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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
175 @strong{\override command}
177 @cindex override command
178 @cindex override syntax
183 We have already met the commands @code{\set} and @code{\with}, used to
184 change the properties of @strong{contexts} and to remove and add
185 @strong{engravers}, in @ref{Modifying context properties}, and
186 @ref{Adding and removing engravers}. We must now introduce some more
189 The command to change the properties of @strong{layout objects} is
190 @code{\override}. Because this command has to modify
191 internal properties deep within LilyPond its syntax is not
192 as simple as the commands you have used so far. It needs to
193 know precisely which property of which object in which context
194 has to be modified, and what its new value is to be. Let's see
197 The general syntax of this command is:
200 \override @var{Context}.@var{LayoutObject} #'@var{layout-property} =
205 This will set the property with the name @var{layout-property} of the
206 layout object with the name @var{LayoutObject}, which is a member of
207 the @var{Context} context, to the value @var{value}.
209 The @var{Context} can be omitted (and usually is) when the
210 required context is unambiguously implied and is one of lowest
211 level contexts, i.e., @code{Voice}, @code{ChordNames} or
212 @code{Lyrics}, and we shall omit it in many of the following
213 examples. We shall see later when it must be specified.
215 Later sections deal comprehensively with properties and their
216 values, see @ref{Types of properties}. But in this section we shall
217 use just a few simple properties and values which are easily
218 understood in order to illustrate the format and use of these
221 For now, don't worry about the @code{#'}, which must precede the
222 layout property, and the@tie{}@code{#}, which must precede the value.
223 These must always be present in exactly this form. This is the
224 most common command used in tweaking, and most of the rest of
225 this chapter will be directed to presenting examples of how it is
226 used. Here is a simple example to change the color of the
229 @cindex color property, example
230 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
232 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
234 \override NoteHead.color = #red
236 \override NoteHead.color = #green
240 @strong{\revert command}
242 @cindex revert command
247 Once overridden, the property retains its new value until it is
248 overridden again or a @code{\revert} command is encountered.
249 The @code{\revert} command has the following syntax and causes
250 the value of the property to revert to its original default
251 value; note, not its previous value if several @code{\override}
252 commands have been issued.
255 \revert @var{Context}.@var{LayoutObject} #'@var{layout-property}
258 Again, just like @var{Context} in the @code{\override} command,
259 @var{Context} is often not needed. It will be omitted
260 in many of the following examples. Here we revert the color
261 of the note head to the default value for the final two notes:
263 @cindex color property, example
264 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
266 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
268 \override NoteHead.color = #red
270 \override NoteHead.color = #green
272 \revert NoteHead.color
276 @strong{\once prefix}
281 Both the @code{\override} and the @code{\set} commands may be prefixed
282 by @code{\once}. This causes the following @code{\override} or
283 @code{\set} command to be effective only during the current musical
284 moment before the property reverts back to its previous value (this can
285 be different from the default if another @code{\override} is still in
286 effect). Using the same example, we can change the color of a single
289 @cindex color property, example
290 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
292 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
294 \override NoteHead.color = #red
296 \once \override NoteHead.color = #green
298 \revert NoteHead.color
302 @strong{\overrideProperty command}
304 @cindex overrideProperty command
306 @funindex \overrideProperty
307 @funindex overrideProperty
309 There is another form of the override command,
310 @code{\overrideProperty}, which is occasionally required.
311 We mention it here for completeness, but for details see
312 @rextend{Difficult tweaks}.
313 @c Maybe explain in a later iteration -td
315 @strong{\tweak command}
317 @cindex tweak command
322 The final tweaking command which is available is @code{\tweak}. This
323 should be used when several objects occur at the same musical moment,
324 but you only want to change the properties of selected ones, such as a
325 single note within a chord. Using @code{\override} would affect all the
326 notes within a chord, whereas @code{\tweak} affects just the following
327 item in the input stream.
329 Here's an example. Suppose we wish to change the size of the
330 middle note head (the E) in a C major chord. Let's first see what
331 @code{\once \override} would do:
333 @cindex font-size property, example
334 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
336 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
338 \once \override NoteHead.font-size = #-3
343 We see the override affects @emph{all} the note heads in the chord.
344 This is because all the notes of a chord occur at the same
345 @emph{musical moment}, and the action of @code{\once} is to
346 apply the override to all layout objects of the type specified
347 which occur at the same musical moment as the @code{\override}
350 The @code{\tweak} command operates in a different way. It acts on
351 the immediately following item in the input stream. In its simplest
352 form, it is effective only on objects which are created directly
353 from the following item, essentially note heads and articulations.
355 So to return to our example, the size of the middle note of
356 a chord would be changed in this way:
358 @cindex font-size property, example
359 @cindex @code{\tweak}, example
361 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
363 <c \tweak font-size #-3 e g>4
366 Note that the syntax of @code{\tweak} is different from that of the
367 @code{\override} command. The context should not be specified; in
368 fact, it would generate an error to do so. Both context and layout
369 object are implied by the following item in the input stream. Note
370 also that an equals sign should not be present. So the simple form
371 of the @code{\tweak} command is
374 \tweak #'@var{layout-property} #@var{value}
377 A @code{\tweak} command can also be used to modify just one in
378 a series of articulations, as shown here:
380 @cindex color property, example
381 @cindex @code{\tweak}, example
383 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
385 -\tweak color #red ^"Red"
386 -\tweak color #green _"Green"
390 Note that the @code{\tweak} command must be preceded by an articulation
391 mark since the tweaked expression needs to be applied as an articulation
392 itself. In case of multiple direction overrides (@code{^} or @code{_}),
393 the leftmost override wins since it is applied last.
395 @cindex @code{\tweak}, Accidental
396 @cindex @code{\tweak}, specific layout object
398 Objects such as stems and accidentals are created later, and not
399 directly from the following event. It is still possible to use
400 @code{\tweak} on such indirectly created objects by explicitly naming
401 the layout object, provided that LilyPond can trace its origin back to
404 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
405 <\tweak Accidental.color #red cis4
406 \tweak Accidental.color #green es
410 This long form of the @code{\tweak} command can be described as
412 \tweak @var{layout-object} #'@var{layout-property} @var{value}
415 @cindex tuplets, nested
416 @cindex triplets, nested
417 @cindex bracket, tuplet
418 @cindex bracket, triplet
419 @cindex tuplet bracket
420 @cindex triplet bracket
422 @funindex TupletBracket
424 The @code{\tweak} command must also be used to change the
425 appearance of one of a set of nested tuplets which begin at the
426 same musical moment. In the following example, the long tuplet
427 bracket and the first of the three short brackets begin at the
428 same musical moment, so any @code{\override} command would apply
429 to both of them. In the example, @code{\tweak} is used to
430 distinguish between them. The first @code{\tweak} command
431 specifies that the long tuplet bracket is to be placed above the
432 notes and the second one specifies that the tuplet number is to be
433 printed in red on the first short tuplet bracket.
435 @cindex @code{\tweak}, example
436 @cindex direction property, example
437 @cindex color property, example
439 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim,fragment,relative=2]
443 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
444 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
445 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
449 If nested tuplets do not begin at the same moment, their
450 appearance may be modified in the usual way with
451 @code{\override} commands:
453 @cindex text property, example
454 @cindex tuplet-number function, example
455 @cindex transparent property, example
456 @cindex TupletNumber, example of overriding
458 @c NOTE Tuplet brackets collide if notes are high on staff
460 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim,fragment,relative=1]
461 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
462 \once \override TupletNumber.text = #tuplet-number::calc-fraction-text
466 \once \override TupletNumber.transparent = ##t
467 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
468 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
475 @ruser{The tweak command}.
478 @node The Internals Reference manual
479 @section The Internals Reference manual
481 @cindex Internals Reference
484 * Properties of layout objects::
485 * Properties found in interfaces::
486 * Types of properties::
489 @node Properties of layout objects
490 @subsection Properties of layout objects
492 @cindex properties of layout objects
493 @cindex properties of grobs
494 @cindex grobs, properties of
495 @cindex layout objects, properties of
496 @cindex Internals Reference manual
498 Suppose you have a slur in a score which, to your mind,
499 appears too thin and you'd like to draw it a little heavier.
500 How do you go about doing this? You know from the statements
501 earlier about the flexibility of LilyPond that such a thing
502 should be possible, and you would probably guess that an
503 @code{\override} command would be needed. But is there a
504 heaviness property for a slur, and if there is, how might it
505 be modified? This is where the Internals Reference manual
506 comes in. It contains all the information you might need to
507 construct this and all other @code{\override} commands.
509 Before we look at the Internals Reference a word of warning.
510 This is a @strong{reference} document, which means there is
511 little or no explanation contained within it: its purpose is
512 to present information precisely and concisely. This
513 means it might look daunting at first sight. Don't worry!
514 The guidance and explanation presented here will enable you
515 to extract the information from the Internals Reference for
516 yourself with just a little practice.
518 @cindex override example
519 @cindex Internals Reference, example of using
520 @cindex @code{\addlyrics} example
522 Let's use a concrete example with a simple fragment of real
525 @c Mozart, Die Zauberflöte Nr.7 Duett
527 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
532 r4 bes8 bes[( g]) g |
533 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
537 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
542 Suppose now that we decide we would like the slurs to be a
543 little heavier. Is this possible? The slur is certainly a
544 layout object, so the question is, @q{Is there a property
545 belonging to a slur which controls the heaviness?} To answer
546 this we must look in the Internals Reference, or IR for short.
548 The IR for the version of LilyPond you are using may be found
549 on the LilyPond website at @uref{http://lilypond.org}. Go to the
550 documentation page and click on the Internals Reference link.
551 For learning purposes you should use the standard HTML version,
552 not the @q{one big page} or the PDF. For the next few
553 paragraphs to make sense you will need to actually do this
556 Under the heading @strong{Top} you will see five links. Select
557 the link to the @emph{Backend}, which is where information about
558 layout objects is to be found. There, under the heading
559 @strong{Backend}, select the link to @emph{All layout objects}.
560 The page that appears lists all the layout objects used in your
561 version of LilyPond, in alphabetic order. Select the link to
562 Slur, and the properties of Slurs are listed.
564 An alternative way of finding this page is from the Notation
565 Reference. On one of the pages that deals with slurs you may find a
566 link to the Internals Reference. This link will take you directly to
567 this page, but if you have an idea about the name of the layout object
568 to be tweaked, it is easier to go straight to the IR and search there.
570 This Slur page in the IR tells us first that Slur objects are created
571 by the Slur_engraver. Then it lists the standard settings. Browse
572 through them looking for a property that might control the heaviness of
573 slurs, and you should find
576 @code{thickness} (number)
578 Line thickness, generally measured in @code{line-thickness}
581 This looks a good bet to change the heaviness. It tells us that
582 the value of @code{thickness} is a simple @emph{number},
583 that the default value is 1.2, and that the units are
584 in another property called @code{line-thickness}.
586 As we said earlier, there are few to no explanations in the IR,
587 but we already have enough information to try changing the
588 slur thickness. We see that the name of the layout object
589 is @code{Slur}, that the name of the property to change is
590 @code{thickness} and that the new value should be a number
591 somewhat larger than 1.2 if we are to make slurs thicker.
593 We can now construct the @code{\override} command by simply
594 substituting the values we have found for the names, omitting
595 the context. Let's use a very large value for the thickness
596 at first, so we can be sure the command is working. We get:
599 \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
602 Don't forget the @code{#'} preceding the
603 property name and a@tie{}@code{#} preceding the new value!
605 The final question is, @q{Where should this command be
606 placed?} While you are unsure and learning, the best
607 answer is, @q{Within the music, before the first slur and
608 close to it.} Let's do that:
610 @cindex Slur example of overriding
611 @cindex thickness property, example
613 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
618 % Increase thickness of all following slurs from 1.2 to 5.0
619 \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
620 r4 bes8 bes[( g]) g |
621 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
625 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
631 and we see that the slur is indeed heavier.
