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Introduction to MEI |
introduction |
Welcome to the MEI Guidelines. They provide documentation for the Music Encoding Initiative's framework for describing music notation documents. This includes both a technical specification of the XML-based implementation of MEI and an explanatory description of its concepts.
The MEI Guidelines are intended to serve as a reference tool for music encoders. Through the use of natural-language definitions and examples, this documentation assists users of MEI in achieving effective and consistent markup. Despite translating XML and RNG terminology and concepts into more accessible language, it is still a technical one that presupposes a minimal understanding of XML and music notation. Novice encoders may want to start their MEI experience by doing an introductory tutorial first. These Guidelines will provide recommendations and arguments for encoding different types of music notation for a variety of purposes. While the specification of the framework is complete, the description is not necessarily complete. MEI is used in various contexts, and not every use-case may be fully reflected in these Guidelines. However, MEI is a community effort, so feedback and suggestions for improvement are highly welcome. Several starting points to get in touch with the MEI community can be found on the MEI website.
These Guidelines make use of real-world examples to illustrate appropriate encoding concepts. We consider the use of such images as fair use. Contributors to these Guidelines are requested to given proper reference to the libraries holding the material used here. They're also asked to be aware of potential copyright infringements and avoid respective material, or replace it with hand-drawn, made-up examples. If you find material that possibly offends copyright, please get in touch with us, and we will take it down.