3 FAQ - GNU LilyPond FAQs
7 Some questions that have been answered before. (note: relative paths
8 are meant to be relative to the source directory)
12 Q: Wow, the webpages look really neat, but if I install the .exe file
13 on my windows 3.11 machine, it doesn't work.
15 A: The DOS port is done with the cygnus W32 port of the GNU utils. It
16 does I<not> work with windows 3.x; you need NT or w95 (this is not a
17 recommendation, btw. We recommend you use Unix, in particular, use
20 Q: I get all kinds of errors while compiling F<parser.cc>
22 A: LilyPond uses features of bison version 1.25. Please confirm that
23 you are using a version 1.25 or better, that is B<GNU> bison
24 B<1.25>. Don't forget to do "make clean" after installing it. Don't
25 forget to remove the stale F<bison.simple> as well.
27 If the problem persists, then please mail me.
29 Q: I upgraded by applying a patch, and now my configure/build breaks.
31 A: Patches don't include automatically generated files, i.e. F<configure>
32 and files generated by F<configure>. Regenerate them yourself:
37 You might need to create some extra "out" directories. Do this
42 Q: Some of your neat scripts fail, what directories do you use:
44 A: [This only applies if you don't do C<make install>, and develop out
45 of the source directory] I have a directory which contains all music
52 lilypond/ # the directory as unpacked from the tarball
53 releases/ # directory for .tar.gz releases
54 patches/ # directory for patches between different releases
55 test/ # create tarballs and do diffs from this directory
57 ~/something/lilypond/bin is in the PATH, and contains symlinks to the
58 compiled executables. For some of the scripts to work, you have to set
60 LILYPOND_SOURCEDIR=/home/myself/something/lilypond
64 If you don't use patches, you'd probably want to symlink
66 lilypond -> lilypond-x.y.z
68 =head2 Language: mudela
70 Q: Why can't you type C<#c> in stead of C<cis> ?
72 A: We think that C<#c> looks as if you are entering the symbols to
73 print (which you are not; remember, you're entering the musical
76 We're not sure on leaving out this feature. If you think this is a
77 good idea, please let us know.
80 Q: Why do I have to type the accidentals to the note if I specified them?
86 Independently of how it was written and what the current key was, you
87 would say that you are playing and reading "two C-sharp" notes. We
88 have tried to make the language somewhat context-free. Of course
89 sheet music is not context-free. Unfortunately, sheet music is also 2
90 dimensional, and ASCII is not.
92 Technically it would be feasible to have the Interpreting phase do
93 tricky things to add (or leave out) the accidentals, but we think that
94 it is impractical: it hampers the readability and portability of your
95 source, since you need LilyPond to fill in the details and actually
99 Q: What is C<cis> anyway
101 A: C<cis> is the dutch naming for C-sharp. The notes are named
102 a, b,.., g. The suffix -is means sharp, and -es flat. This system is
103 common in a number of languages (such as swedish, dutch, german.)
104 Certain other languages (such as English, French and Italian) just add
105 the word for "sharp" to the notename.
107 We chose the Dutch system, because we're dutch. You are free to chose
108 whatever names you like; they are user definable.
114 to make a few chords, but why do I have to type
117 < { a~ e } { c ~ g } >
123 to generate ties between the chords?
129 this is shorthand for
131 < { a } { c } > < { e } { g } >
133 Ties have to be confined to `voices', and the a and the e are in
134 different {} blocks, so they are in different voices. You should view
135 the desired construct as a "generalised chord" (two voices stacked
136 vertically). It might help you visualise this by using the following
143 Q: and where do the beams come into this picture?
145 A: Beams are voicegroup-wide, and may be entered in any part of the
148 < { [a ~ e] } { c ~ g } >
149 < { [a ~ e } { c ~ g] } >
150 < { [a ~ e] } { [c ~ g] } >
152 These all give the same result.
154 Q: Why are [] around the notes, and () inbetween?
156 A: [] designate beams, a note can only be in one beam at the same
157 time. () is a slur, which connects notes. You need to be able to
163 Q: I want to insert some TeX commands
165 A: You shouldn't: it's against LilyPond philosophy to have typesetting
166 commands in the mudela source. Moreover, this would be difficult. The
167 manner in which Request (the basic building blocks of mudela) are
168 translated into printable items is complex: it is not always possible
169 to associate one Request with one Item or Spanner.
