I'm pretty sure I've seen pieces where you have a section that's piano, then there's a decres. hairpin, then there's another p after that. That is to say, in my mind, hairpins don't necessarily entail a constant increase/decrease in volume, that there can also be implicit an implicit dynamic change (in the opposite direction to the one that it's going it) at the start also. Am I mad?
It's kind of what my clarinet teacher told me about playing Brahms (i.e. that a diminuendo can imply an accent of sorts, starting one degree louder than the surrounding material).
Ah yes, that's something in the spirit of what I had imagined.
Not quite on this topic, but one thing that I've been doing for about four years, is occasionally not specifying an end dynamic to a dim. or cresc., but instead writing poco or molto (because if you're specifying the end point, these indications are surely a bit pointless?) underneath. Every single performer that I've shown this to has been more than happy with it and has known what I meant (I suppose it's a bit like 'phrasing-off') but a few composers have had real issues with it.
Hmm yes, I sort of see what you mean. If one wishes to have a long-term decres one can "poco a poco" it anyway. Do you think this entails some familiarity with your style already? Do you have fixed and communicable notions of what dim and cresc mean in your works?
I myself would in many sense prefer a stemless notation to a middle-of-stem one. But then I've never tried learning a piece in either, so.
It does make chords look less clear, especially when they have seconds in them.
...on the other hand chords with seconds in them are an exception to the usual left-if-up, right-if-down rule anyway.
Seconds in general are slightly messy to notate (especially with accidentals).
Silly Q: How exactly does one notate chords with seconds in the "stem in center" notation? Does one have them alternating on different sides?
Oh; that middle-of-the-note notation as aaron used it, looks quite nice (but no seconds that I could see alas). Certainly (as a non-performer) in principle wouldn't mind learning from such a score myself.
