release: 0.1.59

[lilypond.git] / Documentation / mudela.doc

% -*-tex-*-

% this document should be run through the mudela-book script after lilypond
% has been installed.  The rules have been precooked into the
% Documentation/Rules.make file; do 
%
%   make out/introduction.dvi
%
% or
%
%   mudela-book --outdir=out/ --outname=introduction.mudtex introduction.doc
%   latex '\nonstopmode \input out/introduction.mudtex'

% Hoi Tim, hier staan wat 'enge' commando's (die dingen met een '\'
% zoals \documentclass en \def\mudela...).
% Daar moet je je niets van aantrekken, ga gewoon naar Introduction
% en begin te tiepen.

\documentclass{report}
\usepackage{a4wide}
\title{Mudela}
\author{Jan Nieuwenhuizen \& Han-Wen Nienhuys}
\date{March 2, 1998}

\def\file#1{\verb+#1+}

% ugh: trick to get examples not generate par
% these are for 16pt
\def\mudelapaperlinewidth{-28.452756}%
\def\mudelapaperindent{28.452756}%
\def\mudelapaperrulethickness{0.400000}%
\def\mudelapaperbarsize{16.000000}%
\def\mudelapaperinterline{4.000000}%
\def\mudelapapernotewidth{5.930000}%
\def\mudelapaperwholewidth{8.640000}%
\def\mudelapaperunitspace{22.000000}%
\def\mudelapaperbasicspace{4.000000}%
\def\mudelapapergeometric{0.000000}%
\def\mudelapaperarithmetic_basicspace{2.000000}%
\def\mudelapaperarithmetic_multiplier{4.800000}%
\def\mudelapaperinterbeam{3.140000}%
\def\mudelapapergourlay_energybound{100000.000000}%
\def\mudelapapergourlay_maxmeasures{14.000000}%
% huh?
% \def\exampleheight{2\mudelapaperbarsize pt}
\def\exampleheight{2cm}

% ful of pars, needs the above
\input lilyponddefs
% generates par
\musixsixteendefs
\def\musixsixteendefs{}
% generates par
\turnOnPostScript%
\def\turnOnPostScript{}
% generates par
\def\interscoreline{}
% 

\begin{document}
\maketitle

%\def\interexample{\hskip15mm$\Longrightarrow$\hskip15mm}
%\def\interexample{\hbox to10mm{\hfill\hbox to0pt{\hss\vbox to\exampleheight{\vss$\Longrightarrow$\vss}\hss}\hfill}}
\def\interexample{}
\def\preexample{\par}
\def\postexample{\par\medskip}

\def\file#1{{\texttt{#1}}}
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{-1}

\chapter{A tutorial}

\emph{\Large ***Under construction***}

\section{Introduction}

This chapter is a gentle introduction to using LilyPond to typeset
simple music.

LilyPond is a so called ``batch'' program.  This means, that you use a
text editor (such as \texttt{emacs} or \texttt{vi}) to create an input
file.  When you are done editing your input file, you save it, and you
run LilyPond on the file.  If Lily finds any errors in your input file
then she\footnote{ We're sure that if computer programs could have
gender, LilyPond would be a female computer program.  So we will refer
to the program as a she. This gender-bending is not to tease you, dear
reader.  We do it in real life as well. In the past two years LilyPond
has become sort of a baby daughter to us, keeping us awake at night,
but also providing us lots of joy.  We hope you do not mind our little
aberration from computer-manual tradition.
% 
% The name LilyPond is actually sort of a girl's name.  Can you guess which
% one ?
%
} will complain.  If everything is well, than she'll generate a file, that
you can process further to view or print.

Using LilyPond to print or view some music is a procedure with four
steps.  To get you started we'll run down the full procedure for you
once.

\begin{enumerate}
\item
Fire up your favourite editor (if you know none, try \texttt{joe silly.ly}),
and key in the following text:
\begin{verbatim}
\score {
        <
        \type Staff = aStaff \melodic { g'2 e'4 }
        \type Lyrics = yell \lyric { Air2 ball!4 }
        >
        \paper {}
}
\end{verbatim}

Save your file as \file{silly.ly}.

%The input files for LilyPond have the default extension \file{.ly}.

