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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]
440 \tweak #'direction #up
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
463 #'text = #tuplet-number::calc-fraction-text
467 \once \override TupletNumber #'transparent = ##t
468 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
469 \times 2/3 { c8[ c c] }
476 @ruser{The tweak command}.
479 @node The Internals Reference manual
480 @section The Internals Reference manual
482 @cindex Internals Reference
485 * Properties of layout objects::
486 * Properties found in interfaces::
487 * Types of properties::
490 @node Properties of layout objects
491 @subsection Properties of layout objects
493 @cindex properties of layout objects
494 @cindex properties of grobs
495 @cindex grobs, properties of
496 @cindex layout objects, properties of
497 @cindex Internals Reference manual
499 Suppose you have a slur in a score which, to your mind,
500 appears too thin and you'd like to draw it a little heavier.
501 How do you go about doing this? You know from the statements
502 earlier about the flexibility of LilyPond that such a thing
503 should be possible, and you would probably guess that an
504 @code{\override} command would be needed. But is there a
505 heaviness property for a slur, and if there is, how might it
506 be modified? This is where the Internals Reference manual
507 comes in. It contains all the information you might need to
508 construct this and all other @code{\override} commands.
510 Before we look at the Internals Reference a word of warning.
511 This is a @strong{reference} document, which means there is
512 little or no explanation contained within it: its purpose is
513 to present information precisely and concisely. This
514 means it might look daunting at first sight. Don't worry!
515 The guidance and explanation presented here will enable you
516 to extract the information from the Internals Reference for
517 yourself with just a little practice.
519 @cindex override example
520 @cindex Internals Reference, example of using
521 @cindex @code{\addlyrics} example
523 Let's use a concrete example with a simple fragment of real
526 @c Mozart, Die Zauberflöte Nr.7 Duett
528 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
533 r4 bes8 bes[( g]) g |
534 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
538 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
543 Suppose now that we decide we would like the slurs to be a
544 little heavier. Is this possible? The slur is certainly a
545 layout object, so the question is, @q{Is there a property
546 belonging to a slur which controls the heaviness?} To answer
547 this we must look in the Internals Reference, or IR for short.
549 The IR for the version of LilyPond you are using may be found
550 on the LilyPond website at @uref{http://lilypond.org}. Go to the
551 documentation page and click on the Internals Reference link.
552 For learning purposes you should use the standard HTML version,
553 not the @q{one big page} or the PDF. For the next few
554 paragraphs to make sense you will need to actually do this
557 Under the heading @strong{Top} you will see five links. Select
558 the link to the @emph{Backend}, which is where information about
559 layout objects is to be found. There, under the heading
560 @strong{Backend}, select the link to @emph{All layout objects}.
561 The page that appears lists all the layout objects used in your
562 version of LilyPond, in alphabetic order. Select the link to
563 Slur, and the properties of Slurs are listed.
565 An alternative way of finding this page is from the Notation
566 Reference. On one of the pages that deals with slurs you may find a
567 link to the Internals Reference. This link will take you directly to
568 this page, but if you have an idea about the name of the layout object
569 to be tweaked, it is easier to go straight to the IR and search there.
571 This Slur page in the IR tells us first that Slur objects are created
572 by the Slur_engraver. Then it lists the standard settings. Browse
573 through them looking for a property that might control the heaviness of
574 slurs, and you should find
577 @code{thickness} (number)
579 Line thickness, generally measured in @code{line-thickness}
582 This looks a good bet to change the heaviness. It tells us that
583 the value of @code{thickness} is a simple @emph{number},
584 that the default value is 1.2, and that the units are
585 in another property called @code{line-thickness}.
587 As we said earlier, there are few to no explanations in the IR,
588 but we already have enough information to try changing the
589 slur thickness. We see that the name of the layout object
590 is @code{Slur}, that the name of the property to change is
591 @code{thickness} and that the new value should be a number
592 somewhat larger than 1.2 if we are to make slurs thicker.
594 We can now construct the @code{\override} command by simply
595 substituting the values we have found for the names, omitting
596 the context. Let's use a very large value for the thickness
597 at first, so we can be sure the command is working. We get:
600 \override Slur #'thickness = #5.0
603 Don't forget the @code{#'} preceding the
604 property name and a@tie{}@code{#} preceding the new value!
606 The final question is, @q{Where should this command be
607 placed?} While you are unsure and learning, the best
608 answer is, @q{Within the music, before the first slur and
609 close to it.} Let's do that:
611 @cindex Slur example of overriding
612 @cindex thickness property, example
614 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
619 % Increase thickness of all following slurs from 1.2 to 5.0
620 \override Slur #'thickness = #5.0
621 r4 bes8 bes[( g]) g |
622 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
626 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
632 and we see that the slur is indeed heavier.
634 So this is the basic way of constructing @code{\override}
635 commands. There are a few more complications that we
636 shall meet in later sections, but you now know all the
637 essentials required to make up your own -- but you will
638 still need some practice. This is provided in the examples
641 @subheading Finding the context
643 @cindex context, finding
644 @cindex context, identifying correct
646 But first, what if we had needed to specify the Context?
647 What should it be? We could guess that slurs are in
648 the Voice context, as they are clearly closely associated
649 with individual lines of music, but can we be sure? To
650 find out, go back to the top of the IR page describing the
651 Slur, where it says @q{Slur objects are created by: Slur
652 engraver}. So slurs will be created in whichever context
653 the @code{Slur_engraver} is in. Follow the link to the
654 @code{Slur_engraver} page. At the very bottom it tells
655 us that @code{Slur_engraver} is part of seven Voice contexts,
656 including the standard voice context, @code{Voice}, so our
657 guess was correct. And because @code{Voice} is one of the
658 lowest level contexts which is implied unambiguously by
659 the fact that we are entering notes, we can omit it in this
662 @subheading Overriding once only
664 @cindex overriding once only
665 @cindex once override
670 As you can see, @emph{all} the slurs are thicker in the final example
671 above. But what if we wanted just the first slur to be thicker? This
672 is achieved with the @code{\once} command. Placed immediately before
673 the @code{\override} command it causes it to change only the slur
674 which begins on the @strong{immediately following} note. If the
675 immediately following note does not begin a slur the command has no
676 effect at all -- it is not remembered until a slur is encountered, it
677 is simply discarded. So the command with @code{\once} must be
678 repositioned as follows:
680 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
681 @cindex thickness property, example
683 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
689 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
690 \once \override Slur #'thickness = #5.0
692 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
696 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
702 Now only the first slur is made heavier.
704 The @code{\once} command can also be used before the @code{\set}
707 @subheading Reverting
710 @cindex default properties, reverting to
715 Finally, what if we wanted just the first two slurs to be
716 heavier? Well, we could use two commands, each preceded by
717 @code{\once} placed immediately before each of the notes where
720 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
721 @cindex thickness property, example
723 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
729 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
730 \once \override Slur #'thickness = #5.0
732 % Increase thickness of immediately following slur only
733 \once \override Slur #'thickness = #5.0
734 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
738 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
744 or we could omit the @code{\once} command and use the @code{\revert}
745 command to return the @code{thickness} property to its default value
746 after the second slur:
748 @cindex Slur, example of overriding
749 @cindex thickness property, example
751 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
757 % Increase thickness of all following slurs from 1.2 to 5.0
758 \override Slur #'thickness = #5.0
761 % Revert thickness of all following slurs to default of 1.2
762 \revert Slur #'thickness
767 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
773 The @code{\revert} command can be used to return any property
774 changed with @code{\override} back to its default value.
775 You may use whichever method best suits what you want to do.
777 That concludes our introduction to the IR, and the basic
778 method of tweaking. Several examples follow in the later
779 sections of this Chapter, partly to introduce you to some of the
780 additional features of the IR, and partly to give you more
781 practice in extracting information from it. These examples will
782 contain progressively fewer words of guidance and explanation.
785 @node Properties found in interfaces
786 @subsection Properties found in interfaces
789 @cindex interface properties
790 @cindex properties in interfaces
792 Suppose now that we wish to print the lyrics in italics. What form of
793 @code{\override} command do we need to do this? We first look in the
794 IR page listing @q{All layout objects}, as before, and look for an
795 object that might control lyrics. We find @code{LyricText}, which
796 looks right. Clicking on this shows the settable properties for lyric
797 text. These include the @code{font-series} and @code{font-size}, but
798 nothing that might give an italic shape. This is because the shape
799 property is one that is common to all font objects, so, rather than
800 including it in every layout object, it is grouped together with other
801 similar common properties and placed in an @strong{Interface}, the
802 @code{font-interface}.
804 So now we need to learn how to find the properties of interfaces,
805 and to discover what objects use these interface properties.
807 Look again at the IR page which describes LyricText. At the bottom of
808 the page is a list of clickable interfaces which LyricText supports.
809 The list has several items, including @code{font-interface}. Clicking
810 on this brings up the properties associated with this interface, which
811 are also properties of all the objects which support it, including
814 Now we see all the user-settable properties which control fonts,
815 including @code{font-shape(symbol)}, where @code{symbol} can be
816 set to @code{upright}, @code{italics} or @code{caps}.
818 You will notice that @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} are also
819 listed there. This immediately raises the question: Why are the
820 common font properties @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} listed
821 under @code{LyricText} as well as under the interface
822 @code{font-interface} but @code{font-shape} is not? The answer is
823 that @code{font-series} and @code{font-size} are changed from their
824 global default values when a @code{LyricText} object is created, but
825 @code{font-shape} is not. The entries in @code{LyricText} then tell
826 you the values for those two properties which apply to
827 @code{LyricText}. Other objects which support @code{font-interface}
828 will set these properties differently when they are created.
830 Let's see if we can now construct the @code{\override} command
831 to change the lyrics to italics. The object is @code{LyricText},
832 the property is @code{font-shape} and the value is
833 @code{italic}. As before, we'll omit the context.
835 As an aside, although it is an important one, note that because the
836 values of @code{font-shape} are symbols they must be introduced with a
837 single apostrophe, @code{'}. That is why apostrophes are needed
838 before @code{thickness} in the earlier example and @code{font-shape}.
839 These are both symbols too. Symbols are then read internally by
840 LilyPond. Some of them are the names of properties, like
841 @code{thickness} or @code{font-shape}, others are used as values that
842 can be given to properties, like @code{italic}. Note the distinction
843 from arbitrary text strings, which would appear as @code{"a text
844 string"}; for more details about symbols and strings, see
845 @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
847 So we see that the @code{\override} command needed to print the lyrics
851 \override LyricText #'font-shape = #'italic
855 This should be placed just in front of the lyrics we wish to affect,
858 @cindex font-shape property, example
859 @cindex italic, example
860 @cindex LyricText, example of overriding
861 @cindex @code{\addlyrics}, example
863 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
868 r4 bes8 bes[( g]) g |
869 g8[( es]) es d[( f]) as |
873 \override LyricText #'font-shape = #'italic
874 The man who | feels love's sweet e -- | mo -- tion
880 and the lyrics are all printed in italics.
882 @subheading Specifying the context in lyric mode
884 @cindex context, specifying in lyric mode
885 @cindex lyric mode, specifying context
887 In the case of lyrics, if you try specifying the context in the
888 format given earlier the command will fail. A syllable
889 entered in lyricmode is terminated by either a space,
890 a newline or a digit. All other characters are included
891 as part of the syllable. For this reason a space or newline
892 must appear before the terminating @code{@}} to prevent it being
893 included as part of the final syllable. Similarly,
894 spaces must be inserted before and after the
895 period or dot, @q{.}, separating the context name from the
896 object name, as otherwise the two names are run together and
897 the interpreter cannot recognize them. So the command should be:
900 \override Lyrics . LyricText #'font-shape = #'italic
903 @warning{In lyrics always leave whitespace between the final
904 syllable and the terminating brace.}
906 @warning{In overrides in lyrics always place spaces around
907 the dot between the context name and the object name.}
911 Extending: @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
914 @node Types of properties
915 @subsection Types of properties
917 @cindex property types
919 So far we have seen two types of property: @code{number} and
920 @code{symbol}. To be valid, the value given to a property
921 must be of the correct type and obey the rules for that type.
