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15 @chapter Spacing issues
17 The global paper layout is determined by three factors: the page layout, the
18 line breaks, and the spacing. These all influence each other. The
19 choice of spacing determines how densely each system of music is set.
20 This influences where line breaks are chosen, and thus ultimately, how
21 many pages a piece of music takes.
23 Globally speaking, this procedure happens in four steps: first,
24 flexible distances (@q{springs}) are chosen, based on durations. All
25 possible line breaking combinations are tried, and a @q{badness} score
26 is calculated for each. Then the height of each possible system is
27 estimated. Finally, a page breaking and line breaking combination is chosen
28 so that neither the horizontal nor the vertical spacing is too cramped
34 * Displaying spacing::
37 * Horizontal spacing::
42 @section Paper and pages
44 This section deals with the boundaries that define the area
45 that music can be printed inside.
54 @subsection Paper size
60 To change the paper size, there are two commands,
62 #(set-default-paper-size "a4")
64 #(set-paper-size "a4")
68 The first command sets the size of all pages. The second command sets the
70 of the pages that the @code{\paper} block applies to -- if the @code{\paper}
71 block is at the top of the file, then it will apply to all pages. If the
72 @code{\paper} block is inside a @code{\book}, then the paper size will only
75 Support for the following paper sizes are included by default,
76 @code{a6}, @code{a5}, @code{a4}, @code{a3}, @code{legal}, @code{letter},
77 @code{11x17} (also known as tabloid).
79 Extra sizes may be added by editing the definition for
80 @code{paper-alist} in the initialization file @file{scm/paper.scm}.
85 If the symbol @code{landscape} is supplied as an argument to
86 @code{set-default-paper-size}, the pages will be rotated by 90 degrees,
87 and wider line widths will be set correspondingly.
90 #(set-default-paper-size "a6" 'landscape)
93 Setting the paper size will adjust a number of @code{\paper} variables
94 (such as margins). To use a particular paper size with altered
95 @code{\paper} variables, set the paper size before setting the variables.
99 @subsection Page formatting
101 @cindex page formatting
106 LilyPond will do page layout, set margins, and add headers and
107 footers to each page.
109 The default layout responds to the following settings in the
116 @funindex first-page-number
117 @item first-page-number
118 The value of the page number of the first page. Default is@tie{}1.
120 @funindex print-first-page-number
121 @item print-first-page-number
122 If set to true, will print the page number in the first page. Default is
125 @funindex print-page-number
126 @item print-page-number
127 If set to false, page numbers will not be printed. Default is true.
129 @funindex paper-width
131 The width of the page. The default is taken from the current paper size,
132 see @ref{Paper size}.
134 @funindex paper-height
136 The height of the page. The default is taken from the current paper size,
137 see @ref{Paper size}.
141 Margin between header and top of the page. Default is@tie{}5mm.
143 @funindex bottom-margin
145 Margin between footer and bottom of the page. Default is@tie{}6mm.
147 @funindex left-margin
149 Margin between the left side of the page and the beginning of the
150 music. Unset by default, which means that the margins is determined
151 based on the @code{paper-width} and @code{line-width} to center the
156 The length of the systems. Default is @code{paper-width} minus @tie{}20mm.
158 @funindex head-separation
159 @item head-separation
160 Distance between the top-most music system and the page header. Default
163 @funindex foot-separation
164 @item foot-separation
165 Distance between the bottom-most music system and the page
166 footer. Default is@tie{}4mm.
168 @funindex page-top-space
170 Distance from the top of the printable area to the center of the first
171 staff. This only works for staves which are vertically small. Big staves
172 are set with the top of their bounding box aligned to the top of the
173 printable area. Default is@tie{}12mm.
175 @funindex ragged-bottom
177 If set to true, systems will not be spread vertically across the page. This
178 does not affect the last page. Default is false.
180 This should be set to true for pieces that have only two or three
181 systems per page, for example orchestral scores.
183 @funindex ragged-last-bottom
184 @item ragged-last-bottom
185 If set to false, systems will be spread vertically to fill the last
186 page. Default is true.
188 Pieces that amply fill two pages or more should have this set to
191 @funindex system-count
193 This variable, if set, specifies into how many lines a score should be
194 broken. Unset by default.
196 @funindex between-system-space
197 @item between-system-space
198 This dimensions determines the distance between systems. It is the
199 ideal distance between the center of the bottom staff of one system
200 and the center of the top staff of the next system. Default is@tie{}20mm.
