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14 @chapter Tweaking output
16 This chapter discusses how to modify output. LilyPond is extremely
17 configurable; virtually every fragment of output may be changed.
22 * The Internals Reference manual::
23 * Appearance of objects::
24 * Placement of objects::
25 * Collisions of objects::
30 @section Tweaking basics
33 * Introduction to tweaks::
34 * Objects and interfaces::
35 * Naming conventions of objects and properties::
39 @node Introduction to tweaks
40 @subsection Introduction to tweaks
42 @q{Tweaking} is a LilyPond term for the various methods available
43 to the user for modifying the actions taken during interpretation
44 of the input file and modifying the appearance of the printed
45 output. Some tweaks are very easy to use; others are more
46 complex. But taken together the methods available for tweaking
47 permit almost any desired appearance of the printed music to be
50 In this section we cover the basic concepts required to understand
51 tweaking. Later we give a variety of ready-made commands which can
52 simply be copied to obtain the same effect in your own scores, and
53 at the same time we show how these commands may be constructed so
54 that you may learn how to develop your own tweaks.
56 Before starting on this Chapter you may wish to review the section
57 @ref{Contexts and engravers}, as Contexts, Engravers, and the
58 Properties contained within them are fundamental to understanding
59 and constructing Tweaks.
61 @node Objects and interfaces
62 @subsection Objects and interfaces
68 @cindex properties, object
69 @cindex object properties
71 @cindex object, layout
74 Tweaking involves modifying the internal operation and structures
75 of the LilyPond program, so we must first introduce some terms
76 which are used to describe those internal operations and
79 The term @q{Object} is a generic term used to refer to the
80 multitude of internal structures built by LilyPond during the
81 processing of an input file. So when a command like @code{\new
82 Staff} is encountered a new object of type @code{Staff} is
83 constructed. That @code{Staff} object then holds all the
84 properties associated with that particular staff, for example, its
85 name and its key signature, together with details of the engravers
86 which have been assigned to operate within that staff's context.
87 Similarly, there are objects to hold the properties of all other
88 contexts, such as @code{Voice} objects, @code{Score} objects,
89 @code{Lyrics} objects, as well as objects to represent all
90 notational elements such as bar lines,
91 note heads, ties, dynamics, etc. Every object has its own set of
94 Some types of object are given special names. Objects which represent
95 items of notation on the printed output such as note heads, stems,
96 slurs, ties, fingering, clefs, etc are called @q{Layout objects},
97 often known as @q{Graphical Objects}, or @q{Grobs} for short. These
98 are still objects in the generic sense above, and so they too all have
99 properties associated with them, such as their position, size, color,
102 Some layout objects are still more specialized. Phrasing slurs,
103 crescendo hairpins, ottava marks, and many other grobs are not
104 localized in a single place -- they have a starting point, an
105 ending point, and maybe other properties concerned with their
106 shape. Objects with an extended shape like these are called
109 It remains to explain what @q{Interfaces} are. Many objects, even
110 though they are quite different, share common features which need to
111 be processed in the same way. For example, all grobs have a color, a
112 size, a position, etc, and all these properties are processed in the
113 same way during LilyPond's interpretation of the input file. To
114 simplify these internal operations these common actions and properties
115 are grouped together in an object called a @code{grob-interface}.
116 There are many other groupings of common properties like this, each
117 one given a name ending in @code{interface}. In total there are over
118 100 such interfaces. We shall see later why this is of interest and
121 These, then, are the main terms relating to objects which we
122 shall use in this chapter.
124 @node Naming conventions of objects and properties
125 @subsection Naming conventions of objects and properties
127 @cindex naming conventions for objects
128 @cindex naming conventions for properties
129 @cindex objects, naming conventions
130 @cindex properties, naming conventions
132 We met some object naming conventions previously, in
133 @ref{Contexts and engravers}. Here for reference is a list
134 of the most common object and property types together with
135 the conventions for naming them and a couple of examples of
136 some real names. We have used @q{A} to stand for any capitalized
137 alphabetic character and @q{aaa} to stand for any number of
138 lower-case alphabetic characters. Other characters are used
141 @multitable @columnfractions .33 .33 .33
142 @headitem Object/property type
143 @tab Naming convention
146 @tab Aaaa or AaaaAaaaAaaa
147 @tab Staff, GrandStaff
149 @tab Aaaa or AaaaAaaaAaaa
152 @tab Aaaa_aaa_engraver
153 @tab Clef_engraver, Note_heads_engraver
155 @tab aaa-aaa-interface
156 @tab grob-interface, break-aligned-interface
157 @item Context Properties
158 @tab aaa or aaaAaaaAaaa
159 @tab alignAboveContext, skipBars
160 @item Layout Object Properties
161 @tab aaa or aaa-aaa-aaa
162 @tab direction, beam-thickness
165 As we shall see shortly, the properties of different types of object are
166 modified by different commands, so it is useful to be able to recognize
167 the types of objects and properties from their names.
170 @node Tweaking methods
171 @subsection Tweaking methods
173 @cindex tweaking methods
176 * The \override command::
177 * The \revert command::
179 * The \overrideProperty command::
180 * The \tweak command::
183 @node The \override command
184 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{\override} command
186 @cindex override command
187 @cindex override syntax
191 We have already met the commands @code{\set} and @code{\with}, used to
192 change the properties of @strong{contexts} and to remove and add
193 @strong{engravers}, in @ref{Modifying context properties}, and
194 @ref{Adding and removing engravers}. We must now introduce some more
197 The command to change the properties of @strong{layout objects} is
198 @code{\override}. Because this command has to modify
199 internal properties deep within LilyPond its syntax is not
200 as simple as the commands you have used so far. It needs to
201 know precisely which property of which object in which context
202 has to be modified, and what its new value is to be. Let's see
205 The general syntax of this command is:
208 \override @var{Context}.@var{LayoutObject}.@var{layout-property} = #@var{value}
212 This will set the property with the name @var{layout-property} of the
213 layout object with the name @var{LayoutObject}, which is a member of
214 the @var{Context} context, to the value @var{value}.
216 The @var{Context} may be omitted (and usually is) when the
217 required context is unambiguously implied and is one of lowest
218 level contexts, i.e., @code{Voice}, @code{ChordNames} or
219 @code{Lyrics}, and we shall omit it in many of the following
220 examples. We shall see later when it must be specified.
222 Later sections deal comprehensively with properties and their
223 values, see @ref{Types of properties}. But in this section we shall
224 use just a few simple properties and values which are easily
225 understood in order to illustrate the format and use of these
228 LilyPond's primary expressions are musical items like notes,
229 durations, and markups. More basic expressions like numbers,
230 strings, and lists are processed in @q{Scheme mode}, which is
231 invoked by prefixing the value with @samp{#}. Although the
232 values may sometimes have a valid representation in LilyPond's
233 musical mode, this manual will always use @samp{#} for their
234 entry for the sake of consistency. For more information about
235 Scheme mode, see @rextend{LilyPond Scheme syntax}.
237 @code{\override} is the most common command used in tweaking, and
238 most of the rest of this chapter will be directed to presenting
239 examples of how it is used. Here is a simple example to change the
240 color of the note head:
242 @cindex color property, example
243 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
245 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
248 \override NoteHead.color = #red
250 \override NoteHead.color = #green
256 @node The \revert command
257 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{\revert} command
259 @cindex revert command
263 Once overridden, the property retains its new value until it is
264 overridden again or a @code{\revert} command is encountered.
265 The @code{\revert} command has the following syntax and causes
266 the value of the property to revert to its original default
267 value; note, not its previous value if several @code{\override}
268 commands have been issued.
271 \revert @var{Context}.@var{LayoutObject}.@var{layout-property}
274 Again, just like @var{Context} in the @code{\override} command,
275 @var{Context} is often not needed. It will be omitted
276 in many of the following examples. Here we revert the color
277 of the note head to the default value for the final two notes:
279 @cindex color property, example
280 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
282 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
285 \override NoteHead.color = #red
287 \override NoteHead.color = #green
289 \revert NoteHead.color
295 @node The \once prefix
296 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{\once} prefix
300 Both the @code{\override} and the @code{\set} commands may be prefixed
301 by @code{\once}. This causes the following @code{\override} or
302 @code{\set} command to be effective only during the current musical
303 moment before the property reverts back to its previous value (this can
304 be different from the default if another @code{\override} is still in
305 effect). Using the same example, we can change the color of a single
308 @cindex color property, example
309 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
311 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
313 \override NoteHead.color = #red
315 \once \override NoteHead.color = #green
317 \revert NoteHead.color
322 @node The \overrideProperty command
323 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{\overrideProperty} command
325 @cindex overrideProperty command
327 @funindex \overrideProperty
329 There is another form of the override command,
330 @code{\overrideProperty}, which is occasionally required.
331 We mention it here for completeness, but for details see
332 @rextend{Difficult tweaks}.
333 @c Maybe explain in a later iteration -td
336 @node The \tweak command
337 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{\tweak} command
339 @cindex tweak command
343 The final tweaking command which is available is @code{\tweak}. This
344 should be used when several objects occur at the same musical moment,
345 but you only want to change the properties of selected ones, such as a
346 single note within a chord. Using @code{\override} would affect all the
347 notes within a chord, whereas @code{\tweak} affects just the following
348 item in the input stream.
350 Here's an example. Suppose we wish to change the size of the
351 middle note head (the E) in a C major chord. Let's first see what
352 @code{\once \override} would do:
354 @cindex font-size property, example
355 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
357 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
360 \once \override NoteHead.font-size = #-3
366 We see the override affects @emph{all} the note heads in the chord.
367 This is because all the notes of a chord occur at the same
368 @emph{musical moment}, and the action of @code{\once} is to
369 apply the override to all layout objects of the type specified
370 which occur at the same musical moment as the @code{\override}
373 The @code{\tweak} command operates in a different way. It acts on
374 the immediately following item in the input stream. In its simplest
375 form, it is effective only on objects which are created directly
376 from the following item, essentially note heads and articulations.
378 So to return to our example, the size of the middle note of
379 a chord would be changed in this way:
381 @cindex font-size property, example
382 @cindex @code{\tweak}, example
384 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
387 <c \tweak font-size #-3 e g>4
391 Note that the syntax of @code{\tweak} is different from that of the
392 @code{\override} command. The context should not be specified; in
393 fact, it would generate an error to do so. Both context and layout
394 object are implied by the following item in the input stream. Note
395 also that an equals sign should not be present. So the simple form
396 of the @code{\tweak} command is
399 \tweak @var{layout-property} #@var{value}
402 A @code{\tweak} command can also be used to modify just one in
403 a series of articulations, as shown here:
405 @cindex color property, example
406 @cindex @code{\tweak}, example
408 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
410 -\tweak color #red ^"Red"
411 -\tweak color #green _"Green"
415 Note that the @code{\tweak} command must be preceded by an articulation
416 mark since the tweaked expression needs to be applied as an articulation
417 itself. In case of multiple direction overrides (@code{^} or @code{_}),
418 the leftmost override wins since it is applied last.
420 @cindex @code{\tweak}, Accidental
421 @cindex @code{\tweak}, specific layout object
423 Objects such as stems and accidentals are created later, and not
424 directly from the following event. It is still possible to use
425 @code{\tweak} on such indirectly created objects by explicitly naming
426 the layout object, provided that LilyPond can trace its origin back to
429 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
430 <\tweak Accidental.color #red cis''4
431 \tweak Accidental.color #green es''
435 This long form of the @code{\tweak} command can be described as
438 \tweak @var{layout-object}.@var{layout-property} @var{value}
441 @cindex tuplets, nested
442 @cindex triplets, nested
443 @cindex bracket, tuplet
444 @cindex bracket, triplet
445 @cindex tuplet bracket
446 @cindex triplet bracket
448 @funindex TupletBracket
450 The @code{\tweak} command must also be used to change the
451 appearance of one of a set of nested tuplets which begin at the
452 same musical moment. In the following example, the long tuplet
453 bracket and the first of the three short brackets begin at the
454 same musical moment, so any @code{\override} command would apply
455 to both of them. In the example, @code{\tweak} is used to
456 distinguish between them. The first @code{\tweak} command
457 specifies that the long tuplet bracket is to be placed above the
458 notes and the second one specifies that the tuplet number is to be
459 printed in red on the first short tuplet bracket.
461 @cindex @code{\tweak}, example
462 @cindex direction property, example
463 @cindex color property, example
465 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
470 \tuplet 3/2 { c8[ c c] }
471 \tuplet 3/2 { c8[ c c] }
472 \tuplet 3/2 { c8[ c c] }
477 If nested tuplets do not begin at the same moment, their
478 appearance may be modified in the usual way with
479 @code{\override} commands:
481 @cindex text property, example
482 @cindex tuplet-number function, example
483 @cindex transparent property, example
484 @cindex TupletNumber, example of overriding
486 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
488 \tuplet 3/2 { c'8[ c c] }
489 \once \override TupletNumber.text = #tuplet-number::calc-fraction-text
493 \once \override TupletNumber.transparent = ##t
494 \tuplet 3/2 { c8[ c c] }
495 \tuplet 3/2 { c8[ c c] }
503 @ruser{The tweak command}.
