1 @c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*-
2 @c This file is part of lilypond.tely
4 @c A menu is needed before every deeper *section nesting of @node's; run
5 @c M-x texinfo-all-menus-update
6 @c to automatically fill in these menus before saving changes
9 @chapter Output formats
11 This is a placeholder until I can write a nice intro for this chapter.
22 The global paper layout is determined by three factors: the page layout, the
23 line breaks, and the spacing. These all influence each other. The
24 choice of spacing determines how densely each system of music is set.
25 This influences where line breaks are chosen, and thus ultimately, how
26 many pages a piece of music takes.
28 Globally spoken, this procedure happens in three steps: first,
29 flexible distances (``springs'') are chosen, based on durations. All
30 possible line breaking combinations are tried, and the one with the
31 best results -- a layout that has uniform density and requires as
32 little stretching or cramping as possible -- is chosen.
34 After spacing and linebreaking, the systems are distributed across
35 pages, taking into account the size of the page, and the size of the
41 * Setting global staff size::
42 * Selecting notation font size::
47 * Vertical spacing of piano staves::
48 * Horizontal spacing::
52 * Multiple movements::
57 @node Setting global staff size
58 @subsection Setting global staff size
60 @cindex font size, setting
61 @cindex staff size, setting
62 @cindex @code{layout} file
64 To set the global staff size, use @code{set-global-staff-size}.
67 #(set-global-staff-size 14)
71 This sets the global default size to 14pt staff height and scales all
74 The Feta font provides musical symbols at eight different
75 sizes. Each font is tuned for a different staff size: at a smaller size
76 the font becomes heavier, to match the relatively heavier staff lines.
77 The recommended font sizes are listed in the following table:
80 @multitable @columnfractions .15 .2 .22 .2
83 @tab @b{staff height (pt)}
84 @tab @b{staff height (mm)}
126 @c modern rental material?
131 These fonts are available in any sizes. The context property
132 @code{fontSize} and the layout property @code{staff-space} (in
133 @internalsref{StaffSymbol}) can be used to tune the size for individual
134 staves. The sizes of individual staves are relative to the global size.
142 This manual: @ref{Selecting notation font size}.
145 @node Selecting notation font size
146 @subsection Selecting notation font size
148 The easiest method of setting the font size of any context, is by
149 setting the @code{fontSize} property.
151 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
160 It does not change the size of variable symbols, such as beams or
163 Internally, the @code{fontSize} context property will cause the
164 @code{font-size} property to be set in all layout objects. The value
165 of @code{font-size} is a number indicating the size relative to the
166 standard size for the current staff height. Each step up is an
167 increase of approximately 12% of the font size. Six steps is exactly a
168 factor two. The Scheme function @code{magstep} converts a
169 @code{font-size} number to a scaling factor.
171 @lilypond[quote,fragment,relative=1,verbatim]
173 \override NoteHead #'font-size = #-4
175 \override NoteHead #'font-size = #3
179 LilyPond has fonts in different design sizes. The music fonts for
180 smaller sizes are chubbier, while the text fonts are relatively wider.
181 Font size changes are achieved by scaling the design size that is
182 closest to the desired size. The standard font size (for
183 @code{font-size} equals 0), depends on the standard staff height. For
184 a 20pt staff, a 10pt font is selected.
186 The @code{font-size} property can only be set on layout objects that
187 use fonts. These are the ones supporting the
188 @internalsref{font-interface} layout interface.
192 The following commands set @code{fontSize} for the current voice:
196 @cindex @code{\small}
198 @cindex @code{\normalsize}
203 @subsection Paper size
207 @cindex @code{papersize}
209 To change the paper size, there are two commands,
211 #(set-default-paper-size "a4")
213 #(set-paper-size "a4")
217 The first command sets the size of all pages. The second command sets the size
218 of the pages that the @code{\paper} block applies to -- if the @code{\paper}
219 block is at the top of the file, then it will apply to all pages. If the
220 @code{\paper} block is inside a @code{\book}, then the paper size will only
223 Support for the following paper sizes are included by default,
224 @code{a6}, @code{a5}, @code{a4}, @code{a3}, @code{legal}, @code{letter},
225 @code{11x17} (also known as tabloid).
