Music Encoding Initiative Guidelines

att.lang

Language attributes common to text elements.

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att.lang

<abbr>A generic element for 1) a shortened form of a word, including an acronym or 2) a shorthand notation.

<accessRestrict>Describes the conditions that affect the accessibility of material.

<accMat>Holds a description of any additional material bound with an item, such as non-contemporaneous documents or fragments.

<acquisition>Records information concerning the process by which an item was acquired by the holding institution.

<actor>Name of an actor appearing within a cast list.

<add>Marks an addition to the text.

<addDesc>Provides a description of significant additions found within an item, such as marginalia or other annotations.

<addName>Contains an additional name component, such as a nickname, epithet, or alias, or any other descriptive phrase used within a personal name.

<address>Contains a postal address, for example of a publisher, an organization, or an individual.

<addrLine>Single line of a postal address.

<anchoredText>Container for text that is fixed to a particular page location, regardless of changes made to the layout of the measures around it.

<annot>Provides a statement explaining the text or indicating the basis for an assertion.

<argument>Contains a formal list or prose description of topics addressed.

<arranger>A person or organization who transcribes a musical composition, usually for a different medium from that of the original; in an arrangement the musical substance remains essentially unchanged.

<attacca>An instruction to begin the next section or movement of a composition without pause.

<audience>Defines the class of user for which the work is intended, as defined by age group (e.g., children, young adults, adults, etc.), educational level (e.g., primary, secondary, etc.), or other categorization.

<author>The name of the creator of the intellectual content of a non-musical, literary work.

<back>Contains any appendixes, advertisements, indexes, etc. following the main body of a musical text.

<bibl>Provides a loosely-structured bibliographic citation in which the sub-components may or may not be explicitly marked.

<biblList>List of bibliographic references.

<biblScope>Defines the scope of a bibliographic reference, for example as a list of page numbers, or a named subdivision of a larger work.

<biblStruct>Contains a bibliographic citation in which bibliographic sub-elements must appear in a specified order.

<binding>Contains a description of one binding, i.e., type of covering, boards, etc. applied to an item.

<bindingDesc>Describes the present and former bindings of an item.

<bloc>Contains the name of a geopolitical unit consisting of two or more nation states or countries.

<byline>Contains the primary statement of responsibility given for a work on its title page.

<caption>A label which accompanies an illustration or a table.

<captureMode>The means used to record notation, sound, or images in the production of a source/manifestation (e.g., analogue, acoustic, electric, digital, optical etc.).

<carrierForm>The specific class of material to which the physical carrier of the source/manifestation belongs (e.g., sound cassette, videodisc, microfilm cartridge, transparency, etc.). The carrier for a manifestation comprising multiple physical components may include more than one form (e.g., a filmstrip with an accompanying booklet, a separate sound disc carrying the sound track for a film, etc.).

<castGrp>Groups one or more individual castItem elements within a cast list.

<castItem>Contains a single entry within a cast list, describing either a single role or a list of non-speaking roles.

<castList>Contains a single cast list or dramatis personae.

<catchwords>Describes the system used to ensure correct ordering of the quires making up an item, typically by means of annotations at the foot of the page.

<changeDesc>Description of a revision of the MEI file.

<collation>Records a description of how the leaves or bifolia of an item are physically arranged.

<colophon>Contains a statement providing information regarding the date, place, agency, or reason for production of the item.

<composer>The name of the creator of the intellectual content of a musical work.

<condition>The physical condition of an item, particularly any variances between the physical make-up of the item and that of other copies of the same item (e.g., missing pages or plates, brittleness, faded images, etc.).

<contentItem>Contains a single entry within a content description element.

<context>The historical, social, intellectual, artistic, or other context within which the work was originally conceived (e.g., the 17th century restoration of the monarchy in England, the aesthetic movement of the late 19th century, etc.) or the historical, social, intellectual, artistic, or other context within which the expression was realized.

<contributor>Names of individuals, institutions, or organizations responsible for contributions to the intellectual content of a work, where the specialized elements for authors, editors, etc. do not suffice or do not apply.

<corpName>Identifies an organization or group of people that acts as a single entity.

<corr>Contains the correct form of an apparent erroneous passage.

<correction>States how and under what circumstances corrections have been made in the text.

<country>Contains the name of a geopolitical unit, such as a nation, country, colony, or commonwealth, larger than or administratively superior to a region and smaller than a bloc.

<creation>Non-bibliographic details of the creation of an intellectual entity, in narrative form, such as the date, place, and circumstances of its composition. More detailed information may be captured within the history element.

<cue>MIDI cue point.

<damage>Contains an area of damage to the physical medium.