922 The type of property is always shown in brackets after the
923 property name in the IR. Here is a list of the types you may
924 need, together with the rules for that type, and some examples.
925 You must always add a hash symbol, @code{#}, of course,
926 to the front of these values when they are entered in the
927 @code{\override} command.
929 @multitable @columnfractions .2 .45 .35
930 @headitem Property type
934 @tab Either True or False, represented by #t or #f
935 @tab @code{#t}, @code{#f}
936 @item Dimension (in staff space)
937 @tab A positive decimal number (in units of staff space)
938 @tab @code{2.5}, @code{0.34}
940 @tab A valid direction constant or its numerical equivalent (decimal
941 values between -1 and 1 are allowed)
942 @tab @code{LEFT}, @code{CENTER}, @code{UP},
943 @code{1}, @w{@code{-1}}
945 @tab A positive whole number
946 @tab @code{3}, @code{1}
948 @tab A set of values separated by spaces, enclosed in parentheses
949 and preceded by an apostrophe
950 @tab @code{'(left-edge staff-bar)}, @code{'(1)},
951 @code{'(1.0 0.25 0.5)}
953 @tab Any valid markup
954 @tab @code{\markup @{ \italic "cresc." @}}
956 @tab A fraction of a whole note constructed with the
958 @tab @code{(ly:make-moment 1 4)},
959 @code{(ly:make-moment 3 8)}
961 @tab Any positive or negative decimal value
962 @tab @code{3.5}, @w{@code{-2.45}}
963 @item Pair (of numbers)
964 @tab Two numbers separated by a @q{space . space} and enclosed
965 in brackets preceded by an apostrophe
966 @tab @code{'(2 . 3.5)}, @code{'(0.1 . -3.2)}
968 @tab Any of the set of permitted symbols for that property,
969 preceded by an apostrophe
970 @tab @code{'italic}, @code{'inside}
972 @tab A procedure, or @code{#f} to cause no action
973 @tab @code{bend::print}, @code{ly:text-interface::print},
976 @tab A list of three items enclosed in parentheses and preceded
977 by apostrophe-hash, @code{'#}.
978 @tab @code{'#(#t #t #f)}
983 Extending: @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
986 @node Appearance of objects
987 @section Appearance of objects
989 Let us now put what we have learned into practice with a few
990 examples which show how tweaks may be used to change the
991 appearance of the printed music.
994 * Visibility and color of objects::
996 * Length and thickness of objects::
999 @node Visibility and color of objects
1000 @subsection Visibility and color of objects
1002 In the educational use of music we might wish to print a score
1003 with certain elements omitted as an exercise for the student,
1004 who is required to supply them. As a simple example,
1005 let us suppose the exercise is to supply the missing bar lines
1006 in a piece of music. But the bar lines are normally inserted
1007 automatically. How do we prevent them printing?
1009 Before we tackle this, let us remember that object properties are
1010 grouped in what are called @emph{interfaces} -- see @ref{Properties
1011 found in interfaces}. This is simply to group together those
1012 properties that may be used together to tweak a graphical object -- if
1013 one of them is allowed for an object, so are the others. Some objects
1014 then use the properties in some interfaces, others use them from other
1015 interfaces. The interfaces which contain the properties used by a
1016 particular grob are listed in the IR at the bottom of the page
1017 describing that grob, and those properties may be viewed by looking at
1020 We explained how to find information about grobs in @ref{Properties of
1021 layout objects}. Using the same approach, we go to the IR to find the
1022 layout object which prints bar lines. Going via @emph{Backend} and
1023 @emph{All layout objects} we find there is a layout object called
1024 @code{BarLine}. Its properties include two that control its
1025 visibility: @code{break-visibility} and @code{stencil}. Barline also
1026 supports a number of interfaces, including the @code{grob-interface},
1027 where we find the @code{transparent} and the @code{color} properties.
1028 All of these can affect the visibility of bar lines (and, of course,
1029 by extension, many other layout objects too.) Let's consider each of
1034 @cindex stencil property
1036 This property controls the appearance of the bar lines by specifying
1037 the symbol (glyph) which should be printed. In common
1038 with many other properties, it can be set to print nothing by
1039 setting its value to @code{#f}. Let's try it, as before, omitting
1040 the implied Context, @code{Voice}:
1042 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1043 @cindex stencil property, example
1045 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1048 \override BarLine #'stencil = ##f
1050 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1055 The bar lines are still printed. What is wrong? Go back to the IR
1056 and look again at the page giving the properties of BarLine. At the
1057 top of the page it says @qq{Barline objects are created by:
1058 Bar_engraver}. Go to the @code{Bar_engraver} page. At the bottom it
1059 gives a list of Contexts in which the bar engraver operates. All of
1060 them are of the type @code{Staff}, so the reason the @code{\override}
1061 command failed to work as expected is because @code{Barline} is not in
1062 the default @code{Voice} context. If the context is specified
1063 incorrectly, the command simply does not work. No error message is
1064 produced, and nothing is logged in the log file. Let's try correcting
1065 it by adding the correct context:
1067 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1068 @cindex stencil property, example
1070 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1073 \override Staff.BarLine #'stencil = ##f
1075 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1080 Now the bar lines have vanished.
1082 Note, though, that setting the @code{stencil} property to @code{#f}
1083 will cause errors when the dimensions of the object are required for
1084 correct processing. For example, errors will be generated if the
1085 @code{stencil} property of the @code{NoteHead} object is set to
1086 @code{#f}. If this is the case, you can instead use the
1087 @code{point-stencil} function, which sets the stencil to a object
1090 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1093 \once \override NoteHead #'stencil = #point-stencil
1098 @subheading break-visibility
1100 @cindex break-visibility property
1102 We see from the @code{BarLine} properties in the IR that the
1103 @code{break-visibility} property requires a vector of three booleans.
1104 These control respectively whether bar lines are printed at the end of
1105 a line, in the middle of lines, and at the beginning of lines. For
1106 our example we want all bar lines to be suppressed, so the value we
1107 need is @code{'#(#f #f #f)}. Let's try that, remembering to include
1108 the @code{Staff} context. Note also that in writing this value we
1109 have @code{#'#} before the opening bracket. The @code{'#} is required
1110 as part of the value to introduce a vector, and the first@tie{}@code{#} is
1111 required, as always, to precede the value itself in the
1112 @code{\override} command.
1114 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1115 @cindex break-visibility property, example
1117 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1120 \override Staff.BarLine #'break-visibility = #'#(#f #f #f)
1122 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1127 And we see this too removes all the bar lines.
1129 @subheading transparent
1131 @cindex transparent property
1132 @cindex transparency
1134 We see from the properties specified in the @code{grob-interface} page
1135 in the IR that the @code{transparent} property is a boolean. This
1136 should be set to @code{#t} to make the grob transparent. In this next
1137 example let us make the time signature invisible rather than the bar
1138 lines. To do this we need to find the grob name for the time
1139 signature. Back to the @q{All layout objects} page in the IR to find
1140 the properties of the @code{TimeSignature} layout object. This is
1141 produced by the @code{Time_signature_engraver} which you can check
1142 also lives in the @code{Staff} context and also supports the
1143 @code{grob-interface}. So the command to make the time signature
1146 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1147 @cindex transparent property, example
1149 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1152 \override Staff.TimeSignature #'transparent = ##t
1154 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1160 The time signature is gone, but this command leaves a gap where
1161 the time signature should be. Maybe this is what is wanted for
1162 an exercise for the student to fill it in, but in other
1163 circumstances a gap might be undesirable. To remove it, the
1164 stencil for the time signature should be set to @code{#f}
1167 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1168 @cindex stencil property, example
1170 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1173 \override Staff.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
1175 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1181 and the difference is obvious: setting the stencil to @code{#f}
1182 removes the object entirely; making the object @code{transparent}
1183 leaves it where it is, but makes it invisible.
1187 @cindex color property
1189 Finally let us try making the bar lines invisible by coloring
1190 them white. (There is a difficulty with this in that the
1191 white bar line may or may not blank out the staff lines where
1192 they cross. You may see in some of the examples below that this
1193 happens unpredictably. The details of why this is so and how to
1194 control it are covered in @ruser{Painting objects white}. But at
1195 the moment we are learning about color, so please just accept this
1196 limitation for now.)
1198 The @code{grob-interface} specifies that the
1199 color property value is a list, but there is no
1200 explanation of what that list should be. The list it
1201 requires is actually a list of values in internal units,
1202 but, to avoid having to know what these are, several ways
1203 are provided to specify colors. The first way is to use one
1204 of the @q{normal} colors listed in the first table in
1205 @ruser{List of colors}. To set the bar lines to white
1208 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1209 @cindex color property, example
1211 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1214 \override Staff.BarLine #'color = #white
1216 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1222 and again, we see the bar lines are not visible. Note that
1223 @emph{white} is not preceded by an apostrophe -- it is not
1224 a symbol, but a @emph{function}. When called, it provides
1225 the list of internal values required to set the color to
1226 white. The other colors in the normal list are functions
1227 too. To convince yourself this is working you might like
1228 to change the color to one of the other functions in the
1236 The second way of changing the color is to use the list of
1237 X11 color names in the second list in @ruser{List of colors}.
1238 However, these must be preceded by another function, which
1239 converts X11 color names into the list of internal values,
1240 @code{x11-color}, like this:
1242 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1243 @cindex color property, example
1245 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1248 \override Staff.BarLine #'color = #(x11-color 'white)
1250 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1256 Note that in this case the function @code{x11-color} takes
1257 a symbol as an argument, so the symbol must be preceded by
1258 an apostrophe and the two enclosed in brackets.
1265 There is yet a third function, one which converts RGB values into
1266 internal colors -- the @code{rgb-color} function. This takes
1267 three arguments giving the intensities of the red, green and
1268 blue colors. These take values in the range 0 to 1. So to
1269 set the color to red the value should be @code{(rgb-color 1 0 0)}
1270 and to white it should be @code{(rgb-color 1 1 1)}:
1272 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1273 @cindex color property, example
1275 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1278 \override Staff.BarLine #'color = #(rgb-color 1 1 1)
1280 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1285 Finally, there is also a grey scale available as part of the
1286 X11 set of colors. These range from black, @code{'grey0},
1287 to white, @code{'grey100}, in steps of 1. Let's illustrate
1288 this by setting all the layout objects in our example to
1289 various shades of grey:
1291 @cindex StaffSymbol, example of overriding
1292 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1293 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1294 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
1295 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
1296 @cindex BarLine, example of overriding
1297 @cindex color property, example
1298 @cindex x11-color, example of using
1300 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1303 \override Staff.StaffSymbol #'color = #(x11-color 'grey30)
1304 \override Staff.TimeSignature #'color = #(x11-color 'grey60)
1305 \override Staff.Clef #'color = #(x11-color 'grey60)
1306 \override Voice.NoteHead #'color = #(x11-color 'grey85)
1307 \override Voice.Stem #'color = #(x11-color 'grey85)
1308 \override Staff.BarLine #'color = #(x11-color 'grey10)
1310 g,8 a16 b8 c d4 e16 |
1316 Note the contexts associated with each of the layout objects.
1317 It is important to get these right, or the commands will not
1318 work! Remember, the context is the one in which the appropriate
1319 engraver is placed. The default context for engravers can be
1320 found by starting from the layout object, going from there to
1321 the engraver which produces it, and on the engraver page in the
1322 IR it tells you in which context the engraver will normally be
1326 @node Size of objects
1327 @subsection Size of objects
1329 @cindex changing size of objects
1330 @cindex size of objects
1331 @cindex objects, size of
1332 @cindex objects, changing size of
1334 Let us begin by looking again at the earlier example
1335 (see @ref{Nesting music expressions}) which showed
1336 how to introduce a new temporary staff, as in an @rglos{ossia}.