227 Extra sizes may be added by editing the definition for
228 @code{paper-alist} in the initialization file @file{scm/paper.scm}.
233 If the symbol @code{landscape} is supplied as an argument to
234 @code{set-default-paper-size}, the pages will be rotated by 90 degrees,
235 and wider line widths will be set correspondingly.
238 #(set-default-paper-size "a6" 'landscape)
242 @node Page formatting
243 @subsection Page formatting
245 @cindex page formatting
250 LilyPond will do page layout, set margins, and add headers and
251 footers to each page.
253 The default layout responds to the following settings in the
256 @cindex @code{\paper}
260 @cindex @code{firstpagenumber}
261 @item firstpagenumber
262 The value of the page number of the first page. Default is@tie{}1.
264 @cindex @code{printfirstpagenumber}
265 @item printfirstpagenumber
266 If set to true, will print the page number in the first page. Default is
269 @cindex @code{printpagenumber}
270 @item printpagenumber
271 If set to false, page numbers will not be printed.
275 The width of the page.
279 The height of the page.
281 @cindex @code{topmargin}
283 Margin between header and top of the page.
285 @cindex @code{bottommargin}
287 Margin between footer and bottom of the page.
289 @cindex @code{leftmargin}
291 Margin between the left side of the page and the beginning of the music.
293 @cindex @code{linewidth}
295 The length of the systems.
297 @cindex @code{headsep}
299 Distance between the top-most music system and the page header.
301 @cindex @code{footsep}
303 Distance between the bottom-most music system and the page footer.
305 @cindex @code{pagetopspace}
306 Distance from the top of the printable area to the center of the first
307 staff. This only works for staves which are vertically small. Big staves
308 are set with the top of their bounding box aligned to the top of the
311 @cindex @code{raggedbottom}
313 If set to true, systems will not be spread across the page.
315 This should be set false for pieces that have only two or three
316 systems per page, for example orchestral scores.
318 @cindex @code{raggedlastbottom}
319 @item raggedlastbottom
320 If set to false, systems will be spread to fill the last page.
322 Pieces that amply fill two pages or more should have this set to
325 @cindex @code{betweensystemspace}
326 @item betweensystemspace
327 This dimensions determines the distance between systems. It is the
328 ideal distance between the center of the bottom staff of one system
329 and the center of the top staff of the next system.
331 Increasing this will provide a more even appearance of the page at the
332 cost of using more vertical space.
334 @cindex @code{betweensystempadding}
335 @item betweensystempadding
336 This dimension is the minimum amount of white space that will always
337 be present between the bottom-most symbol of one system, and the
338 top-most of the next system.
340 Increasing this will put systems whose bounding boxes almost touch
343 @cindex @code{horizontalshift}
344 @item horizontalshift
345 All systems (including titles and system separators) are shifted by
346 this amount to the right. Page markup, such as headers and footers are
347 not affected by this. The purpose of this variable is to make space
348 for instrument names at the left.
350 @cindex @code{aftertitlespace}
351 @item aftertitlespace
352 Amount of space between the title and the first system.
354 @cindex @code{aftertitlespace}
355 @item beforetitlespace
356 Amount of space between the last system of the previous piece and the
359 @cindex @code{betweentitlespace}
360 @item betweentitlespace
361 Amount of space between consecutive titles (e.g., the title of the
362 book and the title of a piece).
364 @cindex @code{printallheaders}
365 @item printallheaders
366 Setting this to #t will print all headers for each \score in a
367 \book. Normally only the piece and opus \headers are printed.
369 @cindex @code{systemSeparatorMarkup}
370 @item systemSeparatorMarkup
371 This contains a markup object, which will be inserted between
372 systems. This is often used for orchestral scores.