633 So this is the basic way of constructing @code{\override}
634 commands. There are a few more complications that we
635 shall meet in later sections, but you now know all the
636 essentials required to make up your own -- but you will
637 still need some practice. This is provided in the examples
640 @subheading Finding the context
642 @cindex context, finding
643 @cindex context, identifying correct
645 But first, what if we had needed to specify the Context?
646 What should it be? We could guess that slurs are in
647 the Voice context, as they are clearly closely associated
648 with individual lines of music, but can we be sure? To
649 find out, go back to the top of the IR page describing the
650 Slur, where it says @q{Slur objects are created by: Slur
651 engraver}. So slurs will be created in whichever context
652 the @code{Slur_engraver} is in. Follow the link to the
653 @code{Slur_engraver} page. At the very bottom it tells
654 us that @code{Slur_engraver} is part of seven Voice contexts,
655 including the standard voice context, @code{Voice}, so our
656 guess was correct. And because @code{Voice} is one of the
657 lowest level contexts which is implied unambiguously by
658 the fact that we are entering notes, we can omit it in this
661 @subheading Overriding once only
663 @cindex overriding once only
664 @cindex once override
669 As you can see, @emph{all} the slurs are thicker in the final example
670 above. But what if we wanted just the first slur to be thicker? This
671 is achieved with the @code{\once} command. Placed immediately before
672 the @code{\override} command it causes it to change only the slur
673 which begins on the @strong{immediately following} note. If the
674 immediately following note does not begin a slur the command has no
675 effect at all -- it is not remembered until a slur is encountered, it
676 is simply discarded. So the command with @code{\once} must be
677 repositioned as follows:
679 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
680 @cindex thickness property, example
682 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
688 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
689 \once \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
691 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
695 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
701 Now only the first slur is made heavier.
703 The @code{\once} command can also be used before the @code{\set}
706 @subheading Reverting
709 @cindex default properties, reverting to
714 Finally, what if we wanted just the first two slurs to be
715 heavier? Well, we could use two commands, each preceded by
716 @code{\once} placed immediately before each of the notes where
719 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
720 @cindex thickness property, example
722 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
728 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
729 \once \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
731 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
732 \once \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
733 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
737 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
743 or we could omit the @code{\once} command and use the @code{\revert}
744 command to return the @code{thickness} property to its default value
745 after the second slur:
747 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
748 @cindex thickness property, example
750 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
756 % Increase thickness of all following slurs from 1.2 to 5.0
757 \override Slur.thickness = #5.0
760 % Revert thickness of all following slurs to default of 1.2
761 \revert Slur.thickness
766 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
772 The @code{\revert} command can be used to return any property
773 changed with @code{\override} back to its default value.
774 You may use whichever method best suits what you want to do.
776 That concludes our introduction to the IR, and the basic
777 method of tweaking. Several examples follow in the later
778 sections of this Chapter, partly to introduce you to some of the
779 additional features of the IR, and partly to give you more
780 practice in extracting information from it. These examples will
781 contain progressively fewer words of guidance and explanation.
784 @node Properties found in interfaces
785 @subsection Properties found in interfaces
788 @cindex interface properties
789 @cindex properties in interfaces
791 Suppose now that we wish to print the lyrics in italics. What form of
792 @code{\override} command do we need to do this? We first look in the
793 IR page listing @q{All layout objects}, as before, and look for an
794 object that might control lyrics. We find @code{LyricText}, which
795 looks right. Clicking on this shows the settable properties for lyric
796 text. These include the @code{font-series} and @code{font-size}, but
797 nothing that might give an italic shape. This is because the shape
798 property is one that is common to all font objects, so, rather than
799 including it in every layout object, it is grouped together with other
800 similar common properties and placed in an @strong{Interface}, the
801 @code{font-interface}.
803 So now we need to learn how to find the properties of interfaces,
804 and to discover what objects use these interface properties.
806 Look again at the IR page which describes LyricText. At the bottom of
807 the page is a list of clickable interfaces which LyricText supports.
808 The list has several items, including @code{font-interface}. Clicking
809 on this brings up the properties associated with this interface, which
810 are also properties of all the objects which support it, including
813 Now we see all the user-settable properties which control fonts,
814 including @code{font-shape(symbol)}, where @code{symbol} can be
815 set to @code{upright}, @code{italics} or @code{caps}.
817 You will notice that @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} are also
818 listed there. This immediately raises the question: Why are the
819 common font properties @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} listed
820 under @code{LyricText} as well as under the interface
821 @code{font-interface} but @code{font-shape} is not? The answer is
822 that @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} are changed from their
823 global default values when a @code{LyricText} object is created, but
824 @code{font-shape} is not. The entries in @code{LyricText} then tell
825 you the values for those two properties which apply to
826 @code{LyricText}. Other objects which support @code{font-interface}
827 will set these properties differently when they are created.
829 Let's see if we can now construct the @code{\override} command
830 to change the lyrics to italics. The object is @code{LyricText},
831 the property is @code{font-shape} and the value is
832 @code{italic}. As before, we'll omit the context.
834 As an aside, although it is an important one, note that because the
835 values of @code{font-shape} are symbols they must be introduced with a
836 single apostrophe, @code{'}. That is why apostrophes are needed
837 before @code{thickness} in the earlier example and @code{font-shape}.
838 These are both symbols too. Symbols are then read internally by
839 LilyPond. Some of them are the names of properties, like
840 @code{thickness} or @code{font-shape}, others are used as values that
841 can be given to properties, like @code{italic}. Note the distinction
842 from arbitrary text strings, which would appear as @code{"a text
843 string"}; for more details about symbols and strings, see
844 @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
846 So we see that the @code{\override} command needed to print the lyrics
850 \override LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
854 This should be placed just in front of the lyrics we wish to affect,
857 @cindex font-shape property, example
858 @cindex italic, example
859 @cindex LyricText, example of overriding
860 @cindex @code{\addlyrics}, example
862 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
867 r4 bes8 bes[( g]) g |
868 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
872 \override LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
873 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
879 and the lyrics are all printed in italics.
881 @subheading Specifying the context in lyric mode
883 @cindex context, specifying in lyric mode
884 @cindex lyric mode, specifying context
886 In the case of lyrics, if you try specifying the context in the
887 format given earlier the command will fail. A syllable
888 entered in lyricmode is terminated by either a space,
889 a newline or a digit. All other characters are included
890 as part of the syllable. For this reason a space or newline
891 must appear before the terminating @code{@}} to prevent it being
892 included as part of the final syllable. Similarly,
893 spaces must be inserted before and after the
894 period or dot, @q{.}, separating the context name from the
895 object name, as otherwise the two names are run together and
896 the interpreter cannot recognize them. So the command should be:
899 \override Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
902 @warning{In lyrics always leave whitespace between the final
903 syllable and the terminating brace.}
905 @warning{In overrides in lyrics always place spaces around
906 the dot between the context name and the object name.}
910 Extending: @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
913 @node Types of properties
914 @subsection Types of properties
916 @cindex property types
918 So far we have seen two types of property: @code{number} and
919 @code{symbol}. To be valid, the value given to a property
920 must be of the correct type and obey the rules for that type.
921 The type of property is always shown in brackets after the
922 property name in the IR. Here is a list of the types you may
923 need, together with the rules for that type, and some examples.
924 You must always add a hash symbol, @code{#}, of course,
925 to the front of these values when they are entered in the
926 @code{\override} command.
928 @multitable @columnfractions .2 .45 .35
929 @headitem Property type
933 @tab Either True or False, represented by #t or #f
934 @tab @code{#t}, @code{#f}
935 @item Dimension (in staff space)
936 @tab A positive decimal number (in units of staff space)
937 @tab @code{2.5}, @code{0.34}
939 @tab A valid direction constant or its numerical equivalent (decimal
940 values between -1 and 1 are allowed)
941 @tab @code{LEFT}, @code{CENTER}, @code{UP},
942 @code{1}, @w{@code{-1}}
944 @tab A positive whole number
945 @tab @code{3}, @code{1}
947 @tab A set of values separated by spaces, enclosed in parentheses
948 and preceded by an apostrophe
949 @tab @code{'(left-edge staff-bar)}, @code{'(1)},
950 @code{'(1.0 0.25 0.5)}
952 @tab Any valid markup
953 @tab @code{\markup @{ \italic "cresc." @}}
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 decimal value
961 @tab @code{3.5}, @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},
975 @tab A list of three items enclosed in parentheses and preceded
976 by apostrophe-hash, @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
1033 @cindex stencil property
1035 This property controls the appearance of the bar lines by specifying
1036 the symbol (glyph) which should be printed. In common
1037 with many other properties, it can be set to print nothing by
1038 setting its value to @code{#f}. Let's try it, as before, omitting
1039 the implied Context, @code{Voice}:
1041 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1042 @cindex stencil property, example
1044 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1047 \override BarLine.stencil = ##f
1049 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1054 The bar lines are still printed. What is wrong? Go back to the IR
1055 and look again at the page giving the properties of BarLine. At the
1056 top of the page it says @qq{Barline objects are created by:
1057 Bar_engraver}. Go to the @code{Bar_engraver} page. At the bottom it
1058 gives a list of Contexts in which the bar engraver operates. All of
1059 them are of the type @code{Staff}, so the reason the @code{\override}
1060 command failed to work as expected is because @code{Barline} is not in
1061 the default @code{Voice} context. If the context is specified
1062 incorrectly, the command simply does not work. No error message is
1063 produced, and nothing is logged in the log file. Let's try correcting
1064 it by adding the correct context:
1066 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1067 @cindex stencil property, example
1069 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1072 \override Staff.BarLine.stencil = ##f
1074 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1079 Now the bar lines have vanished.
1081 Note, though, that setting the @code{stencil} property to @code{#f}
1082 will cause errors when the dimensions of the object are required for
1083 correct processing. For example, errors will be generated if the
1084 @code{stencil} property of the @code{NoteHead} object is set to
1085 @code{#f}. If this is the case, you can instead use the
1086 @code{point-stencil} function, which sets the stencil to a object
1089 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1092 \once \override NoteHead.stencil = #point-stencil
1097 @subheading break-visibility
1099 @cindex break-visibility property
1101 We see from the @code{BarLine} properties in the IR that the
1102 @code{break-visibility} property requires a vector of three booleans.
1103 These control respectively whether bar lines are printed at the end of
1104 a line, in the middle of lines, and at the beginning of lines. For
1105 our example we want all bar lines to be suppressed, so the value we
1106 need is @code{'#(#f #f #f)}. Let's try that, remembering to include
1107 the @code{Staff} context. Note also that in writing this value we
1108 have @code{#'#} before the opening bracket. The @code{'#} is required
1109 as part of the value to introduce a vector, and the first@tie{}@code{#} is
1110 required, as always, to precede the value itself in the
1111 @code{\override} command.
1113 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1114 @cindex break-visibility property, example
1116 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1119 \override Staff.BarLine.break-visibility = #'#(#f #f #f)
1121 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1126 And we see this too removes all the bar lines.
1128 @subheading transparent
1130 @cindex transparent property
1131 @cindex transparency
1133 We see from the properties specified in the @code{grob-interface} page
1134 in the IR that the @code{transparent} property is a boolean. This
1135 should be set to @code{#t} to make the grob transparent. In this next
1136 example let us make the time signature invisible rather than the bar
1137 lines. To do this we need to find the grob name for the time
1138 signature. Back to the @q{All layout objects} page in the IR to find
1139 the properties of the @code{TimeSignature} layout object. This is
1140 produced by the @code{Time_signature_engraver} which you can check
1141 also lives in the @code{Staff} context and also supports the
1142 @code{grob-interface}. So the command to make the time signature
1145 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1146 @cindex transparent property, example
1148 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1151 \override Staff.TimeSignature.transparent = ##t
1153 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1159 The time signature is gone, but this command leaves a gap where
1160 the time signature should be. Maybe this is what is wanted for
1161 an exercise for the student to fill it in, but in other
1162 circumstances a gap might be undesirable. To remove it, the
1163 stencil for the time signature should be set to @code{#f}
1166 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1167 @cindex stencil property, example
1169 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1172 \override Staff.TimeSignature.stencil = ##f
1174 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1180 and the difference is obvious: setting the stencil to @code{#f}
1181 removes the object entirely; making the object @code{transparent}
1182 leaves it where it is, but makes it invisible.