202 Increasing this will provide a more even appearance of the page at the
203 cost of using more vertical space.
205 @funindex between-system-padding
206 @item between-system-padding
207 This dimension is the minimum amount of white space that will always
208 be present between the bottom-most symbol of one system, and the
209 top-most of the next system. Default is@tie{}4mm.
211 Increasing this will put systems whose bounding boxes almost touch
214 @funindex page-breaking-between-system-padding
215 @item page-breaking-between-system-padding
216 This variable tricks the page breaker into thinking that
217 @code{between-system-padding} is set to something different than it
218 really is. For example, if this variable is set to something substantially
219 larger than @code{between-system-padding}, then the page-breaker will put
220 fewer systems on each page.
222 @funindex horizontal-shift
223 @item horizontal-shift
224 All systems (including titles and system separators) are shifted by
225 this amount to the right. Page markup, such as headers and footers are
226 not affected by this. The purpose of this variable is to make space
227 for instrument names at the left. Default is@tie{}0.
229 @funindex after-title-space
230 @item after-title-space
231 Amount of space between the title and the first system. Default is@tie{}5mm.
233 @funindex before-title-space
234 @item before-title-space
235 Amount of space between the last system of the previous piece and the
236 title of the next. Default is@tie{}10mm.
238 @funindex between-title-space
239 @item between-title-space
240 Amount of space between consecutive titles (e.g., the title of the
241 book and the title of a piece). Default is@tie{}2mm.
243 @funindex printallheaders
244 @item printallheaders
245 Setting this to #t will print all headers for each \score in the
246 output. Normally only the piece and opus \headers are printed.
248 @funindex systemSeparatorMarkup
249 @item systemSeparatorMarkup
250 This contains a markup object, which will be inserted between
251 systems. This is often used for orchestral scores. Unset by default.
253 The markup command @code{\slashSeparator} is provided as a sensible
256 @lilypond[ragged-right]
257 #(set-default-paper-size "a6" 'landscape)
260 \relative { c1 \break c1 }
263 systemSeparatorMarkup = \slashSeparator
268 @funindex blank-page-force
269 @item blank-page-force
270 The penalty for having a blank page in the middle of a
271 score. This is not used by @code{ly:optimal-breaking} since it will
272 never consider blank pages in the middle of a score. Default value
275 @funindex blank-last-page-force
276 @item blank-last-page-force
277 The penalty for ending the score on an odd-numbered page.
280 @funindex page-spacing-weight
281 @item page-spacing-weight
282 The relative importance of page (vertical) spacing and line (horizontal)
283 spacing. High values will make page spacing more important. Default
286 @funindex auto-first-page-number
287 @item auto-first-page-number
288 The page breaking algorithm is affected by the first page number being
289 odd or even. If this variable is set to #t, the page breaking algorithm
290 will decide whether to start with an odd or even number. This will
291 result in the first page number remaining as is or being increased by one.
299 The header and footer are created by the functions make-footer and
300 make-header, defined in \paper. The default implementations are in
301 ly/paper-defaults.ly and ly/titling-init.ly.
303 The page layout itself is done by two functions in the \paper block,
304 page-music-height and page-make-stencil. The former tells the
305 line-breaking algorithm how much space can be spent on a page, the
306 latter creates the actual page given the system to put on it.
308 You can define paper block values in Scheme. In that case mm, in, pt,
309 and cm are variables defined in paper-defaults.ly with values in
310 millimeters. That is why the value 2 cm must be multiplied in the
315 #(define bottom-margin (* 2 cm))
327 ragged-last-bottom = ##t
331 This second example centers page numbers at the bottom of every page.
335 print-page-number = ##t
336 print-first-page-number = ##t
337 oddHeaderMarkup = \markup \fill-line @{ " " @}
338 evenHeaderMarkup = \markup \fill-line @{ " " @}
339 oddFooterMarkup = \markup @{ \fill-line @{
340 \bold \fontsize #3 \on-the-fly #print-page-number-check-first
341 \fromproperty #'page:page-number-string @} @}
342 evenFooterMarkup = \markup @{ \fill-line @{
343 \bold \fontsize #3 \on-the-fly #print-page-number-check-first
344 \fromproperty #'page:page-number-string @} @}
348 You can also define these values in Scheme. In that case @code{mm},
349 @code{in}, @code{pt}, and @code{cm} are variables defined in
350 @file{paper-defaults.ly} with values in millimeters. That is why the
351 value must be multiplied in the example
355 #(define bottom-margin (* 2 cm))
359 The header and footer are created by the functions @code{make-footer}
360 and @code{make-header}, defined in @code{\paper}. The default
361 implementations are in @file{ly/@/paper@/-defaults@/.ly} and
362 @file{ly/@/titling@/-init@/.ly}.