506 @node The Internals Reference manual
507 @section The Internals Reference manual
509 @cindex Internals Reference
512 * Properties of layout objects::
513 * Properties found in interfaces::
514 * Types of properties::
517 @node Properties of layout objects
518 @subsection Properties of layout objects
520 @cindex properties of layout objects
521 @cindex properties of grobs
522 @cindex grobs, properties of
523 @cindex layout objects, properties of
524 @cindex Internals Reference manual
526 Suppose you have a slur in a score which, to your mind,
527 appears too thin and you'd like to draw it a little heavier.
528 How do you go about doing this? You know from the statements
529 earlier about the flexibility of LilyPond that such a thing
530 should be possible, and you would probably guess that an
531 @code{\override} command would be needed. But is there a
532 heaviness property for a slur, and if there is, how might it
533 be modified? This is where the Internals Reference manual
534 comes in. It contains all the information you might need to
535 construct this and all other @code{\override} commands.
537 Before we look at the Internals Reference a word of warning.
538 This is a @strong{reference} document, which means there is
539 little or no explanation contained within it: its purpose is
540 to present information precisely and concisely. This
541 means it might look daunting at first sight. Don't worry!
542 The guidance and explanation presented here will enable you
543 to extract the information from the Internals Reference for
544 yourself with just a little practice.
546 @cindex override example
547 @cindex Internals Reference, example of using
548 @cindex @code{\addlyrics} example
550 Let's use a concrete example with a simple fragment of real
553 @c Mozart, Die Zauberflöte Nr.7 Duett
555 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
560 r4 bes'8 bes[( g]) g |
561 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
565 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
570 Suppose now that we decide we would like the slurs to be a
571 little heavier. Is this possible? The slur is certainly a
572 layout object, so the question is, @q{Is there a property
573 belonging to a slur which controls the heaviness?} To answer
574 this we must look in the Internals Reference, or IR for short.
576 The IR for the version of LilyPond you are using may be found
577 on the LilyPond website at @uref{http://lilypond.org}. Go to the
578 documentation page and click on the Internals Reference link.
579 For learning purposes you should use the standard HTML version,
580 not the @q{one big page} or the PDF. For the next few
581 paragraphs to make sense you will need to actually do this
584 Under the heading @strong{Top} you will see five links. Select
585 the link to the @emph{Backend}, which is where information about
586 layout objects is to be found. There, under the heading
587 @strong{Backend}, select the link to @emph{All layout objects}.
588 The page that appears lists all the layout objects used in your
589 version of LilyPond, in alphabetic order. Select the link to
590 Slur, and the properties of Slurs are listed.
592 An alternative way of finding this page is from the Notation
593 Reference. On one of the pages that deals with slurs you may find a
594 link to the Internals Reference. This link will take you directly to
595 this page, but if you have an idea about the name of the layout object
596 to be tweaked, it is easier to go straight to the IR and search there.
598 This Slur page in the IR tells us first that Slur objects are created
599 by the Slur_engraver. Then it lists the standard settings. Browse
600 through them looking for a property that might control the heaviness of
601 slurs, and you should find
606 Line thickness, generally measured in line-thickness
609 This looks a good bet to change the heaviness. It tells us that
610 the value of @code{thickness} is a simple @emph{number},
611 that the default value is 1.2, and that the units are
612 in another property called @code{line-thickness}.
614 As we said earlier, there are few to no explanations in the IR,
615 but we already have enough information to try changing the
616 slur thickness. We see that the name of the layout object
617 is @code{Slur}, that the name of the property to change is
618 @code{thickness} and that the new value should be a number
619 somewhat larger than 1.2 if we are to make slurs thicker.
621 We can now construct the @code{\override} command by simply
622 substituting the values we have found for the names, omitting
623 the context. Let's use a very large value for the thickness
624 at first, so we can be sure the command is working. We get:
627 \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
630 Don't forget the@tie{}@code{#} preceding the new value!
632 The final question is, @q{Where should this command be
633 placed?} While you are unsure and learning, the best
634 answer is, @q{Within the music, before the first slur and
635 close to it.} Let's do that:
637 @cindex Slur example of overriding
638 @cindex thickness property, example
640 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
645 % Increase thickness of all following slurs from 1.2 to 5.0
646 \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
647 r4 bes'8 bes[( g]) g |
648 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
652 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
658 and we see that the slur is indeed heavier.
660 So this is the basic way of constructing @code{\override}
661 commands. There are a few more complications that we
662 shall meet in later sections, but you now know all the
663 essentials required to make up your own -- but you will
664 still need some practice. This is provided in the examples
667 @subsubsubheading Finding the context
669 @cindex context, finding
670 @cindex context, identifying correct
672 But first, what if we had needed to specify the Context?
673 What should it be? We could guess that slurs are in
674 the Voice context, as they are clearly closely associated
675 with individual lines of music, but can we be sure? To
676 find out, go back to the top of the IR page describing the
677 Slur, where it says @q{Slur objects are created by: Slur
678 engraver}. So slurs will be created in whichever context
679 the @code{Slur_engraver} is in. Follow the link to the
680 @code{Slur_engraver} page. At the very bottom it tells
681 us that @code{Slur_engraver} is part of seven Voice contexts,
682 including the standard voice context, @code{Voice}, so our
683 guess was correct. And because @code{Voice} is one of the
684 lowest level contexts which is implied unambiguously by
685 the fact that we are entering notes, we can omit it in this
688 @subsubsubheading Overriding once only
690 @cindex overriding once only
691 @cindex once override
695 As you can see, @emph{all} the slurs are thicker in the final example
696 above. But what if we wanted just the first slur to be thicker? This
697 is achieved with the @code{\once} command. Placed immediately before
698 the @code{\override} command it causes it to change only the slur
699 which begins on the @strong{immediately following} note. If the
700 immediately following note does not begin a slur the command has no
701 effect at all -- it is not remembered until a slur is encountered, it
702 is simply discarded. So the command with @code{\once} must be
703 repositioned as follows:
705 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
706 @cindex thickness property, example
708 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
714 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
715 \once \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
717 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
721 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
727 Now only the first slur is made heavier.
729 The @code{\once} command can also be used before the @code{\set}
732 @subsubsubheading Reverting
735 @cindex default properties, reverting to
739 Finally, what if we wanted just the first two slurs to be
740 heavier? Well, we could use two commands, each preceded by
741 @code{\once} placed immediately before each of the notes where
744 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
745 @cindex thickness property, example
747 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
753 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
754 \once \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
756 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
757 \once \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
758 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
762 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
768 or we could omit the @code{\once} command and use the @code{\revert}
769 command to return the @code{thickness} property to its default value
770 after the second slur:
772 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
773 @cindex thickness property, example
775 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
781 % Increase thickness of all following slurs from 1.2 to 5.0
782 \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
785 % Revert thickness of all following slurs to default of 1.2
786 \revert Slur.thickness
791 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
797 The @code{\revert} command can be used to return any property
798 changed with @code{\override} back to its default value.
799 You may use whichever method best suits what you want to do.
801 That concludes our introduction to the IR, and the basic
802 method of tweaking. Several examples follow in the later
803 sections of this Chapter, partly to introduce you to some of the
804 additional features of the IR, and partly to give you more
805 practice in extracting information from it. These examples will
806 contain progressively fewer words of guidance and explanation.
809 @node Properties found in interfaces
810 @subsection Properties found in interfaces
813 @cindex interface properties
814 @cindex properties in interfaces
816 Suppose now that we wish to print the lyrics in italics. What form of
817 @code{\override} command do we need to do this? We first look in the
818 IR page listing @q{All layout objects}, as before, and look for an
819 object that might control lyrics. We find @code{LyricText}, which
820 looks right. Clicking on this shows the settable properties for lyric
821 text. These include the @code{font-series} and @code{font-size}, but
822 nothing that might give an italic shape. This is because the shape
823 property is one that is common to all font objects, so, rather than
824 including it in every layout object, it is grouped together with other
825 similar common properties and placed in an @strong{Interface}, the
826 @code{font-interface}.
828 So now we need to learn how to find the properties of interfaces,
829 and to discover what objects use these interface properties.
831 Look again at the IR page which describes LyricText. At the bottom of
832 the page is a list of clickable interfaces which LyricText supports.
833 The list has several items, including @code{font-interface}. Clicking
834 on this brings up the properties associated with this interface, which
835 are also properties of all the objects which support it, including
838 Now we see all the user-settable properties which control fonts,
839 including @code{font-shape(symbol)}, where @code{symbol} can be
840 set to @code{upright}, @code{italics} or @code{caps}.
842 You will notice that @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} are also
843 listed there. This immediately raises the question: Why are the
844 common font properties @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} listed
845 under @code{LyricText} as well as under the interface
846 @code{font-interface} but @code{font-shape} is not? The answer is
847 that @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} are changed from their
848 global default values when a @code{LyricText} object is created, but
849 @code{font-shape} is not. The entries in @code{LyricText} then tell
850 you the values for those two properties which apply to
851 @code{LyricText}. Other objects which support @code{font-interface}
852 will set these properties differently when they are created.
854 Let's see if we can now construct the @code{\override} command
855 to change the lyrics to italics. The object is @code{LyricText},
856 the property is @code{font-shape} and the value is
857 @code{italic}. As before, we'll omit the context.
859 As an aside, although it is an important one, note that some
860 properties take values that are symbols, like @code{italic}, and
861 must be preceded by an apostrophe, @code{'}. Symbols are then
862 read internally by LilyPond. Note the distinction from arbitrary
863 text strings, which would appear as @code{"a text string"}; for
864 more details about symbols and strings, see @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
866 So we see that the @code{\override} command needed to print the lyrics
870 \override LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
874 This should be placed just in front of the lyrics we wish to affect,
877 @cindex font-shape property, example
878 @cindex italic, example
879 @cindex LyricText, example of overriding
880 @cindex @code{\addlyrics}, example
882 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
887 r4 bes'8 bes[( g]) g |
888 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
892 \override LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
893 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
899 and the lyrics are all printed in italics.
901 @warning{In lyrics always leave whitespace between the final
902 syllable and the terminating brace.}
906 Extending: @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
909 @node Types of properties
910 @subsection Types of properties
912 @cindex property types
914 So far we have seen two types of property: @code{number} and
915 @code{symbol}. To be valid, the value given to a property
916 must be of the correct type and obey the rules for that type.
917 The type of property is always shown in brackets after the
918 property name in the IR. Here is a list of the types you may
919 need, together with the rules for that type, and some examples.
920 You must always add a hash symbol, @code{#}, of course,
921 to the front of these values when they are entered in the
922 @code{\override} command, even if the value itself already
923 starts with@tie{}@code{#}. We only give examples for constants
924 here: if you want to compute a value using Scheme, see
925 @rextend{Calculations in Scheme}.
927 @multitable @columnfractions .2 .45 .35
928 @headitem Property type
932 @tab Either True or False, represented by #t or #f
933 @tab @code{#t}, @code{#f}
934 @item Dimension (in staff space)
935 @tab A decimal number (in units of staff space)
936 @tab @code{2.5}, @code{0.34}
938 @tab A valid direction constant or its numerical equivalent
939 (@code{0} or @code{CENTER} indicate a neutral direction)
940 @tab @code{LEFT}, @code{CENTER}, @code{UP},
941 @code{1}, @w{@code{-1}}
944 @tab @code{3}, @code{-1}
946 @tab A sequence of constants or symbols separated by spaces, enclosed
948 and preceded by an apostrophe (quote mark)
949 @tab @code{'(left-edge staff-bar)}, @code{'(1)}, @code{'()},
950 @code{'(1.0 0.25 0.5)}
952 @tab Any valid markup
953 @tab @code{\markup @{ \italic "cresc." @}}, @code{"bagpipe"}
955 @tab A fraction of a whole note constructed with the
957 @tab @code{(ly:make-moment 1/4)},
958 @code{(ly:make-moment 3/8)}
960 @tab Any positive or negative, possibly decimal, value
961 @tab @code{3}, @w{@code{-2.45}}
962 @item Pair (of numbers)
963 @tab Two numbers separated by a @q{space . space} and enclosed
964 in brackets preceded by an apostrophe
965 @tab @code{'(2 . 3.5)}, @code{'(0.1 . -3.2)}
967 @tab Any of the set of permitted symbols for that property,
968 preceded by an apostrophe
969 @tab @code{'italic}, @code{'inside}
971 @tab A procedure, or @code{#f} to cause no action
972 @tab @code{bend::print}, @code{ly:text-interface::print},
976 enclosed in @code{#(}@dots{}@code{)}.
977 @tab @code{#(#t #t #f)}
982 Extending: @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
985 @node Appearance of objects
986 @section Appearance of objects
988 Let us now put what we have learned into practice with a few
989 examples which show how tweaks may be used to change the
990 appearance of the printed music.
993 * Visibility and color of objects::
995 * Length and thickness of objects::
998 @node Visibility and color of objects
999 @subsection Visibility and color of objects
1001 In the educational use of music we might wish to print a score
1002 with certain elements omitted as an exercise for the student,
1003 who is required to supply them. As a simple example,
1004 let us suppose the exercise is to supply the missing bar lines
1005 in a piece of music. But the bar lines are normally inserted
1006 automatically. How do we prevent them printing?