171 As a further notice, we want to move away from TeX (and perhaps
172 output PostScript or render to an X window too), so using TeX will
173 make sources non-portable at some time.
175 =head2 Do you support ...
177 Q: Do you support pop songs (chords, single staff, lyrics)?
179 A: Yes, see the F<twinkle-pop> example.
181 Q: Do you support guitar chord diagrams?
183 A: No, not yet. We ourselves don't play guitar, and don't know the
184 fine points of this notation. We would welcome anyone who could give
187 Q: Do you support TAB notation?
189 A: No. The same as for the previous question goes, but TAB is a lot
190 more work than diagrams (TAB needs modification of Parser, Lexer,
191 Staff, Notehead, Stem code and all the code that creates these graphic
194 Q: Do you support multiple staff-sizes?
196 A: Yes and no. At this time you can choose between 11, 13, 16, 19,
197 20, 23 and 20 pt staff-size. The sizes can't be changed per staff
198 (yet). Look at F<standchen.ly> for an example.
203 Q: How do I change the TeX layout?
205 A: See F<lilyponddefs.tex>, it has some comments.
207 Q: How do I place lyrics under I<each> of the staves in a score, as in
208 choral music. I can work out how to put lyrics for each line all under
209 the top line, or at the bottom but not between!
211 A: You change the order lyrics and staves. You have to name all
212 staves (lyric and melodic), otherwise they will end up in the same
217 < \melodic \type Staff = "treble" \trebleMelody
218 \lyric \type Lyrics = "tlyrics" \trebtext
219 \type Staff = "bass" \melodic \bassMelody
220 \lyric \type Lyrics = "blyrics" \basstext
226 Q: How do I put more than one marking on a note.
228 A: You can stack them
232 or use spacing-notes to put markings at different horizontal positions
235 { s4\ff s4^"text" s4-\marcato s4 }
239 Q: How do I get bar numbers?
241 A: See F<init/engraver.ly>. You have to uncomment some entries. To
242 do this `portably' you should redefine some engravers in your own
243 source files. Check out F<init/rhythm.ly>.
247 Q: Could you implement feature XXXX? It is really easy, just extend
248 the syntax to allow YYYY!
250 A: If it is reasonable, I'll add XXXX to the TODO list. In general
251 finding a cute syntax (such as YYYY) isn't very hard. The complicated
252 issue how to adapt the internals to do XXXX. The parser is really a
253 simple front end to the complicated internals.
255 Q: Can I join in on LilyPond development? How do I do this?
257 A: LilyPond development is open for anyone who wants to join. We try
258 to use a Bazaar style development model for LilyPond, see
259 http://locke.ccil.org/~esr/writings/cathedral.html. This means:
260 frequent releases, everyone can send in a patch or do suggestions and
261 all development discussions are public.
263 To be precise, discussions take place on the gnu-music-discuss mailing
264 list, which is open for subscription to everyone.
267 Q: I want to implement XXXX! Should I do this?
269 A: There might be better ways of doing XXXX, so it's a good thing to
270 ask about this before you start hacking. If you want to keep in touch
271 with current developments, you should subscribe to the mailing list
272 (see the "links" section of the documentation).
275 Q: I want to implement XXXX! How should I do this?
277 A: Your best bet of getting me to include code, is to present it as a
278 "fait accompli", ie., to send me a patch.
281 Q: I made some code, how do I get you to include it?
285 diff -urN old-file new-file > patch
289 diff -urN old-directory/ new-directory/ > patch
291 Alternatively, you can use F<bin/make-patch.py>. Don't forget to put
292 in your name and e-mail address.
