2 @c This file is part of lilypond.tely
7 LilyPond is a system for formatting music prettily. This chapter
8 discusses the backgrounds of LilyPond. It explains the problem of
9 printing music with computers, and our approach to solving those
15 * Automated engraving::
16 * What symbols to engrave?::
17 * Music representation::
18 * Example applications::
26 The art of music typography is called @emph{(plate) engraving}. The
27 term derives from the traditional process of music printing. Just a
28 few decades ago, sheet music was made by cutting and stamping the
29 music into a zinc or pewter plate in mirror image. The plate would be
30 inked, the depressions caused by the cutting and stamping would hold
31 ink. An image was formed by pressing paper to the plate. The
32 stamping and cutting was completely done by hand. Making a correction
33 was cumbersome, if possible at all, so the engraving had to be perfect
34 in one go. Engraving was a highly specialized skill, a craftsman had
35 to complete around ten years of practical training before he could be
38 Nowadays, all newly printed music is produced with computers. This
39 has obvious advantages; prints are cheaper to make, editorial work can
40 be delivered by email. Unfortunately, the pervasive use of computers
41 has also decreased the graphical quality of scores. Computer
42 printouts have a bland, mechanical look, which makes them unpleasant
43 to play from. The most important features of a music print is the
44 font, i.e, the symbols or glyphs, and the placement or spacing of the
47 @c introduce illustrating aspects of engraving, font...
48 The images below illustrate the difference between traditional
49 engraving and typical computer output, and the third picture shows how
50 LilyPond mimics the traditional look. The left picture shows a scan
51 of a flat symbol from a Henle edition published in 2000. In the
52 center show symbol from a hand engraved B@"{a}renreiter edition of the
53 same music. The left scan illustrates typical flaws of computer
54 print: the staff lines are thin, the weight of the flat symbol matches
55 the light lines and it has a straight layout with sharp corners. By
56 contrast, the B@"{a}renreiter flat has a bold, almost voluptuous
57 rounded look. Our flat symbol is designed after, among others, this
58 one. It is rounded, and its weight harmonizes with the thickness of
59 our staff lines, which are also much thicker than Henle's lines.
61 @multitable @columnfractions .05 .3 .3 .3 .05
65 @image{henle-flat-bw,4cm}
68 @image{henle-flat-bw,,,png}
73 @image{baer-flat-bw,4cm}
76 @image{baer-flat-bw,,,png}
81 @image{lily-flat-bw,4cm}
84 @image{lily-flat-bw,,,png}
88 @c workaround for makeinfo-4.6: line breaks and multi-column cookies
89 @image{henle-flat-bw,,,png} @image{baer-flat-bw,,,png} @image{lily-flat-bw,,,png}
95 B@"{a}renreiter (1950)
97 LilyPond Feta font (2003)
102 @cindex musical symbols
107 @c introduce illustrating aspects of engraving, spacing...
108 In spacing, the distribution of space should reflect the durations
109 between notes. However, many modern scores adhere to the durations
110 with mathematical precision, which leads to a poor result. In the
111 next example a motive is printed twice. It is printed once using
112 exact mathematical spacing, and once with corrections. Can you
113 spot which fragment is which?
115 @cindex optical spacing
120 \override Staff.NoteSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #0.6
122 \stemDown b'4 e''4 a'4 e''4 | \bar "||"
123 \override Staff.NoteSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #0.0
124 \override Staff.StaffSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #0.0
125 \stemBoth c'4 e''4 e'4 b'4 |
126 \stemDown b'4 e''4 a'4 e''4 |
128 \paper { raggedright = ##t }
133 @cindex regular rhythms
134 @cindex regular spacing
136 The fragment only uses quarter notes: notes that are played in a
137 constant rhythm. The spacing should reflect that. Unfortunately, the
138 eye deceives us a little; not only does it notice the distance between
139 note heads, it also takes into account the distance between
140 consecutive stems. As a result, the notes of an up-stem/down-stem
141 combination should be put farther apart, and the notes of a down-up
142 combination should be put closer together, all depending on the
143 combined vertical positions of the notes. The first two measures are
144 printed with this correction, the last two measures without. The notes
145 in the last two measures form down-stem/up-stem clumps of notes.
149 Musicians are usually more absorbed with performing than with studying
150 the looks of piece of music; nitpicking about typographical details
151 may seem academical. But it is not. In larger pieces with monotonous
152 rhythms, spacing corrections lead to subtle variations in the layout
153 of every line, giving each one a distinct visual signature. Without
154 this signature all lines would look the same, they become like a
155 labyrinth. If the musician looks away once or has a lapse in his
156 concentration, he will be lost on the page.