1008 Before we tackle this, let us remember that object properties are
1009 grouped in what are called @emph{interfaces} -- see @ref{Properties
1010 found in interfaces}. This is simply to group together those
1011 properties that may be used together to tweak a graphical object -- if
1012 one of them is allowed for an object, so are the others. Some objects
1013 then use the properties in some interfaces, others use them from other
1014 interfaces. The interfaces which contain the properties used by a
1015 particular grob are listed in the IR at the bottom of the page
1016 describing that grob, and those properties may be viewed by looking at
1019 We explained how to find information about grobs in @ref{Properties of
1020 layout objects}. Using the same approach, we go to the IR to find the
1021 layout object which prints bar lines. Going via @emph{Backend} and
1022 @emph{All layout objects} we find there is a layout object called
1023 @code{BarLine}. Its properties include two that control its
1024 visibility: @code{break-visibility} and @code{stencil}. Barline also
1025 supports a number of interfaces, including the @code{grob-interface},
1026 where we find the @code{transparent} and the @code{color} properties.
1027 All of these can affect the visibility of bar lines (and, of course,
1028 by extension, many other layout objects too.) Let's consider each of
1032 * The stencil property::
1033 * The break-visibility property::
1034 * The transparent property::
1035 * The color property::
1038 @node The stencil property
1039 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{stencil} property
1041 @cindex stencil property
1043 This property controls the appearance of the bar lines by specifying
1044 the symbol (glyph) which should be printed. In common
1045 with many other properties, it can be set to print nothing by
1046 setting its value to @code{#f}. Let's try it, as before, omitting
1047 the implied Context, @code{Voice}:
1049 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1050 @cindex stencil property, example
1052 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1055 \override BarLine.stencil = ##f
1056 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1057 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1062 The bar lines are still printed. What is wrong? Go back to the IR
1063 and look again at the page giving the properties of BarLine. At the
1064 top of the page it says @qq{Barline objects are created by:
1065 Bar_engraver}. Go to the @code{Bar_engraver} page. At the bottom it
1066 gives a list of Contexts in which the bar engraver operates. All of
1067 them are of the type @code{Staff}, so the reason the @code{\override}
1068 command failed to work as expected is because @code{Barline} is not in
1069 the default @code{Voice} context. If the context is specified
1070 incorrectly, the command simply does not work. No error message is
1071 produced, and nothing is logged in the log file. Let's try correcting
1072 it by adding the correct context:
1074 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1075 @cindex stencil property, example
1077 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1080 \override Staff.BarLine.stencil = ##f
1081 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1082 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1087 Now the bar lines have vanished. Setting the @code{stencil}
1088 property to @code{#f} is such a frequent operation that there is a
1089 shorthand for it called @code{\omit}:
1092 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1096 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1097 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1102 Note, though, that setting the @code{stencil} property to @code{#f}
1103 will cause errors when the dimensions of the object are required for
1104 correct processing. For example, errors will be generated if the
1105 @code{stencil} property of the @code{NoteHead} object is set to
1106 @code{#f}. If this is the case, you can instead use the
1107 @code{point-stencil} function, which sets the stencil to an object
1110 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
1113 \once \override NoteHead.stencil = #point-stencil
1118 @node The break-visibility property
1119 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{break-visibility} property
1121 @cindex break-visibility property
1123 We see from the @code{BarLine} properties in the IR that the
1124 @code{break-visibility} property requires a vector of three booleans.
1125 These control respectively whether bar lines are printed at the end of
1126 a line, in the middle of lines, and at the beginning of lines. For
1127 our example we want all bar lines to be suppressed, so the value we
1128 need is @code{#(#f #f #f)} (also available
1129 under the name @code{all-invisible}). Let's try that, remembering to include
1130 the @code{Staff} context. Note also that in writing this value we
1131 have @code{##} before the opening parenthesis. One @code{#} is required
1132 as part of vector constant syntax, and the first@tie{}@code{#} is
1133 required, as always, to precede the value itself in the
1134 @code{\override} command.
1136 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1137 @cindex break-visibility property, example
1139 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1142 \override Staff.BarLine.break-visibility = ##(#f #f #f)
1143 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1144 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1149 And we see this too removes all the bar lines.
1151 @node The transparent property
1152 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{transparent} property
1154 @cindex transparent property
1155 @cindex transparency
1157 We see from the properties specified in the @code{grob-interface} page
1158 in the IR that the @code{transparent} property is a boolean. This
1159 should be set to @code{#t} to make the grob transparent. In this next
1160 example let us make the time signature invisible rather than the bar
1161 lines. To do this we need to find the grob name for the time
1162 signature. Back to the @q{All layout objects} page in the IR to find
1163 the properties of the @code{TimeSignature} layout object. This is
1164 produced by the @code{Time_signature_engraver} which you can check
1165 also lives in the @code{Staff} context and also supports the
1166 @code{grob-interface}. So the command to make the time signature
1169 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1170 @cindex transparent property, example
1172 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1175 \override Staff.TimeSignature.transparent = ##t
1176 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1177 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1183 Again, setting the @code{transparent} property is a rather
1184 frequent operation, so we have a shorthand for it called
1188 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1191 \hide Staff.TimeSignature
1192 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1193 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1199 In either case, the time signature is gone, but this command
1201 the time signature should be. Maybe this is what is wanted for
1202 an exercise for the student to fill it in, but in other
1203 circumstances a gap might be undesirable. To remove it, the
1204 stencil for the time signature should be set to @code{#f}
1207 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1208 @cindex stencil property, example
1210 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1213 \omit Staff.TimeSignature
1214 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1215 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1221 and the difference is obvious: setting the stencil to @code{#f}
1222 (possibly via @code{\omit})
1223 removes the object entirely; making the object @code{transparent}
1224 (which can be done using @code{\hide})
1225 leaves it where it is, but makes it invisible.
1227 @node The color property
1228 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{color} property
1230 @cindex color property
1232 Finally let us try making the bar lines invisible by coloring
1233 them white. (There is a difficulty with this in that the
1234 white bar line may or may not blank out the staff lines where
1235 they cross. You may see in some of the examples below that this
1236 happens unpredictably. The details of why this is so and how to
1237 control it are covered in @ruser{Painting objects white}. But at
1238 the moment we are learning about color, so please just accept this
1239 limitation for now.)
1241 The @code{grob-interface} specifies that the
1242 color property value is a list, but there is no
1243 explanation of what that list should be. The list it
1244 requires is actually a list of values in internal units,
1245 but, to avoid having to know what these are, several ways
1246 are provided to specify colors. The first way is to use one
1247 of the @q{normal} colors listed in the first table in
1248 @ruser{List of colors}. To set the bar lines to white
1251 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1252 @cindex color property, example
1254 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1257 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #white
1258 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1259 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1265 and again, we see the bar lines are not visible. Note that
1266 @emph{white} is not preceded by an apostrophe -- it is not
1267 a symbol, but a @emph{variable}. When evaluated, it provides
1268 the list of internal values required to set the color to
1269 white. The other colors in the normal list are variables
1270 too. To convince yourself this is working you might like
1271 to change the color to one of the other variables in the
1279 The second way of changing the color is to use the list of
1280 X11 color names in the second list in @ruser{List of colors}.
1281 However, these are mapped to the actual values by the function
1282 @code{x11-color} which
1283 converts X11 color symbols into the list of internal values like this:
1285 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1286 @cindex color property, example
1288 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1291 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #(x11-color 'white)
1292 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1293 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1299 Note that in this case the function @code{x11-color} takes
1300 a symbol as an argument, so the symbol must be preceded by
1301 an apostrophe to keep it from being evaluated as a variable, and
1302 the whole function call has to be enclosed in parentheses.
1309 There is another function, one which converts RGB values into
1310 internal colors -- the @code{rgb-color} function. This takes
1311 three arguments giving the intensities of the red, green and
1312 blue colors. These take values in the range 0 to 1. So to
1313 set the color to red the value should be @code{(rgb-color 1 0 0)}
1314 and to white it should be @code{(rgb-color 1 1 1)}:
1316 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1317 @cindex color property, example
1319 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1322 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #(rgb-color 1 1 1)
1323 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1324 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1329 Finally, there is also a grey scale available as part of the
1330 X11 set of colors. These range from black, @code{'grey0},
1331 to white, @code{'grey100}, in steps of 1. Let's illustrate
1332 this by setting all the layout objects in our example to
1333 various shades of grey:
1335 @cindex StaffSymbol, example of overriding
1336 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1337 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1338 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
1339 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
1340 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1341 @cindex color property, example
1342 @cindex x11-color, example of using
1344 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1347 \override Staff.StaffSymbol.color = #(x11-color 'grey30)
1348 \override Staff.TimeSignature.color = #(x11-color 'grey60)
1349 \override Staff.Clef.color = #(x11-color 'grey60)
1350 \override Voice.NoteHead.color = #(x11-color 'grey85)
1351 \override Voice.Stem.color = #(x11-color 'grey85)
1352 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #(x11-color 'grey10)
1353 c''4 b8 c d16 c d8 |
1354 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1360 Note the contexts associated with each of the layout objects.
1361 It is important to get these right, or the commands will not
1362 work! Remember, the context is the one in which the appropriate
1363 engraver is placed. The default context for engravers can be
1364 found by starting from the layout object, going from there to
1365 the engraver which produces it, and on the engraver page in the
1366 IR it tells you in which context the engraver will normally be
1370 @node Size of objects
1371 @subsection Size of objects
1373 @cindex changing size of objects
1374 @cindex size of objects
1375 @cindex objects, size of
1376 @cindex objects, changing size of
1378 Let us begin by looking again at the earlier example
1379 (see @ref{Nesting music expressions}) which showed
1380 how to introduce a new temporary staff, as in an @rglos{ossia}.
1382 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1383 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1385 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1386 \new Staff ="main" {
1393 alignAboveContext = #"main" }
1401 Ossia are normally written without clef and time signature, and
1402 are usually printed slightly smaller than the main staff. We
1403 already know now how to remove the clef and time signature --
1404 we simply set the stencil of each to @code{#f}, as follows:
1406 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1407 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1409 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1410 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1412 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1413 \new Staff ="main" {
1420 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1424 \omit Staff.TimeSignature
1434 where the extra pair of braces after the @code{\with} clause are
1435 required to ensure the enclosed overrides and music are applied
1438 But what is the difference between modifying the staff context by
1439 using @code{\with} and modifying the stencils of the clef and the
1440 time signature with @code{\override}, or in this case
1442 The main difference is that
1443 changes made in a @code{\with} clause are made at the time the
1444 context is created, and remain in force as the @strong{default}
1445 values for the duration of that context, whereas
1446 @code{\set} or @code{\override} commands embedded in the
1447 music are dynamic -- they make changes synchronized with
1448 a particular point in the music. If changes are unset or
1449 reverted using @code{\unset} or @code{\revert} they return to
1450 their default values, which will be the ones set in the
1451 @code{\with} clause, or if none have been set there, the normal
1454 Some context properties can be modified only in @code{\with} clauses.
1455 These are those properties which cannot sensibly be changed after the
1456 context has been created. @code{alignAboveContext} and its partner,
1457 @code{alignBelowContext}, are two such properties -- once the staff
1458 has been created its alignment is decided and it would make no sense
1459 to try to change it later.
1461 The default values of layout object properties can also be set
1462 in @code{\with} clauses. Simply use the normal @code{\override}
1463 command leaving out the context name, since this is unambiguously
1464 defined as the context which the @code{\with} clause is modifying.
1465 If fact, an error will be generated if a context is specified
1468 So we could replace the example above with
1470 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1471 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1472 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1473 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1475 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1476 \new Staff ="main" {
1483 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1484 % Don't print clefs in this staff
1485 \override Clef.stencil = ##f
1486 % Don't print time signatures in this staff
1487 \override TimeSignature.stencil = ##f
1496 It turns out that we can also employ the shorthands @code{\hide}
1497 and @code{\omit} for setting the @code{transparent} property and
1498 clearing the @code{stencil} here, leading to the result
1500 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1501 \new Staff ="main" {
1508 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1509 % Don't print clefs in this staff
1511 % Don't print time signatures in this staff
1521 Finally we come to changing the size of layout objects.
1523 Some layout objects are created as glyphs selected from a typeface
1524 font. These include note heads, accidentals, markup, clefs, time
1525 signatures, dynamics and lyrics. Their size is changed by modifying
1526 the @code{font-size} property, as we shall shortly see. Other layout
1527 objects such as slurs and ties -- in general, spanner objects -- are
1528 drawn individually, so there is no @code{font-size} associated with
1529 them. These objects generally derive their size from the objects to
1530 which they are attached, so usually there is no need to change their
1531 size manually. Still other properties such as the length of stems and
1532 bar lines, thickness of beams and other lines, and the separation of
1533 staff lines all need to be modified in special ways.
1535 Returning to the ossia example, let us first change the font-size.
1536 We can do this in two ways. We can either change the size of the
1537 fonts of each object type, like @code{NoteHead}s with commands
1541 \override NoteHead.font-size = #-2
1544 or we can change the size of all fonts by setting a special
1545 property, @code{fontSize}, using @code{\set}, or by including
1546 it in a @code{\with} clause (but without the @code{\set}).