<date>A string identifying a point in time or the time period between two such points.

<decoDesc>Contains a description of the decoration of an item.

<decoNote>Contains a description of one or more decorative features of an item.

<dedicatee>Entity to whom a creative work is formally offered.

<dedication>Contains a dedicatory statement.

<del>Contains information deleted, marked as deleted, or otherwise indicated as superfluous or spurious in the copy text by an author, scribe, annotator, or corrector.

<depth>Description of a measurement taken through a three-dimensional object.

<desc>Container for text that briefly describes the feature to which it is attached, including its intended usage, purpose, or application as appropriate.

<dim>Any single dimensional specification.

<dimensions>Information about the physical size of an entity; usually includes numerical data.

<dir>An instruction expressed as a combination of text and symbols, typically above, below, or between staves, but not on the staff — that is not encoded elsewhere in more specific elements, like <tempo>, <dynam> or <repeatMark>.

<distributor>Person or agency, other than a publisher, from which access (including electronic access) to a bibliographic entity may be obtained.

<district>Contains the name of any kind of subdivision of a settlement, such as a parish, ward, or other administrative or geographic unit.

<div>Major structural division of text, such as a preface, chapter or section.

<dynam>Indication of the volume of a note, phrase, or section of music.

<edition>A word or text phrase that indicates a difference in either content or form between the item being described and a related item previously issued by the same publisher/distributor (e.g., 2nd edition, version 2.0, etc.), or simultaneously issued by either the same publisher/distributor or another publisher/distributor (e.g., large print edition, British edition, etc.).

<editionStmt>Container for meta-data pertaining to a particular edition of the material being described.

<editor>The name of the individual(s), institution(s) or organization(s) acting in an editorial capacity.

<editorialDecl>Used to provide details of editorial principles and practices applied during the encoding of musical text.

<epigraph>Contains a quotation, anonymous or attributed, appearing on a title page.

<event>Contains a free-text event description.

<exhibHist>A record of public exhibitions, including dates, venues, etc.

<expan>Contains the expansion of an abbreviation.

<explicit>Contains the explicit of a manuscript item; that is, the closing words of the text proper, exclusive of any rubric or colophon which might follow it.

<extent>Used to express size in terms other than physical dimensions, such as number of pages, records, bytes, physical components, etc.

<famName>Contains a family (inherited) name, as opposed to a given, baptismal, or nick name.

<figDesc>Contains a brief prose description of the appearance or content of a graphic figure, for use when documenting an image without displaying it.

<fileChar>Standards or schemes used to encode the file (e.g., ASCII, SGML, etc.), physical characteristics of the file (e.g., recording density, parity, blocking, etc.), and other characteristics that have a bearing on how the file can be processed.

<foliation>Describes the numbering system or systems used to count the leaves or pages in a codex.

<foreName>Contains a forename, given or baptismal name.

<front>Bundles prefatory text found before the start of the musical text.

<funder>Names of individuals, institutions, or organizations responsible for funding. Funders provide financial support for a project; they are distinct from sponsors, who provide intellectual support and authority.

<genName>Contains a name component used to distinguish otherwise similar names on the basis of the relative ages or generations of the persons named.

<genre>Term or terms that designate a category characterizing a particular style, form, or content.

<geogFeat>Contains a common noun identifying a geographical feature.

<geogName>The proper noun designation for a place, natural feature, or political jurisdiction.

<hand>Defines a distinct scribe or handwriting style.

<head>Contains any heading, for example, the title of a section of text, or the heading of a list.

<height>Description of the vertical size of an object.

<heraldry>Contains a heraldic formula or phrase, typically found as part of a blazon, coat of arms, etc.

<imprimatur>Contains a formal statement authorizing the publication of a work, sometimes required to appear on a title page or its verso.

<incipText>Opening words of a musical composition.

<inscription>An inscription added to an item, such as a bookplate, a note designating the item as a gift, and/or the author’s signature.

<interpretation>Describes the scope of any analytic or interpretive information added to the transcription of the music.

<l>Contains a single line of text within a line group.

<label>A container for document text that identifies the feature to which it is attached. For a "tool tip" or other generated label, use the @label attribute.

<labelAbbr>A label on the pages following the first.

<language>Description of a language used in the document.

<layout>Describes how text is laid out on the page, including information about any ruling, pricking, or other evidence of page-preparation techniques.

<layoutDesc>Collects layout descriptions.

<lg>May be used for any section of text that is organized as a group of lines; however, it is most often used for a group of verse lines functioning as a formal unit, e.g., a stanza, refrain, verse paragraph, etc.

<li>Single item in a <list>.