1186 @cindex color property
1188 Finally let us try making the bar lines invisible by coloring
1189 them white. (There is a difficulty with this in that the
1190 white bar line may or may not blank out the staff lines where
1191 they cross. You may see in some of the examples below that this
1192 happens unpredictably. The details of why this is so and how to
1193 control it are covered in @ruser{Painting objects white}. But at
1194 the moment we are learning about color, so please just accept this
1195 limitation for now.)
1197 The @code{grob-interface} specifies that the
1198 color property value is a list, but there is no
1199 explanation of what that list should be. The list it
1200 requires is actually a list of values in internal units,
1201 but, to avoid having to know what these are, several ways
1202 are provided to specify colors. The first way is to use one
1203 of the @q{normal} colors listed in the first table in
1204 @ruser{List of colors}. To set the bar lines to white
1207 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1208 @cindex color property, example
1210 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1213 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #white
1215 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1221 and again, we see the bar lines are not visible. Note that
1222 @emph{white} is not preceded by an apostrophe -- it is not
1223 a symbol, but a @emph{function}. When called, it provides
1224 the list of internal values required to set the color to
1225 white. The other colors in the normal list are functions
1226 too. To convince yourself this is working you might like
1227 to change the color to one of the other functions in the
1235 The second way of changing the color is to use the list of
1236 X11 color names in the second list in @ruser{List of colors}.
1237 However, these must be preceded by another function, which
1238 converts X11 color names into the list of internal values,
1239 @code{x11-color}, like this:
1241 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1242 @cindex color property, example
1244 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1247 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #(x11-color 'white)
1249 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1255 Note that in this case the function @code{x11-color} takes
1256 a symbol as an argument, so the symbol must be preceded by
1257 an apostrophe and the two enclosed in brackets.
1264 There is yet a third function, one which converts RGB values into
1265 internal colors -- the @code{rgb-color} function. This takes
1266 three arguments giving the intensities of the red, green and
1267 blue colors. These take values in the range 0 to 1. So to
1268 set the color to red the value should be @code{(rgb-color 1 0 0)}
1269 and to white it should be @code{(rgb-color 1 1 1)}:
1271 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1272 @cindex color property, example
1274 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1277 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #(rgb-color 1 1 1)
1279 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1284 Finally, there is also a grey scale available as part of the
1285 X11 set of colors. These range from black, @code{'grey0},
1286 to white, @code{'grey100}, in steps of 1. Let's illustrate
1287 this by setting all the layout objects in our example to
1288 various shades of grey:
1290 @cindex StaffSymbol, example of overriding
1291 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1292 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1293 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
1294 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
1295 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1296 @cindex color property, example
1297 @cindex x11-color, example of using
1299 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1302 \override Staff.StaffSymbol.color = #(x11-color 'grey30)
1303 \override Staff.TimeSignature.color = #(x11-color 'grey60)
1304 \override Staff.Clef.color = #(x11-color 'grey60)
1305 \override Voice.NoteHead.color = #(x11-color 'grey85)
1306 \override Voice.Stem.color = #(x11-color 'grey85)
1307 \override Staff.BarLine.color = #(x11-color 'grey10)
1309 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1315 Note the contexts associated with each of the layout objects.
1316 It is important to get these right, or the commands will not
1317 work! Remember, the context is the one in which the appropriate
1318 engraver is placed. The default context for engravers can be
1319 found by starting from the layout object, going from there to
1320 the engraver which produces it, and on the engraver page in the
1321 IR it tells you in which context the engraver will normally be
1325 @node Size of objects
1326 @subsection Size of objects
1328 @cindex changing size of objects
1329 @cindex size of objects
1330 @cindex objects, size of
1331 @cindex objects, changing size of
1333 Let us begin by looking again at the earlier example
1334 (see @ref{Nesting music expressions}) which showed
1335 how to introduce a new temporary staff, as in an @rglos{ossia}.
1337 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1338 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1340 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1341 \new Staff ="main" {
1348 alignAboveContext = #"main" }
1356 Ossia are normally written without clef and time signature, and
1357 are usually printed slightly smaller than the main staff. We
1358 already know now how to remove the clef and time signature --
1359 we simply set the stencil of each to @code{#f}, as follows:
1361 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1362 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1363 @cindex stencil property, example
1364 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1365 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1367 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1368 \new Staff ="main" {
1375 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1378 \override Staff.Clef.stencil = ##f
1379 \override Staff.TimeSignature.stencil = ##f
1389 where the extra pair of braces after the @code{\with} clause are
1390 required to ensure the enclosed overrides and music are applied
1393 But what is the difference between modifying the staff context by
1394 using @code{\with} and modifying the stencils of the clef and the
1395 time signature with \override? The main difference is that
1396 changes made in a @code{\with} clause are made at the time the
1397 context is created, and remain in force as the @strong{default}
1398 values for the duration of that context, whereas
1399 @code{\set} or @code{\override} commands embedded in the
1400 music are dynamic -- they make changes synchronized with
1401 a particular point in the music. If changes are unset or
1402 reverted using @code{\unset} or @code{\revert} they return to
1403 their default values, which will be the ones set in the
1404 @code{\with} clause, or if none have been set there, the normal
1407 Some context properties can be modified only in @code{\with} clauses.
1408 These are those properties which cannot sensibly be changed after the
1409 context has been created. @code{alignAboveContext} and its partner,
1410 @code{alignBelowContext}, are two such properties -- once the staff
1411 has been created its alignment is decided and it would make no sense
1412 to try to change it later.
1414 The default values of layout object properties can also be set
1415 in @code{\with} clauses. Simply use the normal @code{\override}
1416 command leaving out the context name, since this is unambiguously
1417 defined as the context which the @code{\with} clause is modifying.
1418 If fact, an error will be generated if a context is specified
1421 So we could replace the example above with
1423 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1424 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1425 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1426 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1428 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1429 \new Staff ="main" {
1436 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1437 % Don't print clefs in this staff
1438 \override Clef.stencil = ##f
1439 % Don't print time signatures in this staff
1440 \override TimeSignature.stencil = ##f
1449 Finally we come to changing the size of layout objects.
1451 Some layout objects are created as glyphs selected from a typeface
1452 font. These include note heads, accidentals, markup, clefs, time
1453 signatures, dynamics and lyrics. Their size is changed by modifying
1454 the @code{font-size} property, as we shall shortly see. Other layout
1455 objects such as slurs and ties -- in general, spanner objects -- are
1456 drawn individually, so there is no @code{font-size} associated with
1457 them. These objects generally derive their size from the objects to
1458 which they are attached, so usually there is no need to change their
1459 size manually. Still other properties such as the length of stems and
1460 bar lines, thickness of beams and other lines, and the separation of
1461 staff lines all need to be modified in special ways.
1463 Returning to the ossia example, let us first change the font-size.
1464 We can do this in two ways. We can either change the size of the
1465 fonts of each object type, like @code{NoteHead}s with commands
1469 \override NoteHead.font-size = #-2
1472 or we can change the size of all fonts by setting a special
1473 property, @code{fontSize}, using @code{\set}, or by including
1474 it in a @code{\with} clause (but without the @code{\set}).
1480 Both of these statements would cause the font size to be reduced
1481 by 2 steps from its previous value, where each
1482 step reduces or increases the size by approximately 12%.
1484 Let's try it in our ossia example:
1486 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1487 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1488 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1489 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1490 @cindex fontSize property, example
1492 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1493 \new Staff ="main" {
1500 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1501 \override Clef.stencil = ##f
1502 \override TimeSignature.stencil = ##f
1503 % Reduce all font sizes by ~24%
1513 This is still not quite right. The note heads and flags are
1514 smaller, but the stems are too long in proportion and the
1515 staff lines are spaced too widely apart. These need to be
1516 scaled down in proportion to the font reduction. The next
1517 sub-section discusses how this is done.
1519 @node Length and thickness of objects
1520 @subsection Length and thickness of objects
1526 @cindex size, changing
1527 @cindex stem length, changing
1528 @cindex staff line spacing, changing
1530 Distances and lengths in LilyPond are generally measured in
1531 staff-spaces, the distance between adjacent lines in the staff,
1532 (or occasionally half staff spaces) while most @code{thickness}
1533 properties are measured in units of an internal property called
1534 @code{line-thickness.} For example, by default, the lines of
1535 hairpins are given a thickness of 1 unit of @code{line-thickness},
1536 while the @code{thickness} of a note stem is 1.3. Note, though,
1537 that some thickness properties are different; for example, the
1538 thickness of beams is controlled by the value of the
1539 @code{beam-thickness} property, which is measured in staff-spaces.
1541 So how are lengths to be scaled in proportion to the font size?
1542 This can be done with the help of a special function called
1543 @code{magstep} provided for exactly this purpose. It takes
1544 one argument, the change in font size (#-2 in the example above)
1545 and returns a scaling factor suitable for reducing other
1546 objects in proportion. It is used like this:
1548 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1549 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1550 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1551 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1552 @cindex fontSize property, example
1553 @cindex StaffSymbol, example of overriding
1554 @cindex magstep function, example of using
1555 @cindex staff-space property, example
1556 @cindex stencil property, example
1558 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1559 \new Staff ="main" {
1566 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1567 \override Clef.stencil = ##f
1568 \override TimeSignature.stencil = ##f
1570 % Reduce stem length and line spacing to match
1571 \override StaffSymbol.staff-space = #(magstep -2)
1581 Since the length of stems and many other length-related properties are
1582 always calculated relative to the value of the @code{staff-space}
1583 property these are automatically scaled down in length too. Note that
1584 this affects only the vertical scale of the ossia -- the horizontal
1585 scale is determined by the layout of the main music in order to remain
1586 synchronized with it, so it is not affected by any of these changes in
1587 size. Of course, if the scale of all the main music were changed in
1588 this way then the horizontal spacing would be affected. This is
1589 discussed later in the layout section.
1591 This, then, completes the creation of an ossia. The sizes and
1592 lengths of all other objects may be modified in analogous ways.
1594 For small changes in scale, as in the example above, the
1595 thickness of the various drawn lines such as bar lines,
1596 beams, hairpins, slurs, etc does not usually require global
1597 adjustment. If the thickness of any particular layout object
1598 needs to be adjusted this can be best achieved by overriding its
1599 @code{thickness} property. An example of changing the thickness
1600 of slurs was shown above in @ref{Properties of layout objects}.
1601 The thickness of all drawn objects (i.e., those not produced
1602 from a font) may be changed in the same way.
1605 @node Placement of objects
1606 @section Placement of objects
1609 * Automatic behavior::
1610 * Within-staff objects::
1611 * Outside-staff objects::
1615 @node Automatic behavior
1616 @subsection Automatic behavior
1618 @cindex within-staff objects
1619 @cindex outside-staff objects
1620 @cindex objects, within-staff
1621 @cindex objects, outside-staff
1623 There are some objects in musical notation that belong to
1624 the staff and there are other objects that should be
1625 placed outside the staff. These are called within-staff
1626 objects and outside-staff objects respectively.
1628 Within-staff objects are those that are located on the staff
1629 -- note heads, stems, accidentals, etc. The positions of
1630 these are usually fixed by the music itself -- they are
1631 vertically positioned on specific lines of the staff or are
1632 tied to other objects that are so positioned. Collisions of
1633 note heads, stems and accidentals in closely set chords are
1634 normally avoided automatically. There are commands and
1635 overrides which can modify this automatic behavior, as we
1638 Objects belonging outside the staff include things such as
1639 rehearsal marks, text and dynamic markings. LilyPond's rule for
1640 the vertical placement of outside-staff objects is to place them
1641 as close to the staff as possible but not so close that they
1642 collide with any other object. LilyPond uses the
1643 @code{outside-staff-priority} property to determine the order in
1644 which the objects should be placed, as follows.
