Performance

Some care is needed with textual replacement macros, as they can sometimes do strange things. They take no notice of any meaning, so spaces are significant. This is why, unlike the C programming language, the definition has the replacement text surrounded by # characters. Used carefully, this simple macro system is a powerful concept, but it can be abused.

Another Use For Macros.  When writing a complex score it is sometimes all too easy to forget to what the various instrument numbers refer. One can use macros to give names to the numbers. For example

#define Flute  #i1#
#define Whoop  #i2#

$Flute.  0  10  4000  440
$Whoop.  5  1