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 The following paper sizes are supported: @code{a6}, @code{a5}, @code{a4},
224 @code{a3}, @code{legal}, @code{letter}, @code{tabloid}.
229 If the symbol @code{landscape} is supplied as an argument to
230 @code{set-default-paper-size}, the pages will be rotated by 90 degrees,
231 and wider line widths will be set correspondingly.
234 #(set-default-paper-size "a6" 'landscape)
238 @node Page formatting
239 @subsection Page formatting
241 @cindex page formatting
246 LilyPond will do page layout, set margins, and add headers and
247 footers to each page.
249 The default layout responds to the following settings in the
252 @cindex @code{\paper}
256 @cindex @code{firstpagenumber}
257 @item firstpagenumber
258 The value of the page number of the first page. Default is@tie{}1.
260 @cindex @code{printfirstpagenumber}
261 @item printfirstpagenumber
262 If set to true, will print the page number in the first page. Default is
265 @cindex @code{printpagenumber}
266 @item printpagenumber
267 If set to false, page numbers will not be printed.
271 The width of the page.
275 The height of the page.
277 @cindex @code{topmargin}
279 Margin between header and top of the page.
281 @cindex @code{bottommargin}
283 Margin between footer and bottom of the page.
285 @cindex @code{leftmargin}
287 Margin between the left side of the page and the beginning of the music.
289 @cindex @code{linewidth}
291 The length of the systems.
293 @cindex @code{headsep}
295 Distance between the top-most music system and the page header.
297 @cindex @code{footsep}
299 Distance between the bottom-most music system and the page footer.
301 @cindex @code{pagetopspace}
302 Distance from the top of the printable area to the center of the first
303 staff. This only works for staves which are vertically small. Big staves
304 are set with the top of their bounding box aligned to the top of the
307 @cindex @code{raggedbottom}
309 If set to true, systems will not be spread across the page.
311 This should be set false for pieces that have only two or three
312 systems per page, for example orchestral scores.
314 @cindex @code{raggedlastbottom}
315 @item raggedlastbottom
316 If set to false, systems will be spread to fill the last page.
318 Pieces that amply fill two pages or more should have this set to
321 @cindex @code{betweensystemspace}
322 @item betweensystemspace
323 This dimensions determines the distance between systems. It is the
324 ideal distance between the center of the bottom staff of one system
325 and the center of the top staff of the next system.
327 Increasing this will provide a more even appearance of the page at the
328 cost of using more vertical space.
330 @cindex @code{betweensystempadding}
331 @item betweensystempadding
332 This dimension is the minimum amount of white space that will always
333 be present between the bottom-most symbol of one system, and the
334 top-most of the next system.
336 Increasing this will put systems whose bounding boxes almost touch
339 @cindex @code{horizontalshift}
340 @item horizontalshift
341 All systems (including titles and system separators) are shifted by
342 this amount to the right. Page markup, such as headers and footers are
343 not affected by this. The purpose of this variable is to make space
344 for instrument names at the left.
346 @cindex @code{aftertitlespace}
347 @item aftertitlespace
348 Amount of space between the title and the first system.
350 @cindex @code{aftertitlespace}
351 @item beforetitlespace
352 Amount of space between the last system of the previous piece and the
355 @cindex @code{betweentitlespace}
356 @item betweentitlespace
357 Amount of space between consecutive titles (e.g., the title of the
358 book and the title of a piece).
360 @cindex @code{printallheaders}
361 @item printallheaders
362 Setting this to #t will print all headers for each \score in a
363 \book. Normally only the piece and opus \headers are printed.
365 @cindex @code{systemSeparatorMarkup}
366 @item systemSeparatorMarkup
367 This contains a markup object, which will be inserted between
368 systems. This is often used for orchestral scores.