1646 First, LilyPond places all the within-staff objects.
1647 Then it sorts the outside-staff objects according to their
1648 @code{outside-staff-priority}. The outside-staff objects are
1649 taken one by one, beginning with the object with the lowest
1650 @code{outside-staff-priority}, and placed so that they do not
1651 collide with any objects that have already been placed. That is,
1652 if two outside-staff grobs are competing for the same space, the
1653 one with the lower @code{outside-staff-priority} will be placed
1654 closer to the staff. If two objects have the same
1655 @code{outside-staff-priority} the one encountered first will be
1656 placed closer to the staff.
1658 In the following example all the markup texts have the same
1659 priority (since it is not explicitly set). Note that @q{Text3}
1660 is automatically positioned close to the staff again, nestling
1663 @cindex markup example
1665 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1672 Staves are also positioned, by default, as closely together as
1673 possible (subject to a minimum separation). If notes project
1674 a long way towards an adjacent staff they will force the
1675 staves further apart only if an overlap of the notation
1676 would otherwise occur. The following example demonstrates
1677 this @q{nestling} of the notes on adjacent staves:
1679 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1682 \relative c' { c4 a, }
1685 \relative c'''' { c4 a, }
1691 @node Within-staff objects
1692 @subsection Within-staff objects
1694 We have already seen how the commands @code{\voiceXXX} affect the
1695 direction of slurs, ties, fingering and everything else which depends on
1696 the direction of the stems -- see @ref{Explicitly instantiating voices}.
1697 These commands are essential when writing polyphonic music to permit
1698 interweaving melodic lines to be distinguished. But occasionally it may
1699 be necessary to override this automatic behavior. This can be done for
1700 whole sections of music or even for an individual note. The property
1701 which controls this behavior is the @code{direction} property of each
1702 layout object. We first explain what this does, and then introduce a
1703 number of ready-made commands which avoid your having to code explicit
1704 overrides for the more common modifications.
1706 Some layout objects like slurs and ties curve, bend or point
1707 either up or down; others like stems and flags also move to
1708 right or left when they point up or down. This is controlled
1709 automatically when @code{direction} is set.
1716 The following example shows in bar 1 the default behavior of stems,
1717 with those on high notes pointing down and those on low notes pointing
1718 up, followed by four notes with all stems forced down, four notes with
1719 all stems forced up, and finally four notes reverted back to the
1722 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
1723 @cindex direction property, example
1725 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1727 \override Stem.direction = #DOWN
1729 \override Stem.direction = #UP
1731 \revert Stem.direction
1735 Here we use the constants @code{DOWN} and @code{UP}.
1736 These have the values @w{@code{-1}} and @code{+1} respectively, and
1737 these numerical values may be used instead. The value @code{0}
1738 may also be used in some cases. It is simply treated as meaning
1739 @code{UP} for stems, but for some objects it means @q{center}.
1740 There is a constant, @code{CENTER} which has the value @code{0}.
1742 However, these explicit overrides are not usually used, as there are
1743 simpler equivalent predefined commands available. Here is a table of
1744 the commonest. The meaning of each is stated where it is not obvious.
1746 @multitable @columnfractions .2 .2 .25 .35
1751 @item @code{\arpeggioArrowDown}
1752 @tab @code{\arpeggioArrowUp}
1753 @tab @code{\arpeggioNormal}
1754 @tab Arrow is at bottom, at top, or no arrow
1755 @item @code{\dotsDown}
1757 @tab @code{\dotsNeutral}
1758 @tab Direction of movement to avoid staff lines
1759 @item @code{\dynamicDown}
1760 @tab @code{\dynamicUp}
1761 @tab @code{\dynamicNeutral}
1763 @item @code{\phrasingSlurDown}
1764 @tab @code{\phrasingSlurUp}
1765 @tab @code{\phrasingSlurNeutral}
1766 @tab Note: distinct from slur commands
1767 @item @code{\slurDown}
1769 @tab @code{\slurNeutral}
1771 @item @code{\stemDown}
1773 @tab @code{\stemNeutral}
1775 @item @code{\textSpannerDown}
1776 @tab @code{\textSpannerUp}
1777 @tab @code{\textSpannerNeutral}
1778 @tab Text entered as spanner is below/above staff
1779 @item @code{\tieDown}
1781 @tab @code{\tieNeutral}
1783 @item @code{\tupletDown}
1784 @tab @code{\tupletUp}
1785 @tab @code{\tupletNeutral}
1786 @tab Tuplets are below/above notes
1789 Note that these predefined commands may @strong{not} be
1790 preceded by @code{\once}. If you wish to limit the
1791 effect to a single note you must either use the equivalent
1792 @code{\once \override} command or use the predefined command
1793 followed after the affected note by the corresponding
1794 @code{\xxxNeutral} command.
1796 @unnumberedsubsubsec Fingering
1798 @cindex fingering, placement
1799 @cindex fingering, chords
1801 The placement of fingering on single notes can also be controlled
1802 by the @code{direction} property, but changing @code{direction}
1803 has no effect on chords. As we shall see, there are special
1804 commands which allow the fingering of individual notes
1805 of chords to be controlled, with the fingering being placed
1806 above, below, to the left or to the right of each note.
1808 First, here's the effect of @code{direction} on the fingering
1809 attached to single notes. The first bar shows the default
1810 behaviour, and the following two bars shows the effect of
1811 specifying @code{DOWN} and @code{UP}:
1813 @cindex Fingering, example of overriding
1814 @cindex direction property, example
1816 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1818 \override Fingering.direction = #DOWN
1820 \override Fingering.direction = #UP
1824 However, overriding the @code{direction} property is not the
1825 easiest way of manually setting the fingering above or below
1826 the notes; using @code{_} or @code{^} instead of @code{-} before
1827 the fingering number is usually preferable. Here is the previous
1828 example using this method:
1830 @cindex fingering example
1832 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1838 The @code{direction} property is ignored for chords, but the
1839 directional prefixes, @code{_} and @code{^} do work. By default,
1840 the fingering is automatically placed both above and below the
1841 notes of a chord, as shown:
1843 @cindex fingering example
1845 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1852 but this may be overridden to manually force all or any of the
1853 individual fingering numbers above or below:
1855 @cindex fingering example
1857 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1863 Even greater control over the placement of fingering of the
1864 individual notes in a chord is possible by using the
1865 @code{\set fingeringOrientations} command. The format of this
1869 @code{\set fingeringOrientations = #'([up] [left/right] [down])}
1873 @code{\set} is used because @code{fingeringOrientations} is a
1874 property of the @code{Voice} context, created and used by the
1875 @code{New_fingering_engraver}.
1877 The property may be set to a list of one to three values.
1878 It controls whether fingerings may be placed above (if
1879 @code{up} appears in the list), below (if @code{down} appears),
1880 to the left (if @code{left} appears, or to the right
1881 (if @code{right} appears). Conversely, if a location is not
1882 listed, no fingering is placed there. LilyPond takes these
1883 constraints and works out the best placement for the fingering
1884 of the notes of the following chords. Note that @code{left} and
1885 @code{right} are mutually exclusive -- fingering may be placed
1886 only on one side or the other, not both.
1888 @warning{To control the placement of the fingering of a single
1889 note using this command it is necessary to write it as a single
1890 note chord by placing angle brackets round it.}
1892 Here are a few examples:
1894 @cindex fingering example
1895 @cindex @code{\set}, example of using
1896 @cindex fingeringOrientations property, example
1898 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
1899 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1902 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1904 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1905 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left down)
1908 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left)
1910 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1911 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(right)
1917 If the fingering seems a little crowded the @code{font-size}
1918 could be reduced. The default value can be seen from the
1919 @code{Fingering} object in the IR to be @w{@code{-5}}, so let's
1922 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
1923 \override Fingering.font-size = #-7
1924 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1927 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1929 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1930 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left down)
1933 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left)
1935 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1936 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(right)
1941 @node Outside-staff objects
1942 @subsection Outside-staff objects
1944 Outside-staff objects are automatically placed to avoid collisions.
1945 Objects with the lower value of the @code{outside-staff-priority}
1946 property are placed nearer to the staff, and other outside-staff
1947 objects are then raised as far as necessary to avoid collisions.
1948 The @code{outside-staff-priority} is defined in the
1949 @code{grob-interface} and so is a property of all layout objects.
1950 By default it is set to @code{#f} for all within-staff objects,
1951 and to a numerical value appropriate to each outside-staff object
1952 when the object is created. The following table shows the default
1953 numerical values for some of the commonest outside-staff objects.
1957 Note the unusual names for some of the objects: spanner objects
1958 are automatically created to control the vertical positioning of
1959 grobs which (might) start and end at different musical moments, so
1960 changing the @code{outside-staff-priority} of the underlying grob
1961 will have no effect. For example, changing
1962 @code{outside-staff-priority} of the @code{Hairpin} object will
1963 have no effect on the vertical positioning of hairpins -- you must
1964 change @code{outside-staff-priority} of the associated
1965 @code{DynamicLineSpanner} object instead. This override must be
1966 placed at the start of the spanner, which might include several
1967 linked hairpins and dynamics.
1969 @multitable @columnfractions .3 .3 .3
1970 @headitem Layout Object
1972 @tab Controls position of:
1973 @item @code{RehearsalMark}
1975 @tab Rehearsal marks
1976 @item @code{MetronomeMark}
1978 @tab Metronome marks
1979 @item @code{VoltaBracketSpanner}
1982 @item @code{TextScript}
1985 @item @code{MultiMeasureRestText}
1987 @tab Markup text over full-bar rests
1988 @item @code{OttavaBracket}
1990 @tab Ottava brackets
1991 @item @code{TextSpanner}
1994 @item @code{DynamicLineSpanner}
1996 @tab All dynamic markings
1997 @item @code{BarNumber}
2000 @item @code{TrillSpanner}
2002 @tab Spanning trills
2005 Here is an example showing the default placement of some of
2008 @cindex text spanner
2009 @cindex ottava bracket
2011 @funindex \startTextSpan
2012 @funindex startTextSpan
2013 @funindex \stopTextSpan
2014 @funindex stopTextSpan
2016 @cindex TextSpanner, example of overriding
2017 @cindex bound-details property, example
2019 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
2020 % Set details for later Text Spanner
2021 \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text
2022 = \markup { \small \bold Slower }
2023 % Place dynamics above staff
2025 % Start Ottava Bracket
2028 % Add Dynamic Text and hairpin
2034 % Add Dynamic Text and terminate hairpin
2035 c4\ff c \stopTextSpan |
2036 % Stop Ottava Bracket
2041 This example also shows how to create Text Spanners --
2042 text with extender lines above a section of music. The
2043 spanner extends from the @code{\startTextSpan} command to
2044 the @code{\stopTextSpan} command, and the format of the
2045 text is defined by the @code{\override TextSpanner} command.
2046 For more details see @ruser{Text spanners}.
2048 It also shows how ottava brackets are created.
2050 @cindex tweaking bar number placement
2051 @cindex bar numbers, tweaking placement
2052 @cindex tweaking metronome mark placement
2053 @cindex metronome mark, tweaking placement
2054 @cindex tweaking rehearsal mark placement
2055 @cindex rehearsal marks, tweaking placement
2057 If the default values of @code{outside-staff-priority} do not give you
2058 the placing you want, the priority of any of the objects may be
2059 overridden. Suppose we would like the ottava bracket to be placed
2060 below the text spanner in the example above. All we need to do is to
2061 look up the priority of @code{OttavaBracket} in the IR or in the
2062 tables above, and reduce it to a value lower than that of a
2063 @code{TextSpanner}, remembering that @code{OttavaBracket} is created
2064 in the @code{Staff} context:
2066 @cindex TextSpanner, example of overriding
2067 @cindex bound-details property, example
2069 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
2070 % Set details for later Text Spanner
2071 \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text
2072 = \markup { \small \bold Slower }
2073 % Place dynamics above staff
2075 % Place following Ottava Bracket below Text Spanners
2076 \once \override Staff.OttavaBracket.outside-staff-priority = #340
2077 % Start Ottava Bracket
2082 % Add Dynamic Line Spanner
2088 c4\ff c \stopTextSpan |
2089 % Stop Ottava Bracket
2094 Note that some of these objects, in particular bar numbers,
2095 metronome marks and rehearsal marks, live by default in the
2096 @code{Score} context, so be sure to use the correct context
2097 when these are being overriden.