\item
Run LilyPond on your newly created file: enter \verb+lilypond silly+.
LilyPond will then print all kinds of mumbo jumbo that can safely be
ignored.  You might see something like this:
\begin{verbatim}
GNU LilyPond 0.1.55/FlowerLib 1.1.39
Parsing ... [/home/hanwen/musix/spacer/init/lily-init.ly[/home/hanwen/

        ... stuff left out here ...

                                Documentation/silly.ly]
Interpreting music ...[1] (time: 0.04 seconds)
Preprocessing elements... 
Calculating column positions ... [2]
Approximated: 1 lines, (with an average of 4.0 columns)
Time: 0.01 seconds
warning: Can not solve this casting problem exactly; revert to Word_wrap
[2]Time: 0.00 seconds

Postprocessing elements...
TeX output to silly.tex ...
\end{verbatim}
All has gone well; there were some warning but no errors.  The output
is a TeX file, and it is called \file{silly.tex}.  \file{TeX} is
usually spelled as \TeX.  It is batch program for typesetting text,
developed by the great programmer and scientist Donald Knuth to
typeset his famous The Art of Computer Programming bookseries.  As you
can see \TeX\ can be adapted to do a lot more.  In fact, the document
that you are reading now was also done with \TeX.
\item
  To do something useful with the output you have to run \TeX\ on it
  first.  Run the command \verb+tex silly+.  The output should resemble this:
\begin{verbatim}
This is TeX, Version 3.14159 (C version 6.1)
(silly.tex
Babel <v3.6h> and hyphenation patterns for american, dutch, loaded.
(/home/hanwen/lib/texmf/tex/lilypond/lilyponddefs.tex
(/home/hanwen/lib/texmf/tex/lilypond/dyndefs.tex)
(/home/hanwen/lib/texmf/tex/lilypond/fetdefs.tex
(/home/hanwen/lib/texmf/tex/lilypond/feta20.tex)
(/home/hanwen/lib/texmf/tex/lilypond/lily-ps-defs.tex))) [1] )
Output written on silly.dvi (1 page, 3084 bytes).
Transcript written on silly.log.
\end{verbatim}
  The human translation is ``everything went OK, the result is one
  page long, and I put it in \file{silly.dvi}.''

\item The \file{silly.dvi} file is a description of how a piece of
text looks when it is printed.  You can view it, or print it.  If you
are using a Unix system equipped with X-Windows, then you can issue
the command \file{xdvi silly} to view the result.  If this is not the
case, consult your local \TeX\ guru on printing and viewing DVI files.
What is in your window should look like this:
\begin{mudela}
\score {
        <
        \type Staff = aStaff \melodic { g'2 e'4 }
        \type Lyrics = yell \lyric { Air2 ball!4 }
        >
}
\end{mudela}
\end{enumerate}

The remainder of this document is not about \TeX, and mostly not even
about LilyPond.  What you entered into your text editor in step~1. and
fed to LilyPond is a special kind of file composed of notenames,
special words and punctation.  The remainder of this document explains
how to combine these elements to express a piece of music in the
language that LilyPond understands.  In other words, we try to explain
how to use LilyPond, and not how LilyPond works.  For want of a better
name we call this language Mudela (short for Music Description
Language).

This document does not cover all of Mudela.  Due to technical details,
the precise working of Mudela is coupled to the innards of LilyPond.
If you really want to know all the details, your best bet would be to
get the sources to LilyPond and read the parser and scanner source.
They are in \file{lilypond-x.y.z/lily/parser.y},
\file{lilypond-x.y.z/lily/lexer.l\footnote{Of course, it would be even
better if you would improve LilyPond and send the resulting diffs to
us.  But that would a really different ballpark (And we haven't
started with the programming guide yet.)}

In the following sections the basic elements of Mudela are presented.
We don't want to bore you too much with details, so we will leave-out
some red tape that's needed for a valid piece of Mudela: to be
precise, we will write \verb+X Y Z+, when we really mean
\begin{verbatim}
\score {
        \melodic { X Y Z }
        \paper {}
}
\end{verbatim}
Usually, we will also print the resulting fragment of music on the
right just as it was produced by LilyPond.  

For the remainder we will assume that you can carry out steps 1 to 4
from the above instruction.  We will also assume that you know how
music notation works.  If you are not familiar with the English terms
for music notation, then you should consult XXXX [FIXME], it contains
a glossary of musical terms.

\section{Music copying versus music definition}

If you have done music copying before, then using LilyPond may seem
awkward to you in the beginning.  The purpose of LilyPond is informally
explained by the term ``music typesetter.''