370 The markup command @code{\slashSeparator} is provided as a sensible
373 @lilypond[raggedright]
375 systemSeparatorMarkup = \slashSeparator
378 \relative { c1 \break c1 }
392 raggedlastbottom = ##t
396 You can also define these values in Scheme. In that case @code{mm},
397 @code{in}, @code{pt}, and @code{cm} are variables defined in
398 @file{paper-defaults.ly} with values in millimeters. That's why the
399 value has to be multiplied in the example
403 #(define bottommargin (* 2 cm))
410 The default footer is empty, except for the first page, where the
411 @code{copyright} field from @code{\header} is inserted, and the last
412 page, where @code{tagline} from @code{\header} is added. The default
413 tagline is ``Music engraving by LilyPond (@var{version})''.@footnote{Nicely
414 printed parts are good PR for us, so please leave the tagline if you
417 The header and footer are created by the functions @code{make-footer}
418 and @code{make-header}, defined in @code{\paper}. The default
419 implementations are in @file{scm/@/page@/-layout@/.scm}.
421 The page layout itself is done by two functions in the
422 @code{\paper} block, @code{page-music-height} and
423 @code{page-make-stencil}. The former tells the line-breaking algorithm
424 how much space can be spent on a page, the latter creates the actual
425 page given the system to put on it.
430 The option rightmargin is defined but doesn't set the right margin
431 yet. The value for the right margin has to be defined adjusting the
432 values of the leftmargin and linewidth.
434 The default page header puts the page number and the @code{instrument}
435 field from the @code{\header} block on a line.
439 @subsection Score layout
441 @cindex @code{\layout}
443 While @code{\paper} contains settings that relate to the page formatting
444 of the whole document, @code{\layout} contains settings for score-specific
451 minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-6 . 6
454 \override TextScript #'padding = #1.0
455 \override Glissando #'thickness = #3
463 This manual: @ref{Changing context default settings}
466 @node Vertical spacing
467 @subsection Vertical spacing
469 @cindex vertical spacing
470 @cindex distance between staves
471 @cindex staff distance
472 @cindex between staves, distance
473 @cindex staves per page
474 @cindex space between staves
476 The height of each system is determined automatically. To prevent
477 systems from bumping into each other, some minimum distances are set.
478 By changing these, you can put staves closer together, and thus put
479 more systems onto one page.
481 Normally staves are stacked vertically. To make staves maintain a
482 distance, their vertical size is padded. This is done with the
483 property @code{minimumVerticalExtent}. It takes a pair of numbers, so
484 if you want to make it smaller than its default @code{#'(-4 . 4)},
488 \set Staff.minimumVerticalExtent = #'(-3 . 3)
492 This sets the vertical size of the current staff to 3 staff spaces on
493 either side of the center staff line. The argument of
494 @code{minimumVerticalExtent} is interpreted as an interval, where the
495 center line is the 0, so the first number is generally negative. The
496 staff can be made larger at the bottom by setting it to @code{(-6 . 4)}.
498 To change the amount of space between systems, use
499 @code{betweensystemspace}. A score with only one staff is still
500 considered to have systems, so setting @code{betweensystemspace}
501 will be much more useful than changing @code{minimumVerticalExtent}.
505 betweensystemspace = 10\mm
509 If you simply want to tell LilyPond ``fit as much as possible onto
510 these pages, then expand to fill any available space on the pages,''
511 then use the following
515 betweensystempadding = #1
522 @c let's wait for a some comments before writing more.
524 The vertical spacing on a page can also be changed for each system individually.
525 Some examples are found in the example file
526 @inputfileref{input/regression/,page-spacing.ly}.
531 Internals: Vertical alignment of staves is handled by the
532 @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} object. The context parameters
533 specifying the vertical extent are described in connection with
534 the @internalsref{Axis_group_engraver}.
536 Example files: @inputfileref{input/regression/,page-spacing.ly}.
541 @code{minimumVerticalExtent} is syntactic sugar for setting
542 @code{minimum-Y-extent} of the @internalsref{VerticalAxisGroup} of the
543 current context. It can only be changed score wide.
548 @node Vertical spacing of piano staves
549 @subsection Vertical spacing of piano staves
551 The distance between staves of a @internalsref{PianoStaff} cannot be
552 computed during formatting. Rather, to make cross-staff beaming work
553 correctly, that distance has to be fixed beforehand.