2099 @cindex slurs and outside-staff-priority
2100 @cindex slurs and articulations
2101 @cindex articulations and slurs
2103 Slurs by default are classed as within-staff objects, but
2104 they often appear above the staff if the notes to
2105 which they are attached are high on the staff. This can push
2106 outside-staff objects such as articulations too high, as the slur
2107 will be placed first. The @code{avoid-slur} property of the
2108 articulation can be set to @code{'inside} to bring the articulation
2109 inside the slur, but the @code{avoid-slur} property is effective
2110 only if the @code{outside-staff-priority} is also set to @code{#f}.
2111 Alternatively, the @code{outside-staff-priority} of the slur
2112 can be set to a numerical value to cause it to be placed along with
2113 other outside-staff objects according to that value. Here's an
2114 example showing the effect of the two methods:
2116 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
2117 c4( c^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2119 \once \override TextScript.avoid-slur = #'inside
2120 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = ##f
2121 c4^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2122 \once \override Slur.outside-staff-priority = #500
2123 c4( c^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2126 Changing the @code{outside-staff-priority} can also be used to
2127 control the vertical placement of individual objects, although
2128 the results may not always be desirable. Suppose we would
2129 like @qq{Text3} to be placed above @qq{Text4} in the example
2130 under Automatic behavior, above (see @ref{Automatic behavior}).
2131 All we need to do is to look up the priority of @code{TextScript}
2132 in the IR or in the tables above, and increase the priority of
2133 @qq{Text3} to a higher value:
2135 @cindex TextScript, example of overriding
2136 @cindex outside-staff-priority property, example
2138 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2141 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = #500
2146 This certainly lifts @qq{Text3} above @qq{Text4} but it also lifts it
2147 above @qq{Text2}, and @qq{Text4} now drops down. Perhaps this is not
2148 so good. What we would really like to do is to position all the
2149 annotation at the same distance above the staff. To do this, we
2150 clearly will need to space the notes out horizontally to make more
2151 room for the text. This is done using the @code{textLengthOn}
2154 @subheading \textLengthOn
2156 @cindex notes, spreading out with text
2158 @funindex \textLengthOn
2159 @funindex textLengthOn
2160 @funindex \textLengthOff
2161 @funindex textLengthOff
2163 By default, text produced by markup takes up no horizontal space
2164 as far as laying out the music is concerned. The @code{\textLengthOn}
2165 command reverses this behavior, causing the notes to be spaced
2166 out as far as is necessary to accommodate the text:
2168 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2169 \textLengthOn % Cause notes to space out to accommodate text
2176 The command to revert to the default behavior is
2177 @code{\textLengthOff}. Remember @code{\once} only works with
2178 @code{\override}, @code{\set}, @code{\revert} or @code{\unset},
2179 so cannot be used with @code{\textLengthOn}.
2181 @cindex markup text, allowing collisions
2183 Markup text will also avoid notes which project above the staff.
2184 If this is not desired, the automatic displacement upwards may
2185 be turned off by setting the priority to @code{#f}. Here's an
2186 example to show how markup text interacts with such notes.
2188 @cindex TextScript, example of overriding
2189 @cindex outside-staff-priority property, example
2191 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2192 % This markup is short enough to fit without collision
2196 % This is too long to fit, so it is displaced upwards
2200 % Turn off collision avoidance
2201 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = ##f
2202 c,,2^"Long Text " c'' |
2205 % Turn off collision avoidance
2206 \once \override TextScript.outside-staff-priority = ##f
2207 \textLengthOn % and turn on textLengthOn
2208 c,,2^"Long Text " % Spaces at end are honored
2213 @subheading Dynamics
2215 @cindex tweaking dynamics placement
2216 @cindex dynamics, tweaking placement
2218 Dynamic markings will normally be positioned beneath the
2219 staff, but may be positioned above with the @code{\dynamicUp}
2220 command. They will be positioned vertically relative to the
2221 note to which they are attached, and will float below (or above)
2222 all within-staff objects such as phrasing slurs and bar numbers.
2223 This can give quite acceptable results, as this example
2226 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
2231 bes4.~\f\< \( bes4 bes8 des4\ff\> c16 bes\! |
2232 ees,2.~\)\mf ees4 r8 |
2235 However, if the notes and attached dynamics are close
2236 together the automatic placement will avoid collisions
2237 by displacing later dynamic markings further away, but this may
2238 not be the optimum placement, as this rather artificial example
2241 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2247 Should a similar situation arise in @q{real} music, it may be
2248 preferable to space out the notes a little further, so the dynamic
2249 markings can all fit at the same vertical distance from the staff. We
2250 were able to do this for markup text by using the @code{\textLengthOn}
2251 command, but there is no equivalent command for dynamic marks. So we
2252 shall have to work out how to do this using @code{\override} commands.
2254 @subheading Grob sizing
2257 @cindex sizing grobs
2259 First we must learn how grobs are sized. All grobs have a
2260 reference point defined within them which is used to position
2261 them relative to their parent object. This point in the grob
2262 is then positioned at a horizontal distance, @code{X-offset},
2263 and at a vertical distance, @code{Y-offset}, from its parent.
2264 The horizontal extent of the object is given by a pair of
2265 numbers, @code{X-extent}, which say where the left and right
2266 edges are relative to the reference point. The vertical extent
2267 is similarly defined by a pair of numbers, @code{Y-extent}.
2268 These are properties of all grobs which support the
2269 @code{grob-interface}.
2271 @cindex @code{extra-spacing-width}
2273 By default, outside-staff objects are given a width of zero so
2274 that they may overlap in the horizontal direction. This is done
2275 by the trick of adding infinity to the leftmost extent and
2276 minus infinity to the rightmost extent by setting the
2277 @code{extra-spacing-width} to @code{'(+inf.0 . -inf.0)}. So
2278 to ensure they do not overlap in the horizontal direction we
2279 must override this value of @code{extra-spacing-width} to
2280 @code{'(0 . 0)} so the true width shines through. This is
2281 the command to do this for dynamic text:
2284 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(0 . 0)
2288 Let's see if this works in our previous example:
2290 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2291 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2293 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2295 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(0 . 0)
2296 a4\f b\mf c\mp b\p |
2300 Well, it has certainly stopped the dynamic marks being
2301 displaced, but two problems remain. The marks should be
2302 spaced a little further apart and it would be better
2303 if they were all the same distance from the staff.
2304 We can solve the first problem easily. Instead of making
2305 the @code{extra-spacing-width} zero we could add a little
2306 more to it. The units are the space between two staff
2307 lines, so moving the left edge half a unit to the left and the
2308 right edge half a unit to the right should do it:
2310 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2311 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2313 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2315 % Extend width by 1 staff space
2316 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(-0.5 . 0.5)
2321 This looks better, but maybe we would prefer the dynamic marks
2322 to be aligned along the same baseline rather than going up and
2323 down with the notes. The property to do this is
2324 @code{staff-padding} which is covered in the following section.
2327 @node Collisions of objects
2328 @section Collisions of objects
2332 * Fixing overlapping notation::
2333 * Real music example::
2336 @node Moving objects
2337 @subsection Moving objects
2339 @cindex moving overlapping objects
2340 @cindex moving colliding objects
2341 @cindex moving colliding grobs
2342 @cindex objects, moving colliding
2343 @cindex grobs, moving colliding
2345 This may come as a surprise, but LilyPond is not perfect. Some
2346 notation elements can overlap. This is unfortunate, but in fact
2347 rather rare. Usually the need to move objects is for clarity or
2348 aesthetic reasons -- they would look better with a little more
2349 or a little less space around them.
2351 There are three main approaches to resolving overlapping
2352 notation. They should be considered in the following order:
2356 The @strong{direction} of one of the overlapping objects may
2357 be changed using the predefined commands listed above for
2358 within-staff objects (see @ref{Within-staff objects}).
2359 Stems, slurs, beams, ties, dynamics, text and tuplets may be
2360 repositioned easily in this way. The limitation is that you
2361 have a choice of only two positions, and neither may be
2365 The @strong{object properties}, which LilyPond uses when positioning
2366 layout objects, may be modified using @code{\override}. The
2367 advantages of making changes to this type of property are (a) that
2368 some other objects will be moved automatically if necessary to make
2369 room and (b) the single override can apply to all instances of the
2370 same type of object. Such properties include:
2377 This has already been covered in some detail -- see
2378 @ref{Within-staff objects}.
2381 @code{padding}, @code{right-padding}, @code{staff-padding}
2384 @cindex padding property
2385 @cindex right-padding property
2386 @cindex staff-padding property
2388 As an object is being positioned the value of its @code{padding}
2389 property specifies the gap that must be left between itself and the
2390 nearest edge of the object against which it is being positioned. Note
2391 that it is the @code{padding} value of the object @strong{being
2392 placed} that is used; the @code{padding} value of the object which is
2393 already placed is ignored. Gaps specified by @code{padding} can be
2394 applied to all objects which support the
2395 @code{side-position-interface}.
2397 Instead of @code{padding}, the placement of groups of accidentals
2398 is controlled by @code{right-padding}. This property is to be found
2399 in the @code{AccidentalPlacement} object which, note, lives in the
2400 @strong{Staff} context. In the typesetting process the note heads
2401 are typeset first and then the accidentals, if any, are added to the
2402 left of the note heads using the @code{right-padding} property to determine
2403 the separation from the note heads and between individual accidentals.
2404 So only the @code{right-padding} property of the @code{AccidentalPlacement}
2405 object has any effect on the placement of the accidentals.
2407 The @code{staff-padding} property is closely related to the
2408 @code{padding} property: @code{padding} controls the minimum amount of
2409 space between any object which supports the
2410 @code{side-position-interface} and the nearest other object (generally
2411 the note or the staff lines); @code{staff-padding} applies only to
2412 those objects which are always set outside the staff -- it controls
2413 the minimum amount of space that should be inserted between that
2414 object and the staff. Note that @code{staff-padding} has no effect on
2415 objects which are positioned relative to the note rather than the
2416 staff, even though it may be overridden without error for such objects
2417 -- it is simply ignored.
2419 To discover which padding property is required for the object you wish
2420 to reposition, you need to return to the IR and look up the object's
2421 properties. Be aware that the padding properties might not be located
2422 in the obvious object, so look in objects that appear to be related.
2424 All padding values are measured in staff spaces. For most
2425 objects, this value is set by default to be around 1.0 or less
2426 (it varies with each object). It may be overridden if a larger
2427 (or smaller) gap is required.
2430 @code{self-alignment-X}
2432 @cindex self-alignment-X property
2434 This property can be used to align the object to the left, to
2435 the right, or to center it with respect to the parent object's
2436 reference point. It may be used with all objects which support
2437 the @code{self-alignment-interface}. In general these are objects
2438 that contain text. The values are @code{LEFT}, @code{RIGHT}
2439 or @code{CENTER}. Alternatively, a numerical value between
2440 @w{@code{-1}} and @code{+1} may be specified, where @w{@code{-1}} is
2441 left-aligned, @code{+1} is right-aligned, and numbers in between
2442 move the text progressively from left-aligned to right-aligned.
2443 Numerical values greater than @code{1} may be specified to move
2444 the text even further to the left, or less than @w{@code{-1}} to
2445 move the text even further to the right. A change of @code{1}
2446 in the value corresponds to a movement of half the text's length.