159 Similarly, the strong visual look of bold symbols on heavy staff lines
160 stands out better when music is far away from reader, for example, if
161 it is on a music stand. A careful distribution of white space allows
162 music to be set very tightly without cluttering symbols together. The
163 result minimizes the number of page turns, which is a great advantage.
165 This is a common characteristic of typography. Layout should be
166 pretty, not only for its own sake, but especially because it helps the
167 reader in his task. For performance material like sheet music, this is
168 doubly important: musicians have a limited amount of attention. The
169 less attention they need for reading, the more they can focus on
170 playing itself. In other words, better typography translates to better
173 Hopefully, these examples also demonstrate that music typography is an
174 art that is subtle and complex, and to produce it requires
175 considerable expertise, which musicians usually do not have. LilyPond
176 is our effort to bring the graphical excellence of hand-engraved music
177 to the computer age, and make it available to normal musicians. We
178 have tuned our algorithms, font-designs, and program settings to
179 produce prints that match the quality of the old editions we love to
180 see and love to play from.
185 @node Automated engraving
186 @section Automated engraving
188 How do we go about implementing typography? If craftsmen need over
189 ten years to become true masters, how could we simple hackers ever
190 write a program to take over their jobs?
192 The answer is: we cannot. Typography relies on human judgment of
193 appearance, so people cannot be replaced ultimately. However, much of
194 the dull work can be automated. If LilyPond solves most of the common
195 situations correctly, this will be a huge improvement over existing
196 software. The remaining cases can be tuned by hand. Over the course
197 of years, the software can be refined to do more and more
198 automatically, so manual overrides are less and less necessary.
200 When we started we wrote the LilyPond entirely using the C++
201 programming language, the program's functionality was set in stone by
202 the developers. That proved to be unsatisfactory for a number of
206 @item When LilyPond makes mistakes,
207 users need to override formatting decisions. Therefore, the user
208 must access to the formatting engine. Hence, rules and settings cannot
209 be fixed by us at compile time, but they must be accessible for users
212 @item Engraving is a matter of visual judgment, and therefore a matter of
213 taste. As knowledgeable as we are, users can disagree with our
214 personal decisions. Therefore, the definitions of typographical style
215 must also be accessible to the user.
217 @item Finally, we continually refine the formatting algorithms, so we
218 need a flexible approach to rules. The C++ language forces a certain
219 method of grouping rules that do not match well with how music
224 These problems have been addressed by integrating the GUILE
225 interpreter for the scheme programming language and rewriting parts of
226 LilyPond in scheme. The new, flexible formatting is built around the
227 notion of graphical objects, described by scheme variables and
228 functions. This architecture encompasses formatting rules,
229 typographical style and individual formatting decisions. The user has
230 direct access to most of these controls.
232 Scheme variables control layout decisions. For example, many
233 graphical objects have a direction variable that encodes the choice
234 between up and down (or left and right). Here you see two chords,
235 with accents and arpeggio. In the first chord, the graphical objects
236 have all directions down (or left). The second chord has all
237 directions up (right).
240 @lilypond[raggedright,relative=1]
242 \override SpacingSpanner #'spacing-increment = #3
243 \override TimeSignature #'transparent = ##t
245 \stemDown <e g b>4_>-\arpeggio
246 \override Arpeggio #'direction = #RIGHT
247 \stemUp <e g b>4^>-\arpeggio
252 The process of formatting a score consists of reading and writing the
253 variables of graphical objects.
255 Some variables have a preset value. For example, the thickness of many
256 lines---a characteristic of typographical style---are preset
257 variables. Changing them gives a different typographical impression
260 @lilypond[raggedright]
263 c'4-~ c'16 as g f e16 g bes c' des'4
269 \override Beam #'thickness = #0.3
270 \override Stem #'thickness = #0.5
271 \override Bar #'thickness = #3.6
272 \override Tie #'thickness = #2.2
273 \override StaffSymbol #'thickness = #3.0
274 \override Tie #'extra-offset = #'(0 . 0.3)
281 Formatting rules are also preset variables: each object has variables
282 containing procedures. These procedure perform the actual formatting,
283 and by substituting different ones, we can change behavior. In the
284 following example, the rule that note head objects use to produce
285 their symbol is changed during the music fragment
288 @lilypond[raggedright]
289 #(define (mc-squared grob orig current)
290 (let ((interfaces (ly:grob-property grob 'interfaces))
291 (pos (ly:grob-property grob 'staff-position)))
292 (if (and (memq 'note-head-interface interfaces)
293 (memq pos '(-2 -3 -5)))
295 (ly:grob-set-property! grob 'print-function brew-new-markup-stencil)
296 (ly:grob-set-property! grob 'font-family 'roman)
297 (ly:grob-set-property!