374 The markup command @code{\slashSeparator} is provided as a sensible
377 @lilypond[raggedright]
379 systemSeparatorMarkup = \slashSeparator
382 \relative { c1 \break c1 }
396 raggedlastbottom = ##t
400 You can also define these values in Scheme. In that case @code{mm},
401 @code{in}, @code{pt}, and @code{cm} are variables defined in
402 @file{paper-defaults.ly} with values in millimeters. That's why the
403 value has to be multiplied in the example
407 #(define bottommargin (* 2 cm))
414 The default footer is empty, except for the first page, where the
415 @code{copyright} field from @code{\header} is inserted, and the last
416 page, where @code{tagline} from @code{\header} is added. The default
417 tagline is ``Music engraving by LilyPond (@var{version})''.@footnote{Nicely
418 printed parts are good PR for us, so please leave the tagline if you
421 The header and footer are created by the functions @code{make-footer}
422 and @code{make-header}, defined in @code{\paper}. The default
423 implementations are in @file{scm/@/page@/-layout@/.scm}.
425 The page layout itself is done by two functions in the
426 @code{\paper} block, @code{page-music-height} and
427 @code{page-make-stencil}. The former tells the line-breaking algorithm
428 how much space can be spent on a page, the latter creates the actual
429 page given the system to put on it.
434 The option rightmargin is defined but doesn't set the right margin
435 yet. The value for the right margin has to be defined adjusting the
436 values of the leftmargin and linewidth.
438 The default page header puts the page number and the @code{instrument}
439 field from the @code{\header} block on a line.
443 @subsection Score layout
445 @cindex @code{\layout}
447 While @code{\paper} contains settings that relate to the page formatting
448 of the whole document, @code{\layout} contains settings for score-specific
455 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-6 . 6
458 \override TextScript #'padding = #1.0
459 \override Glissando #'thickness = #3
467 This manual: @ref{Changing context default settings}
470 @node Vertical spacing
471 @subsection Vertical spacing
473 @cindex vertical spacing
474 @cindex distance between staves
475 @cindex staff distance
476 @cindex between staves, distance
477 @cindex staves per page
478 @cindex space between staves
480 The height of each system is determined automatically. To prevent
481 systems from bumping into each other, some minimum distances are set.
482 By changing these, you can put staves closer together, and thus put
483 more systems onto one page.
485 Normally staves are stacked vertically. To make staves maintain a
486 distance, their vertical size is padded. This is done with the
487 property @code{minimumVerticalExtent}. It takes a pair of numbers, so
488 if you want to make it smaller than its default @code{#'(-4 . 4)},
492 \set Staff.minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-3 . 3)
496 This sets the vertical size of the current staff to 3 staff spaces on
497 either side of the center staff line. The argument of
498 @code{minimumVerticalExtent} is interpreted as an interval, where the
499 center line is the 0, so the first number is generally negative. The
500 staff can be made larger at the bottom by setting it to @code{(-6 . 4)}.
502 To change the amount of space between systems, use
503 @code{betweensystemspace}. A score with only one staff is still
504 considered to have systems, so setting @code{betweensystemspace}
505 will be much more useful than changing @code{minimumVerticalExtent}.
509 betweensystemspace = 10\mm
513 If you simply want to tell LilyPond ``fit as much as possible onto
514 these pages, then expand to fill any available space on the pages,''
515 then use the following
519 betweensystempadding = #1
526 @c let's wait for a some comments before writing more.
528 The vertical spacing on a page can also be changed for each system individually.
529 Some examples are found in the example file
530 @inputfileref{input/regression/,page-spacing.ly}.
535 Internals: Vertical alignment of staves is handled by the
536 @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} object. The context parameters
537 specifying the vertical extent are described in connection with
538 the @internalsref{Axis_group_engraver}.
540 Example files: @inputfileref{input/regression/,page-spacing.ly}.
545 @code{minimumVerticalExtent} is syntactic sugar for setting
546 @code{minimum-Y-extent} of the @internalsref{VerticalAxisGroup} of the
547 current context. It can only be changed score wide.
552 @node Vertical spacing of piano staves
553 @subsection Vertical spacing of piano staves
555 The distance between staves of a @internalsref{PianoStaff} cannot be
556 computed during formatting. Rather, to make cross-staff beaming work
557 correctly, that distance has to be fixed beforehand.