1338 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1339 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1341 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1342 \new Staff ="main" {
1349 alignAboveContext = #"main" }
1357 Ossia are normally written without clef and time signature, and
1358 are usually printed slightly smaller than the main staff. We
1359 already know now how to remove the clef and time signature --
1360 we simply set the stencil of each to @code{#f}, as follows:
1362 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1363 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1364 @cindex stencil property, example
1365 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1366 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1368 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1369 \new Staff ="main" {
1376 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1379 \override Staff.Clef #'stencil = ##f
1380 \override Staff.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
1390 where the extra pair of braces after the @code{\with} clause are
1391 required to ensure the enclosed overrides and music are applied
1394 But what is the difference between modifying the staff context by
1395 using @code{\with} and modifying the stencils of the clef and the
1396 time signature with \override? The main difference is that
1397 changes made in a @code{\with} clause are made at the time the
1398 context is created, and remain in force as the @strong{default}
1399 values for the duration of that context, whereas
1400 @code{\set} or @code{\override} commands embedded in the
1401 music are dynamic -- they make changes synchronized with
1402 a particular point in the music. If changes are unset or
1403 reverted using @code{\unset} or @code{\revert} they return to
1404 their default values, which will be the ones set in the
1405 @code{\with} clause, or if none have been set there, the normal
1408 Some context properties can be modified only in @code{\with} clauses.
1409 These are those properties which cannot sensibly be changed after the
1410 context has been created. @code{alignAboveContext} and its partner,
1411 @code{alignBelowContext}, are two such properties -- once the staff
1412 has been created its alignment is decided and it would make no sense
1413 to try to change it later.
1415 The default values of layout object properties can also be set
1416 in @code{\with} clauses. Simply use the normal @code{\override}
1417 command leaving out the context name, since this is unambiguously
1418 defined as the context which the @code{\with} clause is modifying.
1419 If fact, an error will be generated if a context is specified
1422 So we could replace the example above with
1424 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1425 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1426 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1427 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1429 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1430 \new Staff ="main" {
1437 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1438 % Don't print clefs in this staff
1439 \override Clef #'stencil = ##f
1440 % Don't print time signatures in this staff
1441 \override TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
1450 Finally we come to changing the size of layout objects.
1452 Some layout objects are created as glyphs selected from a typeface
1453 font. These include note heads, accidentals, markup, clefs, time
1454 signatures, dynamics and lyrics. Their size is changed by modifying
1455 the @code{font-size} property, as we shall shortly see. Other layout
1456 objects such as slurs and ties -- in general, spanner objects -- are
1457 drawn individually, so there is no @code{font-size} associated with
1458 them. These objects generally derive their size from the objects to
1459 which they are attached, so usually there is no need to change their
1460 size manually. Still other properties such as the length of stems and
1461 bar lines, thickness of beams and other lines, and the separation of
1462 staff lines all need to be modified in special ways.
1464 Returning to the ossia example, let us first change the font-size.
1465 We can do this in two ways. We can either change the size of the
1466 fonts of each object type, like @code{NoteHead}s with commands
1470 \override NoteHead #'font-size = #-2
1473 or we can change the size of all fonts by setting a special
1474 property, @code{fontSize}, using @code{\set}, or by including
1475 it in a @code{\with} clause (but without the @code{\set}).
1481 Both of these statements would cause the font size to be reduced
1482 by 2 steps from its previous value, where each
1483 step reduces or increases the size by approximately 12%.
1485 Let's try it in our ossia example:
1487 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1488 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1489 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1490 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1491 @cindex fontSize property, example
1493 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1494 \new Staff ="main" {
1501 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1502 \override Clef #'stencil = ##f
1503 \override TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
1504 % Reduce all font sizes by ~24%
1514 This is still not quite right. The note heads and flags are
1515 smaller, but the stems are too long in proportion and the
1516 staff lines are spaced too widely apart. These need to be
1517 scaled down in proportion to the font reduction. The next
1518 sub-section discusses how this is done.
1520 @node Length and thickness of objects
1521 @subsection Length and thickness of objects
1527 @cindex size, changing
1528 @cindex stem length, changing
1529 @cindex staff line spacing, changing
1531 Distances and lengths in LilyPond are generally measured in
1532 staff-spaces, the distance between adjacent lines in the staff,
1533 (or occasionally half staff spaces) while most @code{thickness}
1534 properties are measured in units of an internal property called
1535 @code{line-thickness.} For example, by default, the lines of
1536 hairpins are given a thickness of 1 unit of @code{line-thickness},
1537 while the @code{thickness} of a note stem is 1.3. Note, though,
1538 that some thickness properties are different; for example, the
1539 thickness of beams is controlled by the value of the
1540 @code{beam-thickness} property, which is measured in staff-spaces.
1542 So how are lengths to be scaled in proportion to the font size?
1543 This can be done with the help of a special function called
1544 @code{magstep} provided for exactly this purpose. It takes
1545 one argument, the change in font size (#-2 in the example above)
1546 and returns a scaling factor suitable for reducing other
1547 objects in proportion. It is used like this:
1549 @cindex alignAboveContext property, example
1550 @cindex @code{\with}, example
1551 @cindex Clef, example of overriding
1552 @cindex TimeSignature, example of overriding
1553 @cindex fontSize property, example
1554 @cindex StaffSymbol, example of overriding
1555 @cindex magstep function, example of using
1556 @cindex staff-space property, example
1557 @cindex stencil property, example
1559 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1560 \new Staff ="main" {
1567 alignAboveContext = #"main"
1568 \override Clef #'stencil = ##f
1569 \override TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
1571 % Reduce stem length and line spacing to match
1572 \override StaffSymbol #'staff-space = #(magstep -2)
1582 Since the length of stems and many other length-related properties are
1583 always calculated relative to the value of the @code{staff-space}
1584 property these are automatically scaled down in length too. Note that
1585 this affects only the vertical scale of the ossia -- the horizontal
1586 scale is determined by the layout of the main music in order to remain
1587 synchronized with it, so it is not affected by any of these changes in
1588 size. Of course, if the scale of all the main music were changed in
1589 this way then the horizontal spacing would be affected. This is
1590 discussed later in the layout section.
1592 This, then, completes the creation of an ossia. The sizes and
1593 lengths of all other objects may be modified in analogous ways.
1595 For small changes in scale, as in the example above, the
1596 thickness of the various drawn lines such as bar lines,
1597 beams, hairpins, slurs, etc does not usually require global
1598 adjustment. If the thickness of any particular layout object
1599 needs to be adjusted this can be best achieved by overriding its
1600 @code{thickness} property. An example of changing the thickness
1601 of slurs was shown above in @ref{Properties of layout objects}.
1602 The thickness of all drawn objects (i.e., those not produced
1603 from a font) may be changed in the same way.
1606 @node Placement of objects
1607 @section Placement of objects
1610 * Automatic behavior::
1611 * Within-staff objects::
1612 * Outside-staff objects::
1616 @node Automatic behavior
1617 @subsection Automatic behavior
1619 @cindex within-staff objects
1620 @cindex outside-staff objects
1621 @cindex objects, within-staff
1622 @cindex objects, outside-staff
1624 There are some objects in musical notation that belong to
1625 the staff and there are other objects that should be
1626 placed outside the staff. These are called within-staff
1627 objects and outside-staff objects respectively.
1629 Within-staff objects are those that are located on the staff
1630 -- note heads, stems, accidentals, etc. The positions of
1631 these are usually fixed by the music itself -- they are
1632 vertically positioned on specific lines of the staff or are
1633 tied to other objects that are so positioned. Collisions of
1634 note heads, stems and accidentals in closely set chords are
1635 normally avoided automatically. There are commands and
1636 overrides which can modify this automatic behavior, as we
1639 Objects belonging outside the staff include things such as
1640 rehearsal marks, text and dynamic markings. LilyPond's rule for
1641 the vertical placement of outside-staff objects is to place them
1642 as close to the staff as possible but not so close that they
1643 collide with any other object. LilyPond uses the
1644 @code{outside-staff-priority} property to determine the order in
1645 which the objects should be placed, as follows.
1647 First, LilyPond places all the within-staff objects.
1648 Then it sorts the outside-staff objects according to their
1649 @code{outside-staff-priority}. The outside-staff objects are
1650 taken one by one, beginning with the object with the lowest
1651 @code{outside-staff-priority}, and placed so that they do not
1652 collide with any objects that have already been placed. That is,
1653 if two outside-staff grobs are competing for the same space, the
1654 one with the lower @code{outside-staff-priority} will be placed
1655 closer to the staff. If two objects have the same
1656 @code{outside-staff-priority} the one encountered first will be
1657 placed closer to the staff.
1659 In the following example all the markup texts have the same
1660 priority (since it is not explicitly set). Note that @q{Text3}
1661 is automatically positioned close to the staff again, nestling
1664 @cindex markup example
1666 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1673 Staves are also positioned, by default, as closely together as
1674 possible (subject to a minimum separation). If notes project
1675 a long way towards an adjacent staff they will force the
1676 staves further apart only if an overlap of the notation
1677 would otherwise occur. The following example demonstrates
1678 this @q{nestling} of the notes on adjacent staves:
1680 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
1683 \relative c' { c4 a, }
1686 \relative c'''' { c4 a, }
1692 @node Within-staff objects
1693 @subsection Within-staff objects
1695 We have already seen how the commands @code{\voiceXXX} affect the
1696 direction of slurs, ties, fingering and everything else which depends on
1697 the direction of the stems -- see @ref{Explicitly instantiating voices}.
1698 These commands are essential when writing polyphonic music to permit
1699 interweaving melodic lines to be distinguished. But occasionally it may
1700 be necessary to override this automatic behavior. This can be done for
1701 whole sections of music or even for an individual note. The property
1702 which controls this behavior is the @code{direction} property of each
1703 layout object. We first explain what this does, and then introduce a
1704 number of ready-made commands which avoid your having to code explicit
1705 overrides for the more common modifications.
1707 Some layout objects like slurs and ties curve, bend or point
1708 either up or down; others like stems and flags also move to
1709 right or left when they point up or down. This is controlled
1710 automatically when @code{direction} is set.
1717 The following example shows in bar 1 the default behavior of stems,
1718 with those on high notes pointing down and those on low notes pointing
1719 up, followed by four notes with all stems forced down, four notes with
1720 all stems forced up, and finally four notes reverted back to the
1723 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
1724 @cindex direction property, example
1726 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
1728 \override Stem #'direction = #DOWN
1730 \override Stem #'direction = #UP
1732 \revert Stem #'direction
1736 Here we use the constants @code{DOWN} and @code{UP}.
1737 These have the values @w{@code{-1}} and @code{+1} respectively, and
1738 these numerical values may be used instead. The value @code{0}
1739 may also be used in some cases. It is simply treated as meaning
1740 @code{UP} for stems, but for some objects it means @q{center}.
1741 There is a constant, @code{CENTER} which has the value @code{0}.
1743 However, these explicit overrides are not usually used, as there are
1744 simpler equivalent predefined commands available. Here is a table of
1745 the commonest. The meaning of each is stated where it is not obvious.