302 ((-5) (make-simple-markup "m"))
303 ((-3) (make-simple-markup "c "))
304 ((-2) (make-smaller-markup (make-bold-markup "2")))
305 (else (make-simple-markup "bla")))))))))
308 \notes \context Voice \relative c' {
310 \set autoBeaming = ##f
313 \once \override NoteHead #'print-function = #Note_head::brew_ez_stencil
315 \once \override NoteHead #'style = #'cross
317 \applyoutput #mc-squared
320 { d8[ es-( fis^^ g] fis2-) }
321 \repeat unfold 5 { \applyoutput #mc-squared s8 }
330 @node What symbols to engrave?
331 @section What symbols to engrave?
336 The formatting process in LilyPond decides where to place
337 symbols. However, this can only be done once it is decided @emph{what}
338 symbols should be printed, in other words what notation to use.
340 Common music notation is a system of recording music that has evolved
341 over the past 1000 years. The form that is now in common use, dates
342 from the early renaissance. Although, the basic form (i.e. note heads on a
343 5-line staff) has not changed, the details still change to express the
344 innovations of contemporary notation. Hence, it encompasses some 500
345 years of music. Its applications range from monophonic melodies to
346 monstrous counterpoint for large orchestras.
348 How can we get a grip on such a many-headed beast, and force it into
349 the confines of a computer program? We have broken up the problem of
350 notation (as opposed to engraving, i.e. typography) into digestible
351 and programmable chunks: every type of symbol is handled by a separate
352 module, a so-called plug-in. Each plug-in is completely modular and
353 independent, so each can be developed and improved separately. People
354 that translate musical ideas to graphic symbols are called copyists or
355 engravers, so by analogy, each plug-in is called @code{engraver}.
357 In the following example, we see how we start out with a plug-in for
358 note heads, the @code{Note_heads_engraver}.
361 @lilypond[raggedright]
362 \include "engraver-example.lyinc"
369 \remove "Stem_engraver"
370 \remove "Phrasing_slur_engraver"
371 \remove "Slur_engraver"
372 \remove "Script_engraver"
373 \remove "Beam_engraver"
374 \remove "Auto_beam_engraver"
378 \remove "Accidental_engraver"
379 \remove "Key_engraver"
380 \remove "Clef_engraver"
381 \remove "Bar_engraver"
382 \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
383 \remove "Staff_symbol_engraver"
384 \consists "Pitch_squash_engraver"
392 Then a @code{Staff_symbol_engraver} adds the staff
395 @lilypond[raggedright]
396 \include "engraver-example.lyinc"
403 \remove "Stem_engraver"
404 \remove "Phrasing_slur_engraver"
405 \remove "Slur_engraver"
406 \remove "Script_engraver"
407 \remove "Beam_engraver"
408 \remove "Auto_beam_engraver"
412 \remove "Accidental_engraver"
413 \remove "Key_engraver"
414 \remove "Clef_engraver"
415 \remove "Bar_engraver"
416 \consists "Pitch_squash_engraver"
417 \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
425 The @code{Clef_engraver} defines a reference point for the staff
428 @lilypond[raggedright]
429 \include "engraver-example.lyinc"
436 \remove "Stem_engraver"
437 \remove "Phrasing_slur_engraver"
438 \remove "Slur_engraver"
439 \remove "Script_engraver"
440 \remove "Beam_engraver"
441 \remove "Auto_beam_engraver"
445 \remove "Accidental_engraver"
446 \remove "Key_engraver"
447 \remove "Bar_engraver"
448 \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
456 And the @code{Stem_engraver} adds stems
459 @lilypond[raggedright]
460 \include "engraver-example.lyinc"
467 \remove "Phrasing_slur_engraver"
468 \remove "Slur_engraver"
469 \remove "Script_engraver"
470 \remove "Beam_engraver"
471 \remove "Auto_beam_engraver"
475 \remove "Accidental_engraver"
476 \remove "Key_engraver"
477 \remove "Bar_engraver"
478 \remove "Time_signature_engraver"
485 The @code{Stem_engraver} is notified of any note head coming along.
486 Every time one (or more, for a chord) note head is seen, a stem
487 object is created and connected to the note head.