1552 Both of these statements would cause the font size to be reduced
1553 by 2 steps from its previous value, where each
1554 step reduces or increases the size by approximately 12%.
1556 Let's try it in our ossia example:
1558 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1559 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1560 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1561 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1562 @cindex fontSize property, example
1564 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1565 \new Staff ="main" {
1572 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1575 % Reduce all font sizes by ~24%
1585 This is still not quite right. The note heads and flags are
1586 smaller, but the stems are too long in proportion and the
1587 staff lines are spaced too widely apart. These need to be
1588 scaled down in proportion to the font reduction. The next
1589 sub-section discusses how this is done.
1591 @node Length and thickness of objects
1592 @subsection Length and thickness of objects
1598 @cindex size, changing
1599 @cindex stem length, changing
1600 @cindex staff line spacing, changing
1602 Distances and lengths in LilyPond are generally measured in
1603 staff-spaces, the distance between adjacent lines in the staff,
1604 (or occasionally half staff spaces) while most @code{thickness}
1605 properties are measured in units of an internal property called
1606 @code{line-thickness.} For example, by default, the lines of
1607 hairpins are given a thickness of 1 unit of @code{line-thickness},
1608 while the @code{thickness} of a note stem is 1.3. Note, though,
1609 that some thickness properties are different; for example, the
1610 thickness of beams is controlled by the value of the
1611 @code{beam-thickness} property, which is measured in staff-spaces.
1613 So how are lengths to be scaled in proportion to the font size?
1614 This can be done with the help of a special function called
1615 @code{magstep} provided for exactly this purpose. It takes
1616 one argument, the change in font size (#-2 in the example above)
1617 and returns a scaling factor suitable for reducing other
1618 objects in proportion. It is used like this:
1620 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1621 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1622 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1623 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1624 @cindex fontSize property, example
1625 @cindex StaffSymbol, example of overriding
1626 @cindex magstep function, example of using
1627 @cindex staff-space property, example
1628 @cindex stencil property, example
1630 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1631 \new Staff ="main" {
1638 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1642 % Reduce stem length and line spacing to match
1643 \override StaffSymbol.staff-space = #(magstep -2)
1653 Since the length of stems and many other length-related properties are
1654 always calculated relative to the value of the @code{staff-space}
1655 property these are automatically scaled down in length too. Note that
1656 this affects only the vertical scale of the ossia -- the horizontal
1657 scale is determined by the layout of the main music in order to remain
1658 synchronized with it, so it is not affected by any of these changes in
1659 size. Of course, if the scale of all the main music were changed in
1660 this way then the horizontal spacing would be affected. This is
1661 discussed later in the layout section.
1663 This, then, completes the creation of an ossia. The sizes and
1664 lengths of all other objects may be modified in analogous ways.
1666 For small changes in scale, as in the example above, the
1667 thickness of the various drawn lines such as bar lines,
1668 beams, hairpins, slurs, etc does not usually require global
1669 adjustment. If the thickness of any particular layout object
1670 needs to be adjusted this can be best achieved by overriding its
1671 @code{thickness} property. An example of changing the thickness
1672 of slurs was shown above in @ref{Properties of layout objects}.
1673 The thickness of all drawn objects (i.e., those not produced
1674 from a font) may be changed in the same way.
1677 @node Placement of objects
1678 @section Placement of objects
1681 * Automatic behavior::
1682 * Within-staff objects::
1683 * Outside-staff objects::
1687 @node Automatic behavior
1688 @subsection Automatic behavior
1690 @cindex within-staff objects
1691 @cindex outside-staff objects
1692 @cindex objects, within-staff
1693 @cindex objects, outside-staff
1695 There are some objects in musical notation that belong to
1696 the staff and there are other objects that should be
1697 placed outside the staff. These are called within-staff
1698 objects and outside-staff objects respectively.
1700 Within-staff objects are those that are located on the staff
1701 -- note heads, stems, accidentals, etc. The positions of
1702 these are usually fixed by the music itself -- they are
1703 vertically positioned on specific lines of the staff or are
1704 tied to other objects that are so positioned. Collisions of
1705 note heads, stems and accidentals in closely set chords are
1706 normally avoided automatically. There are commands and
1707 overrides which can modify this automatic behavior, as we
1710 Objects belonging outside the staff include things such as
1711 rehearsal marks, text and dynamic markings. LilyPond's rule for
1712 the vertical placement of outside-staff objects is to place them
1713 as close to the staff as possible but not so close that they
1714 collide with any other object. LilyPond uses the
1715 @code{outside-staff-priority} property to determine the order in
1716 which the objects should be placed, as follows.
1718 First, LilyPond places all the within-staff objects.
1719 Then it sorts the outside-staff objects according to their
1720 @code{outside-staff-priority}. The outside-staff objects are
1721 taken one by one, beginning with the object with the lowest
1722 @code{outside-staff-priority}, and placed so that they do not
1723 collide with any objects that have already been placed. That is,
1724 if two outside-staff grobs are competing for the same space, the
1725 one with the lower @code{outside-staff-priority} will be placed
1726 closer to the staff. If two objects have the same
1727 @code{outside-staff-priority} the one encountered first will be
1728 placed closer to the staff.
1730 In the following example all the markup texts have the same
1731 priority (since it is not explicitly set). Note that @q{Text3}
1732 is automatically positioned close to the staff again, nestling
1735 @cindex markup example
1737 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
1744 Staves are also positioned, by default, as closely together as
1745 possible (subject to a minimum separation). If notes project
1746 a long way towards an adjacent staff they will force the
1747 staves further apart only if an overlap of the notation
1748 would otherwise occur. The following example demonstrates
1749 this @q{nestling} of the notes on adjacent staves:
1751 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1754 \relative { c'4 a, }
1757 \relative { c''''4 a, }
1763 @node Within-staff objects
1764 @subsection Within-staff objects
1766 We have already seen how the commands @code{\voiceXXX} affect the
1767 direction of slurs, ties, fingering and everything else which depends on
1768 the direction of the stems -- see @ref{Explicitly instantiating voices}.
1769 These commands are essential when writing polyphonic music to permit
1770 interweaving melodic lines to be distinguished. But occasionally it may
1771 be necessary to override this automatic behavior. This can be done for
1772 whole sections of music or even for an individual note. The property
1773 which controls this behavior is the @code{direction} property of each
1774 layout object. We first explain what this does, and then introduce a
1775 number of ready-made commands which avoid your having to code explicit
1776 overrides for the more common modifications.
1778 Some layout objects like slurs and ties curve, bend or point
1779 either up or down; others like stems and flags also move to
1780 right or left when they point up or down. This is controlled
1781 automatically when @code{direction} is set.
1784 * The direction property::
1788 @node The direction property
1789 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{direction} property
1796 The following example shows in bar 1 the default behavior of stems,
1797 with those on high notes pointing down and those on low notes pointing
1798 up, followed by four notes with all stems forced down, four notes with
1799 all stems forced up, and finally four notes reverted back to the
1802 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
1803 @cindex direction property, example
1805 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1807 \override Stem.direction = #DOWN
1809 \override Stem.direction = #UP
1811 \revert Stem.direction
1815 Here we use the constants @code{DOWN} and @code{UP}.
1816 These have the values @w{@code{-1}} and @code{+1} respectively, and
1817 these numerical values may be used instead. The value @code{0}
1818 may also be used in some cases. It is simply treated as meaning
1819 @code{UP} for stems, but for some objects it means @q{center}.
1820 There is a constant, @code{CENTER} which has the value @code{0}.
1822 However, these explicit overrides are not usually used, as there are
1823 simpler equivalent predefined commands available. Here is a table of
1824 the commonest. The meaning of each is stated where it is not obvious.
1826 @multitable @columnfractions .2 .2 .25 .35
1831 @item @code{\arpeggioArrowDown}
1832 @tab @code{\arpeggioArrowUp}
1833 @tab @code{\arpeggioNormal}
1834 @tab Arrow is at bottom, at top, or no arrow
1835 @item @code{\dotsDown}
1837 @tab @code{\dotsNeutral}
1838 @tab Direction of movement to avoid staff lines
1839 @item @code{\dynamicDown}
1840 @tab @code{\dynamicUp}
1841 @tab @code{\dynamicNeutral}
1843 @item @code{\phrasingSlurDown}
1844 @tab @code{\phrasingSlurUp}
1845 @tab @code{\phrasingSlurNeutral}
1846 @tab Note: distinct from slur commands
1847 @item @code{\slurDown}
1849 @tab @code{\slurNeutral}
1851 @item @code{\stemDown}
1853 @tab @code{\stemNeutral}
1855 @item @code{\textSpannerDown}
1856 @tab @code{\textSpannerUp}
1857 @tab @code{\textSpannerNeutral}
1858 @tab Text entered as spanner is below/above staff
1859 @item @code{\tieDown}
1861 @tab @code{\tieNeutral}
1863 @item @code{\tupletDown}
1864 @tab @code{\tupletUp}
1865 @tab @code{\tupletNeutral}
1866 @tab Tuplets are below/above notes
1869 The neutral/normal variants of these commands are implemented
1870 using @code{\revert} and may @strong{not} be
1871 preceded by @code{\once}. If you wish to limit the
1872 effect of the other commands (which are implemented using
1873 @code{\override}) to a single timestep, you can precede them with
1874 @code{\once} like you would do with explicit overrides.
1877 @unnumberedsubsubsec Fingering
1879 @cindex fingering, placement
1880 @cindex fingering, chords
1882 The placement of fingering on single notes can also be controlled
1883 by the @code{direction} property, but changing @code{direction}
1884 has no effect on chords. As we shall see, there are special
1885 commands which allow the fingering of individual notes
1886 of chords to be controlled, with the fingering being placed
1887 above, below, to the left or to the right of each note.
1889 First, here's the effect of @code{direction} on the fingering
1890 attached to single notes. The first bar shows the default
1891 behaviour, and the following two bars shows the effect of
1892 specifying @code{DOWN} and @code{UP}:
1894 @cindex Fingering, example of overriding
1895 @cindex direction property, example
1897 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
1899 c''4-5 a-3 f-1 c'-5 |
1900 \override Fingering.direction = #DOWN
1902 \override Fingering.direction = #UP
1907 However, overriding the @code{direction} property is not the
1908 easiest way of manually setting the fingering above or below
1909 the notes; using @code{_} or @code{^} instead of @code{-} before
1910 the fingering number is usually preferable. Here is the previous
1911 example using this method:
1913 @cindex fingering example
1915 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
1917 c''4-5 a-3 f-1 c'-5 |
1923 The @code{direction} property is ignored for chords, but the
1924 directional prefixes, @code{_} and @code{^} do work. By default,
1925 the fingering is automatically placed both above and below the
1926 notes of a chord, as shown:
1928 @cindex fingering example
1930 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
1939 but this may be overridden to manually force all or any of the
1940 individual fingering numbers above or below:
1942 @cindex fingering example
1944 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
1946 <c''-5 g-3 e-2 c-1>4
1952 Even greater control over the placement of fingering of the
1953 individual notes in a chord is possible by using the
1954 @code{\set fingeringOrientations} command. The format of this
1958 \set fingeringOrientations = #'([up] [left/right] [down])
1962 @code{\set} is used because @code{fingeringOrientations} is a
1963 property of the @code{Voice} context, created and used by the
1964 @code{New_fingering_engraver}.
1966 The property may be set to a list of one to three values.
1967 It controls whether fingerings may be placed above (if
1968 @code{up} appears in the list), below (if @code{down} appears),
1969 to the left (if @code{left} appears, or to the right
1970 (if @code{right} appears). Conversely, if a location is not
1971 listed, no fingering is placed there. LilyPond takes these
1972 constraints and works out the best placement for the fingering
1973 of the notes of the following chords. Note that @code{left} and
1974 @code{right} are mutually exclusive -- fingering may be placed
1975 only on one side or the other, not both.
1977 @warning{To control the placement of the fingering of a single
1978 note using this command it is necessary to write it as a single
1979 note chord by placing angle brackets round it.}
1981 Here are a few examples:
1983 @cindex fingering example
1984 @cindex @code{\set}, example of using
1985 @cindex fingeringOrientations property, example
1987 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1989 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1992 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1994 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1995 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left down)
1998 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left)
2000 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
2001 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(right)
2008 If the fingering seems a little crowded the @code{font-size}
2009 could be reduced. The default value can be seen from the
2010 @code{Fingering} object in the IR to be @w{@code{-5}}, so let's
2013 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
2015 \override Fingering.font-size = #-7
2016 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
2019 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
2021 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
2022 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left down)
2025 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left)
2027 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
2028 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(right)
2034 @node Outside-staff objects
2035 @subsection Outside-staff objects
2037 Outside-staff objects are automatically placed to avoid collisions.
2038 There are several ways to override the automatic placement if the
2039 positioning is not optimum.
2042 * The outside-staff-priority property::
2043 * The \textLengthOn command::
2044 * Dynamics placement::
2049 @node The outside-staff-priority property
2050 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{outside-staff-priority} property
2052 Objects with the lower value of the @code{outside-staff-priority}
2053 property are placed nearer to the staff, and other outside-staff
2054 objects are then raised as far as necessary to avoid collisions.