1747 @multitable @columnfractions .2 .2 .25 .35
1752 @item @code{\arpeggioArrowDown}
1753 @tab @code{\arpeggioArrowUp}
1754 @tab @code{\arpeggioNormal}
1755 @tab Arrow is at bottom, at top, or no arrow
1756 @item @code{\dotsDown}
1758 @tab @code{\dotsNeutral}
1759 @tab Direction of movement to avoid staff lines
1760 @item @code{\dynamicDown}
1761 @tab @code{\dynamicUp}
1762 @tab @code{\dynamicNeutral}
1764 @item @code{\phrasingSlurDown}
1765 @tab @code{\phrasingSlurUp}
1766 @tab @code{\phrasingSlurNeutral}
1767 @tab Note: distinct from slur commands
1768 @item @code{\slurDown}
1770 @tab @code{\slurNeutral}
1772 @item @code{\stemDown}
1774 @tab @code{\stemNeutral}
1776 @item @code{\textSpannerDown}
1777 @tab @code{\textSpannerUp}
1778 @tab @code{\textSpannerNeutral}
1779 @tab Text entered as spanner is below/above staff
1780 @item @code{\tieDown}
1782 @tab @code{\tieNeutral}
1784 @item @code{\tupletDown}
1785 @tab @code{\tupletUp}
1786 @tab @code{\tupletNeutral}
1787 @tab Tuplets are below/above notes
1790 Note that these predefined commands may @strong{not} be
1791 preceded by @code{\once}. If you wish to limit the
1792 effect to a single note you must either use the equivalent
1793 @code{\once \override} command or use the predefined command
1794 followed after the affected note by the corresponding
1795 @code{\xxxNeutral} command.
1797 @unnumberedsubsubsec Fingering
1799 @cindex fingering, placement
1800 @cindex fingering, chords
1802 The placement of fingering on single notes can also be controlled
1803 by the @code{direction} property, but changing @code{direction}
1804 has no effect on chords. As we shall see, there are special
1805 commands which allow the fingering of individual notes
1806 of chords to be controlled, with the fingering being placed
1807 above, below, to the left or to the right of each note.
1809 First, here's the effect of @code{direction} on the fingering
1810 attached to single notes. The first bar shows the default
1811 behaviour, and the following two bars shows the effect of
1812 specifying @code{DOWN} and @code{UP}:
1814 @cindex Fingering, example of overriding
1815 @cindex direction property, example
1817 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1819 \override Fingering #'direction = #DOWN
1821 \override Fingering #'direction = #UP
1825 However, overriding the @code{direction} property is not the
1826 easiest way of manually setting the fingering above or below
1827 the notes; using @code{_} or @code{^} instead of @code{-} before
1828 the fingering number is usually preferable. Here is the previous
1829 example using this method:
1831 @cindex fingering example
1833 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1839 The @code{direction} property is ignored for chords, but the
1840 directional prefixes, @code{_} and @code{^} do work. By default,
1841 the fingering is automatically placed both above and below the
1842 notes of a chord, as shown:
1844 @cindex fingering example
1846 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1853 but this may be overridden to manually force all or any of the
1854 individual fingering numbers above or below:
1856 @cindex fingering example
1858 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
1864 Even greater control over the placement of fingering of the
1865 individual notes in a chord is possible by using the
1866 @code{\set fingeringOrientations} command. The format of this
1870 @code{\set fingeringOrientations = #'([up] [left/right] [down])}
1874 @code{\set} is used because @code{fingeringOrientations} is a
1875 property of the @code{Voice} context, created and used by the
1876 @code{New_fingering_engraver}.
1878 The property may be set to a list of one to three values.
1879 It controls whether fingerings may be placed above (if
1880 @code{up} appears in the list), below (if @code{down} appears),
1881 to the left (if @code{left} appears, or to the right
1882 (if @code{right} appears). Conversely, if a location is not
1883 listed, no fingering is placed there. LilyPond takes these
1884 constraints and works out the best placement for the fingering
1885 of the notes of the following chords. Note that @code{left} and
1886 @code{right} are mutually exclusive -- fingering may be placed
1887 only on one side or the other, not both.
1889 @warning{To control the placement of the fingering of a single
1890 note using this command it is necessary to write it as a single
1891 note chord by placing angle brackets round it.}
1893 Here are a few examples:
1895 @cindex fingering example
1896 @cindex @code{\set}, example of using
1897 @cindex fingeringOrientations property, example
1899 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
1900 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1903 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1905 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1906 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left down)
1909 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left)
1911 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1912 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(right)
1918 If the fingering seems a little crowded the @code{font-size}
1919 could be reduced. The default value can be seen from the
1920 @code{Fingering} object in the IR to be @w{@code{-5}}, so let's
1923 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
1924 \override Fingering #'font-size = #-7
1925 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1928 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
1930 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1931 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left down)
1934 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(up left)
1936 <c-1 e-2 g-3 b-5>4 |
1937 \set fingeringOrientations = #'(right)
1942 @node Outside-staff objects
1943 @subsection Outside-staff objects
1945 Outside-staff objects are automatically placed to avoid collisions.
1946 Objects with the lower value of the @code{outside-staff-priority}
1947 property are placed nearer to the staff, and other outside-staff
1948 objects are then raised as far as necessary to avoid collisions.
1949 The @code{outside-staff-priority} is defined in the
1950 @code{grob-interface} and so is a property of all layout objects.
1951 By default it is set to @code{#f} for all within-staff objects,
1952 and to a numerical value appropriate to each outside-staff object
1953 when the object is created. The following table shows the default
1954 numerical values for some of the commonest outside-staff objects.
1958 Note the unusual names for some of the objects: spanner objects
1959 are automatically created to control the vertical positioning of
1960 grobs which (might) start and end at different musical moments, so
1961 changing the @code{outside-staff-priority} of the underlying grob
1962 will have no effect. For example, changing
1963 @code{outside-staff-priority} of the @code{Hairpin} object will
1964 have no effect on the vertical positioning of hairpins -- you must
1965 change @code{outside-staff-priority} of the associated
1966 @code{DynamicLineSpanner} object instead. This override must be
1967 placed at the start of the spanner, which might include several
1968 linked hairpins and dynamics.
1970 @multitable @columnfractions .3 .3 .3
1971 @headitem Layout Object
1973 @tab Controls position of:
1974 @item @code{RehearsalMark}
1976 @tab Rehearsal marks
1977 @item @code{MetronomeMark}
1979 @tab Metronome marks
1980 @item @code{VoltaBracketSpanner}
1983 @item @code{TextScript}
1986 @item @code{MultiMeasureRestText}
1988 @tab Markup text over full-bar rests
1989 @item @code{OttavaBracket}
1991 @tab Ottava brackets
1992 @item @code{TextSpanner}
1995 @item @code{DynamicLineSpanner}
1997 @tab All dynamic markings
1998 @item @code{BarNumber}
2001 @item @code{TrillSpanner}
2003 @tab Spanning trills
2006 Here is an example showing the default placement of some of
2009 @cindex text spanner
2010 @cindex ottava bracket
2012 @funindex \startTextSpan
2013 @funindex startTextSpan
2014 @funindex \stopTextSpan
2015 @funindex stopTextSpan
2017 @cindex TextSpanner, example of overriding
2018 @cindex bound-details property, example
2020 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
2021 % Set details for later Text Spanner
2022 \override TextSpanner #'(bound-details left text)
2023 = \markup { \small \bold Slower }
2024 % Place dynamics above staff
2026 % Start Ottava Bracket
2029 % Add Dynamic Text and hairpin
2035 % Add Dynamic Text and terminate hairpin
2036 c4\ff c \stopTextSpan |
2037 % Stop Ottava Bracket
2042 This example also shows how to create Text Spanners --
2043 text with extender lines above a section of music. The
2044 spanner extends from the @code{\startTextSpan} command to
2045 the @code{\stopTextSpan} command, and the format of the
2046 text is defined by the @code{\override TextSpanner} command.
2047 For more details see @ruser{Text spanners}.
2049 It also shows how ottava brackets are created.
2051 @cindex tweaking bar number placement
2052 @cindex bar numbers, tweaking placement
2053 @cindex tweaking metronome mark placement
2054 @cindex metronome mark, tweaking placement
2055 @cindex tweaking rehearsal mark placement
2056 @cindex rehearsal marks, tweaking placement
2058 If the default values of @code{outside-staff-priority} do not give you
2059 the placing you want, the priority of any of the objects may be
2060 overridden. Suppose we would like the ottava bracket to be placed
2061 below the text spanner in the example above. All we need to do is to
2062 look up the priority of @code{OttavaBracket} in the IR or in the
2063 tables above, and reduce it to a value lower than that of a
2064 @code{TextSpanner}, remembering that @code{OttavaBracket} is created
2065 in the @code{Staff} context:
2067 @cindex TextSpanner, example of overriding
2068 @cindex bound-details property, example
2070 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
2071 % Set details for later Text Spanner
2072 \override TextSpanner #'(bound-details left text)
2073 = \markup { \small \bold Slower }
2074 % Place dynamics above staff
2076 % Place following Ottava Bracket below Text Spanners
2077 \once \override Staff.OttavaBracket #'outside-staff-priority = #340
2078 % Start Ottava Bracket
2083 % Add Dynamic Line Spanner
2089 c4\ff c \stopTextSpan |
2090 % Stop Ottava Bracket
2095 Note that some of these objects, in particular bar numbers,
2096 metronome marks and rehearsal marks, live by default in the
2097 @code{Score} context, so be sure to use the correct context
2098 when these are being overriden.
2100 @cindex slurs and outside-staff-priority
2101 @cindex slurs and articulations
2102 @cindex articulations and slurs
2104 Slurs by default are classed as within-staff objects, but
2105 they often appear above the staff if the notes to
2106 which they are attached are high on the staff. This can push
2107 outside-staff objects such as articulations too high, as the slur
2108 will be placed first. The @code{avoid-slur} property of the
2109 articulation can be set to @code{'inside} to bring the articulation
2110 inside the slur, but the @code{avoid-slur} property is effective
2111 only if the @code{outside-staff-priority} is also set to @code{#f}.
2112 Alternatively, the @code{outside-staff-priority} of the slur
2113 can be set to a numerical value to cause it to be placed along with
2114 other outside-staff objects according to that value. Here's an
2115 example showing the effect of the two methods:
2117 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,relative=2]
2118 c4( c^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2120 \once \override TextScript #'avoid-slur = #'inside
2121 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
2122 c4^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2123 \once \override Slur #'outside-staff-priority = #500
2124 c4( c^\markup { \tiny \sharp } d4.) c8 |
2127 Changing the @code{outside-staff-priority} can also be used to
2128 control the vertical placement of individual objects, although
2129 the results may not always be desirable. Suppose we would
2130 like @qq{Text3} to be placed above @qq{Text4} in the example
2131 under Automatic behavior, above (see @ref{Automatic behavior}).
2132 All we need to do is to look up the priority of @code{TextScript}
2133 in the IR or in the tables above, and increase the priority of
2134 @qq{Text3} to a higher value:
2136 @cindex TextScript, example of overriding
2137 @cindex outside-staff-priority property, example
2139 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2142 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = #500
2147 This certainly lifts @qq{Text3} above @qq{Text4} but it also lifts it
2148 above @qq{Text2}, and @qq{Text4} now drops down. Perhaps this is not
2149 so good. What we would really like to do is to position all the
2150 annotation at the same distance above the staff. To do this, we
2151 clearly will need to space the notes out horizontally to make more
2152 room for the text. This is done using the @code{textLengthOn}
2155 @subheading \textLengthOn
2157 @cindex notes, spreading out with text
2159 @funindex \textLengthOn
2160 @funindex textLengthOn
2161 @funindex \textLengthOff
2162 @funindex textLengthOff
2164 By default, text produced by markup takes up no horizontal space
2165 as far as laying out the music is concerned. The @code{\textLengthOn}
2166 command reverses this behavior, causing the notes to be spaced
2167 out as far as is necessary to accommodate the text:
2169 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2170 \textLengthOn % Cause notes to space out to accommodate text
2177 The command to revert to the default behavior is
2178 @code{\textLengthOff}. Remember @code{\once} only works with
2179 @code{\override}, @code{\set}, @code{\revert} or @code{\unset},
2180 so cannot be used with @code{\textLengthOn}.