488 By adding engravers for beams, slurs, accents, accidentals, bar lines,
489 time signature, and key signature, we get a complete piece of
493 @lilypond[raggedright]
494 \include "engraver-example.lyinc"
499 This system works well for monophonic music, but what about
500 polyphony? In polyphonic notation, many voices can share a staff.
503 @lilypond[raggedright]
504 \include "engraver-example.lyinc"
505 \score { \context Staff << \topVoice \\ \botVoice >> }
509 In this situation, the accidentals and staff are shared, but the
510 stems, slurs, beams, etc. are private to each voice. Hence, engravers
511 should be grouped. The engravers for note heads, stems, slurs, etc. go
512 into a group called ``Voice context,'' while the engravers for key,
513 accidental, bar, etc. go into a group called ``Staff context.'' In the
514 case of polyphony, a single Staff context contains more than one Voice
515 context. In polyphonic notation, many voices can share a staff.
516 Similarly, more Staff contexts can be put into a single Score context
519 @lilypond[raggedright]
520 \include "engraver-example.lyinc"
523 \new Staff << \topVoice \\ \botVoice >>
524 \new Staff << \pah \\ \hoom >>
530 @node Music representation
531 @section Music representation
533 Ideally, the input format for any high-level formatting system is an
534 abstract description of the content. In this case, that would be the
535 music itself. This poses a formidable problem: how can we define what
536 music really is? Instead of trying to find an answer, we have reversed
537 the question. We write a program capable of producing sheet music,
538 and adjust the format to be as lean as possible. When the format can
539 no longer be trimmed down, by definition we are left with content
540 itself. Our program serves as a formal definition of a music
543 The syntax is also the user-interface for LilyPond, hence it is easy
548 a quarter note C1 (middle C) and eighth note D1 (D above middle C)
555 On a microscopic scale, such syntax is easy to use. On a larger
556 scale, syntax also needs structure. How else can you enter complex
557 pieces like symphonies and operas? The structure is formed by the
558 concept of music expressions: by combining small fragments of music
559 into larger ones, more complex music can be expressed. For example
562 @lilypond[verbatim,fragment,relative=1]
567 Combine this simultaneously with two other notes by enclosing in << and >>
573 @lilypond[fragment,relative=1]
574 \new Voice { <<c4 d4 e4>> }
578 This expression is put in sequence by enclosing it in curly braces
582 @{ <<c4 d4 e4>> f4 @}
586 @lilypond[relative=1]
587 \new Voice { <<c4 d4 e4>> f4 }
591 The above is another expression, and therefore, it many combined again
592 with a simultaneous expression; in this case, a half note
595 << @{ <<c4 d4 e4>> f4 @} g2 >>
598 @lilypond[fragment,relative=2]
599 \new Voice { << g2 \\ { <c d e>4 f4 } >> }
604 Such recursive structures can be specified neatly and formally in a
605 context-free grammar. The parsing code is also generated from this
606 grammar. In other words, the syntax of LilyPond is clearly and
607 unambiguously defined.
609 User-interfaces and syntax are what people see and deal with
610 most. They are partly a matter of taste, and also subject of much
611 discussion. Although discussions on taste do have their merit, they
612 are not very productive. In the larger picture of LilyPond, the
613 importance of input syntax is small: inventing neat syntax is easy,
614 writing decent formatting code is much harder. This is also
615 illustrated by the line-counts for the respective components: parsing
616 and representation take up less than 10% of the code.
619 @node Example applications
620 @section Example applications
622 We have written LilyPond as an experiment of how to condense the art
623 of music engraving into a computer program. Thanks to all that hard
624 work, the program can now be used to perform useful tasks. The
625 simplest application is printing notes
628 @lilypond[relative=1]
629 \time 2/4 c4 c g'4 g a4 a g2
634 By adding chord names and lyrics we obtain a lead sheet
637 @lilypond[raggedright]
640 \context ChordNames \chords { c2 c f2 c }
641 \new Staff \notes \relative c' { \time 2/4 c4 c g'4 g a4 a g2 }
642 \context Lyrics \lyrics { twin4 kle twin kle lit tle star2 }
649 Polyphonic notation and piano music can also be printed. The following
650 example combines some more exotic constructs
653 @lilypondfile[raggedright]{screech-boink.ly}
656 The fragments shown above have all been written by hand, but that is
657 not a requirement. Since the formatting engine is mostly automatic, it
658 can serve as an output means for other programs that manipulate
659 music. For example, it can also be used to convert databases of
660 musical fragments to images for use on websites and multimedia
663 This manual also shows an application: the input format is text, and
664 can therefore be easily embedded in other text-based formats such as
665 La@TeX{}, HTML or in the case of this manual, Texinfo. By means of a
666 special program, the input fragments can be replaced by music images
667 in the resulting PostScript or HTML output files. This makes it easy
668 to mix music and text in documents.