This may give the impression that the program is like a drawing tool
that lets you control precisely how the music is formatted.  This is
not the case: not only does the program print musical symbols,
LilyPond also tries to make esthetic decisions---to be precise, we
programmed her to do what we find pretty.  You do not have complete
control over what is happening.  On the other hand, good engraving is
a very complex trade, so it is a Good Thing that you do not have to
worry about what is happening.

Secondly, LilyPond operates on musical definitions.  This really is
something different from graphical definitions.  If you copy music by
hand from a printed score, you don't have to know what the score
means; you just copy the symbols.  With LilyPond such a thing is not
possible: we expect you to enter the meaning of the score, not the
score itself.  If put more concretely: you do not enter ``black
notehead without flag, fourth staff line'', but ``a quarter note,
pitch d$^2$''.  LilyPond will figure out from the musical info what
kind of graphic presentation is needed.

This has some drawbacks: most notably, it is difficult to enter sheet
music that you cannot read.  On the other hand, any piece of music
once entered can be played and transposed automatically.


\section{When you know the notes to print\ldots}

The basic building block of music is the note.  You can have LilyPond
print a note by specifying its pitch and the duration.  The pitch of
the central C, also known as c$^1$, is written as \verb+c'+.  A quarter
note duration is written as \verb+4+.  So, to print quarter note with
central C pitch, you enter the following
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
c'4
\end{mudela}
The pitch \verb+c'+ actually consists of two parts: one for the note
name, and one part for the octave.  The number of apostrophes
specifies the octave to use, and the letter which note name to use.
The note names simply are the letters \verb+a+ to \verb+g+.

For example,
\begin[fragment,verbatim]{mudela}
  c'4 d'4 e'4 c'4 c''4 d''4 e''4 f''4 g''4 a''4 b''4 c'''4
\end{mudela}

The duration of a note is specified as a number: a whole note is
denoted by 1, the half note by 2, the quarter by 4, and so on.  Here
are some random notes to show how it works
\begin[fragment,verbatim]{mudela}
'c8 c8 c'16 c''32 d''64 b'64 c'''2 c1 c'4 d'4 e'4 f'4 g'4 a'4
\end{mudela}

This gives us already enough material to make simple songs:
\begin[fragment,verbatim]{mudela}
        c''4 d''4 e''4 c''4
        e''4 f''4 g''2
        g''8 a''8 g''8 f''8 e''4 c''4
        c''4 g'4 c''2
\end{mudela}

There is only one part about pitches that we haven't told you:
chromatically altered pitches.  The names ``a'' to ``g'' for typing
pitches are convenient: they are short, pronounceable and they
resemble the normal vocabulary for pitches.

Enter flats and sharps.  In English there is no standard terse word
for C sharp or C flat.  For this reason, we implemented a different,
non-english convention for entering altered pitches, see
table~\ref{notename-tab}: one makes a note sharp by adding the suffix
``--is'' to the name, one makes the a note flat by adding the suffix
``--es.''  For a double sharp you simply add another ``--is'' suffix,
flats ditto.


\begin{table}[h]
  \begin{center}
    \caption{Defaults note names}\label{notename-tab}
    \begin{tabular}{ll}
      english         &LilyPond\\
      \hline\\
      c double flat   &ceses\\
      c flat          &ces\\
      c natural       &c\\
      c sharp         &cis\\
      c double sharp  &cisis\\
    \end{tabular}
    
  \end{center}
\end{table}

Variations on this convention are used in a number of germanic
languages, notably Dutch, German, Swedish, and Norwegian.  To be
precise, LilyPond actually defaults to dutch notenames, with aes,
aeses, ees and eeses added for consistency.

If you are not comfortable with these names, you can make your own
names.  Included with the example initialisation files are note names
for different languages, among others English (C sharp is abbreviated
to cs), Italian, Swedish, Norwegian

\section{Hairy rhythms}

\section{Handy input}

% \subsection{Durations}

However, having only quarter notes may get a bit dull.
Durations are entered as their reciproce values
% a1 a2 a4 a a8 a a16 a a32 a a64 a a a a
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
a1 a2 a4 a a8 a a16 a32 a64
\end{mudela}
note that you only have to specify
the duration when it changes:
Lily assumes a note has the same duration as the previous one.

Now we can already write a little tune
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
c d e c | c d e c | e f g2
\end{mudela}
As you'll probably have guessed,
the vertical bar (pipe) \verb+|+ may be used to mark
measures.