2182 @cindex markup text, allowing collisions
2184 Markup text will also avoid notes which project above the staff.
2185 If this is not desired, the automatic displacement upwards may
2186 be turned off by setting the priority to @code{#f}. Here's an
2187 example to show how markup text interacts with such notes.
2189 @cindex TextScript, example of overriding
2190 @cindex outside-staff-priority property, example
2192 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2193 % This markup is short enough to fit without collision
2197 % This is too long to fit, so it is displaced upwards
2201 % Turn off collision avoidance
2202 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
2203 c,,2^"Long Text " c'' |
2206 % Turn off collision avoidance
2207 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
2208 \textLengthOn % and turn on textLengthOn
2209 c,,2^"Long Text " % Spaces at end are honored
2214 @subheading Dynamics
2216 @cindex tweaking dynamics placement
2217 @cindex dynamics, tweaking placement
2219 Dynamic markings will normally be positioned beneath the
2220 staff, but may be positioned above with the @code{\dynamicUp}
2221 command. They will be positioned vertically relative to the
2222 note to which they are attached, and will float below (or above)
2223 all within-staff objects such as phrasing slurs and bar numbers.
2224 This can give quite acceptable results, as this example
2227 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=1]
2232 bes4.~\f\< \( bes4 bes8 des4\ff\> c16 bes\! |
2233 ees,2.~\)\mf ees4 r8 |
2236 However, if the notes and attached dynamics are close
2237 together the automatic placement will avoid collisions
2238 by displacing later dynamic markings further away, but this may
2239 not be the optimum placement, as this rather artificial example
2242 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2248 Should a similar situation arise in @q{real} music, it may be
2249 preferable to space out the notes a little further, so the dynamic
2250 markings can all fit at the same vertical distance from the staff. We
2251 were able to do this for markup text by using the @code{\textLengthOn}
2252 command, but there is no equivalent command for dynamic marks. So we
2253 shall have to work out how to do this using @code{\override} commands.
2255 @subheading Grob sizing
2258 @cindex sizing grobs
2260 First we must learn how grobs are sized. All grobs have a
2261 reference point defined within them which is used to position
2262 them relative to their parent object. This point in the grob
2263 is then positioned at a horizontal distance, @code{X-offset},
2264 and at a vertical distance, @code{Y-offset}, from its parent.
2265 The horizontal extent of the object is given by a pair of
2266 numbers, @code{X-extent}, which say where the left and right
2267 edges are relative to the reference point. The vertical extent
2268 is similarly defined by a pair of numbers, @code{Y-extent}.
2269 These are properties of all grobs which support the
2270 @code{grob-interface}.
2272 @cindex @code{extra-spacing-width}
2274 By default, outside-staff objects are given a width of zero so
2275 that they may overlap in the horizontal direction. This is done
2276 by the trick of adding infinity to the leftmost extent and
2277 minus infinity to the rightmost extent by setting the
2278 @code{extra-spacing-width} to @code{'(+inf.0 . -inf.0)}. So
2279 to ensure they do not overlap in the horizontal direction we
2280 must override this value of @code{extra-spacing-width} to
2281 @code{'(0 . 0)} so the true width shines through. This is
2282 the command to do this for dynamic text:
2285 \override DynamicText #'extra-spacing-width = #'(0 . 0)
2289 Let's see if this works in our previous example:
2291 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2292 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2294 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2296 \override DynamicText #'extra-spacing-width = #'(0 . 0)
2297 a4\f b\mf c\mp b\p |
2301 Well, it has certainly stopped the dynamic marks being
2302 displaced, but two problems remain. The marks should be
2303 spaced a little further apart and it would be better
2304 if they were all the same distance from the staff.
2305 We can solve the first problem easily. Instead of making
2306 the @code{extra-spacing-width} zero we could add a little
2307 more to it. The units are the space between two staff
2308 lines, so moving the left edge half a unit to the left and the
2309 right edge half a unit to the right should do it:
2311 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2312 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2314 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2316 % Extend width by 1 staff space
2317 \override DynamicText #'extra-spacing-width = #'(-0.5 . 0.5)
2322 This looks better, but maybe we would prefer the dynamic marks
2323 to be aligned along the same baseline rather than going up and
2324 down with the notes. The property to do this is
2325 @code{staff-padding} which is covered in the following section.
2328 @node Collisions of objects
2329 @section Collisions of objects
2333 * Fixing overlapping notation::
2334 * Real music example::
2337 @node Moving objects
2338 @subsection Moving objects
2340 @cindex moving overlapping objects
2341 @cindex moving colliding objects
2342 @cindex moving colliding grobs
2343 @cindex objects, moving colliding
2344 @cindex grobs, moving colliding
2346 This may come as a surprise, but LilyPond is not perfect. Some
2347 notation elements can overlap. This is unfortunate, but in fact
2348 rather rare. Usually the need to move objects is for clarity or
2349 aesthetic reasons -- they would look better with a little more
2350 or a little less space around them.
2352 There are three main approaches to resolving overlapping
2353 notation. They should be considered in the following order:
2357 The @strong{direction} of one of the overlapping objects may
2358 be changed using the predefined commands listed above for
2359 within-staff objects (see @ref{Within-staff objects}).
2360 Stems, slurs, beams, ties, dynamics, text and tuplets may be
2361 repositioned easily in this way. The limitation is that you
2362 have a choice of only two positions, and neither may be
2366 The @strong{object properties}, which LilyPond uses when positioning
2367 layout objects, may be modified using @code{\override}. The
2368 advantages of making changes to this type of property are (a) that
2369 some other objects will be moved automatically if necessary to make
2370 room and (b) the single override can apply to all instances of the
2371 same type of object. Such properties include:
2378 This has already been covered in some detail -- see
2379 @ref{Within-staff objects}.
2382 @code{padding}, @code{right-padding}, @code{staff-padding}
2385 @cindex padding property
2386 @cindex right-padding property
2387 @cindex staff-padding property
2389 As an object is being positioned the value of its @code{padding}
2390 property specifies the gap that must be left between itself and the
2391 nearest edge of the object against which it is being positioned. Note
2392 that it is the @code{padding} value of the object @strong{being
2393 placed} that is used; the @code{padding} value of the object which is
2394 already placed is ignored. Gaps specified by @code{padding} can be
2395 applied to all objects which support the
2396 @code{side-position-interface}.
2398 Instead of @code{padding}, the placement of groups of accidentals
2399 is controlled by @code{right-padding}. This property is to be found
2400 in the @code{AccidentalPlacement} object which, note, lives in the
2401 @strong{Staff} context. In the typesetting process the note heads
2402 are typeset first and then the accidentals, if any, are added to the
2403 left of the note heads using the @code{right-padding} property to determine
2404 the separation from the note heads and between individual accidentals.
2405 So only the @code{right-padding} property of the @code{AccidentalPlacement}
2406 object has any effect on the placement of the accidentals.
2408 The @code{staff-padding} property is closely related to the
2409 @code{padding} property: @code{padding} controls the minimum amount of
2410 space between any object which supports the
2411 @code{side-position-interface} and the nearest other object (generally
2412 the note or the staff lines); @code{staff-padding} applies only to
2413 those objects which are always set outside the staff -- it controls
2414 the minimum amount of space that should be inserted between that
2415 object and the staff. Note that @code{staff-padding} has no effect on
2416 objects which are positioned relative to the note rather than the
2417 staff, even though it may be overridden without error for such objects
2418 -- it is simply ignored.
2420 To discover which padding property is required for the object you wish
2421 to reposition, you need to return to the IR and look up the object's
2422 properties. Be aware that the padding properties might not be located
2423 in the obvious object, so look in objects that appear to be related.
2425 All padding values are measured in staff spaces. For most
2426 objects, this value is set by default to be around 1.0 or less
2427 (it varies with each object). It may be overridden if a larger
2428 (or smaller) gap is required.
2431 @code{self-alignment-X}
2433 @cindex self-alignment-X property
2435 This property can be used to align the object to the left, to
2436 the right, or to center it with respect to the parent object's
2437 reference point. It may be used with all objects which support
2438 the @code{self-alignment-interface}. In general these are objects
2439 that contain text. The values are @code{LEFT}, @code{RIGHT}
2440 or @code{CENTER}. Alternatively, a numerical value between
2441 @w{@code{-1}} and @code{+1} may be specified, where @w{@code{-1}} is
2442 left-aligned, @code{+1} is right-aligned, and numbers in between
2443 move the text progressively from left-aligned to right-aligned.
2444 Numerical values greater than @code{1} may be specified to move
2445 the text even further to the left, or less than @w{@code{-1}} to
2446 move the text even further to the right. A change of @code{1}
2447 in the value corresponds to a movement of half the text's length.
2450 @code{extra-spacing-width}
2452 @cindex extra-spacing-width property
2454 This property is available for all objects which support the
2455 @code{item-interface}. It takes two numbers, the first is added
2456 to the leftmost extent and the second is added to the rightmost
2457 extent. Negative numbers move the edge to the left, positive to
2458 the right, so to widen an object the first number must be negative,
2459 the second positive. Note that not all objects honor both
2460 numbers. For example, the @code{Accidental} object only takes
2461 notice of the first (left edge) number.
2464 @code{staff-position}
2466 @cindex staff-position property
2468 @code{staff-position} is a property of the
2469 @code{staff-symbol-referencer-interface}, which is supported by
2470 objects which are positioned relative to the staff. It specifies
2471 the vertical position of the object relative to the center line
2472 of the staff in half staff-spaces. It is useful in resolving
2473 collisions between layout objects like multi-measure rests, ties
2474 and notes in different voices.
2479 @cindex force-hshift property
2481 Closely spaced notes in a chord, or notes occurring at the same
2482 time in different voices, are arranged in two, occasionally more,
2483 columns to prevent the note heads overlapping. These are called
2484 note columns, and an object called @code{NoteColumn} is created
2485 to lay out the notes in that column.
2487 The @code{force-hshift} property is a property of a @code{NoteColumn}
2488 (actually of the @code{note-column-interface}). Changing it permits a
2489 note column to be moved in units appropriate to a note column,
2490 viz. the note head width of the first voice note. It should be used
2491 in complex situations where the normal @code{\shiftOn} commands (see
2492 @ref{Explicitly instantiating voices}) do not resolve the note
2493 conflict. It is preferable to the @code{extra-offset} property for
2494 this purpose as there is no need to work out the distance in
2495 staff-spaces, and moving the notes into or out of a @code{NoteColumn}
2496 affects other actions such as merging note heads.
2501 Finally, when all else fails, objects may be manually repositioned
2502 relative to the staff center line vertically, or by displacing them by
2503 any distance to a new position. The disadvantages are that the
2504 correct values for the repositioning have to be worked out, often by
2505 trial and error, for every object individually, and, because the
2506 movement is done after LilyPond has placed all other objects, the user
2507 is responsible for avoiding any collisions that might ensue. But the
2508 main difficulty with this approach is that the repositioning values
2509 may need to be reworked if the music is later modified. The
2510 properties that can be used for this type of manual repositioning are:
2515 @cindex extra-offset property
2517 This property applies to any layout object supporting the
2518 @code{grob-interface}. It takes a pair of numbers which specify the
2519 extra displacement in the horizontal and vertical directions.
2520 Negative numbers move the object to the left or down. The units are
2521 staff-spaces. The extra displacement is made after the typesetting of
2522 objects is finished, so an object may be repositioned anywhere without
2523 affecting anything else.