2055 The @code{outside-staff-priority} is defined in the
2056 @code{grob-interface} and so is a property of all layout objects.
2057 By default it is set to @code{#f} for all within-staff objects,
2058 and to a numerical value appropriate to each outside-staff object
2059 when the object is created. The following table shows the default
2060 numerical values for some of the commonest outside-staff objects.
2064 Note the unusual names for some of the objects: spanner objects
2065 are automatically created to control the vertical positioning of
2066 grobs which (might) start and end at different musical moments, so
2067 changing the @code{outside-staff-priority} of the underlying grob
2068 will have no effect. For example, changing
2069 @code{outside-staff-priority} of the @code{Hairpin} object will
2070 have no effect on the vertical positioning of hairpins -- you must
2071 change @code{outside-staff-priority} of the associated
2072 @code{DynamicLineSpanner} object instead. This override must be
2073 placed at the start of the spanner, which might include several
2074 linked hairpins and dynamics.
2076 @multitable @columnfractions .3 .3 .3
2077 @headitem Layout Object
2079 @tab Controls position of:
2080 @item @code{RehearsalMark}
2082 @tab Rehearsal marks
2083 @item @code{MetronomeMark}
2085 @tab Metronome marks
2086 @item @code{VoltaBracketSpanner}
2089 @item @code{TextScript}
2092 @item @code{MultiMeasureRestText}
2094 @tab Markup text over full-bar rests
2095 @item @code{OttavaBracket}
2097 @tab Ottava brackets
2098 @item @code{TextSpanner}
2101 @item @code{DynamicLineSpanner}
2103 @tab All dynamic markings
2104 @item @code{BarNumber}
2107 @item @code{TrillSpanner}
2109 @tab Spanning trills
2112 Here is an example showing the default placement of some of
2115 @cindex text spanner
2116 @cindex ottava bracket
2118 @funindex \startTextSpan
2119 @funindex \stopTextSpan
2121 @cindex TextSpanner, example of overriding
2122 @cindex bound-details property, example
2124 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
2125 % Set details for later Text Spanner
2126 \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text
2127 = \markup { \small \bold Slower }
2128 % Place dynamics above staff
2130 % Start Ottava Bracket
2133 % Add Dynamic Text and hairpin
2139 % Add Dynamic Text and terminate hairpin
2140 c''4\ff c'' \stopTextSpan |
2141 % Stop Ottava Bracket
2146 This example also shows how to create Text Spanners --
2147 text with extender lines above a section of music. The
2148 spanner extends from the @code{\startTextSpan} command to
2149 the @code{\stopTextSpan} command, and the format of the
2150 text is defined by the @code{\override TextSpanner} command.
2151 For more details see @ruser{Text spanners}.
2153 It also shows how ottava brackets are created.
2155 @cindex tweaking bar number placement
2156 @cindex bar numbers, tweaking placement
2157 @cindex tweaking metronome mark placement
2158 @cindex metronome mark, tweaking placement
2159 @cindex tweaking rehearsal mark placement
2160 @cindex rehearsal marks, tweaking placement
2162 If the default values of @code{outside-staff-priority} do not give you
2163 the placing you want, the priority of any of the objects may be
2164 overridden. Suppose we would like the ottava bracket to be placed
2165 below the text spanner in the example above. All we need to do is to
2166 look up the priority of @code{OttavaBracket} in the IR or in the
2167 tables above, and reduce it to a value lower than that of a
2168 @code{TextSpanner}, remembering that @code{OttavaBracket} is created
2169 in the @code{Staff} context:
2171 @cindex TextSpanner, example of overriding
2172 @cindex bound-details property, example
2174 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
2175 % Set details for later Text Spanner
2176 \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text
2177 = \markup { \small \bold Slower }
2178 % Place dynamics above staff
2180 % Place following Ottava Bracket below Text Spanners
2181 \once \override Staff.OttavaBracket.outside-staff-priority = #340
2182 % Start Ottava Bracket
2187 % Add Dynamic Line Spanner
2193 c''4\ff c'' \stopTextSpan |
2194 % Stop Ottava Bracket
2199 Note that some of these objects, in particular bar numbers,
2200 metronome marks and rehearsal marks, live by default in the
2201 @code{Score} context, so be sure to use the correct context
2202 when these are being overriden.
2204 @cindex slurs and outside-staff-priority
2205 @cindex slurs and articulations
2206 @cindex articulations and slurs
2208 Slurs by default are classed as within-staff objects, but
2209 they often appear above the staff if the notes to
2210 which they are attached are high on the staff. This can push
2211 outside-staff objects such as articulations too high, as the slur
2212 will be placed first. The @code{avoid-slur} property of the
2213 articulation can be set to @code{'inside} to bring the articulation
2214 inside the slur, but the @code{avoid-slur} property is effective
2215 only if the @code{outside-staff-priority} is also set to @code{#f}.
2216 Alternatively, the @code{outside-staff-priority} of the slur
2217 can be set to a numerical value to cause it to be placed along with
2218 other outside-staff objects according to that value. Here's an
2219 example showing the effect of the two methods:
2221 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
2223 c4( c^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2225 \once \override TextScript.avoid-slur = #'inside
2226 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = ##f
2227 c4^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2228 \once \override Slur.outside-staff-priority = #500
2229 c4( c^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2233 Changing the @code{outside-staff-priority} can also be used to
2234 control the vertical placement of individual objects, although
2235 the results may not always be desirable. Suppose we would
2236 like @qq{Text3} to be placed above @qq{Text4} in the example
2237 under Automatic behavior, above (see @ref{Automatic behavior}).
2238 All we need to do is to look up the priority of @code{TextScript}
2239 in the IR or in the tables above, and increase the priority of
2240 @qq{Text3} to a higher value:
2242 @cindex TextScript, example of overriding
2243 @cindex outside-staff-priority property, example
2245 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
2248 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = #500
2253 This certainly lifts @qq{Text3} above @qq{Text4} but it also lifts it
2254 above @qq{Text2}, and @qq{Text4} now drops down. Perhaps this is not
2255 so good. What we would really like to do is to position all the
2256 annotation at the same distance above the staff. To do this, we
2257 clearly will need to space the notes out horizontally to make more
2258 room for the text. This is done using the @code{textLengthOn}
2261 @node The \textLengthOn command
2262 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{\textLengthOn} command
2264 @cindex notes, spreading out with text
2266 @funindex \textLengthOn
2267 @funindex \textLengthOff
2269 By default, text produced by markup takes up no horizontal space
2270 as far as laying out the music is concerned. The @code{\textLengthOn}
2271 command reverses this behavior, causing the notes to be spaced
2272 out as far as is necessary to accommodate the text:
2274 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
2275 \textLengthOn % Cause notes to space out to accommodate text
2282 The command to revert to the default behavior is
2283 @code{\textLengthOff}. Remember @code{\once} only works with
2284 @code{\override}, @code{\set}, @code{\revert} or @code{\unset},
2285 so cannot be used with @code{\textLengthOn}.
2287 @cindex markup text, allowing collisions
2289 Markup text will also avoid notes which project above the staff.
2290 If this is not desired, the automatic displacement upwards may
2291 be turned off by setting the priority to @code{#f}. Here's an
2292 example to show how markup text interacts with such notes.
2294 @cindex TextScript, example of overriding
2295 @cindex outside-staff-priority property, example
2297 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
2299 % This markup is short enough to fit without collision
2303 % This is too long to fit, so it is displaced upwards
2307 % Turn off collision avoidance
2308 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = ##f
2309 c,,2^"Long Text " c'' |
2312 % Turn off collision avoidance
2313 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = ##f
2314 \textLengthOn % and turn on textLengthOn
2315 c,,2^"Long Text " % Spaces at end are honored
2320 @node Dynamics placement
2321 @unnumberedsubsubsec Dynamics placement
2323 @cindex tweaking dynamics placement
2324 @cindex dynamics, tweaking placement
2326 Dynamic markings will normally be positioned beneath the
2327 staff, but may be positioned above with the @code{\dynamicUp}
2328 command. They will be positioned vertically relative to the
2329 note to which they are attached, and will float below (or above)
2330 all within-staff objects such as phrasing slurs and bar numbers.
2331 This can give quite acceptable results, as this example
2334 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
2340 bes4.~\f\< \( bes4 bes8 des4\ff\> c16 bes\! |
2341 ees,2.~\)\mf ees4 r8 |
2345 However, if the notes and attached dynamics are close
2346 together the automatic placement will avoid collisions
2347 by displacing later dynamic markings further away, but this may
2348 not be the optimum placement, as this rather artificial example
2351 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2357 Should a similar situation arise in @q{real} music, it may be
2358 preferable to space out the notes a little further, so the dynamic
2359 markings can all fit at the same vertical distance from the staff. We
2360 were able to do this for markup text by using the @code{\textLengthOn}
2361 command, but there is no equivalent command for dynamic marks. So we
2362 shall have to work out how to do this using @code{\override} commands.
2365 @unnumberedsubsubsec Grob sizing
2368 @cindex sizing grobs
2370 First we must learn how grobs are sized. All grobs have a
2371 reference point defined within them which is used to position
2372 them relative to their parent object. This point in the grob
2373 is then positioned at a horizontal distance, @code{X-offset},
2374 and at a vertical distance, @code{Y-offset}, from its parent.
2375 The horizontal extent of the object is given by a pair of
2376 numbers, @code{X-extent}, which say where the left and right
2377 edges are relative to the reference point. The vertical extent
2378 is similarly defined by a pair of numbers, @code{Y-extent}.
2379 These are properties of all grobs which support the
2380 @code{grob-interface}.
2382 @cindex @code{extra-spacing-width}
2384 By default, outside-staff objects are given a width of zero so
2385 that they may overlap in the horizontal direction. This is done
2386 by the trick of adding infinity to the leftmost extent and
2387 minus infinity to the rightmost extent by setting the
2388 @code{extra-spacing-width} to @code{'(+inf.0 . -inf.0)}. So
2389 to ensure they do not overlap in the horizontal direction we
2390 must override this value of @code{extra-spacing-width} to
2391 @code{'(0 . 0)} so the true width shines through. This is
2392 the command to do this for dynamic text:
2395 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(0 . 0)
2399 Let's see if this works in our previous example:
2401 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2402 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2404 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2406 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(0 . 0)
2407 a4\f b\mf c\mp b\p |
2411 Well, it has certainly stopped the dynamic marks being
2412 displaced, but two problems remain. The marks should be
2413 spaced a little further apart and it would be better
2414 if they were all the same distance from the staff.
2415 We can solve the first problem easily. Instead of making
2416 the @code{extra-spacing-width} zero we could add a little
2417 more to it. The units are the space between two staff
2418 lines, so moving the left edge half a unit to the left and the
2419 right edge half a unit to the right should do it:
2421 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2422 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2424 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2426 % Extend width by 1 staff space
2427 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(-0.5 . 0.5)
2432 This looks better, but maybe we would prefer the dynamic marks
2433 to be aligned along the same baseline rather than going up and
2434 down with the notes. The property to do this is
2435 @code{staff-padding} which is covered in the following section.
2438 @node Collisions of objects
2439 @section Collisions of objects
2443 * Fixing overlapping notation::
2444 * Real music example::
2447 @node Moving objects
2448 @subsection Moving objects
2450 @cindex moving overlapping objects
2451 @cindex moving colliding objects
2452 @cindex moving colliding grobs
2453 @cindex objects, moving colliding
2454 @cindex grobs, moving colliding
2456 This may come as a surprise, but LilyPond is not perfect. Some
2457 notation elements can overlap. This is unfortunate, but in fact
2458 rather rare. Usually the need to move objects is for clarity or
2459 aesthetic reasons -- they would look better with a little more
2460 or a little less space around them.
2462 There are three main approaches to resolving overlapping
2463 notation. They should be considered in the following order:
2467 The @strong{direction} of one of the overlapping objects may
2468 be changed using the predefined commands listed above for
2469 within-staff objects (see @ref{Within-staff objects}).
2470 Stems, slurs, beams, ties, dynamics, text and tuplets may be
2471 repositioned easily in this way. The limitation is that you
2472 have a choice of only two positions, and neither may be
2476 The @strong{object properties}, which LilyPond uses when positioning
2477 layout objects, may be modified using @code{\override}. The
2478 advantages of making changes to this type of property are (a) that
2479 some other objects will be moved automatically if necessary to make
2480 room and (b) the single override can apply to all instances of the
2481 same type of object. Such properties include:
2488 This has already been covered in some detail -- see
2489 @ref{Within-staff objects}.
2492 @code{padding}, @code{right-padding}, @code{staff-padding}
2495 @cindex padding property
2496 @cindex right-padding property
2497 @cindex staff-padding property
2499 As an object is being positioned the value of its @code{padding}
2500 property specifies the gap that must be left between itself and the
2501 nearest edge of the object against which it is being positioned. Note
2502 that it is the @code{padding} value of the object @strong{being
2503 placed} that is used; the @code{padding} value of the object which is
2504 already placed is ignored. Gaps specified by @code{padding} can be
2505 applied to all objects which support the
2506 @code{side-position-interface}.