2449 @code{extra-spacing-width}
2451 @cindex extra-spacing-width property
2453 This property is available for all objects which support the
2454 @code{item-interface}. It takes two numbers, the first is added
2455 to the leftmost extent and the second is added to the rightmost
2456 extent. Negative numbers move the edge to the left, positive to
2457 the right, so to widen an object the first number must be negative,
2458 the second positive. Note that not all objects honor both
2459 numbers. For example, the @code{Accidental} object only takes
2460 notice of the first (left edge) number.
2463 @code{staff-position}
2465 @cindex staff-position property
2467 @code{staff-position} is a property of the
2468 @code{staff-symbol-referencer-interface}, which is supported by
2469 objects which are positioned relative to the staff. It specifies
2470 the vertical position of the object relative to the center line
2471 of the staff in half staff-spaces. It is useful in resolving
2472 collisions between layout objects like multi-measure rests, ties
2473 and notes in different voices.
2478 @cindex force-hshift property
2480 Closely spaced notes in a chord, or notes occurring at the same
2481 time in different voices, are arranged in two, occasionally more,
2482 columns to prevent the note heads overlapping. These are called
2483 note columns, and an object called @code{NoteColumn} is created
2484 to lay out the notes in that column.
2486 The @code{force-hshift} property is a property of a @code{NoteColumn}
2487 (actually of the @code{note-column-interface}). Changing it permits a
2488 note column to be moved in units appropriate to a note column,
2489 viz. the note head width of the first voice note. It should be used
2490 in complex situations where the normal @code{\shiftOn} commands (see
2491 @ref{Explicitly instantiating voices}) do not resolve the note
2492 conflict. It is preferable to the @code{extra-offset} property for
2493 this purpose as there is no need to work out the distance in
2494 staff-spaces, and moving the notes into or out of a @code{NoteColumn}
2495 affects other actions such as merging note heads.
2500 Finally, when all else fails, objects may be manually repositioned
2501 relative to the staff center line vertically, or by displacing them by
2502 any distance to a new position. The disadvantages are that the
2503 correct values for the repositioning have to be worked out, often by
2504 trial and error, for every object individually, and, because the
2505 movement is done after LilyPond has placed all other objects, the user
2506 is responsible for avoiding any collisions that might ensue. But the
2507 main difficulty with this approach is that the repositioning values
2508 may need to be reworked if the music is later modified. The
2509 properties that can be used for this type of manual repositioning are:
2514 @cindex extra-offset property
2516 This property applies to any layout object supporting the
2517 @code{grob-interface}. It takes a pair of numbers which specify the
2518 extra displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions.
2519 Negative numbers move the object to the left or down. The units are
2520 staff-spaces. The extra displacement is made after the typesetting of
2521 objects is finished, so an object may be repositioned anywhere without
2522 affecting anything else.
2526 @cindex positions property
2528 This is most useful for manually adjusting the slope and height
2529 of beams, slurs, and tuplets. It takes a pair of numbers
2530 giving the position of the left and right ends of the beam, slur,
2531 etc. relative to the center line of the staff. Units are
2532 staff-spaces. Note, though, that slurs and phrasing slurs cannot
2533 be repositioned by arbitrarily large amounts. LilyPond first
2534 generates a list of possible positions for the slur and by default
2535 finds the slur that @qq{looks best}. If the @code{positions}
2536 property has been overridden the slur that is closest to the
2537 requested positions is selected from the list.
2542 A particular object may not have all of these properties.
2543 It is necessary to go to the IR to look up which properties
2544 are available for the object in question.
2546 Here is a list of the objects which are most likely to be
2547 involved in collisions, together with the name of the object which
2548 should be looked up in the IR in order to discover which properties
2549 should be used to move them.
2551 @multitable @columnfractions .5 .5
2552 @headitem Object type @tab Object name
2553 @item Articulations @tab @code{Script}
2554 @item Beams @tab @code{Beam}
2555 @item Dynamics (vertically) @tab @code{DynamicLineSpanner}
2556 @item Dynamics (horizontally) @tab @code{DynamicText}
2557 @item Fingerings @tab @code{Fingering}
2558 @item Rehearsal / Text marks @tab @code{RehearsalMark}
2559 @item Slurs @tab @code{Slur}
2560 @item Text e.g. @code{^"text"} @tab @code{TextScript}
2561 @item Ties @tab @code{Tie}
2562 @item Tuplets @tab @code{TupletBracket}
2566 @node Fixing overlapping notation
2567 @subsection Fixing overlapping notation
2569 Let's now see how the properties in the previous section can
2570 help to resolve overlapping notation.
2572 @subheading padding property
2575 @cindex fixing overlapping notation
2576 @cindex overlapping notation
2578 The @code{padding} property can be set to increase
2579 (or decrease) the distance between symbols that are printed
2580 above or below notes.
2582 @cindex Script, example of overriding
2583 @cindex padding property, example
2585 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
2587 \override Script.padding = #3
2591 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
2592 @cindex padding property, example
2594 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
2595 % This will not work, see below
2596 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #3
2600 \override Score.MetronomeMark.padding = #3
2605 Note in the second example how important it is to figure out what
2606 context handles a certain object. Since the @code{MetronomeMark}
2607 object is handled in the @code{Score} context, property changes in the
2608 @code{Voice} context will not be noticed. For more details, see
2609 @ruser{Modifying properties}.
2611 If the @code{padding} property of an object is increased when that
2612 object is in a stack of objects being positioned according to
2613 their @code{outside-staff-priority}, then that object and all
2614 objects outside it are moved.
2617 @subheading right-padding
2619 @cindex right-padding property
2621 The @code{right-padding} property affects the spacing between the
2622 accidental and the note to which it applies. It is not often
2623 required, but the default spacing may be wrong for certain special
2624 accidental glyphs or combination of glyphs used in some microtonal
2625 music. These have to be entered by overriding the accidental
2626 stencil with a markup containing the desired symbol(s), like this:
2628 @cindex Accidental, example of overriding
2629 @cindex text property, example
2630 @cindex stencil property, example
2631 @cindex AccidentalPlacement, example of overriding
2632 @cindex right-padding property, example
2634 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
2635 sesquisharp = \markup { \sesquisharp }
2638 % This prints a sesquisharp but the spacing is too small
2639 \once \override Accidental.stencil = #ly:text-interface::print
2640 \once \override Accidental.text = #sesquisharp
2642 % This improves the spacing
2643 \once \override Score.AccidentalPlacement.right-padding = #0.6
2644 \once \override Accidental.stencil = #ly:text-interface::print
2645 \once \override Accidental.text = #sesquisharp
2651 This necessarily uses an override for the accidental stencil which
2652 will not be covered until later. The stencil type must be a
2653 procedure, here changed to print the contents of the @code{text}
2654 property of @code{Accidental}, which itself is set to be a
2655 sesquisharp sign. This sign is then moved further away from the
2656 note head by overriding @code{right-padding}.
2660 @subheading staff-padding property
2662 @cindex aligning objects on a baseline
2663 @cindex objects, aligning on a baseline
2665 @code{staff-padding} can be used to align objects such as dynamics
2666 along a baseline at a fixed height above the staff, rather than at a
2667 height dependent on the position of the note to which they are
2668 attached. It is not a property of @code{DynamicText} but of
2669 @code{DynamicLineSpanner}. This is because the baseline should apply
2670 equally to @strong{all} dynamics, including those created as extended
2671 spanners. So this is the way to align the dynamic marks in the
2672 example taken from the previous section:
2674 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2675 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2676 @cindex DynamicLineSpanner, example of overriding
2677 @cindex staff-padding property, example
2679 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2681 % Extend width by 1 unit
2682 \override DynamicText.extra-spacing-width = #'(-0.5 . 0.5)
2683 % Align dynamics to a base line 2 units above staff
2684 \override DynamicLineSpanner.staff-padding = #2
2689 @subheading self-alignment-X property
2691 The following example shows how this can resolve the collision
2692 of a string fingering object with a note's stem by aligning the
2693 right edge with the reference point of the parent note:
2695 @cindex StringNumber, example of overriding
2696 @cindex self-alignment-X property, example
2698 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=3]
2701 \once \override StringNumber.self-alignment-X = #RIGHT
2705 @subheading staff-position property
2707 @cindex object collision within a staff
2709 Multimeasure rests in one voice can collide with notes in another.
2710 Since these rests are typeset centered between the bar lines, it
2711 would require significant effort for LilyPond to figure out which
2712 other notes might collide with it, since all the current collision
2713 handling between notes and between notes and rests is done only
2714 for notes and rests that occur at the same time. Here's an
2715 example of a collision of this type:
2717 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right, relative=1]
2718 << { c4 c c c } \\ { R1 } >>
2721 The best solution here is to move the multimeasure rest down, since
2722 the rest is in voice two. The default in @code{\voiceTwo} (i.e. in
2723 the second voice of a @code{<<@{...@} \\ @{...@}>>} construct) is that
2724 @code{staff-position} is set to -4 for MultiMeasureRest, so we need to
2725 move it, say, four half-staff spaces down to @w{@code{-8}}.
2727 @cindex MultiMeasureRest, example of overriding
2728 @cindex staff-position property, example
2730 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right, relative=1]
2734 \override MultiMeasureRest.staff-position = #-8
2739 This is better than using, for example, @code{extra-offset},
2740 because the ledger line above the rest is inserted automatically.
2742 @subheading extra-offset property
2744 @cindex positioning objects
2745 @cindex positioning grobs
2746 @cindex objects, positioning
2747 @cindex grobs, positioning
2749 The @code{extra-offset} property provides complete control over the
2750 positioning of an object both horizontally and vertically.
2752 In the following example, the second fingering is moved a little to
2753 the left, and 1.8 staff space downwards:
2755 @cindex Fingering, example of overriding
2756 @cindex extra-offset property, example
2758 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
2761 \once \override Fingering.extra-offset = #'(-0.3 . -1.8)
2766 @subheading positions property
2768 @cindex controlling tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs, and beams manually
2769 @cindex manually controlling tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs, and beams
2770 @cindex tuplet beams, controlling manually
2771 @cindex slurs, controlling manually
2772 @cindex phrasing slurs, controlling manually
2773 @cindex beams, controlling manually
2775 The @code{positions} property allows the position and slope of
2776 tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs and beams to be controlled manually.
2777 Here's an example which has an ugly phrasing slur due to its trying to
2778 avoid the slur on the acciaccatura.
2780 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right,relative=1]
2781 r4 \acciaccatura e8\( d8 c~ c d c d\)
2785 We could simply move the phrasing slur above the notes, and this
2786 would be the preferred solution:
2788 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right,relative=1]
2791 \acciaccatura e8\( d8 c~ c d c d\)
2795 But if there were some reason why this could not be done the
2796 other alternative would be to move the left end of the phrasing
2797 slur down a little using the @code{positions} property. This
2798 also resolves the rather nasty shape.
2800 @cindex PhrasingSlur, example of overriding
2801 @cindex positions property, example
2803 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right,relative=1]
2805 \once \override PhrasingSlur.positions = #'(-4 . -3)
2806 \acciaccatura e8\( d8 c~ c d c d\)
2809 Here's a further example. We see that the beams
2810 collide with the ties:
2812 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2816 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2818 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2821 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2823 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2829 This can be resolved by manually moving both ends of the beam
2830 up from their position at 1.81 staff-spaces below the center line to,
2833 @cindex Beam, example of overriding
2834 @cindex positions property, example
2836 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2840 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2843 \override Beam.positions = #'(-1 . -1)
2844 e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g''
2848 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2850 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2856 Note that the override continues to apply in the first voice of
2857 the second measure of eighth notes, but not to any of the beams in the
2860 @subheading force-hshift property
2862 We can now see how to apply the final corrections to the Chopin
2863 example introduced at the end of @ref{I'm hearing Voices}, which
2864 was left looking like this:
2866 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2867 \new Staff \relative c'' {
2882 The inner note of the first chord (i.e. the A-flat in the fourth
2883 Voice) need not be shifted away from the note column of the higher
2884 note. To correct this we set @code{force-hshift}, which is a property
2885 of @code{NoteColumn}, of this note to zero.