2527 @cindex positions property
2529 This is most useful for manually adjusting the slope and height
2530 of beams, slurs, and tuplets. It takes a pair of numbers
2531 giving the position of the left and right ends of the beam, slur,
2532 etc. relative to the center line of the staff. Units are
2533 staff-spaces. Note, though, that slurs and phrasing slurs cannot
2534 be repositioned by arbitrarily large amounts. LilyPond first
2535 generates a list of possible positions for the slur and by default
2536 finds the slur that @qq{looks best}. If the @code{positions}
2537 property has been overridden the slur that is closest to the
2538 requested positions is selected from the list.
2543 A particular object may not have all of these properties.
2544 It is necessary to go to the IR to look up which properties
2545 are available for the object in question.
2547 Here is a list of the objects which are most likely to be
2548 involved in collisions, together with the name of the object which
2549 should be looked up in the IR in order to discover which properties
2550 should be used to move them.
2552 @multitable @columnfractions .5 .5
2553 @headitem Object type @tab Object name
2554 @item Articulations @tab @code{Script}
2555 @item Beams @tab @code{Beam}
2556 @item Dynamics (vertically) @tab @code{DynamicLineSpanner}
2557 @item Dynamics (horizontally) @tab @code{DynamicText}
2558 @item Fingerings @tab @code{Fingering}
2559 @item Rehearsal / Text marks @tab @code{RehearsalMark}
2560 @item Slurs @tab @code{Slur}
2561 @item Text e.g. @code{^"text"} @tab @code{TextScript}
2562 @item Ties @tab @code{Tie}
2563 @item Tuplets @tab @code{TupletBracket}
2567 @node Fixing overlapping notation
2568 @subsection Fixing overlapping notation
2570 Let's now see how the properties in the previous section can
2571 help to resolve overlapping notation.
2573 @subheading padding property
2576 @cindex fixing overlapping notation
2577 @cindex overlapping notation
2579 The @code{padding} property can be set to increase
2580 (or decrease) the distance between symbols that are printed
2581 above or below notes.
2583 @cindex Script, example of overriding
2584 @cindex padding property, example
2586 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
2588 \override Script #'padding = #3
2592 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
2593 @cindex padding property, example
2595 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
2596 % This will not work, see below
2597 \override MetronomeMark #'padding = #3
2601 \override Score.MetronomeMark #'padding = #3
2606 Note in the second example how important it is to figure out what
2607 context handles a certain object. Since the @code{MetronomeMark}
2608 object is handled in the @code{Score} context, property changes in the
2609 @code{Voice} context will not be noticed. For more details, see
2610 @ruser{Modifying properties}.
2612 If the @code{padding} property of an object is increased when that
2613 object is in a stack of objects being positioned according to
2614 their @code{outside-staff-priority}, then that object and all
2615 objects outside it are moved.
2618 @subheading right-padding
2620 @cindex right-padding property
2622 The @code{right-padding} property affects the spacing between the
2623 accidental and the note to which it applies. It is not often
2624 required, but the default spacing may be wrong for certain special
2625 accidental glyphs or combination of glyphs used in some microtonal
2626 music. These have to be entered by overriding the accidental
2627 stencil with a markup containing the desired symbol(s), like this:
2629 @cindex Accidental, example of overriding
2630 @cindex text property, example
2631 @cindex stencil property, example
2632 @cindex AccidentalPlacement, example of overriding
2633 @cindex right-padding property, example
2635 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
2636 sesquisharp = \markup { \sesquisharp }
2639 % This prints a sesquisharp but the spacing is too small
2640 \once \override Accidental
2641 #'stencil = #ly:text-interface::print
2642 \once \override Accidental #'text = #sesquisharp
2644 % This improves the spacing
2645 \once \override Score.AccidentalPlacement #'right-padding = #0.6
2646 \once \override Accidental
2647 #'stencil = #ly:text-interface::print
2648 \once \override Accidental #'text = #sesquisharp
2654 This necessarily uses an override for the accidental stencil which
2655 will not be covered until later. The stencil type must be a
2656 procedure, here changed to print the contents of the @code{text}
2657 property of @code{Accidental}, which itself is set to be a
2658 sesquisharp sign. This sign is then moved further away from the
2659 note head by overriding @code{right-padding}.
2663 @subheading staff-padding property
2665 @cindex aligning objects on a baseline
2666 @cindex objects, aligning on a baseline
2668 @code{staff-padding} can be used to align objects such as dynamics
2669 along a baseline at a fixed height above the staff, rather than at a
2670 height dependent on the position of the note to which they are
2671 attached. It is not a property of @code{DynamicText} but of
2672 @code{DynamicLineSpanner}. This is because the baseline should apply
2673 equally to @strong{all} dynamics, including those created as extended
2674 spanners. So this is the way to align the dynamic marks in the
2675 example taken from the previous section:
2677 @cindex DynamicText, example of overriding
2678 @cindex extra-spacing-width property, example
2679 @cindex DynamicLineSpanner, example of overriding
2680 @cindex staff-padding property, example
2682 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=2]
2684 % Extend width by 1 unit
2685 \override DynamicText #'extra-spacing-width = #'(-0.5 . 0.5)
2686 % Align dynamics to a base line 2 units above staff
2687 \override DynamicLineSpanner #'staff-padding = #2
2692 @subheading self-alignment-X property
2694 The following example shows how this can resolve the collision
2695 of a string fingering object with a note's stem by aligning the
2696 right edge with the reference point of the parent note:
2698 @cindex StringNumber, example of overriding
2699 @cindex self-alignment-X property, example
2701 @lilypond[quote,fragment,ragged-right,verbatim,relative=3]
2704 \once \override StringNumber #'self-alignment-X = #RIGHT
2708 @subheading staff-position property
2710 @cindex object collision within a staff
2712 Multimeasure rests in one voice can collide with notes in another.
2713 Since these rests are typeset centered between the bar lines, it
2714 would require significant effort for LilyPond to figure out which
2715 other notes might collide with it, since all the current collision
2716 handling between notes and between notes and rests is done only
2717 for notes and rests that occur at the same time. Here's an
2718 example of a collision of this type:
2720 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right, relative=1]
2721 << { c4 c c c } \\ { R1 } >>
2724 The best solution here is to move the multimeasure rest down, since
2725 the rest is in voice two. The default in @code{\voiceTwo} (i.e. in
2726 the second voice of a @code{<<@{...@} \\ @{...@}>>} construct) is that
2727 @code{staff-position} is set to -4 for MultiMeasureRest, so we need to
2728 move it, say, four half-staff spaces down to @w{@code{-8}}.
2730 @cindex MultiMeasureRest, example of overriding
2731 @cindex staff-position property, example
2733 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right, relative=1]
2737 \override MultiMeasureRest #'staff-position = #-8
2742 This is better than using, for example, @code{extra-offset},
2743 because the ledger line above the rest is inserted automatically.
2745 @subheading extra-offset property
2747 @cindex positioning objects
2748 @cindex positioning grobs
2749 @cindex objects, positioning
2750 @cindex grobs, positioning
2752 The @code{extra-offset} property provides complete control over the
2753 positioning of an object both horizontally and vertically.
2755 In the following example, the second fingering is moved a little to
2756 the left, and 1.8 staff space downwards:
2758 @cindex Fingering, example of overriding
2759 @cindex extra-offset property, example
2761 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
2764 \once \override Fingering #'extra-offset = #'(-0.3 . -1.8)
2769 @subheading positions property
2771 @cindex controlling tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs, and beams manually
2772 @cindex manually controlling tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs, and beams
2773 @cindex tuplet beams, controlling manually
2774 @cindex slurs, controlling manually
2775 @cindex phrasing slurs, controlling manually
2776 @cindex beams, controlling manually
2778 The @code{positions} property allows the position and slope of
2779 tuplets, slurs, phrasing slurs and beams to be controlled manually.
2780 Here's an example which has an ugly phrasing slur due to its trying to
2781 avoid the slur on the acciaccatura.
2783 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right,relative=1]
2784 r4 \acciaccatura e8\( d8 c~ c d c d\)
2788 We could simply move the phrasing slur above the notes, and this
2789 would be the preferred solution:
2791 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right,relative=1]
2794 \acciaccatura e8\( d8 c~ c d c d\)
2798 But if there were some reason why this could not be done the
2799 other alternative would be to move the left end of the phrasing
2800 slur down a little using the @code{positions} property. This
2801 also resolves the rather nasty shape.
2803 @cindex PhrasingSlur, example of overriding
2804 @cindex positions property, example
2806 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right,relative=1]
2808 \once \override PhrasingSlur #'positions = #'(-4 . -3)
2809 \acciaccatura e8\( d8 c~ c d c d\)
2812 Here's a further example. We see that the beams
2813 collide with the ties:
2815 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2819 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2821 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2824 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2826 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2832 This can be resolved by manually moving both ends of the beam
2833 up from their position at 1.81 staff-spaces below the center line to,
2836 @cindex Beam, example of overriding
2837 @cindex positions property, example
2839 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2843 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2846 \override Beam #'positions = #'(-1 . -1)
2847 e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g''
2851 { c'1 ~ c'2. e'8 f' }
2853 { e''8 e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' e'' f''2 g'' }
2859 Note that the override continues to apply in the first voice of
2860 the second measure of eighth notes, but not to any of the beams in the
2863 @subheading force-hshift property
2865 We can now see how to apply the final corrections to the Chopin
2866 example introduced at the end of @ref{I'm hearing Voices}, which
2867 was left looking like this:
2869 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2870 \new Staff \relative c'' {
2885 The inner note of the first chord (i.e. the A-flat in the fourth
2886 Voice) need not be shifted away from the note column of the higher
2887 note. To correct this we set @code{force-hshift}, which is a property
2888 of @code{NoteColumn}, of this note to zero.
2890 In the second chord we prefer the F to line up with the A-flat and the
2891 lowest note to be positioned slightly right to avoid a collision of
2892 stems. We achieve this by setting @code{force-hshift} in the
2893 @code{NoteColumn} of the low D-flat to move it to the right by half
2896 Here's the final result:
2898 @cindex NoteColumn, example of overriding
2899 @cindex force-hshift property, example
2901 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,fragment,ragged-right]
2902 \new Staff \relative c'' {
2909 \once \override NoteColumn #'force-hshift = #0.5
2915 \override NoteColumn #'force-hshift = #0
2924 @node Real music example
2925 @subsection Real music example
2927 We end this section on Tweaks by showing the steps to be taken to
2928 deal with a tricky example which needs several tweaks to produce
2929 the desired output. The example has been deliberately chosen to
2930 illustrate the use of the Notation Reference to resolve unusual
2931 problems with notation. It is not representative of the more usual
2932 engraving process, so please do not let these difficulties put
2933 you off! Fortunately, difficulties like these are not very common!
2935 The example is from Chopin's Première Ballade, Op. 23, bars 6 to
2936 9, the transition from the opening Lento to Moderato.
2937 Here, first, is what we want the output to look like, but to avoid
2938 over-complicating the example too much we have left out the
2939 dynamics, fingering and pedalling.
