"(Em)" rendered as "E" in MIDI playback (issue with chords in "( )" that are > 1 char)

[anton-bregolas]

The issue is specifically with "alternative" chords in parenthesis.

Normally, these chords are considered muted and are not played by MIDI player:

However, if the chord is longer than 1 character (e.g.: Em, F#m, D/G) the first character of the chord will be played back by MIDI player:

The issue has been reproduced in Michael Eskin's ABC Tools.

[seisiuneer]

Happens on the abcjs Quick Editor at

https://editor.drawthedots.com/

as well:

X: 1
T: Scale
M: 3/4
L: 1/4
K: Db
CDE|"(Cm)"FGA|Bcd|efg|abc'|

[seisiuneer]

I suggested to Anton to use the following work-around if playback of optional chords is not required:

Instead of using:

"(Em)"

"D (G/D)"

make these above-the-notation text annotations:

"^(Em)"

"^D (G/D)"

Which achieves the correct visual result in the notation and also does not alter playback.

[seisiuneer]

In my tool, Anton provided for a fix that I extended with a private annotation that allows the tool to either play or suppress playback of alternate chords.