2508 Instead of @code{padding}, the placement of groups of accidentals
2509 is controlled by @code{right-padding}. This property is to be found
2510 in the @code{AccidentalPlacement} object which, note, lives in the
2511 @strong{Staff} context. In the typesetting process the note heads
2512 are typeset first and then the accidentals, if any, are added to the
2513 left of the note heads using the @code{right-padding} property to determine
2514 the separation from the note heads and between individual accidentals.
2515 So only the @code{right-padding} property of the @code{AccidentalPlacement}
2516 object has any effect on the placement of the accidentals.
2518 The @code{staff-padding} property is closely related to the
2519 @code{padding} property: @code{padding} controls the minimum amount of
2520 space between any object which supports the
2521 @code{side-position-interface} and the nearest other object (generally
2522 the note or the staff lines); @code{staff-padding} applies only to
2523 those objects which are always set outside the staff -- it controls
2524 the minimum amount of space that should be inserted between that
2525 object and the staff. Note that @code{staff-padding} has no effect on
2526 objects which are positioned relative to the note rather than the
2527 staff, even though it may be overridden without error for such objects
2528 -- it is simply ignored.
2530 To discover which padding property is required for the object you wish
2531 to reposition, you need to return to the IR and look up the object's
2532 properties. Be aware that the padding properties might not be located
2533 in the obvious object, so look in objects that appear to be related.
2535 All padding values are measured in staff spaces. For most
2536 objects, this value is set by default to be around 1.0 or less
2537 (it varies with each object). It may be overridden if a larger
2538 (or smaller) gap is required.
2541 @code{self-alignment-X}
2543 @cindex self-alignment-X property
2545 This property can be used to align the object to the left, to
2546 the right, or to center it with respect to the parent object's
2547 reference point. It may be used with all objects which support
2548 the @code{self-alignment-interface}. In general these are objects
2549 that contain text. The values are @code{LEFT}, @code{RIGHT}
2550 or @code{CENTER}. Alternatively, a numerical value between
2551 @w{@code{-1}} and @code{+1} may be specified, where @w{@code{-1}} is
2552 left-aligned, @code{+1} is right-aligned, and numbers in between
2553 move the text progressively from left-aligned to right-aligned.
2554 Numerical values greater than @code{1} may be specified to move
2555 the text even further to the left, or less than @w{@code{-1}} to
2556 move the text even further to the right. A change of @code{1}
2557 in the value corresponds to a movement of half the text's length.
2560 @code{extra-spacing-width}
2562 @cindex extra-spacing-width property
2564 This property is available for all objects which support the
2565 @code{item-interface}. It takes two numbers, the first is added
2566 to the leftmost extent and the second is added to the rightmost
2567 extent. Negative numbers move the edge to the left, positive to
2568 the right, so to widen an object the first number must be negative,
2569 the second positive. Note that not all objects honor both
2570 numbers. For example, the @code{Accidental} object only takes
2571 notice of the first (left edge) number.
2574 @code{staff-position}
2576 @cindex staff-position property
2578 @code{staff-position} is a property of the
2579 @code{staff-symbol-referencer-interface}, which is supported by
2580 objects which are positioned relative to the staff. It specifies
2581 the vertical position of the object relative to the center line
2582 of the staff in half staff-spaces. It is useful in resolving
2583 collisions between layout objects like multi-measure rests, ties
2584 and notes in different voices.
2589 @cindex force-hshift property
2591 Closely spaced notes in a chord, or notes occurring at the same
2592 time in different voices, are arranged in two, occasionally more,
2593 columns to prevent the note heads overlapping. These are called
2594 note columns, and an object called @code{NoteColumn} is created
2595 to lay out the notes in that column.
2597 The @code{force-hshift} property is a property of a @code{NoteColumn}
2598 (actually of the @code{note-column-interface}). Changing it permits a
2599 note column to be moved in units appropriate to a note column,
2600 viz. the note head width of the first voice note. It should be used
2601 in complex situations where the normal @code{\shiftOn} commands (see
2602 @ref{Explicitly instantiating voices}) do not resolve the note
2603 conflict. It is preferable to the @code{extra-offset} property for
2604 this purpose as there is no need to work out the distance in
2605 staff-spaces, and moving the notes into or out of a @code{NoteColumn}
2606 affects other actions such as merging note heads.
2611 Finally, when all else fails, objects may be manually repositioned
2612 relative to the staff center line vertically, or by displacing them by
2613 any distance to a new position. The disadvantages are that the
2614 correct values for the repositioning have to be worked out, often by
2615 trial and error, for every object individually, and, because the
2616 movement is done after LilyPond has placed all other objects, the user
2617 is responsible for avoiding any collisions that might ensue. But the
2618 main difficulty with this approach is that the repositioning values
2619 may need to be reworked if the music is later modified. The
2620 properties that can be used for this type of manual repositioning are:
2625 @cindex extra-offset property
2627 This property applies to any layout object supporting the
2628 @code{grob-interface}. It takes a pair of numbers which specify the
2629 extra displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions.
2630 Negative numbers move the object to the left or down. The units are
2631 staff-spaces. The extra displacement is made after the typesetting of
2632 objects is finished, so an object may be repositioned anywhere without
2633 affecting anything else.
2637 @cindex positions property
2639 This is most useful for manually adjusting the slope and height
2640 of beams, slurs, and tuplets. It takes a pair of numbers
2641 giving the position of the left and right ends of the beam, slur,
2642 etc. relative to the center line of the staff. Units are
2643 staff-spaces. Note, though, that slurs and phrasing slurs cannot
2644 be repositioned by arbitrarily large amounts. LilyPond first
2645 generates a list of possible positions for the slur and by default
2646 finds the slur that @qq{looks best}. If the @code{positions}
2647 property has been overridden the slur that is closest to the
2648 requested positions is selected from the list.
2653 A particular object may not have all of these properties.
2654 It is necessary to go to the IR to look up which properties
2655 are available for the object in question.
2657 Here is a list of the objects which are most likely to be
2658 involved in collisions, together with the name of the object which
2659 should be looked up in the IR in order to discover which properties
2660 should be used to move them.
2662 @multitable @columnfractions .5 .5
2663 @headitem Object type @tab Object name
2664 @item Articulations @tab @code{Script}
2665 @item Beams @tab @code{Beam}
2666 @item Dynamics (vertically) @tab @code{DynamicLineSpanner}
2667 @item Dynamics (horizontally) @tab @code{DynamicText}
2668 @item Fingerings @tab @code{Fingering}
2669 @item Rehearsal / Text marks @tab @code{RehearsalMark}
2670 @item Slurs @tab @code{Slur}
2671 @item Text e.g. @code{^"text"} @tab @code{TextScript}
2672 @item Ties @tab @code{Tie}
2673 @item Tuplets @tab @code{TupletBracket}
2677 @node Fixing overlapping notation
2678 @subsection Fixing overlapping notation
2680 Let's now see how the properties in the previous section can
2681 help to resolve overlapping notation.
2684 * The padding property::
2685 * The right-padding property::
2686 * The staff-padding property::
2687 * The self-alignment-X property::
2688 * The staff-position property::
2689 * The extra-offset property::
2690 * The positions property::
2691 * The force-hshift property::
2694 @node The padding property
2695 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{padding} property
2698 @cindex fixing overlapping notation
2699 @cindex overlapping notation
2701 The @code{padding} property can be set to increase
2702 (or decrease) the distance between symbols that are printed
2703 above or below notes.
2705 @cindex Script, example of overriding
2706 @cindex padding property, example
2708 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim]
2710 \override Script.padding = #3
2714 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
2715 @cindex padding property, example
2717 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim]
2718 % This will not work, see below
2719 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #3
2723 \override Score.MetronomeMark.padding = #3
2728 Note in the second example how important it is to figure out what
2729 context handles a certain object. Since the @code{MetronomeMark}
2730 object is handled in the @code{Score} context, property changes in the
2731 @code{Voice} context will not be noticed. For more details, see
2732 @ruser{Modifying properties}.
2734 If the @code{padding} property of an object is increased when that
2735 object is in a stack of objects being positioned according to
2736 their @code{outside-staff-priority}, then that object and all
2737 objects outside it are moved.
2740 @node The right-padding property
2741 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{right-padding} property
2743 @cindex right-padding property
2745 The @code{right-padding} property affects the spacing between the
2746 accidental and the note to which it applies. It is not often
2747 required, but the default spacing may be wrong for certain special
2748 accidental glyphs or combination of glyphs used in some microtonal
2749 music. These have to be entered by overriding the accidental
2750 stencil with a markup containing the desired symbol(s), like this:
2752 @cindex Accidental, example of overriding
2753 @cindex text property, example
2754 @cindex stencil property, example
2755 @cindex AccidentalPlacement, example of overriding
2756 @cindex right-padding property, example
2758 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
2759 sesquisharp = \markup { \sesquisharp }
2762 % This prints a sesquisharp but the spacing is too small
2763 \once \override Accidental.stencil = #ly:text-interface::print
2764 \once \override Accidental.text = #sesquisharp
2766 % This improves the spacing
2767 \once \override Score.AccidentalPlacement.right-padding = #0.6
2768 \once \override Accidental.stencil = #ly:text-interface::print
2769 \once \override Accidental.text = #sesquisharp
2775 This necessarily uses an override for the accidental stencil which
2776 will not be covered until later. The stencil type must be a
2777 procedure, here changed to print the contents of the @code{text}
2778 property of @code{Accidental}, which itself is set to be a
2779 sesquisharp sign. This sign is then moved further away from the
2780 note head by overriding @code{right-padding}.
2784 @node The staff-padding property
2785 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{staff-padding} property
2787 @cindex aligning objects on a baseline
2788 @cindex objects, aligning on a baseline
2790 @code{staff-padding} can be used to align objects such as dynamics
2791 along a baseline at a fixed height above the staff, rather than at a
2792 height dependent on the position of the note to which they are
2793 attached. It is not a property of @code{DynamicText} but of
2794 @code{DynamicLineSpanner}. This is because the baseline should apply
2795 equally to @strong{all} dynamics, including those created as extended
2796 spanners. So this is the way to align the dynamic marks in the
2797 example taken from the previous section:
2799 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2800 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2801 @cindex DynamicLineSpanner, example of overriding
2802 @cindex staff-padding property, example
2804 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2806 % Extend width by 1 unit
2807 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(-0.5 . 0.5)
2808 % Align dynamics to a base line 2 units above staff
2809 \override DynamicLineSpanner.staff-padding = #2
2814 @node The self-alignment-X property
2815 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{self-alignment-X} property
2817 The following example shows how this can resolve the collision
2818 of a string fingering object with a note's stem by aligning the
2819 right edge with the reference point of the parent note:
2821 @cindex StringNumber, example of overriding
2822 @cindex self-alignment-X property, example
2824 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim]
2827 \once \override StringNumber.self-alignment-X = #RIGHT
2831 @node The staff-position property
2832 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{staff-position} property
2834 @cindex object collision within a staff
2836 Multimeasure rests in one voice can collide with notes in another.
2837 Since these rests are typeset centered between the bar lines, it
2838 would require significant effort for LilyPond to figure out which
2839 other notes might collide with it, since all the current collision
2840 handling between notes and between notes and rests is done only
2841 for notes and rests that occur at the same time. Here's an
2842 example of a collision of this type:
2844 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
2845 << \relative { c'4 c c c } \\ { R1 } >>
2848 The best solution here is to move the multimeasure rest down, since
2849 the rest is in voice two. The default in @code{\voiceTwo} (i.e. in
2850 the second voice of a @code{<<@{...@} \\ @{...@}>>} construct) is that
2851 @code{staff-position} is set to -4 for MultiMeasureRest, so we need to
2852 move it, say, four half-staff spaces down to @w{@code{-8}}.
2854 @cindex MultiMeasureRest, example of overriding
2855 @cindex staff-position property, example
2857 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
2859 \relative { c'4 c c c }
2861 \override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #-8
2866 This is better than using, for example, @code{extra-offset},
2867 because the ledger line above the rest is inserted automatically.
2869 @node The extra-offset property
2870 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{extra-offset} property
2872 @cindex positioning objects
2873 @cindex positioning grobs
2874 @cindex objects, positioning
2875 @cindex grobs, positioning
2877 The @code{extra-offset} property provides complete control over the
2878 positioning of an object both horizontally and vertically.
2880 In the following example, the second fingering is moved a little to
2881 the left, and 1.8 staff space downwards:
2883 @cindex Fingering, example of overriding
2884 @cindex extra-offset property, example
2886 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
2889 \once \override Fingering.extra-offset = #'(-0.3 . -1.8)
2894 @node The positions property
2895 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{positions} property
2897 @cindex controlling tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs, and beams manually
2898 @cindex manually controlling tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs, and beams
2899 @cindex tuplet beams, controlling manually
2900 @cindex slurs, controlling manually
2901 @cindex phrasing slurs, controlling manually
2902 @cindex beams, controlling manually
2904 The @code{positions} property allows the vertical position and hence
2905 the slope of tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs and beams to be controlled
2908 Here's an example in which the phrasing slur and slur collide:
2910 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
2911 \relative { a'8 \( ( a'16 ) a \) }
2914 @cindex PhrasingSlur, example of overriding
2915 @cindex positions property, example
2918 One possibility would be to move the two ends of the phrasing slur
2919 higher. We can try setting the left end to 2.5 staff-spaces above the
2920 centre line and the right end to 4.5 above, and LilyPond will
2921 select the phrasing slur from the candidates it has found with its
2922 end points closest to these:
2924 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2925 \once \override PhrasingSlur.positions = #'(2.5 . 4.5)
2926 a'8 \( ( a''16 ) a'' \)
2929 This is an improvement, but why not lower the right end of the slur
2930 a little? If you try it you'll find it can't be done in this way.