555 The distance of staves in a @code{PianoStaff} is set with the
556 @code{forced-distance} property of the
557 @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} object, created in
558 @internalsref{PianoStaff}.
560 It can be adjusted as follows
562 \new PianoStaff \with @{
563 \override VerticalAlignment #'forced-distance = #7
570 This would bring the staves together at a distance of 7 staff spaces,
571 measured from the center line of each staff.
573 The difference is demonstrated in the following example,
574 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
576 \new PianoStaff \with {
577 \override VerticalAlignment #'forced-distance = #7
593 @code{forced-distance} cannot be changed per system.
595 @node Horizontal spacing
596 @subsection Horizontal Spacing
598 The spacing engine translates differences in durations into stretchable
599 distances (``springs'') of differring lengths. Longer durations get
600 more space, shorter durations get less. The shortest durations get a
601 fixed amount of space (which is controlled by
602 @code{shortest-duration-space} in the @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}
603 object). The longer the duration, the more space it gets: doubling a
604 duration adds a fixed amount (this amount is controlled by
605 @code{spacing-increment}) of space to the note.
607 For example, the following piece contains lots of half, quarter, and
608 8th notes; the eighth note is followed by 1 note head width (NHW).
609 The quarter note is followed by 2 NHW, the half by 3 NHW, etc.
611 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=1]
612 c2 c4. c8 c4. c8 c4. c8 c8
616 Normally, @code{spacing-increment} is set to 1.2 staff space, which is
617 approximately the width of a note head, and
618 @code{shortest-duration-space} is set to 2.0, meaning that the
619 shortest note gets 2.4 staff space (2.0 times the
620 @code{spacing-increment}) of horizontal space. This space is counted
621 from the left edge of the symbol, so the shortest notes are generally
622 followed by one NHW of space.
624 If one would follow the above procedure exactly, then adding a single
625 32nd note to a score that uses 8th and 16th notes, would widen up the
626 entire score a lot. The shortest note is no longer a 16th, but a 32nd,
627 thus adding 1 NHW to every note. To prevent this, the shortest
628 duration for spacing is not the shortest note in the score, but rather
629 the one which occurs most frequently.
632 The most common shortest duration is determined as follows: in every
633 measure, the shortest duration is determined. The most common shortest
634 duration is taken as the basis for the spacing, with the stipulation
635 that this shortest duration should always be equal to or shorter than
636 an 8th note. The shortest duration is printed when you run
637 @code{lilypond} with the @code{--verbose} option.
639 These durations may also be customized. If you set the
640 @code{common-shortest-duration} in @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, then
641 this sets the base duration for spacing. The maximum duration for this
642 base (normally an 8th), is set through @code{base-shortest-duration}.
644 @cindex @code{common-shortest-duration}
645 @cindex @code{base-shortest-duration}
646 @cindex @code{stem-spacing-correction}
647 @cindex @code{spacing}
649 Notes that are even shorter than the common shortest note are
650 followed by a space that is proportional to their duration relative to
651 the common shortest note. So if we were to add only a few 16th notes
652 to the example above, they would be followed by half a NHW:
654 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=2]
655 c2 c4. c8 c4. c16[ c] c4. c8 c8 c8 c4 c4 c4
659 In the introduction (see @ref{Engraving}), it was explained that stem
660 directions influence spacing. This is controlled with the
661 @code{stem-spacing-correction} property in the
662 @internalsref{NoteSpacing}, object. These are generated for every
663 @internalsref{Voice} context. The @code{StaffSpacing} object
664 (generated in @internalsref{Staff} context) contains the same property
665 for controlling the stem/bar line spacing. The following example shows
666 these corrections, once with default settings, and once with
667 exaggerated corrections:
669 @lilypond[quote,raggedright]
673 \override Staff.NoteSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
674 \override Staff.StaffSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
683 Internals: @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, @internalsref{NoteSpacing},
684 @internalsref{StaffSpacing}, @internalsref{SeparationItem}, and
685 @internalsref{SeparatingGroupSpanner}.