<librettist>Person or organization who is a writer of the text of an opera, oratorio, etc.

<list>A formatting element that contains a series of items separated from one another and arranged in a linear, often vertical, sequence.

<locus>Defines a location within a manuscript or manuscript component, usually as a (possibly discontinuous) sequence of folio references.

<locusGrp>Groups locations which together form a distinct but discontinuous item within a manuscript or manuscript part, according to a specific foliation.

<lyricist>Person or organization who is a writer of the text of a song.

<marker>MIDI marker meta-event.

<meiHead>Supplies the descriptive and declarative metadata prefixed to every MEI-conformant text.

<mensuration>Captures information about mensuration within bibliographic descriptions.

<metaMark>A graphical or textual statement with additional / explanatory information about the musical text. The textual consequences of this intervention are encoded independently via other means; that is, with elements such as <add>, <del>, etc.

<metaText>MIDI text meta-event.

<meter>Captures information about the time signature within bibliographic descriptions.

<mNum>Designation, name, or label for a measure, often but not always consisting of digits. Use this element when the @n attribute on <measure> does not adequately capture the appearance or placement of the measure number/label.

<name>Proper noun or noun phrase.

<nameLink>Contains a connecting phrase or link used within a name but not regarded as part of it, such as "van der" or "of", "from", etc.

<normalization>Indicates the extent of normalization or regularization of the original source carried out in converting it to electronic form.

<num>Numeric information in any form.

<orig>Contains material which is marked as following the original, rather than being normalized or corrected.

<otherChar>Any characteristic that serves to differentiate a work or expression from another.

<p>One or more text phrases that form a logical prose passage.

<perfDuration>Used to express the duration of performance of printed or manuscript music or the playing time for a sound recording, videorecording, etc.

<perfRes>Name of an instrument on which a performer plays, a performer's voice range, or a standard performing ensemble designation.

<perfResList>Several instrumental or vocal resources treated as a group.

<periodName>A label that describes a period of time, such as 'Baroque' or '3rd Style period'.

<persName>Designation for an individual, including any or all of that individual's forenames, surnames, honorific titles, and added names.

<pgDesc>Contains a brief prose description of the appearance or description of the content of a physical page.

<pgFoot>A running footer.

<pgHead>A running header.

<physMedium>Records the physical materials used in the source, such as ink and paper.

<plateNum>Designation assigned to a resource by a music publisher, usually printed at the bottom of each page, and sometimes appearing also on the title page.

<playingSpeed>Playing speed for a sound recording is the speed at which the carrier must be operated to produce the sound intended (e.g., 33 1/3 rpm, 19 cm/s, etc.).

<postBox>Contains a number or other identifier for some postal delivery point other than a street address.

<postCode>Contains a numerical or alphanumeric code used as part of a postal address to simplify sorting or delivery of mail.

<price>The cost of access to a bibliographic item.

<projectDesc>Project-level meta-data describing the aim or purpose for which the electronic file was encoded, funding agencies, etc. together with any other relevant information concerning the process by which it was assembled or collected.

<provenance>The record of ownership or custodianship of an item.

<publisher>Name of the organization responsible for the publication of a bibliographic item.

<pubPlace>Name of the place where a bibliographic item was published.

<q>Contains material which is distinguished from the surrounding phrase-level text using quotation marks or a similar method. Use <quote> for block-level quotations.

<quote>Contains a paragraph-like block of text attributed to an external source, normally set off from the surrounding text by spacing or other typographic distinction.

<recipient>The name of the individual(s), institution(s) or organization(s) receiving correspondence.

<ref>Defines a traversible reference to another location. May contain text and sub-elements that describe the destination.

<refrain>Recurring lyrics, especially at the end of each verse or stanza of a poem or song lyrics; a chorus.

<reg>Contains material which has been regularized or normalized in some sense.

<region>Contains the name of an administrative unit such as a state, province, or county, larger than a settlement, but smaller than a country.

<reh>In an orchestral score and its corresponding parts, a mark indicating a convenient point from which to resume rehearsal after a break.

<rend>A formatting element indicating special visual rendering, e.g., bold or italicized, of a text word or phrase.

<repeatMark> An instruction expressed as a combination of text and symbols – segno and coda – typically above, below, or between staves, but not on the staff.

<repository>Institution, agency, or individual which holds a bibliographic item.

<resp>A phrase describing the nature of intellectual responsibility.

<restore>Indicates restoration of material to an earlier state by cancellation of an editorial or authorial marking or instruction.

<role>Name of a dramatic role, as given in a cast list.

<roleDesc>Describes a character’s role in a drama.

<roleName>Contains a name component which indicates that the referent has a particular role or position in society, such as an official title or rank.