364 The page layout itself is done by two functions in the
365 @code{\paper} block, @code{page-music-height} and
366 @code{page-make-stencil}. The former tells the line-breaking algorithm
367 how much space can be spent on a page, the latter creates the actual
368 page given the system to put on it.
373 The option right-margin is defined but doesn't set the right margin
374 yet. The value for the right margin has to be defined adjusting the
375 values of @code{left-margin} and @code{line-width}.
377 The default page header puts the page number and the @code{instrument}
378 field from the @code{\header} block on a line.
380 The titles (from the @code{\header@{@}} section) are treated as a
381 system, so @code{ragged-bottom} and @code{ragged-last-bottom} will
382 add space between the titles and the first system of the score.
386 @section Music layout
389 * Setting the staff size::
394 @node Setting the staff size
395 @subsection Setting the staff size
397 @cindex font size, setting
398 @cindex staff size, setting
399 @funindex layout file
401 To set the staff size globally for all scores in a file (or
402 in a @code{book} block, to be precise), use @code{set-global-staff-size}.
405 #(set-global-staff-size 14)
409 This sets the global default size to 14pt staff height and scales all
412 To set the staff size individually for each score, use
417 #(layout-set-staff-size 15)
422 The Feta font provides musical symbols at eight different
423 sizes. Each font is tuned for a different staff size: at a smaller size
424 the font becomes heavier, to match the relatively heavier staff lines.
425 The recommended font sizes are listed in the following table:
428 @multitable @columnfractions .15 .2 .22 .2
431 @tab @b{staff height (pt)}
432 @tab @b{staff height (mm)}
474 @c modern rental material?
479 These fonts are available in any sizes. The context property
480 @code{fontSize} and the layout property @code{staff-space} (in
481 @internalsref{StaffSymbol}) can be used to tune the size for individual
482 staves. The sizes of individual staves are relative to the global size.
490 This manual: @ref{Selecting notation font size}.
494 @subsection Score layout
498 While @code{\paper} contains settings that relate to the page formatting
499 of the whole document, @code{\layout} contains settings for score-specific
506 \override VerticalAxisGroup #'minimum-Y-extent = #'(-6 . 6)
509 \override TextScript #'padding = #1.0
510 \override Glissando #'thickness = #3
518 This manual: @ref{Changing context default settings}.
521 @node Displaying spacing
522 @section Displaying spacing
524 @funindex annotate-spacing
525 @cindex Spacing, display of properties
527 To graphically display the dimensions of vertical properties that may
528 be altered for page formatting, set @code{annotate-spacing} in the
529 @code{\paper} block, like this
533 #(set-default-paper-size "a6" 'landscape)
537 \paper { annotate-spacing = ##t }
541 @c need to have \book{} otherwise we get the separate systems. -hwn
544 @c FIXME: really bad vagueness due to bug in annotate-spacing. -gp
545 Some unit dimensions are measured in staff spaces, while others
546 are measured in millimeters.
548 (@var{a},@var{b}) are intervals, where @var{a} is the lower edge and
549 @var{b} the upper edge of the interval.
558 * Optimal page breaking::
559 * Optimal page turning::
560 * Minimal page breaking::
562 * Using an extra voice for breaks::
566 @subsection Line breaking
569 @cindex breaking lines
571 Line breaks are normally computed automatically. They are chosen so
572 that lines look neither cramped nor loose, and that consecutive lines
573 have similar density.
575 Occasionally you might want to override the automatic breaks; you can
576 do this by specifying @code{\break}. This will force a line break at
577 this point. Line breaks can only occur at places where there are bar
578 lines. If you want to have a line break where there is no bar line,
579 you can force an invisible bar line by entering @code{\bar
580 ""}. Similarly, @code{\noBreak} forbids a line break at a
584 @cindex regular line breaks
585 @cindex four bar music.