689 Spacing is determined on a score wide basis. If you have a score that
690 changes its character (measured in durations) halfway during the
691 score, the part containing the longer durations will be spaced too
694 There is no convenient mechanism to manually override spacing. The
695 following work-around may be used to insert extra space into a score.
697 \once \override Score.SeparationItem #'padding = #1
700 No work-around exists for decreasing the amount of space.
704 @subsection Line length
707 @cindex breaking pages
709 @cindex @code{indent}
710 @cindex @code{linewidth}
711 @cindex @code{raggedright}
713 @c Although linewidth can be set in \layout, it should be set in paper
714 @c block, to get page layout right.
715 @c Setting indent in \paper block makes not much sense, but it works.
717 @c Bit verbose and vague, use examples?
718 The most basic settings influencing the spacing are @code{indent} and
719 @code{linewidth}. They are set in the @code{\layout} block. They
720 control the indentation of the first line of music, and the lengths of
723 If @code{raggedright} is set to true in the @code{\layout} block, then
724 the lines are justified at their natural length. This is useful for
725 short fragments, and for checking how tight the natural spacing is.
728 @cindex vertical spacing
730 The option @code{raggedlast} is similar to @code{raggedright}, but
731 only affects the last line of the piece. No restrictions are put on
732 that line. The result is similar to formatting text paragraphs. In a
733 paragraph, the last line simply takes its natural length.
734 @c Note that for text there are several options for the last line.
735 @c While Knuth TeX uses natural length, lead typesetters use the same
736 @c stretch as the previous line. eTeX uses \lastlinefit to
737 @c interpolate between both these solutions.
741 @subsection Line breaking
744 @cindex breaking lines
746 Line breaks are normally computed automatically. They are chosen so
747 that lines look neither cramped nor loose, and that consecutive lines
748 have similar density.
750 Occasionally you might want to override the automatic breaks; you can
751 do this by specifying @code{\break}. This will force a line break at
752 this point. Line breaks can only occur at places where there are bar
753 lines. If you want to have a line break where there is no bar line,
754 you can force an invisible bar line by entering @code{\bar
755 ""}. Similarly, @code{\noBreak} forbids a line break at a
759 @cindex regular line breaks
760 @cindex four bar music.
762 For line breaks at regular intervals use @code{\break} separated by
763 skips and repeated with @code{\repeat}:
765 << \repeat unfold 7 @{
766 s1 \noBreak s1 \noBreak
767 s1 \noBreak s1 \break @}
768 @emph{the real music}
773 This makes the following 28 measures (assuming 4/4 time) be broken every
774 4 measures, and only there.
778 @code{\break}, and @code{\noBreak}.
779 @cindex @code{\break}
780 @cindex @code{\noBreak}
784 Internals: @internalsref{BreakEvent}.
788 @subsection Page breaking
790 The default page breaking may be overriden by inserting
791 @code{\pageBreak} or @code{\noPageBreak} commands. These commands are
792 analogous to @code{\break} and @code{\noBreak}. They should be
793 inserted at a bar line. These commands force and forbid a page-break
794 from happening. Of course, the @code{\pageBreak} command also forces
797 Page breaks are computed by the @code{page-breaking} function in the
800 To force a new page for a new piece (in a collection of pieces or a
801 piece in several movements), use @code{breakbefore} in the header.
811 @cindex @code{\pageBreak}
813 @cindex @code{\noPageBreak}
817 @node Multiple movements
818 @subsection Multiple movements
820 @cindex bibliographic information
823 @cindex Music engraving by LilyPond
825 A document may contain multiple pieces of music and texts. Examples
826 of these are an etude book, or an orchestral part with multiple
827 movements. Each movement is entered with a @code{\score} block,
835 and texts are entered with a @code{\markup} block,
845 The movements and texts are combined together in a @code{\book} block,
863 The header for each piece of music can be put inside the @code{\score}
864 block. The @code{piece} name from the header will be printed before
865 each movement. The title for the entire book can be put inside the
866 @code{\book}, but if it is not present, the @code{\header} which is at
867 the top of the file is inserted.