559 The distance of staves in a @code{PianoStaff} is set with the
560 @code{forced-distance} property of the
561 @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} object, created in
562 @internalsref{PianoStaff}.
564 It can be adjusted as follows
566 \new PianoStaff \with @{
567 \override VerticalAlignment #'forced-distance = #7
574 This would bring the staves together at a distance of 7 staff spaces,
575 measured from the center line of each staff.
577 The difference is demonstrated in the following example,
578 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
580 \new PianoStaff \with {
581 \override VerticalAlignment #'forced-distance = #7
597 @code{forced-distance} cannot be changed per system.
599 @node Horizontal spacing
600 @subsection Horizontal Spacing
602 The spacing engine translates differences in durations into stretchable
603 distances (``springs'') of differring lengths. Longer durations get
604 more space, shorter durations get less. The shortest durations get a
605 fixed amount of space (which is controlled by
606 @code{shortest-duration-space} in the @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}
607 object). The longer the duration, the more space it gets: doubling a
608 duration adds a fixed amount (this amount is controlled by
609 @code{spacing-increment}) of space to the note.
611 For example, the following piece contains lots of half, quarter, and
612 8th notes; the eighth note is followed by 1 note head width (NHW).
613 The quarter note is followed by 2 NHW, the half by 3 NHW, etc.
615 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=1]
616 c2 c4. c8 c4. c8 c4. c8 c8
620 Normally, @code{spacing-increment} is set to 1.2 staff space, which is
621 approximately the width of a note head, and
622 @code{shortest-duration-space} is set to 2.0, meaning that the
623 shortest note gets 2.4 staff space (2.0 times the
624 @code{spacing-increment}) of horizontal space. This space is counted
625 from the left edge of the symbol, so the shortest notes are generally
626 followed by one NHW of space.
628 If one would follow the above procedure exactly, then adding a single
629 32nd note to a score that uses 8th and 16th notes, would widen up the
630 entire score a lot. The shortest note is no longer a 16th, but a 32nd,
631 thus adding 1 NHW to every note. To prevent this, the shortest
632 duration for spacing is not the shortest note in the score, but rather
633 the one which occurs most frequently.
636 The most common shortest duration is determined as follows: in every
637 measure, the shortest duration is determined. The most common shortest
638 duration is taken as the basis for the spacing, with the stipulation
639 that this shortest duration should always be equal to or shorter than
640 an 8th note. The shortest duration is printed when you run
641 @code{lilypond} with the @code{--verbose} option.
643 These durations may also be customized. If you set the
644 @code{common-shortest-duration} in @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, then
645 this sets the base duration for spacing. The maximum duration for this
646 base (normally an 8th), is set through @code{base-shortest-duration}.
648 @cindex @code{common-shortest-duration}
649 @cindex @code{base-shortest-duration}
650 @cindex @code{stem-spacing-correction}
651 @cindex @code{spacing}
653 Notes that are even shorter than the common shortest note are
654 followed by a space that is proportional to their duration relative to
655 the common shortest note. So if we were to add only a few 16th notes
656 to the example above, they would be followed by half a NHW:
658 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=2]
659 c2 c4. c8 c4. c16[ c] c4. c8 c8 c8 c4 c4 c4
663 In the introduction (see @ref{Engraving}), it was explained that stem
664 directions influence spacing. This is controlled with the
665 @code{stem-spacing-correction} property in the
666 @internalsref{NoteSpacing}, object. These are generated for every
667 @internalsref{Voice} context. The @code{StaffSpacing} object
668 (generated in @internalsref{Staff} context) contains the same property
669 for controlling the stem/bar line spacing. The following example shows
670 these corrections, once with default settings, and once with
671 exaggerated corrections:
673 @lilypond[quote,raggedright]
677 \override Staff.NoteSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
678 \override Staff.StaffSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
687 Internals: @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, @internalsref{NoteSpacing},
688 @internalsref{StaffSpacing}, @internalsref{SeparationItem}, and
689 @internalsref{SeparatingGroupSpanner}.
