Semifuse

Figure 1. A semi-fuse.

Figure 2. Semi-fuse silence.

A semifuse is a musical figure that is equal to 1/64 of the value of the round figure.

Graphic representation

Semi-26th notes are represented with an oval note head colored in black, with a vertical stem with four brackets, which have the shape of hooks or tails (see Figure 1).

The direction of the stem depends on the position of the note. As with all stemmed figures, they are drawn with the stem to the right of the notehead and facing up, when the represented sound is below the third line of the staff. While, when the note is on or above said middle line, they are drawn with the stem to the left of the note head and downwards. However, this rule is not absolute since it can vary when it is necessary to tie several notes or when more than one voice is represented. In fact, in polyphonic works, the orientation of the stems helps to distinguish the different voices.

The brackets should always go on the right side of the stem, curved to the right. When the stem points up, the bracket starts at the top point and curves down; when the stem points downward, the bracket starts from the bottom point and curves upward.

When several sixteenth notes (the same occurs with eighth notes, sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes) are close to each other and are within the same beat unit, their four brackets join to become four more or less horizontal thick bars depending on the general direction of the notes to join (see Figure 2). In vocal and choral music, a different syllable is often assigned to each note, and when a single syllable is assigned to several notes, they are often drawn linked. In the case of the semifusas, it is not frequent that they are separated in these types of music due to their brevity.

Figure 2. Semi-fusas enlazadas.

The half-second rest is its equivalent rest. The semifusa, like all musical figures, has a silence of the same value and assumes that during that time no sound is emitted.

Duration and equivalences

In a binary subdivision bar (2
4 ; 3
4; 4
4; etc.) the semifusa lasts one sixteenth of a beat. So, in a bar of 4
4 this figure occupies one sixty-fourth of a measure. If a dot is added, the resulting total duration is its usual value plus half that value. Thus, for example, if its duration is 2 scribbles, with the dot it would last 3 (2 + 1).

The semifuse figure is equal to one sixty-fourth of a whole note, one thirty-second of a half note, one sixteenth of a quarter note, one eighth of an eighth note, one quarter of a semiquaver, or one half of a fuse In the same way it is equivalent to two scribble notes. Below the semifusa there are some figures of shorter duration but they have fallen out of use in current musical notation. They are: the scribble, which is equivalent to 1/128 of the whole note, and the semi-scribble, which is equivalent to 1/256 of the whole note, that is, 1/64 quarter note pulses. Above the round one there are also other figures of longer duration that are not used today either. They are: the square, which is equivalent to eight quarter notes, the longa, which is equivalent to 16 quarter notes, and the maxima, which is equivalent to 32 quarter notes.

In Unicode the semifuse symbol is U+1D163.

Etymology

The names given to this figure and its silence in different languages vary enormously:

To name this figure that is the smallest of the usual values, most languages take advantage of terms of other major values and add the pertinent prefixes for the new concept. The Spanish and Portuguese meanings of semifusa derive from the term fusa which derives from Italian ("purring") and which in the mensural notation designated the eighth note.

The current French name quadruple-croche adds quadruple because it alludes to the quadruple hook of the note spelling. The French term for eighth note croche means "hook". For its part, the word used in the United Kingdom and Canada hemidemisemiquaver adding the prefix "hemidemisemi" to refer to the fact that this figure has half of half of half the duration of the eighth note. The British term for eighth note quaver means "tremulous sound".

In the United States, the figure is called the sixty-fourth note, which means "sixty-fourth note" in relation to the value of the whole note, called "whole note" in this nomenclature. The American terms are semantic carbon copies of the German terms, since when American orchestras were first established in the 19th century they were largely populated by German émigrés.