869 @cindex Engraved by LilyPond
870 @cindex signature line
875 title = "Eight miniatures"
876 composer = "Igor Stravinsky"
880 \header @{ piece = "Romanze" @}
883 ..text of second verse..
886 ..text of third verse..
890 \header @{ piece = "Menuetto" @}
896 @node Creating titles
897 @subsection Creating titles
899 Titles are created for each @code{\score} block, and over a
902 The contents of the titles are taken from the @code{\header} blocks.
903 The header block for a book supports the following
906 The dedicatee of the music, centered at the top of the first page.
909 The title of the music, centered just below the dedication.
912 Subtitle, centered below the title.
915 Subsubtitle, centered below the subtitle.
918 Name of the poet, flush-left below the subtitle.
921 Name of the composer, flush-right below the subtitle.
924 Meter string, flush-left below the poet.
927 Name of the opus, flush-right below the composer.
930 Name of the arranger, flush-right below the opus.
933 Name of the instrument, centered below the arranger. Also
934 centered at the top of pages (other than the first page).
937 Name of the piece, flush-left below the instrument.
939 @cindex page breaks, forcing
941 This forces the title to start on a new page (set to ##t or ##f).
944 Copyright notice, centered at the bottom of the first page. To
945 insert the copyright symbol, see @ref{Text encoding}.
948 Centered at the bottom of the last page.
952 Here is a demonstration of the fields available. Note that you
953 may use any @ref{Text markup} commands in the header.
955 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,linewidth=11.0\cm]
963 dedication = "dedicated to me"
964 title = \markup \center-align { "Title first line" "Title second line, longer" }
965 subtitle = "the subtitle,"
966 subsubtitle = #(string-append "subsubtitle LilyPond version " (lilypond-version))
968 composer = \markup \center-align { "composer" \small "(1847-1973)" }
969 texttranslator = "Text Translator"
970 meter = \markup { \teeny "m" \tiny "e" \normalsize "t" \large "e" \huge "r" }
971 arranger = \markup { \fontsize #8.5 "a" \fontsize #2.5 "r" \fontsize #-2.5 "r" \fontsize #-5.3 "a" \fontsize #7.5 "nger" }
972 instrument = \markup \bold \italic "instrument"
996 As demonstrated before, you can use multiple @code{\header} blocks.
997 When same fields appear in different blocks, the latter is used.
998 Here is a short example.
1002 composer = "Composer"
1008 \new Staff @{ c'4 @}
1010 title = "New title" % overwrite previous one
1015 If you define the @code{\header} inside the @code{\score} block, then
1016 normally only the @code{piece} and @code{opus} headers will be printed.
1018 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,linewidth=11.0\cm]
1022 title = "title" % not printed
1029 @cindex @code{printallheaders}
1031 You may change this behavior (and print all the headers when defining
1032 @code{\header} inside @code{\score}) by using
1043 A more advanced option is to change the definitions of the following
1044 variables in the @code{\paper} block. The init file
1045 @file{ly/titling-init.ly} lists the default layout.
1048 @cindex @code{bookTitleMarkup}
1049 @item bookTitleMarkup
1050 This is the title put over an entire @code{\book} block. Typically,
1051 it has the composer and the title of the piece
1053 @cindex @code{scoreTitleMarkup}
1054 @item scoreTitleMarkup
1055 This is the title put over a @code{\score} block within a
1056 @code{\book}. Typically, it has the name of the movement (@code{piece}
1059 @cindex @code{oddHeaderMarkup}
1060 @item oddHeaderMarkup
1061 This is the page header for odd-numbered pages.
1063 @cindex @code{evenHeaderMarkup}
1064 @item evenHeaderMarkup
1065 This is the page header for even-numbered pages. If unspecified,
1066 the odd header is used instead.
1068 By default, headers are defined such that the page number is on the
1069 outside edge, and the instrument is centered.