693 Spacing is determined on a score wide basis. If you have a score that
694 changes its character (measured in durations) halfway during the
695 score, the part containing the longer durations will be spaced too
698 There is no convenient mechanism to manually override spacing. The
699 following work-around may be used to insert extra space into a score.
701 \once \override Score.SeparationItem #'padding = #1
704 No work-around exists for decreasing the amount of space.
708 @subsection Line length
711 @cindex breaking pages
713 @cindex @code{indent}
714 @cindex @code{linewidth}
715 @cindex @code{raggedright}
717 @c Although linewidth can be set in \layout, it should be set in paper
718 @c block, to get page layout right.
719 @c Setting indent in \paper block makes not much sense, but it works.
721 @c Bit verbose and vague, use examples?
722 The most basic settings influencing the spacing are @code{indent} and
723 @code{linewidth}. They are set in the @code{\layout} block. They
724 control the indentation of the first line of music, and the lengths of
727 If @code{raggedright} is set to true in the @code{\layout} block, then
728 the lines are justified at their natural length. This is useful for
729 short fragments, and for checking how tight the natural spacing is.
732 @cindex vertical spacing
734 The option @code{raggedlast} is similar to @code{raggedright}, but
735 only affects the last line of the piece. No restrictions are put on
736 that line. The result is similar to formatting text paragraphs. In a
737 paragraph, the last line simply takes its natural length.
738 @c Note that for text there are several options for the last line.
739 @c While Knuth TeX uses natural length, lead typesetters use the same
740 @c stretch as the previous line. eTeX uses \lastlinefit to
741 @c interpolate between both these solutions.
745 @subsection Line breaking
748 @cindex breaking lines
750 Line breaks are normally computed automatically. They are chosen so
751 that lines look neither cramped nor loose, and that consecutive lines
752 have similar density.
754 Occasionally you might want to override the automatic breaks; you can
755 do this by specifying @code{\break}. This will force a line break at
756 this point. Line breaks can only occur at places where there are bar
757 lines. If you want to have a line break where there is no bar line,
758 you can force an invisible bar line by entering @code{\bar
759 ""}. Similarly, @code{\noBreak} forbids a line break at a
763 @cindex regular line breaks
764 @cindex four bar music.
766 For line breaks at regular intervals use @code{\break} separated by
767 skips and repeated with @code{\repeat}:
769 << \repeat unfold 7 @{
770 s1 \noBreak s1 \noBreak
771 s1 \noBreak s1 \break @}
772 @emph{the real music}
777 This makes the following 28 measures (assuming 4/4 time) be broken every
778 4 measures, and only there.
782 @code{\break}, and @code{\noBreak}.
783 @cindex @code{\break}
784 @cindex @code{\noBreak}
788 Internals: @internalsref{BreakEvent}.
792 @subsection Page breaking
794 The default page breaking may be overriden by inserting
795 @code{\pageBreak} or @code{\noPageBreak} commands. These commands are
796 analogous to @code{\break} and @code{\noBreak}. They should be
797 inserted at a bar line. These commands force and forbid a page-break
798 from happening. Of course, the @code{\pageBreak} command also forces
801 Page breaks are computed by the @code{page-breaking} function in the
804 To force a new page for a new piece (in a collection of pieces or a
805 piece in several movements), use @code{breakbefore} in the header.
815 @cindex @code{\pageBreak}
817 @cindex @code{\noPageBreak}
821 @node Multiple movements
822 @subsection Multiple movements
824 @cindex bibliographic information
827 @cindex Music engraving by LilyPond
829 A document may contain multiple pieces of music and texts. Examples
830 of these are an etude book, or an orchestral part with multiple
831 movements. Each movement is entered with a @code{\score} block,
839 and texts are entered with a @code{\markup} block,
849 The movements and texts are combined together in a @code{\book} block,
867 The header for each piece of music can be put inside the @code{\score}
868 block. The @code{piece} name from the header will be printed before
869 each movement. The title for the entire book can be put inside the
870 @code{\book}, but if it is not present, the @code{\header} which is at
871 the top of the file is inserted.