294 Q: How do I learn the C++ code?
296 A: The entry point is in C<main()>. Good luck. :-)
298 Seriously, read, reread and reread internals and CodingStyle, and
301 Anywhere? Well, most of the comment doco are in the header files, so
302 your best bet would be C<less lily/include/*.hh>. Some of the most
303 important data-structures are to be found in:
322 Q: Your make system does not adhere to GNU coding standards, could you
325 A: No. We have evaluated the standard GNU combination for compiling
326 programs (autoconf, automake, libtool) and found to be inadequate in
327 several respects. More detailed argumentation is included with
328 LilyPond (see F<automake.urgh>)
330 Q: Why do I need g++ >= 2.7?
332 A: By using g++, GNU LilyPond is portable to all platforms which support
333 g++ (there are quite a few). Not having to support other compilers
334 saves us a I<lot> of trouble.
338 Q: There are lots of warning messages for the printing, all
341 dvilj4l: warning: Invalid keyword or value in \special -
343 A: You should use dvips and ghostscript to print it: the slurs and
344 beams are PS C<\special> commands
347 Q: My symbols are all messed up after I upgraded, and I get
350 A: We mucked with the fonts in the upgrade. Remove I<all> previous
351 fonts, including the .pk and .tfm fonts in F</var/lib/texmf>. A
352 script automating this has been included, see F<bin/clean-fonts.sh>
354 Q: I don't get midi-output, even if I use B<-M>!
356 A: Your \score should include a \midi block, eg.
359 \melodic { c4 c g g }
362 \output "myfile.mid";
367 The B<-M> option was added to LilyPond because processing the \paper
370 Q: A lot of musical stuff doesn't make it to the MIDI file (dynamics,
373 A: The MIDI output was originally put in as a proof that MIDI could be
374 done, and as a method of proof"reading" the input. The MIDI support
375 is by no means finished.
379 can't load library 'libflower.so'
381 A: You are using the dynamically compiled Flower library. Please set
382 LD_LIBRARY_PATH to a directory containing F<libflower.so>
386 Q: I downloaded the W95 port, and it doesn't match the website!
388 A: The website is usually made from the latest snapshots. The W95
389 binaries are only made every once in a while. They can lag several
390 versions behind the latest version.
392 Q: I want a DOS/NT/W95 port.
394 A.0: Reconsider. Try Linux. It's fun!
396 A.1: Currently (0.0.27), GNU LilyPond (and flowerLib) compiles,
397 links and runs on Windows-nt, using Cygnus' gnu port (release b17.1).
398 I (JCN) only had to make a minor workaround for missing library calls.
399 Have a look at http://www.cygnus.com/gnu-win32. To make GNU LilyPond
400 type C<make>. (I am not promising to maintain this platform, it is just
401 that when forced into doze, i'm sometimes too lazy to reboot.)
403 A.2: I haven't had time to find a Linux GCC crosscompiler (I<with> g++
404 and libg++, mind you) to DOS/Windows (in rpm, please :-)
406 A.3: If you are knowledgeable enough to make w32 compiles from time to
407 time, please do so! We want to keep away from w32 as far as possible.
409 Q: I just love to blindly run the (sometimes bit stale) .exe's you distribute.
410 Why do i need cygwin.dll?
412 A: It's all in this cut-n-paste:
414 Minimalist GNU-Win32 Readme
417 Colin Peters <colin@bird.fu.is.saga-u.ac.jp>
421 0.3 Fixes and Improvements
424 In the "coming soon" category I have a version of the GNU Standard C++
425 library ported to Mingw32. This means you can use iostreams, complex
426 numbers and all those neat STL (Standard Template Library) things
427 without needing the Cygwin DLL. I hope to put this port up for
428 downloading soon (along with the source of course).
434 To add C++ Support to the above the following extra files are required:
436 In C:\cygnus\H-i386-cygwin32\lib\gcc-lib\i386-cygwin32\cygnus-2.7.2-
440 Note that this does not include support for the standard C++ libraries
441 (only the C run time libraries) or for iostreams. That support is still
442 only available with the Cygwin32 API.