Custom Allotment Libraries

The allotment configuration installed in the Finale Default File included with TempiFont and ThesisFont employs a spacing algorithm which generates a reasonable horizontal layout of entries in most cases. However, circumstances are likely to arise where alternate spacings are desired.

The parametric equation used to generate the Default File's allotments employs a scaling factor, Q, which determines the degree to which entries larger and smaller than a quarter-note are related to the quarter's allotment. When Q=0, the allotment table is proportional -- a half-note occupying twice the space of a quarter; an eighth-note occupying half that of a quarter. As Q increases from 0, the allotment table becomes increasingly compressed, with larger note values occupying less space and smaller durations given proportionately more space.

When Q=0.3 the allotment table is that of the standard spacing table of the Default File. When Q=1, the allotment table maps all durations to a single value. In all cases the tables are calibrated about a standard allotment of quarter-note=148 edus. Allotments of 63 durations each are provided for Q = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5, 0.55, 0.6 and Q = 1.0 -- 14 sets in all.

The example linked to this paragraph documents the effect of various allotment libraries on an excerpt from the bassoon part to the third movement of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. Click on the example to download a PostScript rendering of the staves.