2931 That's because there are no candidate slurs lower than the one
2932 already selected, and in this case the @code{positions} property has
2933 no effect. However, ties, slurs and phrasing slurs @emph{can} be
2934 positioned and shaped very precisely when necessary. To learn how to
2935 do this, see @ruser{Modifying ties and slurs}.
2937 Here's a further example. We see that the beams
2938 collide with the ties:
2940 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2946 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2951 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2957 This can be resolved by manually moving both ends of the beam
2958 up from their position at 1.81 staff-spaces below the center line to,
2961 @cindex Beam, example of overriding
2962 @cindex positions property, example
2964 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2971 \override Beam.positions = #'(-1 . -1)
2972 e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g''
2978 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2984 Note that the override continues to apply in the first voice of
2985 the second measure of eighth notes, but not to any of the beams in the
2988 @node The force-hshift property
2989 @unnumberedsubsubsec The @code{force-hshift property}
2991 We can now see how to apply the final corrections to the Chopin
2992 example introduced at the end of @ref{I'm hearing Voices}, which
2993 was left looking like this:
2995 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2996 \new Staff \relative {
3011 The inner note of the first chord (i.e. the A-flat in the fourth
3012 Voice) need not be shifted away from the note column of the higher
3013 note. To correct this we set @code{force-hshift}, which is a property
3014 of @code{NoteColumn}, of this note to zero.
3016 In the second chord we prefer the F to line up with the A-flat and the
3017 lowest note to be positioned slightly right to avoid a collision of
3018 stems. We achieve this by setting @code{force-hshift} in the
3019 @code{NoteColumn} of the low D-flat to move it to the right by half
3022 Here's the final result:
3024 @cindex NoteColumn, example of overriding
3025 @cindex force-hshift property, example
3027 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
3028 \new Staff \relative {
3035 \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #0.5
3041 \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #0
3050 @node Real music example
3051 @subsection Real music example
3053 We end this section on Tweaks by showing the steps to be taken to
3054 deal with a tricky example which needs several tweaks to produce
3055 the desired output. The example has been deliberately chosen to
3056 illustrate the use of the Notation Reference to resolve unusual
3057 problems with notation. It is not representative of the more usual
3058 engraving process, so please do not let these difficulties put
3059 you off! Fortunately, difficulties like these are not very common!
3061 The example is from Chopin's Première Ballade, Op. 23, bars 6 to
3062 9, the transition from the opening Lento to Moderato.
3063 Here, first, is what we want the output to look like, but to avoid
3064 over-complicating the example too much we have left out the
3065 dynamics, fingering and pedalling.
3067 @c The following should appear as music without code
3068 @c This example should not be indexed
3069 @c line-width ensures no break
3070 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3071 rhMusic = \relative {
3074 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3078 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3079 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3080 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3086 % Reposition the c2 to the right of the merged note
3087 \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #1.0
3088 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
3089 % so the merge will work
3096 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
3098 % Stem on the d2 should be invisible
3099 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
3107 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3108 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3113 lhMusic = \relative {
3115 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3122 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3126 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3135 We note first that the right hand part in the third bar
3136 requires four voices. These are the five beamed eighth notes,
3137 the tied C, the half-note D which is merged with the eighth note
3138 D, and the dotted quarter note F-sharp, which is also merged with
3139 the eighth note at the same pitch. Everything else is in a single
3140 voice, so the easiest way is to introduce these extra three voices
3141 temporarily at the time they are needed. If you have forgotten
3142 how to do this, look at @ref{I'm hearing Voices} and @ref{Explicitly
3143 instantiating voices}. Here we choose to use explicitly instantiated
3144 voices for the polyphonic passage, as LilyPond is better able to
3145 avoid collisions if all voices are instantiated explicitly in this
3148 So let us begin by entering the notes as two variables, setting up
3149 the staff structure in a score block, and seeing what LilyPond
3150 produces by default:
3152 @c line-width ensures no break
3153 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3154 rhMusic = \relative {
3160 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3162 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3176 g2. % continuation of main voice
3180 lhMusic = \relative {
3189 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3193 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3202 All the notes are right, but the appearance is far from
3203 satisfactory. The tie collides with the change in time signature,
3204 some notes are not merged together, and several notation elements
3205 are missing. Let's first deal with the easier things. We can
3206 easily add the left hand slur and the right hand phrasing slur,
3207 since these were all covered in the Tutorial. Doing this gives:
3209 @c line-width ensures no break
3210 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3211 rhMusic = \relative {
3217 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3219 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3233 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3237 lhMusic = \relative {
3246 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3250 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3259 The first bar is now correct. The second bar contains an arpeggio and
3260 is terminated by a double bar line. How do we do these, as they have
3261 not been mentioned in this Learning Manual? This is where we need to
3262 turn to the Notation Reference. Looking up @q{arpeggio} and @q{bar
3263 line} in the index quickly shows us that an arpeggio is produced by
3264 appending @code{\arpeggio} to a chord, and a double bar line is
3265 produced by the @code{\bar "||"} command. That's easily done. We
3266 next need to correct the collision of the tie with the time signature.
3267 This is best done by moving the tie upwards. Moving objects was
3268 covered earlier in @ref{Moving objects}, which says that objects
3269 positioned relative to the staff can be moved vertically by overriding
3270 their @code{staff-position} property, which is specified in half staff
3271 spaces relative to the center line of the staff. So the following
3272 override placed just before the first tied note would move the tie up
3273 to 3.5 half staff spaces above the center line:
3275 @code{\once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5}
3277 This completes bar two, giving:
3279 @c line-width ensures no break
3280 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3281 rhMusic = \relative {
3284 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3289 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3291 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3305 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3309 lhMusic = \relative {
3311 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3318 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3322 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3331 On to bar three and the start of the Moderato section. The tutorial
3332 showed how to add bold text with the @code{\markup} command, so
3333 adding @qq{Moderato} in bold is easy. But how do we merge notes in
3334 different voices together? This is where we need to turn again to
3335 the Notation Reference for help. A search for @qq{merge} in the
3336 Notation Reference index quickly leads us to the commands for merging
3337 differently headed and differently dotted notes in
3338 @ruser{Collision resolution}. In our example we need to merge both
3339 types of note for the duration of the polyphonic section in bar 3,
3340 so using the information we find in the Notation Reference we add
3343 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3344 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3348 to the start of that section and
3351 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3352 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3358 @c line-width ensures no break
3359 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3360 rhMusic = \relative {
3363 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3367 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3368 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3369 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3370 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3372 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3386 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3387 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3388 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3392 lhMusic = \relative {
3394 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3401 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3405 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3414 These overrides have merged the two F-sharp notes, but not the two
3415 on D. Why not? The answer is there in the same section in the
3416 Notation Reference -- notes being merged must have stems in
3417 opposite directions and two notes cannot be merged successfully if
3418 there is a third note in the same note column. Here the two D's
3419 both have upward stems and there is a third note -- the C. We know
3420 how to change the stem direction using @code{\stemDown}, and
3421 the Notation Reference also says how to move the C -- apply a shift
3422 using one of the @code{\shift} commands. But which one?
3423 The C is in voice two which has shift off, and the two D's are in
3424 voices one and three, which have shift off and shift on,
3425 respectively. So we have to shift the C a further level still
3426 using @code{\shiftOnn} to avoid it interfering with the two D's.
3427 Applying these changes gives:
3429 @cindex Tie, example of overriding
3430 @cindex staff-position property, example
3432 @c line-width ensures no break
3433 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3434 rhMusic = \relative {
3437 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3441 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3442 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3443 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3444 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3446 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3449 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
3450 % so the merge will work
3455 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
3463 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3464 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3465 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3469 lhMusic = \relative {
3471 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3478 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3482 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3491 Nearly there. Only two problems remain: The downward stem on the
3492 merged D should not be there, and the C would be better positioned
3493 to the right of the D's. We know how to do both of these from the
3494 earlier tweaks: we make the stem transparent, and move the C with
3495 the @code{force-hshift} property. Here's the final result:
3497 @cindex NoteColumn, example of overriding
3498 @cindex force-hshift property, example
3499 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
3500 @cindex transparent property, example
3502 @c line-width ensures no break
3503 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3504 rhMusic = \relative {
3507 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3511 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3512 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3513 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3514 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3516 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3520 % Reposition the c2 to the right of the merged note
3521 \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #1.0
3522 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
3523 % so the merge will work
3530 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
3532 % Stem on the d2 should be invisible
3533 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
3541 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3542 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3543 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3547 lhMusic = \relative {
3549 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3556 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3560 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3570 @node Further tweaking
3571 @section Further tweaking
3574 * Other uses for tweaks::
3575 * Using variables for tweaks::
3577 * Other sources of information::
3578 * Advanced tweaks with Scheme::
3581 @node Other uses for tweaks
3582 @subsection Other uses for tweaks
3585 * Tying notes across voices::
3586 * Simulating a fermata in MIDI::
3589 @cindex transparent property, use of
3590 @cindex objects, making invisible
3591 @cindex removing objects
3592 @cindex objects, removing
3593 @cindex hiding objects
3594 @cindex objects, hiding
3595 @cindex invisible objects
3596 @cindex objects, invisible
3598 @node Tying notes across voices
3599 @unnumberedsubsubsec Tying notes across voices
3601 @cindex tying notes across voices
3603 The following example demonstrates how to connect notes in
3604 different voices using ties. Normally, only two notes in the
3605 same voice can be connected with ties. By using two voices,
3606 with the tied notes in one of them
3609 << { b'8~ 8\noBeam } \\ { b'8[ g'] } >>
3613 and blanking the first up-stem in that voice, the tie appears to
3616 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
3617 @cindex transparent property, example
3619 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
3622 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
3630 To make sure that the just-blanked stem doesn't squeeze the tie
3631 too much, we can lengthen the stem by setting the
3632 @code{length} to @code{8},
3634 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
3637 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
3638 \tweak Stem.length #8
3647 @cindex tweak, generated from override
3648 Now for @emph{overriding} the transparency of a graphical object,
3649 we could have used the shorthand @code{\hide} as explained above.
3650 Tweaking is a different operation, affecting only properties
3651 generated from a single music expression. It turns out that we
3652 can convert overrides into tweaks using @code{\single}, making it
3653 possible to rewrite the above example as
3655 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
3660 \tweak Stem.length #8
3668 In this particular case, the difference to @code{\once \hide} is
3669 not apparent. It is important when there are several objects at
3670 the same point in musical time (like noteheads in a chord). In
3671 that case, @code{\once} will affect all of those objects while
3672 @code{\single} will only affect a single one, the one generated by
3673 the immediately following music expression.
3675 @node Simulating a fermata in MIDI
3676 @unnumberedsubsubsec Simulating a fermata in MIDI
3678 @cindex stencil property, use of
3679 @cindex fermata, implementing in MIDI
3681 For outside-staff objects it is usually better to override the
3682 object's @code{stencil} property rather than its @code{transparent}
3683 property when you wish to remove it from the printed output.
3684 Setting the @code{stencil} property of an object to @code{#f} will
3685 remove that object entirely from the printed output. This means it
3686 has no effect on the placement of other objects placed relative to
3689 For example, if we wished to change the metronome setting in order
3690 to simulate a fermata in the MIDI output we would not want the
3691 metronome markings to appear in the printed output, and we would
3692 not want it to influence the spacing between the two systems or
3693 the positions of adjacent annotations on the staff. So setting
3694 its @code{stencil} property to @code{#f} would be the best way.
3695 We show here the effect of the two methods:
3697 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
3698 @cindex transparent property, example
3700 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3703 % Visible tempo marking
3706 \once \hide Score.MetronomeMark
3707 % Invisible tempo marking to lengthen fermata in MIDI
3710 % New tempo for next section
3719 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
3720 @cindex stencil property, example
3722 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3725 % Visible tempo marking
3728 \once \omit Score.MetronomeMark
3729 % Invisible tempo marking to lengthen fermata in MIDI
3732 % New tempo for next section
3742 Both methods remove the metronome mark which lengthens the fermata
3743 from the printed output, and both affect the MIDI timing as
3744 required, but the transparent metronome mark in the first line
3745 forces the following tempo indication too high while the
3746 second (with the stencil removed) does not.
3752 @node Using variables for tweaks
3753 @subsection Using variables for tweaks
3755 @cindex variables, using for tweaks
3756 @cindex using variables for tweaks
3757 @cindex tweaks, using variables for
3759 Override commands are often long and tedious to type, and they
3760 have to be absolutely correct. If the same overrides are to be
3761 used many times it may be worth defining variables to hold them.
