi
      
      AbcToMidi exited abnormally (errorcode 0x100)
      
      As example download https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/pgh_session_tunebook.abc and try the 4th tune (Albert Farmer's Bonfire Tune).
      
      Sent from sourceforge.net because you indicated interest in https://sourceforge.net/p/easyabc/tickets/81/
      
      To unsubscribe from further messages, please visit https://sourceforge.net/auth/subscriptions/
      
      Related
      
      Tickets: #81
      
      If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
      - Steven Palm - 15 hours ago
        
        Interesting... I downloaded these cosmo binaries and substituted them in my build and they do not work. However, they do work when invoked from a shell. I'm not sure why, I did not try to dig too much deeper into it. They were marked as executable and had the quarantine bit removed in case it mattered.
        
        I did look further, it seems that using subprocess.Popen() on macOS fails with invalid executable... But it could be augmented by specifically calling it via the APE loader instead of the binary directly.
        
        https://justine.lol/apeloader/
        
        I just looked one more step and I wonder if specifying shell=true in the Popen() call would help here?
        
        Last edit: Steven Palm 15 hours ago
        
        If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
        
        Frederic Aupepin - 14 hours ago
        
        Hi Steven,
        Yes Cosmopolitan executables are not really working when directly launched via subprocess.
        I'll most probably try to catch the error and if the error reported is 8 to try to start it via a shell instead of a direct call.
        
        If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:

Frederic Aupepin - 2026-09-14

Will need to test with another version of abc2midi.

If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:

Frederic Aupepin - 6 days ago

Hi,
On the topic, if you use an older version of abc2midi you can run with the option barfly checked.
In the newer release there is an exit code different than 0 when abc2midi is run. However EasyABC is then stopping the process so nothing is played.
If you point to the release of abc2midi that is present in previous release of EasyABC or any older release it should work.
I'll see to modify EasyABC to continue even if abc2midi is exiting with a code different than 0.
Sorry for the inconvenience

😄
1

If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
- Steven Palm - 5 days ago
  
  Just to confirm that putting in the old version of abc2midi still produced the same error message/etc, but as you note, just did not return an error code. So ignoring the return value when you call it should produce the same behavior as what was there before.
  
  I just renamed the abc2midi to abc2midil.real and created a shell script abc2midi that called the binary and ignored the return value and returned a 0 and it worked fine as well, but the benefit being it is an Apple Silicon binary being run.
  
  #!/bin/bash SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)" REAL_BINARY="$SCRIPT_DIR/abc2midi.real" "$REAL_BINARY" "$@" exit 0
  
  If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
  - Frederic Aupepin - 5 days ago
    
    Yes it is an option while I can access to an Apple Silicon to build again.
    
    I've also modified the python part here: https://github.com/aupfred/EasyABC/tree/release-1.4.0
    
    If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:

James Hall - 6 days ago

Thank you Frederic, that worked like a charm.
I used the abc2midi version from EasyABC 1.3.8.7. Renamed it to abc2midi-x.exe. Placed it in the bin folder and pointed to it in the files section. All the tunes are now playing.

If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:

Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures

EasyABC is an open source ABC editor

Milestone

Searches

Help

#81 Unrecognized Rhythm / Time signatures

Related

Discussion

Related

Related

Related