In the scale shown above
we left-out the last c note of the next octave.
Postfixing the pitch with a quote \verb+'+
produces a note by one octave higher
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
c c' c''
\end{mudela}

Prefixing the pitch with a quote \verb+'+
produces a note by one octave lower
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
a 'a ''a
\end{mudela}

\section{Slurs and Ties}

A tie connects two adjacent noteheads

\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
e' ~ e
\end{mudela}

Whereas a slur rather connects `chords', 
and tries to avoid crossing stems

\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
e'( )e
\end{mudela}

And of course, such a (legato) slur can span several notes
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
c( d e )f
\end{mudela}

\section{Beams and Plets}

A beam is 
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
[a8 a] [a16 a a a]
\end{mudela}

Here's a beamed triplet
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
[/3 a8 a a]/1
\end{mudela}

a triplet without a beam
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
\[/3 a4 a8\]
\end{mudela}

and a combination
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
[/3 a8 a16 a] a8 \]
\end{mudela}

Abbreviations
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
c1:16 [:16 e1 g]
\end{mudela}

\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
c4:32 [:16 c8 d8]
\end{mudela}

\section{Notenames}

Lily has predefined sets of notenames
for various languages%
\footnote{These are Dutch, English, German, Italian and Swedish.
Simply include the language specific init file \file{<language.ly>}.}.
The default set are the ones we like best are the Dutch notenames.

A sharp is formed by adding \verb+is+
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
cis dis eis fis gis ais bis
\end{mudela}

and a flat is formed by adding \verb+es+%
%\footnote{Exceptions: \verb+es+ and \verb+as+.}
\footnote{Exceptions: {\tt es} and {\tt as}.}
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
ces des es fes ges as bes
\end{mudela}

With the obvious names for double sharps
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
cisis disis eisis fisis gisis aisis bisis
\end{mudela}

and double flats
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
ceses deses eses feses geses ases beses
\end{mudela}
See why we like-em?

There are two special `notenames', the rest
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
r16 [a a a]
\end{mudela}

and the space
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
a2 s-"diminuendo" | a
\end{mudela}


\section{Commands}

\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
\clef "bass"; 'c
\end{mudela}

and a clef-change
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
\clef "violin"; f' e' \clef "alto"; d' c'
\end{mudela}

\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
\meter 3/4; c g g |
\end{mudela}

\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
\key fis cis;
'g 'a 'b cis d e fis g'
\end{mudela}
Note how Mudela allows you to 
convey a musical message
rather than forces you to produce a list of typesetting commands.
If the music a \verb+cis+, you type a \verb+cis+.
Depending on the key and context of the note
Lily will determine what accidentals to typeset.

A reminder accidental can be forced by
using an exclamation mark \verb+!+
on a pitch a reminder accidental
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
cis d e cis | c! d e c |
\end{mudela}

\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
\meter 2/4;
\bar "|:"; c c \bar ":|:"; c c \bar ":|"; c c \bar "|."; 
\end{mudela}

\section{Chords and Voices}

Here's a simple chord
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
<c e g>
\end{mudela}

here are a few
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
<
        { c()d()c }
        { e()f()e }
        { g()a()g }
>
\end{mudela}

and similarly voices
\begin[fragment,verbatim,center]{mudela}
<
        { \voiceone c g c g }
        { \voicetwo 'c2 'g2 }
>
\end{mudela}


\section{A complete example}
%\label{se:complete}

A Mudela file needs some red tape

\begin[verbatim,center]{mudela}
\score{
        \melodic {
                \octave c';
                c d e c |
                c d e c |
                e f g2 |
        }
}
\end{mudela}

\section{Lyrics}

\begin[verbatim,center]{mudela}
\score{
        < 
                \melodic{ 
                        \octave c'; 
                        c d e c | c d e c |
                        e f g2 | e4 f g2
                        \bar "|.";
                }
                \type Lyrics \lyric{ 
                        Fr\`e-4 re Ja- que
                        Fr\`e- re Ja- que
                        Dor- mez vous?2
                        Dor-4 mez vous?2
                }
        >
}
\end{mudela}

\section{Variables}


\section{Ly2dvi}
Check-out this handy little script 
that not only may save you quite some keystrokes,
but produces titles and takes care of
margins and (hopefully) papersizes.
See \file{ly2dvi (1)}.