2941 @c The following should appear as music without code
2942 @c This example should not be indexed
2943 @c line-width ensures no break
2944 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
2945 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
2948 \once \override Tie #'staff-position = #3.5
2952 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
2953 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
2954 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
2960 % Reposition the c2 to the right of the merged note
2961 \once \override NoteColumn #'force-hshift = #1.0
2962 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
2963 % so the merge will work
2970 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
2972 % Stem on the d2 should be invisible
2973 \tweak Stem #'transparent ##t
2974 \tweak Flag #'transparent ##t
2982 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
2983 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
2988 lhMusic = \relative c' {
2990 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
2997 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3001 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3010 We note first that the right hand part in the third bar
3011 requires four voices. These are the five beamed eighth notes,
3012 the tied C, the half-note D which is merged with the eighth note
3013 D, and the dotted quarter note F-sharp, which is also merged with
3014 the eighth note at the same pitch. Everything else is in a single
3015 voice, so the easiest way is to introduce these extra three voices
3016 temporarily at the time they are needed. If you have forgotten
3017 how to do this, look at @ref{I'm hearing Voices} and @ref{Explicitly
3018 instantiating voices}. Here we choose to use explicitly instantiated
3019 voices for the polyphonic passage, as LilyPond is better able to
3020 avoid collisions if all voices are instantiated explicitly in this
3023 So let us begin by entering the notes as two variables, setting up
3024 the staff structure in a score block, and seeing what LilyPond
3025 produces by default:
3027 @c line-width ensures no break
3028 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3029 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3035 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3037 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3051 g2. % continuation of main voice
3055 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3064 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3068 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3077 All the notes are right, but the appearance is far from
3078 satisfactory. The tie collides with the change in time signature,
3079 some notes are not merged together, and several notation elements
3080 are missing. Let's first deal with the easier things. We can
3081 easily add the left hand slur and the right hand phrasing slur,
3082 since these were all covered in the Tutorial. Doing this gives:
3084 @c line-width ensures no break
3085 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3086 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3092 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3094 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3108 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3112 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3121 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3125 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3134 The first bar is now correct. The second bar contains an arpeggio and
3135 is terminated by a double bar line. How do we do these, as they have
3136 not been mentioned in this Learning Manual? This is where we need to
3137 turn to the Notation Reference. Looking up @q{arpeggio} and @q{bar
3138 line} in the index quickly shows us that an arpeggio is produced by
3139 appending @code{\arpeggio} to a chord, and a double bar line is
3140 produced by the @code{\bar "||"} command. That's easily done. We
3141 next need to correct the collision of the tie with the time signature.
3142 This is best done by moving the tie upwards. Moving objects was
3143 covered earlier in @ref{Moving objects}, which says that objects
3144 positioned relative to the staff can be moved vertically by overriding
3145 their @code{staff-position} property, which is specified in half staff
3146 spaces relative to the center line of the staff. So the following
3147 override placed just before the first tied note would move the tie up
3148 to 3.5 half staff spaces above the center line:
3150 @code{\once \override Tie #'staff-position = #3.5}
3152 This completes bar two, giving:
3154 @c line-width ensures no break
3155 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3156 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3159 \once \override Tie #'staff-position = #3.5
3164 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3166 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3180 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3184 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3186 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3193 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3197 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3206 On to bar three and the start of the Moderato section. The tutorial
3207 showed how to add bold text with the @code{\markup} command, so
3208 adding @qq{Moderato} in bold is easy. But how do we merge notes in
3209 different voices together? This is where we need to turn again to
3210 the Notation Reference for help. A search for @qq{merge} in the
3211 Notation Reference index quickly leads us to the commands for merging
3212 differently headed and differently dotted notes in
3213 @ruser{Collision resolution}. In our example we need to merge both
3214 types of note for the duration of the polyphonic section in bar 3,
3215 so using the information we find in the Notation Reference we add
3218 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3219 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3223 to the start of that section and
3226 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3227 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3233 @c line-width ensures no break
3234 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3235 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3238 \once \override Tie #'staff-position = #3.5
3242 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3243 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3244 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3245 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3247 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3261 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3262 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3263 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3267 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3269 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3276 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3280 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3289 These overrides have merged the two F-sharp notes, but not the two
3290 on D. Why not? The answer is there in the same section in the
3291 Notation Reference -- notes being merged must have stems in
3292 opposite directions and two notes cannot be merged successfully if
3293 there is a third note in the same note column. Here the two D's
3294 both have upward stems and there is a third note -- the C. We know
3295 how to change the stem direction using @code{\stemDown}, and
3296 the Notation Reference also says how to move the C -- apply a shift
3297 using one of the @code{\shift} commands. But which one?
3298 The C is in voice two which has shift off, and the two D's are in
3299 voices one and three, which have shift off and shift on,
3300 respectively. So we have to shift the C a further level still
3301 using @code{\shiftOnn} to avoid it interfering with the two D's.
3302 Applying these changes gives:
3304 @cindex Tie, example of overriding
3305 @cindex staff-position property, example
3307 @c line-width ensures no break
3308 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3309 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3312 \once \override Tie #'staff-position = #3.5
3316 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3317 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3318 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3319 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3321 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3324 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
3325 % so the merge will work
3330 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
3338 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3339 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3340 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3344 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3346 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3353 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3357 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3366 Nearly there. Only two problems remain: The downward stem on the
3367 merged D should not be there, and the C would be better positioned
3368 to the right of the D's. We know how to do both of these from the
3369 earlier tweaks: we make the stem transparent, and move the C with
3370 the @code{force-hshift} property. Here's the final result:
3372 @cindex NoteColumn, example of overriding
3373 @cindex force-hshift property, example
3374 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
3375 @cindex transparent property, example
3377 @c line-width ensures no break
3378 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right,line-width=6\in]
3379 rhMusic = \relative c'' {
3382 \once \override Tie #'staff-position = #3.5
3386 bes2.^\markup { \bold "Moderato" } r8
3387 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOn
3388 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOn
3389 % Start polyphonic section of four voices
3391 { c,8 d fis bes a } % continuation of main voice
3395 % Reposition the c2 to the right of the merged note
3396 \once \override NoteColumn #'force-hshift = #1.0
3397 % Move the c2 out of the main note column
3398 % so the merge will work
3405 % Stem on the d2 must be down to permit merging
3407 % Stem on the d2 should be invisible
3408 \tweak Stem #'transparent ##t
3409 \tweak Flag #'transparent ##t
3417 \mergeDifferentlyHeadedOff
3418 \mergeDifferentlyDottedOff
3419 g2.\) % continuation of main voice
3423 lhMusic = \relative c' {
3425 <d g, d>1)\arpeggio |
3432 \new Staff = "RH" <<
3436 \new Staff = "LH" <<
3446 @node Further tweaking
3447 @section Further tweaking
3450 * Other uses for tweaks::
3451 * Using variables for tweaks::
3453 * Other sources of information::
3454 * Advanced tweaks with Scheme::
3457 @node Other uses for tweaks
3458 @subsection Other uses for tweaks
3460 @cindex transparent property, use of
3461 @cindex objects, making invisible
3462 @cindex removing objects
3463 @cindex objects, removing
3464 @cindex hiding objects
3465 @cindex objects, hiding
3466 @cindex invisible objects
3467 @cindex objects, invisible
3468 @cindex tying notes across voices
3470 @subheading Tying notes across voices
3472 The following example demonstrates how to connect notes in
3473 different voices using ties. Normally, only two notes in the
3474 same voice can be connected with ties. By using two voices,
3475 with the tied notes in one of them
3477 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2]
3478 << { b8~ b\noBeam } \\ { b8[ g] } >>
3482 and blanking the first up-stem in that voice, the tie appears to
3485 @cindex Stem, example of overriding
3486 @cindex transparent property, example
3488 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
3491 \tweak Stem #'transparent ##t
3492 \tweak Flag #'transparent ##t
3500 To make sure that the just-blanked stem doesn't squeeze the tie
3501 too much, we can lengthen the stem by setting the
3502 @code{length} to @code{8},
3504 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=2,verbatim]
3507 \tweak Stem #'transparent ##t
3508 \tweak Flag #'transparent ##t
3509 \tweak Stem #'length #8
3517 @subheading Simulating a fermata in MIDI
3519 @cindex stencil property, use of
3520 @cindex fermata, implementing in MIDI
3522 For outside-staff objects it is usually better to override the
3523 object's @code{stencil} property rather than its @code{transparent}
3524 property when you wish to remove it from the printed output.
3525 Setting the @code{stencil} property of an object to @code{#f} will
3526 remove that object entirely from the printed output. This means it
3527 has no effect on the placement of other objects placed relative to
3530 For example, if we wished to change the metronome setting in order
3531 to simulate a fermata in the MIDI output we would not want the
3532 metronome markings to appear in the printed output, and we would
3533 not want it to influence the spacing between the two systems or
3534 the positions of adjacent annotations on the staff. So setting
3535 its @code{stencil} property to @code{#f} would be the best way.
3536 We show here the effect of the two methods:
3538 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
3539 @cindex transparent property, example
3541 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3544 % Visible tempo marking
3547 \once \override Score.MetronomeMark #'transparent = ##t
3548 % Invisible tempo marking to lengthen fermata in MIDI
3551 % New tempo for next section
3560 @cindex MetronomeMark, example of overriding
3561 @cindex stencil property, example
3563 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3566 % Visible tempo marking
3569 \once \override Score.MetronomeMark #'stencil = ##f
3570 % Invisible tempo marking to lengthen fermata in MIDI
3573 % New tempo for next section
3583 Both methods remove the metronome mark which lengthens the fermata
3584 from the printed output, and both affect the MIDI timing as
3585 required, but the transparent metronome mark in the first line
3586 forces the following tempo indication too high while the
3587 second (with the stencil removed) does not.
3593 @node Using variables for tweaks
3594 @subsection Using variables for tweaks
3596 @cindex variables, using for tweaks
3597 @cindex using variables for tweaks
3598 @cindex tweaks, using variables for
3600 Override commands are often long and tedious to type, and they
3601 have to be absolutely correct. If the same overrides are to be
3602 used many times it may be worth defining variables to hold them.
3604 Suppose we wish to emphasize certain words in lyrics by printing
3605 them in bold italics. The @code{\italic} and @code{\bold}
3606 commands only work within lyrics if they are embedded, together with
3607 the word or words to be modified, within a @code{\markup} block,
3608 which makes them tedious to enter. The need to embed the words
3609 themselves prevents their use in simple variables. As an
3610 alternative can we use @code{\override} and @code{\revert} commands?
3613 @code{\override Lyrics . LyricText #'font-shape = #'italic}
3614 @code{\override Lyrics . LyricText #'font-series = #'bold}
3616 @code{\revert Lyrics . LyricText #'font-shape}
3617 @code{\revert Lyrics . LyricText #'font-series}
3620 These would also be extremely tedious to enter if there were many
3621 words requiring emphasis. But we @emph{can} define these as two
3622 variables and use those to bracket the words to be emphasized.
3623 Another advantage of using variables for these overrides is that
3624 the spaces around the dot are not necessary, since they are not
3625 being interpreted in @code{\lyricmode} directly. Here's an example
3626 of this, although in practice we would choose shorter names
3627 for the variables to make them quicker to type:
3629 @cindex LyricText, example of overriding
3630 @cindex font-shape property, example
3631 @cindex font-series property, example
3633 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
3635 \override Lyrics.LyricText #'font-shape = #'italic
3636 \override Lyrics.LyricText #'font-series = #'bold
3640 \revert Lyrics.LyricText #'font-shape
3641 \revert Lyrics.LyricText #'font-series
3644 global = { \key c \major \time 4/4 \partial 4 }
3646 SopranoMusic = \relative c' { c4 | e4. e8 g4 g | a4 a g }
3647 AltoMusic = \relative c' { c4 | c4. c8 e4 e | f4 f e }
3648 TenorMusic = \relative c { e4 | g4. g8 c4. b8 | a8 b c d e4 }
3649 BassMusic = \relative c { c4 | c4. c8 c4 c | f8 g a b c4 }
3651 VerseOne = \lyrics {
3652 E -- | ter -- nal \emphasize Fa -- ther, | \normal strong to save,
3655 VerseTwo = \lyricmode {
3656 O | \once \emphasize Christ, whose voice the | wa -- ters heard,
3659 VerseThree = \lyricmode {
3660 O | \emphasize Ho -- ly Spi -- rit, | \normal who didst brood
3663 VerseFour = \lyricmode {
3664 O | \emphasize Tri -- ni -- ty \normal of | love and pow'r
3671 \new Voice = "Soprano" { \voiceOne \global \SopranoMusic }
3672 \new Voice = "Alto" { \voiceTwo \AltoMusic }
3673 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseOne }
3674 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseTwo }
3675 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseThree }
3676 \new Lyrics \lyricsto "Soprano" { \VerseFour }
3680 \new Voice = "Tenor" { \voiceOne \TenorMusic }
3681 \new Voice = "Bass" { \voiceTwo \BassMusic }
3689 @subsection Style sheets
3691 The output that LilyPond produces can be heavily modified; see
3692 @ref{Tweaking output}, for details. But what if you have many
3693 input files that you want to apply your tweaks to? Or what if you
3694 simply want to separate your tweaks from the actual music? This
3695 is quite easy to do.