3763 Suppose we wish to emphasize certain words in lyrics by printing
3764 them in bold italics. The @code{\italic} and @code{\bold}
3765 commands only work within lyrics if they are embedded, together with
3766 the word or words to be modified, within a @code{\markup} block,
3767 which makes them tedious to enter. The need to embed the words
3768 themselves prevents their use in simple variables. As an
3769 alternative can we use @code{\override} and @code{\revert} commands?
3772 \override Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
3773 \override Lyrics.LyricText.font-series = #'bold
3775 \revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape
3776 \revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-series
3779 These would also be extremely tedious to enter if there were many
3780 words requiring emphasis. But we @emph{can} define these as two
3781 variables and use those to bracket the words to be emphasized.
3782 Another advantage of using variables for these overrides is that
3783 the spaces around the dot are not necessary, since they are not
3784 being interpreted in @code{\lyricmode} directly. Here's an example
3785 of this, although in practice we would choose shorter names
3786 for the variables to make them quicker to type:
3788 @cindex LyricText, example of overriding
3789 @cindex font-shape property, example
3790 @cindex font-series property, example
3792 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
3794 \override Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
3795 \override Lyrics.LyricText.font-series = #'bold
3799 \revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape
3800 \revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-series
3803 global = { \key c \major \time 4/4 \partial 4 }
3805 SopranoMusic = \relative { c'4 | e4. e8 g4 g | a4 a g }
3806 AltoMusic = \relative { c'4 | c4. c8 e4 e | f4 f e }
3807 TenorMusic = \relative { e4 | g4. g8 c4. b8 | a8 b c d e4 }
3808 BassMusic = \relative { c4 | c4. c8 c4 c | f8 g a b c4 }
3810 VerseOne = \lyrics {
3811 E -- | ter -- nal \emphasize Fa -- ther, | \normal strong to save,
3814 VerseTwo = \lyricmode {
3815 O | \once \emphasize Christ, whose voice the | wa -- ters heard,
3818 VerseThree = \lyricmode {
3819 O | \emphasize Ho -- ly Spi -- rit, | \normal who didst brood
3822 VerseFour = \lyricmode {
3823 O | \emphasize Tri -- ni -- ty \normal of | love and pow'r
3830 \new Voice = "Soprano" { \voiceOne \global \SopranoMusic }
3831 \new Voice = "Alto" { \voiceTwo \AltoMusic }
3832 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseOne }
3833 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseTwo }
3834 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseThree }
3835 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseFour }
3839 \new Voice = "Tenor" { \voiceOne \TenorMusic }
3840 \new Voice = "Bass" { \voiceTwo \BassMusic }
3848 @subsection Style sheets
3850 The output that LilyPond produces can be heavily modified; see
3851 @ref{Tweaking output}, for details. But what if you have many
3852 input files that you want to apply your tweaks to? Or what if you
3853 simply want to separate your tweaks from the actual music? This
3854 is quite easy to do.
3856 Let's look at an example. Don't worry if you don't understand
3857 the parts with all the @code{#()}. This is explained in
3858 @ref{Advanced tweaks with Scheme}.
3860 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3862 #(make-dynamic-script
3863 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3864 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3865 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3866 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3870 #(define-music-function
3873 #{ <>^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3877 a'4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3881 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3885 Let's do something about the @code{mpdolce} and @code{inst} definitions.
3886 They produce the output we desire, but we might want to use them in
3887 another piece. We could simply copy-and-paste them at the top of every
3888 file, but that's an annoyance. It also leaves those definitions in our
3889 input files, and I personally find all the @code{#()} somewhat ugly.
3890 Let's hide them in another file:
3893 %%% save this to a file called "definitions.ily"
3895 #(make-dynamic-script
3896 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3897 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3898 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3899 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3903 #(define-music-function
3906 #@{ <>^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3909 We will refer to this file using the @code{\include} command near
3910 the top of the music file. (The extension @file{.ily} is used to
3911 distinguish this included file, which is not meant to be compiled
3912 on its own, from the main file.)
3913 Now let's modify our music (let's save this file as @file{music.ly}).
3915 @c We have to do this awkward example/lilypond-non-verbatim
3916 @c because we can't do the \include stuff in the manual.
3919 \include "definitions.ily"
3923 a'4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3927 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3931 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
3933 #(make-dynamic-script
3934 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3935 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3936 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3937 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3941 #(define-music-function
3944 #{ <>^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3948 a'4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3952 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3956 That looks better, but let's make a few changes. The glissando is hard
3957 to see, so let's make it thicker and closer to the note heads. Let's
3958 put the metronome marking above the clef, instead of over the first
3959 note. And finally, my composition professor hates @q{C} time signatures,
3960 so we'd better make that @q{4/4} instead.
3962 Don't change @file{music.ly}, though. Replace our @file{definitions.ily}
3968 #(make-dynamic-script
3969 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3970 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3971 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3972 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3976 #(define-music-function
3979 #@{ <>^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3984 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3985 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
3989 \override TimeSignature.style = #'numbered
3993 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
3994 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
3999 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
4001 #(make-dynamic-script
4002 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
4003 \translate #'(5 . 0)
4004 \line { \dynamic "mp"
4005 \text \italic "dolce" } }
4009 #(define-music-function
4012 #{ <>^\markup \bold \box #string #})
4017 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
4018 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
4022 \override TimeSignature.style = #'numbered
4026 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
4027 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
4033 a'4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
4037 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
4041 That looks nicer! But now suppose that I want to publish this
4042 piece. My composition professor doesn't like @q{C} time
4043 signatures, but I'm somewhat fond of them. Let's copy the
4044 current @file{definitions.ily} to @file{web-publish.ily} and
4045 modify that. Since this music is aimed at producing a pdf which
4046 will be displayed on the screen, we'll also increase the
4047 overall size of the output.
4052 #(make-dynamic-script
4053 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
4054 \translate #'(5 . 0)
4055 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
4056 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
4060 #(define-music-function
4063 #@{ <>^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
4065 #(set-global-staff-size 23)
4070 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
4071 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
4078 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
4079 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
4084 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
4086 #(make-dynamic-script
4087 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
4088 \translate #'(5 . 0)
4089 \line { \dynamic "mp"
4090 \text \italic "dolce" } }
4094 #(define-music-function
4097 #{ <>^\markup \bold \box #string #})
4099 #(set-global-staff-size 23)
4103 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
4104 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
4107 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
4108 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
4114 a'4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
4118 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
4122 Now in our music, I simply replace
4123 @code{\include "definitions.ily"} with
4124 @code{\include "web-publish.ily"}. Of course, we could make this
4125 even more convenient. We could make a @file{definitions.ily} file which
4126 contains only the definitions of @code{mpdolce} and @code{inst}, a
4127 @file{web-publish.ily} file which contains only the @code{\layout}
4128 section listed above, and a @file{university.ily} file which
4129 contains only the tweaks to produce the output that my professor
4130 prefers. The top of @file{music.ly} would then look like this:
4133 \include "definitions.ily"
4135 %%% Only uncomment one of these two lines!
4136 \include "web-publish.ily"
4137 %\include "university.ily"
4140 This approach can be useful even if you are only producing
4141 one set of parts. I use half a dozen different
4142 @q{style sheet} files for my projects. I begin every music
4143 file with @code{\include "../global.ily"}, which contains
4147 \version @w{"@version{}"}
4149 #(ly:set-option 'point-and-click #f)
4151 \include "../init/init-defs.ly"
4152 \include "../init/init-layout.ly"
4153 \include "../init/init-headers.ly"
4154 \include "../init/init-paper.ly"
4158 @node Other sources of information
4159 @subsection Other sources of information
4161 The Internals Reference documentation contains a lot of information
4162 about LilyPond, but even more information can be gathered by
4163 looking at the internal LilyPond files. To explore these, you must
4164 first find the directory appropriate to your system. The location
4165 of this directory depends (a) on whether you obtained LilyPond
4166 by downloading a precompiled binary from lilypond.org
4167 or whether you installed it from a package manager (i.e.
4168 distributed with GNU/Linux, or installed under fink or cygwin) or
4169 compiled it from source, and (b) on which operating system it is
4172 @subsubsubheading Downloaded from lilypond.org
4179 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/lilypond/usr/@/share/lilypond/current/}
4186 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/LilyPond.app/Contents/@/Resources/share/lilypond/current/}
4189 by either @code{cd}-ing into this directory from the
4190 Terminal, or control-clicking on the LilyPond application and
4191 selecting @q{Show Package Contents}.
4195 Using Windows Explorer, navigate to
4197 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/LilyPond/usr/@/share/lilypond/current/}
4202 @subsubsubheading Installed from a package manager or compiled from source
4205 @file{@var{PREFIX}/share/lilypond/@var{X.Y.Z}/}, where
4206 @var{PREFIX} is set by your package manager or @code{configure}
4207 script, and @var{X.Y.Z} is the LilyPond version number.
4211 Within this directory the two interesting subdirectories are
4214 @item @file{ly/} - contains files in LilyPond format
4215 @item @file{scm/} - contains files in Scheme format
4218 Let's begin by looking at some files in @file{ly/}.
4219 Open @file{ly/property-init.ly} in a text editor. The one
4220 you normally use for @code{.ly} files will be fine. This file
4221 contains the definitions of all the standard LilyPond predefined
4222 commands, such as @code{\stemUp} and @code{\slurDotted}. You will
4223 see that these are nothing more than definitions of variables
4224 containing one or a group of @code{\override} commands. For
4225 example, @code{/tieDotted} is defined to be:
4229 \override Tie.dash-period = #0.75
4230 \override Tie.dash-fraction = #0.1
4234 If you do not like the default values these predefined commands can
4235 be redefined easily, just like any other variable, at the
4236 head of your input file.
4238 The following are the most useful files to be found in
4241 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
4244 @item @file{ly/engraver-init.ly}
4245 @tab Definitions of engraver Contexts
4246 @item @file{ly/paper-defaults-init.ly}
4247 @tab Specifications of paper-related defaults
4248 @item @file{ly/performer-init.ly}
4249 @tab Definitions of performer Contexts
4250 @item @file{ly/property-init.ly}
4251 @tab Definitions of all common predefined commands
4252 @item @file{ly/spanner-init.ly}
4253 @tab Definitions of spanner-related predefined commands
4256 Other settings (such as the definitions of markup commands) are
4257 stored as @file{.scm} (Scheme) files. The Scheme programming
4258 language is used to provide a programmable interface into
4259 LilyPond internal operation. Further explanation of these files
4260 is currently outside the scope of this manual, as a knowledge of
4261 the Scheme language is required. Users should be warned that
4262 a substantial amount of technical knowledge or time is required
4263 to understand Scheme and these files (see @rextend{Scheme tutorial}).
4265 If you have this knowledge, the Scheme files which may be of
4268 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
4271 @item @file{scm/auto-beam.scm}
4272 @tab Sub-beaming defaults
4273 @item @file{scm/define-grobs.scm}
4274 @tab Default settings for grob properties
4275 @item @file{scm/define-markup-commands.scm}
4276 @tab Specify all markup commands
4277 @item @file{scm/midi.scm}
4278 @tab Default settings for MIDI output
4279 @item @file{scm/output-lib.scm}
4280 @tab Settings that affect appearance of frets, colors,
4281 accidentals, bar lines, etc
4282 @item @file{scm/parser-clef.scm}
4283 @tab Definitions of supported clefs
4284 @item @file{scm/script.scm}
4285 @tab Default settings for articulations
4289 @node Advanced tweaks with Scheme
4290 @subsection Advanced tweaks with Scheme
4292 Although many things are possible with the @code{\override} and
4293 @code{\tweak} commands, an even more powerful way of modifying
4294 the action of LilyPond is available through a programmable
4295 interface to the LilyPond internal operation. Code written in
4296 the Scheme programming language can be incorporated directly in
4297 the internal operation of LilyPond. Of course, at least a basic
4298 knowledge of programming in Scheme is required to do this, and an
4299 introduction is provided in the @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
4301 As an illustration of one of the many possibilities, instead of
4302 setting a property to a constant it can be set to a Scheme
4303 procedure which is then called whenever that property is accessed
4304 by LilyPond. The property can then be set dynamically to a value
4305 determined by the procedure at the time it is called. In this
4306 example we color the note head in accordance with its position on
4309 @cindex x11-color function, example of using
4310 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
4311 @cindex color property, setting to Scheme procedure
4313 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
4314 #(define (color-notehead grob)
4315 "Color the notehead according to its position on the staff."
4316 (let ((mod-position (modulo (ly:grob-property grob 'staff-position)
4319 ;; Return rainbow colors
4320 ((1) (x11-color 'red )) ; for C
4321 ((2) (x11-color 'orange )) ; for D
4322 ((3) (x11-color 'yellow )) ; for E
4323 ((4) (x11-color 'green )) ; for F
4324 ((5) (x11-color 'blue )) ; for G
4325 ((6) (x11-color 'purple )) ; for A
4326 ((0) (x11-color 'violet )) ; for B
4330 % Arrange to obtain color from color-notehead procedure
4331 \override NoteHead.color = #color-notehead
4332 a2 b | c2 d | e2 f | g2 a |
4336 Further examples showing the use of these programmable interfaces
4337 can be found in @rextend{Callback functions}.