\chapter{Input format reference}

October 8, 1997

This document describes the the GNU LilyPond input format, which is an
effective language for defining music.  We call this language (rather
arrogantly) The Musical Definition Language or Mudela, for
short.\footnote{If anybody comes up with a better name, we'd gladly
  take this. Gourlay already uses Musical Description Language,
  G-Sharp Score Definition Language.  ISO standard 10743 defines a
  Standard Music Description Language.  We're not being original here}

The first aim of Mudela is to define a piece of music, being complete
from both from a musical typesetting, as from a musical performing
point of view.

The Musical Definition Language (Mudela), has a logical structure,
making use of identifiers, that allows for flexible input, and
definition reuse. See \file{MANIFESTO} for reasons and design considerations.

The below included for explanatory purposes only (i.e., for a complete
and up-to-date definition, see \file{lily/parser.y} and
\file{lily/lexer.l}):

As a related note, you should take a look at the examples and the init
files, as this document does not cover every aspect of mudela yet, and
may be out of date.\footnote{Ok, I am being pessimistic here.  This
  just is a disclaimer.  Docs usually are written after the program
  itself.}  This document intends to give an idea of how it works, it
is not a guide on how to use it.  


\section{Basic elements}

\subsection{Files}

The de-facto extension of Mudela is \file{.ly}. Files may be included by
entering \verb+\include+ at the start of a line:

\begin{verbatim}
\include "a_file.ly"
\end{verbatim}


\subsection{Comments}

Line comments are introduced by a
\verb+%+. 
Block comments are delimited
by 
\verb+%{+ 
and
\verb+%}+. 
They do not nest.

\subsection{Versions}

Occasionally, small changes in syntax across different versions of
Mudela might give syntax errors. To warn you about possible
incompatibilities, you can specify the Mudela version for which the
inputfile was written,
\begin{verbatim}
\version "0.0.50";
\end{verbatim}

A perl-script which tries to convert to newer versions
(\file{convert-mudela}) is included in the LilyPond distribution.

\subsection{Words}

Keywords are preceded by a backslash: \verb+\+. They contain
alphabetic characters only.

Identifiers in their normal form consist start with a backslash, a
alpha character, followed by alpha-numerics. Identifiers can contain
any characters (except whitespace, 
 and \verb+%+), if you use this construct:

\begin{verbatim}
\$i'm_a_weird!!!identifier
\end{verbatim}

(which is the identifier with the name
\verb+i'm_a_weird!!!identifier+).  \verb+$+ Takes any sequence of
characters which are not whitespace, \verb+$+ and \verb+%+.
\verb+$i'm_a_weird!!!string+
\def\foobar{$} % silly fontlock mode 

\subsection{Nesting characters}

Mudela uses the brace (\verb+{+ and \verb+}+) for most hierarchical
structures.  For chords the \verb+<+ and the \verb+>+ are used as
nesting braces.

\subsection{Constants}

Please note that -.5 is not a Real.

\begin{verbatim}
"I am a string"
-1.2e3          % a real
12              % an int
\end{verbatim}

        
\subsection{Identifiers}

When assigning identifiers you use

\begin{verbatim}
string = ...
\end{verbatim}

If you reuse identifiers, then the previous contents will be thrown
away after the right hand is evaluated, eg
\begin{verbatim}
bla = \melodic { \bla }
\end{verbatim}
is legal

When using identifiers they have to be escaped:

\begin{verbatim}
oboe = \melodic { ... }
\score{ \melodic { \oboe }}
\end{verbatim}

The left-hand part of the assignment is really a string, so 
\begin{verbatim}
"Foo bar 4 2 " = \melodic { .. }
\end{verbatim}

is also a valid assignment (but you would have trouble referencing to it)


\subsection{Hierarchical structures}

The general structure consists of declarations:
\begin{verbatim}
IDENTIFIER = \TYPE{
        <type specific data>
}
\end{verbatim}
and instantiations:

\begin{verbatim}
\TYPE{ <type specific data> }
\end{verbatim}

(Currently, \verb+\score+ is the only type that can be instantiated
at top level. Currently declarations can only be done at top level)

Most instantiations that use an IDENTIFIER are specified as follows:

\begin{verbatim}
\TYPE{ IDENTIFIER [...] }
\end{verbatim}

Some exceptions on this rule have been made to prevent inputting
Mudela becoming tedious


\subsection{Modes:}

To simplify different aspects of music definition (entering the notes
and manipulating them) Mudela has a number of different input "modes":

\begin{description}


\item[Normal mode]

At the start of parsing, Mudela assumes normal mode.
In Normal mode, a word is looked up in the following order:
\begin{description}
\item{\verb+word+}    string
\item{\verb|"string"|} string
\item{\verb|\word|} keyword, identifier
\end{description}
In normal mode, a word is assumed to start with an alphabetic
character, followed by alpha-numeric characters.