672 @node About this manual
673 @section About this manual
675 The manual is divided into the following chapters:
682 @emph{@ref{Tutorial}}
683 gives a gentle introduction to typesetting music.
684 First time users should start here.
690 @emph{@ref{Notation manual}}
691 discusses topics grouped by notation construct. Once you master the
692 basics, this is the place to look up details.
698 @emph{@ref{Changing defaults}}
699 explains how to fine tune layout.
704 @emph{@ref{Invoking LilyPond}} shows how to run LilyPond and its helper
711 @emph{@ref{lilypond-book manual}}
712 explains the details behind creating documents with in-line music
713 examples (like this manual).
719 @emph{@ref{Converting from other formats}}
720 explains how to run the conversion programs. These programs
721 are supplied with the LilyPond package, and convert a variety of music
722 formats to the @code{.ly} format. In addition, this section explains
723 how to upgrade input files from previous versions of LilyPond.
729 @emph{@ref{Literature list}}
730 contains a set of useful reference books, for those who wish to know
731 more on notation and engraving.
735 Once you are an experienced user, you can use the manual as reference:
736 there is an extensive index@footnote{If you are looking for something,
737 and you cannot find it in the manual, that is considered a bug. In
738 that case, please file a bug report.}, but the document is also
744 @uref{../lilypond.html, a big HTML page}
746 which can be searched easily using the search facility of a web
748 @cindex search in manual
749 @cindex using the manual
752 @c add/integrate glossary, put in list above
753 If you are not familiar with music notation or music terminology
754 (especially if you are a non-native English speaker), it is advisable
755 to consult the glossary as well. The glossary explains musical terms,
756 and includes translations to various languages. It is a
758 @uref{../music-glossary.html,separate document}.
761 separate document, available in HTML and PDF.
766 @cindex foreign languages
770 This manual is not complete without a number of other documents. They
771 are not available in print, but should be included with the
772 documentation package for your platform:
778 (available @uref{../lilypond-internals/lilypond-internals.html,here})
781 The program reference is a set of heavily cross linked HTML pages,
782 which documents the nit-gritty details of each and every LilyPond
783 class, object and function. It is produced directly from the
784 formatting definitions used.
786 Almost all formatting functionality that is used internally, is
787 available directly to the user. For example, all variables that
788 control thicknesses, distances, etc, can be changed in input
789 files. There are a huge number of formatting options, and all of them
790 are described in the generated documentation. Each section of the
791 notation manual has a @b{See also} subsection, which refers to the
792 the generated documentation. In the HTML document, these subsections
793 have clickable links.
798 (available @uref{../../../input/template/out-www/collated-files.html,here})
801 After you have gone through the tutorial, you should be able to write
802 input files. In practice, writing files from scratch turns out to be
803 intimidating. To give you a head start, we have collected a number of
804 often-used formats in example files. These files can be used as a
805 start; simply copy the template and add notes in the appropriate
809 Various input examples
811 (available @uref{../../../../input/test/out-www/collated-files.html,here})
815 This collection of files shows various tips and tricks, and is
816 available as a big HTML document, with pictures and explanatory texts
822 (available @uref{../../../input/regression/out-www/collated-files.html,here})
825 This collection of files tests each notation and engraving feature of
826 LilyPond in one file. The collection is primarily there to help us
827 debug problems, but it can be instructive to see how we exercise the
828 program. The format is similar to the the tips and tricks document.
833 In all HTML documents that have music fragments embedded, the LilyPond
834 input that was used to produce that image can be viewed by clicking
837 The location of the documentation files that are mentioned here can
838 vary from system to system. On occasion, this manual refers to
839 initialization and example files. Throughout this manual, we refer to
840 input files relative to the top-directory of the source archive. For
841 example, @file{input/test/bla.ly} may refer to the file
842 @file{lilypond-1.7.19/input/test/bla.ly}. On binary packages for the
843 Unix platform, the documentation and examples can typically be found
844 somewhere below @file{/usr/share/doc/lilypond/}. Initialization files,
845 for example @file{scm/lily.scm}, or @file{ly/engraver-init.ly}, are
846 usually found in the directory @file{/usr/share/lilypond/}.
848 @cindex adjusting output
851 @cindex lilypond-internals
852 @cindex internal documentation
854 @cindex extending lilypond
858 Finally, this and all other manuals, are available online both as PDF
859 files and HTML from the web site, which can be found at
860 @uref{http://www.lilypond.org/}.