3697 Let's look at an example. Don't worry if you don't understand
3698 the parts with all the @code{#()}. This is explained in
3699 @ref{Advanced tweaks with Scheme}.
3701 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
3703 #(make-dynamic-script
3704 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3705 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3706 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3707 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3711 #(define-music-function
3712 (parser location string)
3714 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3718 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3722 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3726 Let's do something about the @code{mpdolce} and @code{inst} definitions.
3727 They produce the output we desire, but we might want to use them in
3728 another piece. We could simply copy-and-paste them at the top of every
3729 file, but that's an annoyance. It also leaves those definitions in our
3730 input files, and I personally find all the @code{#()} somewhat ugly.
3731 Let's hide them in another file:
3734 %%% save this to a file called "definitions.ily"
3736 #(make-dynamic-script
3737 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3738 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3739 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3740 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3744 #(define-music-function
3745 (parser location string)
3747 #@{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3750 We will refer to this file using the @code{\include} command near
3751 the top of the music file. (The extension @file{.ily} is used to
3752 distinguish this included file, which is not meant to be compiled
3753 on its own, from the main file.)
3754 Now let's modify our music (let's save this file as @file{music.ly}).
3756 @c We have to do this awkward example/lilypond-non-verbatim
3757 @c because we can't do the \include stuff in the manual.
3760 \include "definitions.ily"
3764 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3768 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3772 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
3774 #(make-dynamic-script
3775 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3776 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3777 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3778 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3782 #(define-music-function
3783 (parser location string)
3785 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3789 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3793 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3797 That looks better, but let's make a few changes. The glissando is hard
3798 to see, so let's make it thicker and closer to the note heads. Let's
3799 put the metronome marking above the clef, instead of over the first
3800 note. And finally, my composition professor hates @q{C} time signatures,
3801 so we'd better make that @q{4/4} instead.
3803 Don't change @file{music.ly}, though. Replace our @file{definitions.ily}
3809 #(make-dynamic-script
3810 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3811 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3812 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3813 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3817 #(define-music-function
3818 (parser location string)
3820 #@{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3825 \override MetronomeMark #'extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3826 \override MetronomeMark #'padding = #'3
3830 \override TimeSignature #'style = #'numbered
3834 \override Glissando #'thickness = #3
3835 \override Glissando #'gap = #0.1
3840 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
3842 #(make-dynamic-script
3843 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3844 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3845 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3846 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3850 #(define-music-function
3851 (parser location string)
3853 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3858 \override MetronomeMark #'extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3859 \override MetronomeMark #'padding = #'3
3863 \override TimeSignature #'style = #'numbered
3867 \override Glissando #'thickness = #3
3868 \override Glissando #'gap = #0.1
3874 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3878 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3882 That looks nicer! But now suppose that I want to publish this
3883 piece. My composition professor doesn't like @q{C} time
3884 signatures, but I'm somewhat fond of them. Let's copy the
3885 current @file{definitions.ily} to @file{web-publish.ily} and
3886 modify that. Since this music is aimed at producing a pdf which
3887 will be displayed on the screen, we'll also increase the
3888 overall size of the output.
3893 #(make-dynamic-script
3894 #@{ \markup @{ \hspace #0
3895 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3896 \line @{ \dynamic "mp"
3897 \text \italic "dolce" @} @}
3901 #(define-music-function
3902 (parser location string)
3904 #@{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #@})
3906 #(set-global-staff-size 23)
3911 \override MetronomeMark #'extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3912 \override MetronomeMark #'padding = #'3
3919 \override Glissando #'thickness = #3
3920 \override Glissando #'gap = #0.1
3925 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
3927 #(make-dynamic-script
3928 #{ \markup { \hspace #0
3929 \translate #'(5 . 0)
3930 \line { \dynamic "mp"
3931 \text \italic "dolce" } }
3935 #(define-music-function
3936 (parser location string)
3938 #{ ^\markup \bold \box #string #})
3940 #(set-global-staff-size 23)
3944 \override MetronomeMark #'extra-offset = #'(-9 . 0)
3945 \override MetronomeMark #'padding = #'3
3948 \override Glissando #'thickness = #3
3949 \override Glissando #'gap = #0.1
3955 a4.\mpdolce d8 cis4--\glissando a |
3959 g8(\! fis)-. e( d)-. cis2 |
3963 Now in our music, I simply replace
3964 @code{\include "definitions.ily"} with
3965 @code{\include "web-publish.ily"}. Of course, we could make this
3966 even more convenient. We could make a @file{definitions.ily} file which
3967 contains only the definitions of @code{mpdolce} and @code{inst}, a
3968 @file{web-publish.ily} file which contains only the @code{\layout}
3969 section listed above, and a @file{university.ily} file which
3970 contains only the tweaks to produce the output that my professor
3971 prefers. The top of @file{music.ly} would then look like this:
3974 \include "definitions.ily"
3976 %%% Only uncomment one of these two lines!
3977 \include "web-publish.ily"
3978 %\include "university.ily"
3981 This approach can be useful even if you are only producing
3982 one set of parts. I use half a dozen different
3983 @q{style sheet} files for my projects. I begin every music
3984 file with @code{\include "../global.ily"}, which contains
3988 \version @w{"@version{}"}
3990 #(ly:set-option 'point-and-click #f)
3992 \include "../init/init-defs.ly"
3993 \include "../init/init-layout.ly"
3994 \include "../init/init-headers.ly"
3995 \include "../init/init-paper.ly"
3999 @node Other sources of information
4000 @subsection Other sources of information
4002 The Internals Reference documentation contains a lot of information
4003 about LilyPond, but even more information can be gathered by
4004 looking at the internal LilyPond files. To explore these, you must
4005 first find the directory appropriate to your system. The location
4006 of this directory depends (a) on whether you obtained LilyPond
4007 by downloading a precompiled binary from lilypond.org
4008 or whether you installed it from a package manager (i.e.
4009 distributed with GNU/Linux, or installed under fink or cygwin) or
4010 compiled it from source, and (b) on which operating system it is
4013 @strong{Downloaded from lilypond.org}
4020 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/lilypond/usr/@/share/lilypond/current/}
4027 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/LilyPond.app/Contents/@/Resources/share/lilypond/current/}
4030 by either @code{cd}-ing into this directory from the
4031 Terminal, or control-clicking on the LilyPond application and
4032 selecting @q{Show Package Contents}.
4036 Using Windows Explorer, navigate to
4038 @file{@var{INSTALLDIR}/LilyPond/usr/@/share/lilypond/current/}
4043 @strong{Installed from a package manager or compiled from source}
4046 @file{@var{PREFIX}/share/lilypond/@var{X.Y.Z}/}, where
4047 @var{PREFIX} is set by your package manager or @code{configure}
4048 script, and @var{X.Y.Z} is the LilyPond version number.
4052 Within this directory the two interesting subdirectories are
4055 @item @file{ly/} - contains files in LilyPond format
4056 @item @file{scm/} - contains files in Scheme format
4059 Let's begin by looking at some files in @file{ly/}.
4060 Open @file{ly/property-init.ly} in a text editor. The one
4061 you normally use for @code{.ly} files will be fine. This file
4062 contains the definitions of all the standard LilyPond predefined
4063 commands, such as @code{\stemUp} and @code{\slurDotted}. You will
4064 see that these are nothing more than definitions of variables
4065 containing one or a group of @code{\override} commands. For
4066 example, @code{/tieDotted} is defined to be:
4070 \override Tie #'dash-period = #0.75
4071 \override Tie #'dash-fraction = #0.1
4075 If you do not like the default values these predefined commands can
4076 be redefined easily, just like any other variable, at the
4077 head of your input file.
4079 The following are the most useful files to be found in
4082 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
4085 @item @file{ly/engraver-init.ly}
4086 @tab Definitions of engraver Contexts
4087 @item @file{ly/paper-defaults-init.ly}
4088 @tab Specifications of paper-related defaults
4089 @item @file{ly/performer-init.ly}
4090 @tab Definitions of performer Contexts
4091 @item @file{ly/property-init.ly}
4092 @tab Definitions of all common predefined commands
4093 @item @file{ly/spanner-init.ly}
4094 @tab Definitions of spanner-related predefined commands
4097 Other settings (such as the definitions of markup commands) are
4098 stored as @file{.scm} (Scheme) files. The Scheme programming
4099 language is used to provide a programmable interface into
4100 LilyPond internal operation. Further explanation of these files
4101 is currently outside the scope of this manual, as a knowledge of
4102 the Scheme language is required. Users should be warned that
4103 a substantial amount of technical knowledge or time is required
4104 to understand Scheme and these files (see @rextend{Scheme tutorial}).
4106 If you have this knowledge, the Scheme files which may be of
4109 @multitable @columnfractions .4 .6
4112 @item @file{scm/auto-beam.scm}
4113 @tab Sub-beaming defaults
4114 @item @file{scm/define-grobs.scm}
4115 @tab Default settings for grob properties
4116 @item @file{scm/define-markup-commands.scm}
4117 @tab Specify all markup commands
4118 @item @file{scm/midi.scm}
4119 @tab Default settings for MIDI output
4120 @item @file{scm/output-lib.scm}
4121 @tab Settings that affect appearance of frets, colors,
4122 accidentals, bar lines, etc
4123 @item @file{scm/parser-clef.scm}
4124 @tab Definitions of supported clefs
4125 @item @file{scm/script.scm}
4126 @tab Default settings for articulations
4130 @node Advanced tweaks with Scheme
4131 @subsection Advanced tweaks with Scheme
4133 Although many things are possible with the @code{\override} and
4134 @code{\tweak} commands, an even more powerful way of modifying
4135 the action of LilyPond is available through a programmable
4136 interface to the LilyPond internal operation. Code written in
4137 the Scheme programming language can be incorporated directly in
4138 the internal operation of LilyPond. Of course, at least a basic
4139 knowledge of programming in Scheme is required to do this, and an
4140 introduction is provided in the @rextend{Scheme tutorial}.
4142 As an illustration of one of the many possibilities, instead of
4143 setting a property to a constant it can be set to a Scheme
4144 procedure which is then called whenever that property is accessed
4145 by LilyPond. The property can then be set dynamically to a value
4146 determined by the procedure at the time it is called. In this
4147 example we color the note head in accordance with its position on
4150 @cindex x11-color function, example of using
4151 @cindex NoteHead, example of overriding
4152 @cindex color property, setting to Scheme procedure
4154 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
4155 #(define (color-notehead grob)
4156 "Color the notehead according to its position on the staff."
4157 (let ((mod-position (modulo (ly:grob-property grob 'staff-position)
4160 ;; Return rainbow colors
4161 ((1) (x11-color 'red )) ; for C
4162 ((2) (x11-color 'orange )) ; for D
4163 ((3) (x11-color 'yellow )) ; for E
4164 ((4) (x11-color 'green )) ; for F
4165 ((5) (x11-color 'blue )) ; for G
4166 ((6) (x11-color 'purple )) ; for A
4167 ((0) (x11-color 'violet )) ; for B
4171 % Arrange to obtain color from color-notehead procedure
4172 \override NoteHead #'color = #color-notehead
4173 a2 b | c2 d | e2 f | g2 a |
4177 Further examples showing the use of these programmable interfaces
4178 can be found in @rextend{Callback functions}.