\item[Note mode] Note mode is introduced by the keyword
  \verb+\melodic+.  In Note mode, a word is looked up in the following
  order:
\begin{description}
\item{\verb+word+} notename, string
\item{\verb|"string"|} string
\item{\verb|\word|} keyword, identifier
\end{description}

In Note mode a word is considered to have alphabetic characters only,
so the underscore (\_) is illegal.  If you accidently mistype a
notename, the parser will assume that you are entering a string (and
it will most likely complain that you should be in \verb|\lyrics| mode to
do lyrics)


\item[Lyric mode] Lyrics mode (and thus Simple mudela) is introduced
  by the keyword \verb+\lyrics+.  Because of the various control
  characters that can appear in lyrics, eg, ``foreign language''
  accents, the inputting a string containing these has been made very
  easy.

In Lyrics mode, a word is looked up in the following order:
\begin{description}
\item{\verb+word+}    string (thus a lyric)
\item{\verb|"string"|} string
\item{\verb|\word|} keyword, identifier
\end{description}

In Lyric mode every sequence of non-digit and non-white characters
starting with an alphabetic character or the \_ is considered a word.

\begin{verbatim}
a&@&@&TSI|{[    % a word
1THtrhortho     % not a "word"
Leise Fl\"u\ss{}teren meine Sapfe       % 4 words
_ _ _ _         % 4 words: 4 spaces
\end{verbatim}
\end{description}

These modes are of a lexical nature. Normal and Note mode largely
resemble each other, save the possibility of entering Reals, 
meaning of \verb+_+ and the resolution of words

\subsection{Notes}

You enter a note by giving the name and the reciprocal of the duration:

\begin[fragment,verbatim]{mudela}
a'4     % Dutch names
\end{mudela}

is a A-1 pitched crotchet. The ' signifies an octave change.  A-1 is 440
Hz concert-pitch. \verb+c'+ is also known as the central c. More examples:

\begin[fragment,verbatim]{mudela}
        'a      % 110
        a       % 220
        A       % 110, uppercase octavates down
        a'      % 440
        a''     % 880
        'as4.*2/3
\end{mudela}

The last one  is an A flat, (just below 110 Hz concert-pitch). The \verb+*2/3+
signifies that this note is part of a triplet (3 in stead of 2). The
duration is one and a half quarter note (\verb+4.+) times 2/3.

Notenames are just a special kind of identifiers, and can be declared
for any language appropriate (see \file{init/dutch.ly}).  The default language
for notenames is defined to be Dutch. In Dutch, the notenames are
a,b,c,d,e,f and g. Sharps are formed by adding the extension "is",
flats by adding ``es''

\begin{verbatim}
% double sharp
cisis disis eisis fisis gisis aisis bisis
% sharps
cis dis eis fis gis ais bis
% naturals
c d e f g a b 
% flats
ces des es fes ges as bes
% double flats
ceses deses eses feses geses ases beses
\end{verbatim}

Rests are named r or s
\begin{verbatim}
r       % print a rest
s       % a "space" rest, nothing is printed.
\end{verbatim}

These notenames along with duration are enough material to construct
simple melodies:

\begin[verbatim,fragment]{mudela}
\octave c';
c4 c4 g4 g4 a4 a4 g2
f4 f4 e4 e4 d4 d4 c2
\end{mudela}

Music is able to express more. generally speaking, the other
'features' are either connected between notes (slurs, beams: spanning
requests) or attached to notes (eg. accents). The former are
implemented as START and STOP stop features and then attached to the note.

\begin{description}
\item{[ and ]}      start and stop a beam
\item{( and )}      start and stop a slur
\end{description}

example: 
\begin[verbatim,fragment]{mudela}
  \octave c';
  [c8 () d8 () e8  
  e8(] [)g8 <c'8] e'8>              % NO nesting!
  [2/3 c8 c8 c8]1/1       % a triplet
\end{mudela}

Please note that these two characters do \emph{not} necessarrily nest,
they should be attached to the note.  For this reason, the construct
\verb+[ <c4 c4>]+ will generate a parse error.
  
