[Harp-L] Comparison of Fletch and Supertab

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

G writes:

>Indeed Winslow, however you evidently didn't find SuperTab
>  http://harmonica.co.uk/supertab.htm
>Free harmonica tab fonts, user tested on Wintel PCs 
>and OS X Macs.
>  This offers the same features as Fletch diatonic, 

No, it does not. 

Fletch offers much more in notational abilities, (with the exception of
Holes 13-16 on diatonics).

Fletch is easier to use.

Fletch is easier to read.

First off, Supertab is not a single font as your description seems to
imply. It is four separate fonts. 

Chromatic and diatonic are separate fonts in Supertab. This is no
different from my pairing of Fletch Diatonic and Chromatic Sans Dot.

It takes three of these fonts (ST_Richter, ST_XB-40, ST_TABextras) to
approach what Fletch Diatonic does as a single font and it still misses
both basic and extended features.

Fletch covers 12 holes; ST_Richter covers only up to Hole 10. Go beyond
Hole 10 and you have to switch - in the middle of a line - to
ST_TABextras (which will give you coverage up to 16 holes). Switching
fonts in the middle of a line is cumbersone or impossible in some
programs, and makes you figure out which font you used for what when
you go back later on to edit.

With Supertab you always have to use the <SHIFT> key for a draw note.
Fletch doesn't make you do that. All the most basic stuff is on the
unshifted keys.

Fletch includes symbols for typical harmonica actions like tongue
slaps, lifts, shakes, rakes, shimmers, pitch smears, and glissandos.
Supertab does not.

Fletch lets you graphically illustrate tongue blocked actions. You can
explicitly show which holes are blocked in split intervals. This can be
useful when the tongue width changes or when the tongue alternates
between being applied and being removed. You can show right or left
tongue block for corner switching.

Fletch can cover all the extreme bending and bent-overblow capabilities
of any valved, discrete-cell, alternate-tuned, or whatever kind of
harp, up to three semitones in either direction on any breath in ANY
HOLE. Want to play an overdraw on Hole 4 and bend it up three semitones
on your Discrete Comb or Suzuki Overdrive? Fletch can notate it;
Supertab can't.

Blow 11 and 12 bend 4 and 5 semitones respectively. Fletch lets you
notate all those bends; Supertab goves you only three semitones. 

Fletch includes all the possibilities of the XB-40 and more (as in,
alternate-tuned XB-40 with wider bends). No need to switch to a
separate font.

Fletch is easier to read. 

With Supertab the hole number is in the middle. Draw notes jump out at
the eye because of the circle. Bends can appear above or below, forcing
the eye to jump around.

With Fletch the number is always on top, with the hole (or top hole)
directly below. Bends and overblow are always on the arrow shaft - no
need to look anywhere else. Effects come before or after, depending on
whether they start or end the note.

Comparing Supertab's ST_Chromatic to my Chromatic Sans, most of the
same comparisons apply, except the one about holes 13-16, which
Chromatic Sans offers.

Supertab appears to be a decent tab system as far as it goes. But it is
not fair to say that it does everything Fletch does - it doesn't.

I leave it to the individual consumer to compare for themselves and
judge whether the greater functionality, ease of use, and consistency
of appearance offered by Fletch Diatonic or Chromatic Sans is worth
$10.

Fletch user's manual:

http://www.angelfire.com/music2/harmonicainfo/products/Fletch_Manual.pdf

NHL Supertab page:

http://harmonica.co.uk/supertab.htm

Winslow Yerxa
Harmonica Information Press

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