2887 In the second chord we prefer the F to line up with the A-flat and the
2888 lowest note to be positioned slightly right to avoid a collision of
2889 stems. We achieve this by setting @code{force-hshift} in the
2890 @code{NoteColumn} of the low D-flat to move it to the right by half
2893 Here's the final result:
2895 @cindex NoteColumn, example of overriding
2896 @cindex force-hshift property, example
2898 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2899 \new Staff \relative c'' {
2906 \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #0.5
2912 \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #0
2921 @node Real music example
2922 @subsection Real music example
2924 We end this section on Tweaks by showing the steps to be taken to
2925 deal with a tricky example which needs several tweaks to produce
2926 the desired output. The example has been deliberately chosen to
2927 illustrate the use of the Notation Reference to resolve unusual
2928 problems with notation. It is not representative of the more usual
2929 engraving process, so please do not let these difficulties put
2930 you off! Fortunately, difficulties like these are not very common!
2932 The example is from Chopin's Première Ballade, Op. 23, bars 6 to
2933 9, the transition from the opening Lento to Moderato.
2934 Here, first, is what we want the output to look like, but to avoid
2935 over-complicating the example too much we have left out the
2936 dynamics, fingering and pedalling.
2938 @c The following should appear as music without code
2939 @c This example should not be indexed
2940 @c line-width ensures no break
2941 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
2942 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
2945 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
2949 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
2950 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
2951 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
2957 % Reposition the c2 to the right of the merged note
2958 \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #1.0
2959 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
2960 % so the merge will work
2967 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
2969 % Stem on the d2 should be invisible
2970 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
2971 \tweak Flag.transparent ##t
2979 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
2980 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
2985 lhMusic = \relative c' {
2987 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
2994 \new Staff = "RH" <<
2998 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3007 We note first that the right hand part in the third bar
3008 requires four voices. These are the five beamed eighth notes,
3009 the tied C, the half-note D which is merged with the eighth note
3010 D, and the dotted quarter note F-sharp, which is also merged with
3011 the eighth note at the same pitch. Everything else is in a single
3012 voice, so the easiest way is to introduce these extra three voices
3013 temporarily at the time they are needed. If you have forgotten
3014 how to do this, look at @ref{I'm hearing Voices} and @ref{Explicitly
3015 instantiating voices}. Here we choose to use explicitly instantiated
3016 voices for the polyphonic passage, as LilyPond is better able to
3017 avoid collisions if all voices are instantiated explicitly in this
3020 So let us begin by entering the notes as two variables, setting up
3021 the staff structure in a score block, and seeing what LilyPond
3022 produces by default:
3024 @c line-width ensures no break
3025 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3026 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3032 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3034 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3048 g2. % continuation of main voice
3052 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3061 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3065 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3074 All the notes are right, but the appearance is far from
3075 satisfactory. The tie collides with the change in time signature,
3076 some notes are not merged together, and several notation elements
3077 are missing. Let's first deal with the easier things. We can
3078 easily add the left hand slur and the right hand phrasing slur,
3079 since these were all covered in the Tutorial. Doing this gives:
3081 @c line-width ensures no break
3082 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3083 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3089 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3091 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3105 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3109 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3118 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3122 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3131 The first bar is now correct. The second bar contains an arpeggio and
3132 is terminated by a double bar line. How do we do these, as they have
3133 not been mentioned in this Learning Manual? This is where we need to
3134 turn to the Notation Reference. Looking up @q{arpeggio} and @q{bar
3135 line} in the index quickly shows us that an arpeggio is produced by
3136 appending @code{\arpeggio} to a chord, and a double bar line is
3137 produced by the @code{\bar "||"} command. That's easily done. We
3138 next need to correct the collision of the tie with the time signature.
3139 This is best done by moving the tie upwards. Moving objects was
3140 covered earlier in @ref{Moving objects}, which says that objects
3141 positioned relative to the staff can be moved vertically by overriding
3142 their @code{staff-position} property, which is specified in half staff
3143 spaces relative to the center line of the staff. So the following
3144 override placed just before the first tied note would move the tie up
3145 to 3.5 half staff spaces above the center line:
3147 @code{\once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5}
3149 This completes bar two, giving:
3151 @c line-width ensures no break
3152 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3153 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3156 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3161 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3163 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3177 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3181 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3183 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3190 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3194 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3203 On to bar three and the start of the Moderato section. The tutorial
3204 showed how to add bold text with the @code{\markup} command, so
3205 adding @qq{Moderato} in bold is easy. But how do we merge notes in
3206 different voices together? This is where we need to turn again to
3207 the Notation Reference for help. A search for @qq{merge} in the
3208 Notation Reference index quickly leads us to the commands for merging
3209 differently headed and differently dotted notes in
3210 @ruser{Collision resolution}. In our example we need to merge both
3211 types of note for the duration of the polyphonic section in bar 3,
3212 so using the information we find in the Notation Reference we add
3215 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3216 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3220 to the start of that section and
3223 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3224 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3230 @c line-width ensures no break
3231 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3232 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3235 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3239 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3240 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3241 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3242 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3244 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3258 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3259 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3260 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3264 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3266 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3273 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3277 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3286 These overrides have merged the two F-sharp notes, but not the two
3287 on D. Why not? The answer is there in the same section in the
3288 Notation Reference -- notes being merged must have stems in
3289 opposite directions and two notes cannot be merged successfully if
3290 there is a third note in the same note column. Here the two D's
3291 both have upward stems and there is a third note -- the C. We know
3292 how to change the stem direction using @code{\stemDown}, and
3293 the Notation Reference also says how to move the C -- apply a shift
3294 using one of the @code{\shift} commands. But which one?
3295 The C is in voice two which has shift off, and the two D's are in
3296 voices one and three, which have shift off and shift on,
3297 respectively. So we have to shift the C a further level still
3298 using @code{\shiftOnn} to avoid it interfering with the two D's.
3299 Applying these changes gives:
3301 @cindex Tie, example of overriding
3302 @cindex staff-position property, example
3304 @c line-width ensures no break
3305 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3306 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3309 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3313 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3314 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3315 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3316 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3318 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3321 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
3322 % so the merge will work
3327 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
3335 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3336 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3337 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3341 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3343 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3350 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3354 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3363 Nearly there. Only two problems remain: The downward stem on the
3364 merged D should not be there, and the C would be better positioned
3365 to the right of the D's. We know how to do both of these from the
3366 earlier tweaks: we make the stem transparent, and move the C with
3367 the @code{force-hshift} property. Here's the final result:
3369 @cindex NoteColumn, example of overriding
3370 @cindex force-hshift property, example
3371 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
3372 @cindex transparent property, example
3374 @c line-width ensures no break
3375 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3376 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3379 \once \override Tie.staff-position = #3.5
3383 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3384 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3385 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3386 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3388 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3392 % Reposition the c2 to the right of the merged note
3393 \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = #1.0
3394 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
3395 % so the merge will work
3402 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
3404 % Stem on the d2 should be invisible
3405 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
3406 \tweak Flag.transparent ##t
3414 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3415 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3416 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3420 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3422 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3429 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3433 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3443 @node Further tweaking
3444 @section Further tweaking
3447 * Other uses for tweaks::
3448 * Using variables for tweaks::
3450 * Other sources of information::
3451 * Advanced tweaks with Scheme::
3454 @node Other uses for tweaks
3455 @subsection Other uses for tweaks
3457 @cindex transparent property, use of
3458 @cindex objects, making invisible
3459 @cindex removing objects
3460 @cindex objects, removing
3461 @cindex hiding objects
3462 @cindex objects, hiding
3463 @cindex invisible objects
3464 @cindex objects, invisible
3465 @cindex tying notes across voices
3467 @subheading Tying notes across voices
3469 The following example demonstrates how to connect notes in
3470 different voices using ties. Normally, only two notes in the
3471 same voice can be connected with ties. By using two voices,
3472 with the tied notes in one of them
3474 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2]
3475 << { b8~ b\noBeam } \\ { b8[ g] } >>
3479 and blanking the first up-stem in that voice, the tie appears to
3482 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
3483 @cindex transparent property, example
3485 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
3488 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
3489 \tweak Flag.transparent ##t
3497 To make sure that the just-blanked stem doesn't squeeze the tie
3498 too much, we can lengthen the stem by setting the
3499 @code{length} to @code{8},
3501 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
3504 \tweak Stem.transparent ##t
3505 \tweak Flag.transparent ##t
3506 \tweak Stem.length #8
3514 @subheading Simulating a fermata in MIDI
3516 @cindex stencil property, use of
3517 @cindex fermata, implementing in MIDI
3519 For outside-staff objects it is usually better to override the
3520 object's @code{stencil} property rather than its @code{transparent}
3521 property when you wish to remove it from the printed output.
3522 Setting the @code{stencil} property of an object to @code{#f} will
3523 remove that object entirely from the printed output. This means it
3524 has no effect on the placement of other objects placed relative to
3527 For example, if we wished to change the metronome setting in order
3528 to simulate a fermata in the MIDI output we would not want the
3529 metronome markings to appear in the printed output, and we would
3530 not want it to influence the spacing between the two systems or
3531 the positions of adjacent annotations on the staff. So setting
3532 its @code{stencil} property to @code{#f} would be the best way.
3533 We show here the effect of the two methods:
3535 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
3536 @cindex transparent property, example
3538 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3541 % Visible tempo marking
3544 \once \override Score.MetronomeMark.transparent = ##t
3545 % Invisible tempo marking to lengthen fermata in MIDI
3548 % New tempo for next section
3557 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
3558 @cindex stencil property, example
3560 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3563 % Visible tempo marking
3566 \once \override Score.MetronomeMark.stencil = ##f
3567 % Invisible tempo marking to lengthen fermata in MIDI
3570 % New tempo for next section
3580 Both methods remove the metronome mark which lengthens the fermata
3581 from the printed output, and both affect the MIDI timing as
3582 required, but the transparent metronome mark in the first line
3583 forces the following tempo indication too high while the
3584 second (with the stencil removed) does not.
3590 @node Using variables for tweaks
3591 @subsection Using variables for tweaks
3593 @cindex variables, using for tweaks
3594 @cindex using variables for tweaks
3595 @cindex tweaks, using variables for
3597 Override commands are often long and tedious to type, and they
3598 have to be absolutely correct. If the same overrides are to be
3599 used many times it may be worth defining variables to hold them.
3601 Suppose we wish to emphasize certain words in lyrics by printing
3602 them in bold italics. The @code{\italic} and @code{\bold}
3603 commands only work within lyrics if they are embedded, together with
3604 the word or words to be modified, within a @code{\markup} block,
3605 which makes them tedious to enter. The need to embed the words
3606 themselves prevents their use in simple variables. As an
3607 alternative can we use @code{\override} and @code{\revert} commands?
3610 @code{\override Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape = #'italic}
3611 @code{\override Lyrics.LyricText.font-series = #'bold}
3613 @code{\revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape}
3614 @code{\revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-series}
3617 These would also be extremely tedious to enter if there were many
3618 words requiring emphasis. But we @emph{can} define these as two
3619 variables and use those to bracket the words to be emphasized.