\subsection{Slurs and Ties}

Ties connect the noteheads of adjacent notes. They are entered as follows:

\begin[verbatim,fragment]{mudela}
a'4 ~ a''4
\end{mudela}

Slurs connect whole chords, and try to avoid crossing stems. They are
entered as follows:

\begin[verbatim,fragment]{mudela}
a'4(  )a''4
\end{mudela}

\subsection{Scripts}

Symbols which can be put at either side (above or below) of a staff
are entered as follows:
\begin[verbatim,fragment]{mudela}
        a-^     % marcato, direction: default
        %a^-     % portato, direction: above note
        a_.     % staccato, direction: below note
        a^\fermata      % predefined identifier
        c_"marcato"     % add a text
        c^"marcato"
        c-"marcato"
\end{mudela}

If you want to define your own scripts refer to \file{init/script.ly} for
details.


Dynamics can be put after the notename:
\begin{verbatim}
a4 \dynamic { 0 } % 0 = fff, 7 = ppp
\end{verbatim}

Mudela defines the following dynamic identifiers:

\begin{verbatim}
ppp pp p mp mf f ff fff sfz fz fp
\end{verbatim}
and the following abbreviations:
\begin{verbatim}
\<      %start crescendo
\>      % start decrescendo
\!      % end crescendo/decrescendo
\end{verbatim}

\subsection{Defaults}

If omit the duration of a note, a default value is substituted. For
this default value mudela uses the last duration explicitly entered.

Thus the following inputs are  equivalent
\begin{verbatim}
c4 c4 c16 c16 c16 s16 c4 c16
c4 c c16 c c c c4 c16
\end{verbatim}

If you are typing music which does not lie in the "small" and "large"
octave, you can prevent having to type \verb+'+ all the time by using the
\verb+\octave+ command: These two lines have the same pitch.
\begin{verbatim}
c'' d'' e'' c d e c d e
\octave c''; c d e ''c ''d ''e \octave c; c d e
\end{verbatim}

By default the setting of \verb+\octave+ is 0.

\subsection{Lyrics}

Lyrics in Mudela resemble Simple mudela a lot, with notes substituted
by text. 

All syllables are entered separately, separated by whitespace 
\begin{verbatim}
Twin-4 kle4 twin-4 kle4 ... 
\end{verbatim}

Two syllables or words that compose a single
duration entry are bound together using an underscore 
\begin{verbatim}
He_could4 not4
\end{verbatim}

\section{Composition: forming bigger structures}

The previous examples tacitly assumed that a sequence of notes is
printed in a left to right manner. This is not entirely correct, you
will get the bigger picture in this section. 

In mathematics you can form expressions by combining expressions,
which are ultimately some kind of atom or terminal symbol.  The same
goes for mudela: there are some basic building blocks, and by
combining those you create complex music.

You can combine music in three ways:
\begin{itemize}
\item If you enclose a sequence of music-elements in braces ( \verb+{+
    and \verb+}+ ), then you form another kind of music called (Voice) with those pieces.
  The duration of the Voice is the sum of the durations of its elements
\begin{verbatim}
{ c c g g a a g2 }      % twinkle twinkle
{ { c c g g} { a a g2 } }
\end{verbatim}
\item You can stack music by enclosing a sequence of music elements
  with \verb+<+ and \verb+>+. This is called a Chord.  The duration of a Chord is
  the union of the durations of its elements Example:
\begin{verbatim}
<a4 {cis8 cis8} e'4>      % a-major chord
\end{verbatim}
\item 
  You can form music by transposing music:
\begin{verbatim}
\transpose  
                d       % from c to the d that's one octave down
                { e4 f4 }       % the horizontal music
\end{verbatim}
\end{itemize}

Of course you can also combine these three mechanisms.
\begin{verbatim}
{ c <c e> <c e g> <c e g \transpose d' dis > }  % 4 increasing chords
\end{verbatim}

The basic building block in Mudela is called Request. Examples of
Requests are: Timing (such as Meter), Rhythmic, Melodic, Note (which is a combination of
Rhythmic and Melodic), Musicscript (put an accent over a note or
rest), etc.  For the actual up to date listing, you should consult the
LilyPond source code: the Request types form a big class hierarchy.