<rubric>Contains a string of words through which a manuscript signals the beginning or end of a text division, often with an assertion as to its author and title, which is in some way set off from the text itself, usually in red ink, or by use of different size or type of script, or some other such visual device.

<samplingDecl>Contains a prose description of the rationale and methods used in sampling texts in the creation of a corpus or collection.

<scoreFormat>Describes the type of score used to represent a musical composition (e.g., short score, full score, condensed score, close score, etc.).

<scriptDesc>Contains a description of the letters or characters used in an autographic item.

<scriptNote>Describes a particular script distinguished within the description of an autographic item.

<seal>A single seal or similar attachment.

<sealDesc>Describes the seals or similar external attachments applied to an item.

<secFolio>Marks the word or words taken from a fixed point in a codex (typically the beginning of the second leaf) in order to provide a unique identifier for the item.

<seg>represents any segmentation of text below the "text component" level.

<segmentation>Describes the principles according to which the musical text has been segmented, for example into movements, sections, etc.

<series>Contains information about the serial publication in which a bibliographic item has appeared.

<settlement>Contains the name of a settlement such as a city, town, or village identified as a single geopolitical or administrative unit.

<sic>Contains apparently incorrect or inaccurate material.

<signatures>Provides a description of the leaf or quire signatures found within a codex.

<soundChan>Reflects the number of apparent sound channels in the playback of a recording (monaural, stereophonic, quadraphonic, etc.).

<sp>Contains an individual speech in a performance text.

<speaker>Contains a specialized form of heading or label, giving the name of one or more speakers in a dramatic text or fragment.

<specRepro>The equalization system, noise reduction system, etc. used in making the recording (e.g., NAB, DBX, Dolby, etc.).

<sponsor>Names of sponsoring individuals, organizations or institutions. Sponsors give their intellectual authority to a project; they are to be distinguished from funders, who provide the funding but do not necessarily take intellectual responsibility.

<stack>An inline table with a single column.

<stageDir>Contains any kind of stage direction within a dramatic text or fragment.

<stamp>Contains a word or phrase describing an official mark indicating ownership, genuineness, validity, etc.

<stdVals>Specifies the format used when standardized date or number values are supplied.

<street>full street address including any name or number identifying a building as well as the name of the street or route on which it is located.

<styleName>A label for a characteristic style of writing or performance, such as 'bebop' or 'rock-n-roll'.

<supplied>Contains material supplied by the transcriber or editor for any reason.

<support>Provides a description of the physical support material of a written item.

<supportDesc>Groups elements describing the physical support material of an item.

<syl>Individual lyric syllable.

<sysReq>System requirements for using the electronic item.

<table>Contains text displayed in tabular form.

<td>Designates a table cell that contains data as opposed to a cell that contains column or row heading information.

<tempo>Text and symbols descriptive of tempo, mood, or style, e.g., "allarg.", "a tempo", "cantabile", "Moderato", "♩=60", "Moderato ♩ =60").

<term>Keyword or phrase which describes a resource.

<textLang>Identifies the languages and writing systems within the work described by a bibliographic description, not the language of the description.

<th>Designates a table cell containing column or row heading information as opposed to one containing data.

<title>Title of a bibliographic entity.

<titlePage>Contains a transcription of the title page of a text.

<titlePart>Contains a subsection or division of the title of a bibliographic entity.

<tr>A formatting element that contains one or more cells (intersection of a row and a column) in a <table>.

<trackConfig>Number of physical/input tracks on a sound medium (e.g., eight track, twelve track).

<treatHist>A record of the treatment the item has undergone (e.g., de-acidification, restoration, etc.).

<treatSched>Scheduled treatment, e.g., de-acidification, restoration, etc., for an item.

<trkName>MIDI track/sequence name.

<typeDesc>Contains a description of the typefaces or other aspects of the printing of a printed source.

<typeNote>Describes a particular font or other significant typographic feature of a printed resource.

<unclear>Contains material that cannot be transcribed with certainty because it is illegible or inaudible in the source.

<unpub>Used to explicitly indicate that a bibliographic resource is unpublished.

<useRestrict>Container for information about the conditions that affect use of a bibliographic item after access has been granted.

<verse>Division of a poem or song lyrics, sometimes having a fixed length, meter or rhyme scheme; a stanza.

<volta>Sung text for a specific iteration of a repeated section of music.

<watermark>Contains a description of a watermark or similar device.

<watermarkDesc>Contains a description of the watermark(s) of an item.

<watermarkList>Grouping several watermarks.

<width>Description of the horizontal size of an object.

MEI.cmnCommon Music Notation (CMN) repertoire component declarations.