<parenthesis>

The <parenthesis> element marks a span of sibling <note> and <rest> elements as cued, not played: the part waits for another instrument in a leader/follower relationship to carry that passage.

Parent

<measure> or <group>

Attributes

Attribute	Required	Type	Description
type	Yes	"start" | "stop"	Whether this marker opens or closes a span.
dim	No	boolean	Overrides the renderer’s default for showing this span in a less distinct color. Only valid on type="start".
mute	No	boolean	Overrides the renderer’s default for muting this span during playback. Only valid on type="start".

Semantics

A <parenthesis type="start"/> and the next <parenthesis type="stop"/> the part reaches bracket a span. Every <note> and <rest> between them belongs to the cued passage.

Matching is by document order within a resolved pass. A marker in one measure can be closed by one in a later measure or line, so a span may cross <measure>, <group>, and <line> boundaries. It may not cross a section boundary.

In a section that plays once, and in any section without <ending> elements, that is plain document order. Where an ending substitutes a line, resolve the pass first and match within the lines that pass actually plays. See Spans across an overridden line.

A <line-repeat> does not enter into it. The lines are read once, in the order they are written, however many times playback runs through them. A span may open inside a repeated range and close after it, and a range that repeats does not re-open a span that closed within it.

The markup only identifies the span. Whether it renders in a less distinct color, or is muted during playback, is left to the renderer or player’s own settings by default. dim and mute override those settings for one specific span. They describe the span as a whole, so they appear on the start marker only and the stop marker does not repeat them. See Cued passages.

Example

<measure number="3">
  <parenthesis type="start"/>
  <note pitch="ซ"/>
  <note pitch="ม"/>
  <parenthesis type="stop"/>
  <note pitch="ซ"/>
  <note pitch="ม"/>
</measure>

<!-- Span crossing a measure boundary -->
<line number="2">
  <measure number="1">
    <parenthesis type="start" dim="false"/>
    <note pitch="ด"/>
    <note pitch="ร"/>
    <note pitch="ม"/>
    <note pitch="ซ"/>
  </measure>
  <measure number="2">
    <note pitch="ล"/>
    <note pitch="ซ"/>
    <note pitch="ม"/>
    <note pitch="ร"/>
    <parenthesis type="stop"/>
  </measure>
</line>

Conformance

• On every resolved pass of a section, a type="start" must be closed by a matching type="stop" before another type="start" appears. Parenthesis spans cannot nest or overlap.
• On every resolved pass, each type="start" must have a matching type="stop" within the same <section-ref>. A span left open at the end of a pass is invalid, even if another pass closes it.
• dim and mute are only valid on a type="start" marker.
• Parenthesis spans are independent per part. Marking a span in one part’s notes has no effect on any other part.