Normally you don't enter Requests directly, since that would be
tedious.  Mudela has standard abbreviations for the most common
combination of Requests. If you enter \verb+c4+, this is an
abbreviation for:
\begin{verbatim}
Request_chord{
  Note_req{
    notename: 0 acc: 0 oct: -1
    duration { 4}
  }
  Stem_req{
    duration { 4}
  }  
}
\end{verbatim}

The \verb+Request_chord+ is a special kind of chord which only allows
Requests as its elements.  The examples of the previous section were
processed with \verb+{+ and \verb+}+ enclosing the input.

\subsection{Durations}

A duration always starts with the duration type (1,2,4 etc), and then
any optional multipliers/dots.  Old fashioned durations can be entered
as follows
\begin{verbatim}
'c\breve
gis'\longa
\end{verbatim}


        
\subsection{Meters/groupings}

A meter has this form:
\begin{verbatim}
\meter 3/4 ;
\end{verbatim}

Rhythmic grouping is  a concept closely associated with this. For
example, in a 5/8 meter, the counts are grouped 2+3. In mudela this is
entered as
\begin{verbatim}
\grouping  8*2 8*3 ;
\end{verbatim}
You can start the piece with a partial measure, the command takes the
same syntax as grouping: 
\begin{verbatim}
\partial 16*3 4;
\end{verbatim}

Make the piece start with a upstep [english translation?]
lasting 1 3/4 quarter notes.

These commands are also "voice elements", and constitute ``Music''
(consisting of stuff with duration 0).


\subsection{Voicegroups}


[OUTDATED]

If more than one "voice" is in a staff, then you have the option of
putting the different voices into so called voicegroups: members of
the same voicegroup share certain characteristics, among others:

        - dynamics
        - text
        - beams and stems
        - scripts

For the actual list, see the init file \file{init/register.ly}

Putting different musical lines in to the same voicegroup effectively
makes LilyPond try to form chords of all those lines. Putting
different musical lines in to different voicegroups effectively makes
LilyPond try to set those lines as independently as possible. 

[adsolete. Has to be fixed in lily]

You can set the voicegroup of a voice with the command \verb+\group+, e.g.,

\begin{verbatim}        
        oboeI = \melodic { 
                \group "oboes"; 
                [e8 f8
                \group "+solo";
                [g16 a16 g16 fis16]
                \group "-";
                g8 f8
        }
        oboeII = \melodic { \group "oboes";
                c8 d8]
                e4
                e8 d8
        }
        ///     ...

        \staff { 
                melodicregs \melodic{ oboeI }
                \melodic { oboeII}
}
\end{verbatim}

In this example, the two oboe voices share one staff and are initially
in the voicegroup called "oboes". They will share beams, dynamics etc.
After two quarter notes, oboeI "pushes" its group: a new voicegroup is
created, called "oboes+solo". The \verb+\group "-"+ command makes the
voice enter "oboes" again.

Please do note that [] are voicegroup wide; the previous input is
valid: the beam, started in oboeI, voicegroup "oboes" is also ended in
voicegroup "oboes", albeit not in oboeI but oboeII

This concept may seem contorted, but it allows you to set the separate
oboe parts without changing the \verb+oboeI+ and \verb+oboeII+ (assuming that
you edit the [] in the example.)

The construct
\begin{verbatim}
< { .... } {......} >
\end{verbatim}
makes a chord (all horizontal parts are in the same voicegroup). The construct
\begin{verbatim}
\multi 2 < { ....} { .... } >
\end{verbatim}
creates horizontal parts which behave independently. You will have to
set voicegroup features by hand (\verb+\stem+ and \verb+\hshift+. See examples)

The construct
\begin{verbatim}
\multi 3 < { ....} { .... } >
\end{verbatim}
creates  a chord with each part in a different staff


\subsection{Examples}

Examples are included with the GNU LilyPond distribution. For the sake of
maintenance no long examples are included in this document.


\section{History}

This language has a number of roots. First and foremost, GNU
LilyPond's predecessor mpp was the inspiration of the Note-mode input.
Secondly, the hierarchical structure looks a lot like Rayce's (Rayce
is a raytracer that I've written as a hobby project. ), which in turn
owes a lot to POVRay.

Now, we know, musictypesetting and raytracing do not necessarily
require the same input format, and we know that a lot more ways exist
to convert music to ASCII, but we did give this language some
thoughts. As always suggestions are appreciated.

\end{document}