1071 @cindex @code{oddFooterMarkup}
1072 @item oddFooterMarkup
1073 This is the page footer for odd-numbered pages.
1075 @cindex @code{evenFotterMarkup}
1076 @item evenFooterMarkup
1077 This is the page footer for even-numbered pages. If unspecified,
1078 the odd header is used instead.
1080 By default, the footer has the copyright notice on the first, and
1081 the tagline on the last page.
1091 The following definition will put the title flush left, and the
1092 composer flush right on a single line.
1096 bookTitleMarkup = \markup {
1098 \fromproperty #'header:title
1099 \fromproperty #'header:composer
1108 @section Sound output
1113 MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard for
1114 connecting and controlling digital instruments. A MIDI file is a
1115 series of notes in a number of tracks. It is not an actual
1116 sound file; you need special software to translate between the
1117 series of notes and actual sounds.
1119 Pieces of music can be converted to MIDI files, so you can listen to
1120 what was entered. This is convenient for checking the music; octaves
1121 that are off or accidentals that were mistyped stand out very much
1122 when listening to the MIDI output.
1126 Many musically interesting effects, such as swing, articulation,
1127 slurring, etc., are not translated to midi.
1129 The midi output allocates a channel for each staff, and one for global
1130 settings. Therefore the midi file should not have more than 15 staves
1131 (or 14 if you do not use drums). Other staves will remain silent.
1133 Not all midi players correctly handle tempo changes in the midi
1134 output. Players that are known to work include
1135 @uref{http://@/timidity@/.sourceforge@/.net/,timidity}.
1138 * Creating MIDI files::
1140 * MIDI instrument names::
1143 @node Creating MIDI files
1144 @subsection Creating MIDI files
1146 To create a MIDI from a music piece of music, add a @code{\midi} block
1147 to a score, for example,
1152 \midi @{ \tempo 4=72 @}
1156 The tempo is specified using the @code{\tempo} command. In this
1157 example the tempo of quarter notes is set to 72 beats per minute.
1160 If there is a @code{\midi} command in a @code{\score}, only MIDI will
1161 be produced. When notation is needed too, a @code{\layout} block must
1167 \midi @{ \tempo 4=72 @}
1171 @cindex layout block
1175 Ties, dynamics, and tempo changes are interpreted. Dynamic marks,
1176 crescendi and decrescendi translate into MIDI volume levels. Dynamic
1177 marks translate to a fixed fraction of the available MIDI volume
1178 range, crescendi and decrescendi make the volume vary linearly between
1179 their two extremes. The fractions can be adjusted by
1180 @code{dynamicAbsoluteVolumeFunction} in @internalsref{Voice} context.
1181 For each type of MIDI instrument, a volume range can be defined. This
1182 gives a basic equalizer control, which can enhance the quality of
1183 the MIDI output remarkably. The equalizer can be controlled by
1184 setting @code{instrumentEqualizer}.
1188 @subsection MIDI block
1192 The MIDI block is analogous to the layout block, but it is somewhat
1193 simpler. The @code{\midi} block can contain
1197 @item a @code{\tempo} definition, and
1198 @item context definitions.
1201 A number followed by a period is interpreted as a real number, so
1202 for setting the tempo for dotted notes, an extra space should be
1203 inserted, for example
1206 \midi @{ \tempo 4 . = 120 @}
1210 @cindex context definition
1212 Context definitions follow precisely the same syntax as within the
1213 \layout block. Translation modules for sound are called performers.
1214 The contexts for MIDI output are defined in @file{ly/@/performer@/-init@/.ly}.
1217 @node MIDI instrument names
1218 @subsection MIDI instrument names
1220 @cindex instrument names
1221 @cindex @code{Staff.midiInstrument}
1223 The MIDI instrument name is set by the @code{Staff.midiInstrument}
1224 property. The instrument name should be chosen from the list in
1225 @ref{MIDI instruments}.
1228 \set Staff.midiInstrument = "glockenspiel"
1232 If the selected instrument does not exactly match an instrument from
1233 the list of MIDI instruments, the Grand Piano (@code{"acoustic grand"})