873 @cindex Engraved by LilyPond
874 @cindex signature line
879 title = "Eight miniatures"
880 composer = "Igor Stravinsky"
884 \header @{ piece = "Romanze" @}
887 ..text of second verse..
890 ..text of third verse..
894 \header @{ piece = "Menuetto" @}
900 @node Creating titles
901 @subsection Creating titles
903 Titles are created for each @code{\score} block, and over a
906 The contents of the titles are taken from the @code{\header} blocks.
907 The header block for a book supports the following
910 The dedicatee of the music, centered at the top of the first page.
913 The title of the music, centered just below the dedication.
916 Subtitle, centered below the title.
919 Subsubtitle, centered below the subtitle.
922 Name of the poet, flush-left below the subtitle.
925 Name of the composer, flush-right below the subtitle.
928 Meter string, flush-left below the poet.
931 Name of the opus, flush-right below the composer.
934 Name of the arranger, flush-right below the opus.
937 Name of the instrument, centered below the arranger. Also
938 centered at the top of pages (other than the first page).
941 Name of the piece, flush-left below the instrument.
943 @cindex page breaks, forcing
945 This forces the title to start on a new page (set to ##t or ##f).
948 Copyright notice, centered at the bottom of the first page. To
949 insert the copyright symbol, see @ref{Text encoding}.
952 Centered at the bottom of the last page.
956 Here is a demonstration of the fields available. Note that you
957 may use any @ref{Text markup} commands in the header.
959 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,linewidth=11.0\cm]
967 dedication = "dedicated to me"
968 title = \markup \center-align { "Title first line" "Title second line, longer" }
969 subtitle = "the subtitle,"
970 subsubtitle = #(string-append "subsubtitle LilyPond version " (lilypond-version))
972 composer = \markup \center-align { "composer" \small "(1847-1973)" }
973 texttranslator = "Text Translator"
974 meter = \markup { \teeny "m" \tiny "e" \normalsize "t" \large "e" \huge "r" }
975 arranger = \markup { \fontsize #8.5 "a" \fontsize #2.5 "r" \fontsize #-2.5 "r" \fontsize #-5.3 "a" \fontsize #7.5 "nger" }
976 instrument = \markup \bold \italic "instrument"
1000 As demonstrated before, you can use multiple @code{\header} blocks.
1001 When same fields appear in different blocks, the latter is used.
1002 Here is a short example.
1006 composer = "Composer"
1012 \new Staff @{ c'4 @}
1014 title = "New title" % overwrite previous one
1019 If you define the @code{\header} inside the @code{\score} block, then
1020 normally only the @code{piece} and @code{opus} headers will be printed.
1022 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,linewidth=11.0\cm]
1026 title = "title" % not printed
1033 @cindex @code{printallheaders}
1035 You may change this behavior (and print all the headers when defining
1036 @code{\header} inside @code{\score}) by using
1047 A more advanced option is to change the definitions of the following
1048 variables in the @code{\paper} block. The init file
1049 @file{ly/titling-init.ly} lists the default layout.
1052 @cindex @code{bookTitleMarkup}
1053 @item bookTitleMarkup
1054 This is the title put over an entire @code{\book} block. Typically,
1055 it has the composer and the title of the piece
1057 @cindex @code{scoreTitleMarkup}
1058 @item scoreTitleMarkup
1059 This is the title put over a @code{\score} block within a
1060 @code{\book}. Typically, it has the name of the movement (@code{piece}
1063 @cindex @code{oddHeaderMarkup}
1064 @item oddHeaderMarkup
1065 This is the page header for odd-numbered pages.
1067 @cindex @code{evenHeaderMarkup}
1068 @item evenHeaderMarkup
1069 This is the page header for even-numbered pages. If unspecified,
1070 the odd header is used instead.
1072 By default, headers are defined such that the page number is on the
1073 outside edge, and the instrument is centered.