3620 Another advantage of using variables for these overrides is that
3621 the spaces around the dot are not necessary, since they are not
3622 being interpreted in @code{\lyricmode} directly. Here's an example
3623 of this, although in practice we would choose shorter names
3624 for the variables to make them quicker to type:
3626 @cindex LyricText, example of overriding
3627 @cindex font-shape property, example
3628 @cindex font-series property, example
3630 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
3632 \override Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape = #'italic
3633 \override Lyrics.LyricText.font-series = #'bold
3637 \revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-shape
3638 \revert Lyrics.LyricText.font-series
3641 global = { \key c \major \time 4/4 \partial 4 }
3643 SopranoMusic = \relative c' { c4 | e4. e8 g4 g | a4 a g }
3644 AltoMusic = \relative c' { c4 | c4. c8 e4 e | f4 f e }
3645 TenorMusic = \relative c { e4 | g4. g8 c4. b8 | a8 b c d e4 }
3646 BassMusic = \relative c { c4 | c4. c8 c4 c | f8 g a b c4 }
3648 VerseOne = \lyrics {
3649 E -- | ter -- nal \emphasize Fa -- ther, | \normal strong to save,
3652 VerseTwo = \lyricmode {
3653 O | \once \emphasize Christ, whose voice the | wa -- ters heard,
3656 VerseThree = \lyricmode {
3657 O | \emphasize Ho -- ly Spi -- rit, | \normal who didst brood
3660 VerseFour = \lyricmode {
3661 O | \emphasize Tri -- ni -- ty \normal of | love and pow'r
3668 \new Voice = "Soprano" { \voiceOne \global \SopranoMusic }
3669 \new Voice = "Alto" { \voiceTwo \AltoMusic }
3670 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseOne }
3671 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseTwo }
3672 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseThree }
3673 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseFour }
3677 \new Voice = "Tenor" { \voiceOne \TenorMusic }
3678 \new Voice = "Bass" { \voiceTwo \BassMusic }
3686 @subsection Style sheets
3688 The output that LilyPond produces can be heavily modified; see
3689 @ref{Tweaking output}, for details. But what if you have many
3690 input files that you want to apply your tweaks to? Or what if you
3691 simply want to separate your tweaks from the actual music? This
3692 is quite easy to do.
3694 Let's look at an example. Don't worry if you don't understand
3695 the parts with all the @code{#()}. This is explained in
3696 @ref{Advanced tweaks with Scheme}.
3698 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3700 #(make-dynamic-script
3701 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3702 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3703 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3704 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3708 #(define-music-function
3709 (parser location string)
3711 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3715 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3719 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3723 Let's do something about the @code{mpdolce} and @code{inst} definitions.
3724 They produce the output we desire, but we might want to use them in
3725 another piece. We could simply copy-and-paste them at the top of every
3726 file, but that's an annoyance. It also leaves those definitions in our
3727 input files, and I personally find all the @code{#()} somewhat ugly.
3728 Let's hide them in another file:
3731 %%% save this to a file called "definitions.ily"
3733 #(make-dynamic-script
3734 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3735 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3736 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3737 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3741 #(define-music-function
3742 (parser location string)
3744 #@{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3747 We will refer to this file using the @code{\include} command near
3748 the top of the music file. (The extension @file{.ily} is used to
3749 distinguish this included file, which is not meant to be compiled
3750 on its own, from the main file.)
3751 Now let's modify our music (let's save this file as @file{music.ly}).
3753 @c We have to do this awkward example/lilypond-non-verbatim
3754 @c because we can't do the \include stuff in the manual.
3757 \include "definitions.ily"
3761 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3765 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3769 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
3771 #(make-dynamic-script
3772 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3773 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3774 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3775 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3779 #(define-music-function
3780 (parser location string)
3782 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3786 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3790 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3794 That looks better, but let's make a few changes. The glissando is hard
3795 to see, so let's make it thicker and closer to the note heads. Let's
3796 put the metronome marking above the clef, instead of over the first
3797 note. And finally, my composition professor hates @q{C} time signatures,
3798 so we'd better make that @q{4/4} instead.
3800 Don't change @file{music.ly}, though. Replace our @file{definitions.ily}
3806 #(make-dynamic-script
3807 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3808 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3809 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3810 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3814 #(define-music-function
3815 (parser location string)
3817 #@{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3822 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3823 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
3827 \override TimeSignature.style = #'numbered
3831 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
3832 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
3837 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
3839 #(make-dynamic-script
3840 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3841 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3842 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3843 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3847 #(define-music-function
3848 (parser location string)
3850 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3855 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3856 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
3860 \override TimeSignature.style = #'numbered
3864 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
3865 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
3871 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3875 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3879 That looks nicer! But now suppose that I want to publish this
3880 piece. My composition professor doesn't like @q{C} time
3881 signatures, but I'm somewhat fond of them. Let's copy the
3882 current @file{definitions.ily} to @file{web-publish.ily} and
3883 modify that. Since this music is aimed at producing a pdf which
3884 will be displayed on the screen, we'll also increase the
3885 overall size of the output.
3890 #(make-dynamic-script
3891 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3892 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3893 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3894 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3898 #(define-music-function
3899 (parser location string)
3901 #@{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3903 #(set-global-staff-size 23)
3908 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3909 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
3916 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
3917 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
3922 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
3924 #(make-dynamic-script
3925 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3926 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3927 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3928 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3932 #(define-music-function
3933 (parser location string)
3935 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3937 #(set-global-staff-size 23)
3941 \override MetronomeMark.extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3942 \override MetronomeMark.padding = #'3
3945 \override Glissando.thickness = #3
3946 \override Glissando.gap = #0.1
3952 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3956 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3960 Now in our music, I simply replace
3961 @code{\include "definitions.ily"} with
3962 @code{\include "web-publish.ily"}. Of course, we could make this
3963 even more convenient. We could make a @file{definitions.ily} file which
3964 contains only the definitions of @code{mpdolce} and @code{inst}, a
3965 @file{web-publish.ily} file which contains only the @code{\layout}
3966 section listed above, and a @file{university.ily} file which
3967 contains only the tweaks to produce the output that my professor
3968 prefers. The top of @file{music.ly} would then look like this:
3971 \include "definitions.ily"
3973 %%% Only uncomment one of these two lines!
3974 \include "web-publish.ily"
3975 %\include "university.ily"
3978 This approach can be useful even if you are only producing
3979 one set of parts. I use half a dozen different
3980 @q{style sheet} files for my projects. I begin every music
3981 file with @code{\include "../global.ily"}, which contains
3985 \version @w{"@version{}"}
3987 #(ly:set-option 'point-and-click #f)
3989 \include "../init/init-defs.ly"
3990 \include "../init/init-layout.ly"
3991 \include "../init/init-headers.ly"
3992 \include "../init/init-paper.ly"
3996 @node Other sources of information
3997 @subsection Other sources of information
3999 The Internals Reference documentation contains a lot of information
4000 about LilyPond, but even more information can be gathered by
4001 looking at the internal LilyPond files. To explore these, you must
4002 first find the directory appropriate to your system. The location
4003 of this directory depends (a) on whether you obtained LilyPond
4004 by downloading a precompiled binary from lilypond.org
4005 or whether you installed it from a package manager (i.e.
4006 distributed with GNU/Linux, or installed under fink or cygwin) or
4007 compiled it from source, and (b) on which operating system it is
4010 @strong{Downloaded from lilypond.org}
4017 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/lilypond/usr/@/share/lilypond/current/}
4024 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/LilyPond.app/Contents/@/Resources/share/lilypond/current/}
4027 by either @code{cd}-ing into this directory from the
4028 Terminal, or control-clicking on the LilyPond application and
4029 selecting @q{Show Package Contents}.
4033 Using Windows Explorer, navigate to
4035 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/LilyPond/usr/@/share/lilypond/current/}
4040 @strong{Installed from a package manager or compiled from source}
4043 @file{@var{PREFIX}/share/lilypond/@var{X.Y.Z}/}, where
4044 @var{PREFIX} is set by your package manager or @code{configure}
4045 script, and @var{X.Y.Z} is the LilyPond version number.
4049 Within this directory the two interesting subdirectories are
4052 @item @file{ly/} - contains files in LilyPond format
4053 @item @file{scm/} - contains files in Scheme format
4056 Let's begin by looking at some files in @file{ly/}.
4057 Open @file{ly/property-init.ly} in a text editor. The one
4058 you normally use for @code{.ly} files will be fine. This file
4059 contains the definitions of all the standard LilyPond predefined
4060 commands, such as @code{\stemUp} and @code{\slurDotted}. You will
4061 see that these are nothing more than definitions of variables
4062 containing one or a group of @code{\override} commands. For
4063 example, @code{/tieDotted} is defined to be:
4067 \override Tie.dash-period = #0.75
4068 \override Tie.dash-fraction = #0.1
4072 If you do not like the default values these predefined commands can
4073 be redefined easily, just like any other variable, at the
4074 head of your input file.
4076 The following are the most useful files to be found in
4079 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
4082 @item @file{ly/engraver-init.ly}
4083 @tab Definitions of engraver Contexts
4084 @item @file{ly/paper-defaults-init.ly}
4085 @tab Specifications of paper-related defaults
4086 @item @file{ly/performer-init.ly}
4087 @tab Definitions of performer Contexts
4088 @item @file{ly/property-init.ly}
4089 @tab Definitions of all common predefined commands
4090 @item @file{ly/spanner-init.ly}
4091 @tab Definitions of spanner-related predefined commands
4094 Other settings (such as the definitions of markup commands) are
4095 stored as @file{.scm} (Scheme) files. The Scheme programming
4096 language is used to provide a programmable interface into
4097 LilyPond internal operation. Further explanation of these files
4098 is currently outside the scope of this manual, as a knowledge of
4099 the Scheme language is required. Users should be warned that
4100 a substantial amount of technical knowledge or time is required
4101 to understand Scheme and these files (see @rextend{Scheme tutorial}).
4103 If you have this knowledge, the Scheme files which may be of
4106 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
4109 @item @file{scm/auto-beam.scm}
4110 @tab Sub-beaming defaults
4111 @item @file{scm/define-grobs.scm}
4112 @tab Default settings for grob properties
4113 @item @file{scm/define-markup-commands.scm}
4114 @tab Specify all markup commands
4115 @item @file{scm/midi.scm}
4116 @tab Default settings for MIDI output
4117 @item @file{scm/output-lib.scm}
4118 @tab Settings that affect appearance of frets, colors,
4119 accidentals, bar lines, etc
4120 @item @file{scm/parser-clef.scm}
4121 @tab Definitions of supported clefs
4122 @item @file{scm/script.scm}
4123 @tab Default settings for articulations
4127 @node Advanced tweaks with Scheme
4128 @subsection Advanced tweaks with Scheme
4130 Although many things are possible with the @code{\override} and
4131 @code{\tweak} commands, an even more powerful way of modifying
4132 the action of LilyPond is available through a programmable
4133 interface to the LilyPond internal operation. Code written in
4134 the Scheme programming language can be incorporated directly in
4135 the internal operation of LilyPond. Of course, at least a basic
4136 knowledge of programming in Scheme is required to do this, and an
4137 introduction is provided in the @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
4139 As an illustration of one of the many possibilities, instead of
4140 setting a property to a constant it can be set to a Scheme
4141 procedure which is then called whenever that property is accessed
4142 by LilyPond. The property can then be set dynamically to a value
4143 determined by the procedure at the time it is called. In this
4144 example we color the note head in accordance with its position on
4147 @cindex x11-color function, example of using
4148 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
4149 @cindex color property, setting to Scheme procedure
4151 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
4152 #(define (color-notehead grob)
4153 "Color the notehead according to its position on the staff."
4154 (let ((mod-position (modulo (ly:grob-property grob 'staff-position)
4157 ;; Return rainbow colors
4158 ((1) (x11-color 'red )) ; for C
4159 ((2) (x11-color 'orange )) ; for D
4160 ((3) (x11-color 'yellow )) ; for E
4161 ((4) (x11-color 'green )) ; for F
4162 ((5) (x11-color 'blue )) ; for G
4163 ((6) (x11-color 'purple )) ; for A
4164 ((0) (x11-color 'violet )) ; for B
4168 % Arrange to obtain color from color-notehead procedure
4169 \override NoteHead.color = #color-notehead
4170 a2 b | c2 d | e2 f | g2 a |
4174 Further examples showing the use of these programmable interfaces
4175 can be found in @rextend{Callback functions}.