1075 @cindex @code{oddFooterMarkup}
1076 @item oddFooterMarkup
1077 This is the page footer for odd-numbered pages.
1079 @cindex @code{evenFotterMarkup}
1080 @item evenFooterMarkup
1081 This is the page footer for even-numbered pages. If unspecified,
1082 the odd header is used instead.
1084 By default, the footer has the copyright notice on the first, and
1085 the tagline on the last page.
1095 The following definition will put the title flush left, and the
1096 composer flush right on a single line.
1100 bookTitleMarkup = \markup {
1102 \fromproperty #'header:title
1103 \fromproperty #'header:composer
1112 @section Sound output
1117 MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard for
1118 connecting and controlling digital instruments. A MIDI file is a
1119 series of notes in a number of tracks. It is not an actual
1120 sound file; you need special software to translate between the
1121 series of notes and actual sounds.
1123 Pieces of music can be converted to MIDI files, so you can listen to
1124 what was entered. This is convenient for checking the music; octaves
1125 that are off or accidentals that were mistyped stand out very much
1126 when listening to the MIDI output.
1130 Many musically interesting effects, such as swing, articulation,
1131 slurring, etc., are not translated to midi.
1133 The midi output allocates a channel for each staff, and one for global
1134 settings. Therefore the midi file should not have more than 15 staves
1135 (or 14 if you do not use drums). Other staves will remain silent.
1137 Not all midi players correctly handle tempo changes in the midi
1138 output. Players that are known to work include
1139 @uref{http://@/timidity@/.sourceforge@/.net/,timidity}.
1142 * Creating MIDI files::
1144 * MIDI instrument names::
1147 @node Creating MIDI files
1148 @subsection Creating MIDI files
1150 To create a MIDI from a music piece of music, add a @code{\midi} block
1151 to a score, for example,
1156 \midi @{ \tempo 4=72 @}
1160 The tempo is specified using the @code{\tempo} command. In this
1161 example the tempo of quarter notes is set to 72 beats per minute.
1164 If there is a @code{\midi} command in a @code{\score}, only MIDI will
1165 be produced. When notation is needed too, a @code{\layout} block must
1171 \midi @{ \tempo 4=72 @}
1175 @cindex layout block
1179 Ties, dynamics, and tempo changes are interpreted. Dynamic marks,
1180 crescendi and decrescendi translate into MIDI volume levels. Dynamic
1181 marks translate to a fixed fraction of the available MIDI volume
1182 range, crescendi and decrescendi make the volume vary linearly between
1183 their two extremes. The fractions can be adjusted by
1184 @code{dynamicAbsoluteVolumeFunction} in @internalsref{Voice} context.
1185 For each type of MIDI instrument, a volume range can be defined. This
1186 gives a basic equalizer control, which can enhance the quality of
1187 the MIDI output remarkably. The equalizer can be controlled by
1188 setting @code{instrumentEqualizer}.
1192 @subsection MIDI block
1196 The MIDI block is analogous to the layout block, but it is somewhat
1197 simpler. The @code{\midi} block can contain
1201 @item a @code{\tempo} definition, and
1202 @item context definitions.
1205 A number followed by a period is interpreted as a real number, so
1206 for setting the tempo for dotted notes, an extra space should be
1207 inserted, for example
1210 \midi @{ \tempo 4 . = 120 @}
1214 @cindex context definition
1216 Context definitions follow precisely the same syntax as within the
1217 \layout block. Translation modules for sound are called performers.
1218 The contexts for MIDI output are defined in @file{ly/@/performer@/-init@/.ly}.
1221 @node MIDI instrument names
1222 @subsection MIDI instrument names
1224 @cindex instrument names
1225 @cindex @code{Staff.midiInstrument}
1227 The MIDI instrument name is set by the @code{Staff.midiInstrument}
1228 property. The instrument name should be chosen from the list in
1229 @ref{MIDI instruments}.
1232 \set Staff.midiInstrument = "glockenspiel"
1236 If the selected instrument does not exactly match an instrument from
1237 the list of MIDI instruments, the Grand Piano (@code{"acoustic grand"})