587 For line breaks at regular intervals use @code{\break} separated by
588 skips and repeated with @code{\repeat}:
590 << \repeat unfold 7 @{
591 s1 \noBreak s1 \noBreak
592 s1 \noBreak s1 \break @}
593 @emph{the real music}
598 This makes the following 28 measures (assuming 4/4 time) be broken every
599 4 measures, and only there.
603 @code{\break}, and @code{\noBreak}.
609 Internals: @internalsref{LineBreakEvent}.
611 A linebreaking configuration can be saved as a @code{.ly} file
612 automatically. This allows vertical alignments to be stretched to
613 fit pages in a second formatting run. This is fairly new and
614 complicated. More details are available in
619 Line breaks can only occur if there is a @q{proper} bar line. A note
620 which is hanging over a bar line is not proper, such as
622 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
623 c4 c2 << c2 {s4 \break } >> % this does nothing
624 c2 c4 | % a break here would work
625 c4 c2 c4 ~ \break % as does this break
629 This can be avoided by removing the @code{Forbid_line_break_engraver}.
630 Note that manually forced line breaks have to be added in parallel
633 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
635 \remove Forbid_line_break_engraver
637 c4 c2 << c2 {s4 \break } >> % now the break is allowed
644 @subsection Page breaking
646 The default page breaking may be overriden by inserting
647 @code{\pageBreak} or @code{\noPageBreak} commands. These commands are
648 analogous to @code{\break} and @code{\noBreak}. They should be
649 inserted at a bar line. These commands force and forbid a page-break
650 from happening. Of course, the @code{\pageBreak} command also forces
653 The @code{\pageBreak} and @code{\noPageBreak} commands may also be
654 inserted at top-level, between scores and top-level markups.
656 Page breaks are computed by the @code{page-breaking} function. LilyPond
657 provides three algorithms for computing page breaks,
658 @code{ly:optimal-breaking}, @code{ly:page-turn-breaking} and
659 @code{ly:minimal-breaking}. The default is @code{ly:optimal-breaking},
660 but the value can be changed in the @code{\paper} block:
664 #(define page-breaking ly:page-turn-breaking)
668 The old page breaking algorithm is called
669 @code{optimal-page-breaks}. If you are having trouble with the new page
670 breakers, you can enable the old one as a workaround.
676 @funindex \noPageBreak
680 @node Optimal page breaking
681 @subsection Optimal page breaking
683 @funindex ly:optimal-breaking
685 The @code{ly:optimal-breaking} function is LilyPond's default method of
686 determining page breaks. It attempts to find a page breaking that minimizes
687 cramping and stretching, both horizontally and vertically. Unlike
688 @code{ly:page-turn-breaking}, it has no concept of page turns.
691 @node Optimal page turning
692 @subsection Optimal page turning
694 @funindex ly:page-turn-breaking
696 Often it is necessary to find a page breaking configuration so that there is
697 a rest at the end of every second page. This way, the musician can turn the
698 page without having to miss notes. The @code{ly:page-turn-breaking} function
699 attempts to find a page breaking minimizing cramping and stretching, but with
700 the additional restriction that it is only allowed to introduce page turns
703 There are two steps to using this page breaking function. First, you
704 must enable it in the @code{\paper} block, as explained in @ref{Page
705 breaking}. Then you must tell the function where you would like to allow
708 There are two ways to achieve the second step. First, you can specify each
709 potential page turn manually, by inserting @code{\allowPageTurn} into your
710 input file at the appropriate places.
712 If this is too tedious, you can add a @code{Page_turn_engraver} to a Staff or
713 Voice context. The @code{Page_turn_engraver} will scan the context for
714 sections without notes (note that it does not scan for rests; it scans for
715 the absence of notes. This is so that single-staff polyphony with rests in one
716 of the parts does not throw off the @code{Page_turn_engraver}). When it finds
717 a sufficiently long section without notes, the @code{Page_turn_engraver} will
718 insert an @code{\allowPageTurn} at the final barline in that section, unless
719 there is a @q{special} barline (such as a double bar), in which case the
720 @code{\allowPageTurn} will be inserted at the final @q{special} barline in
723 @funindex minimumPageTurnLength
724 The @code{Page_turn_engraver} reads the context property
725 @code{minimumPageTurnLength} to determine how long a note-free section must
726 be before a page turn is considered. The default value for
727 @code{minimumPageTurnLength} is @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 1)}. If you want
728 to disable page turns, you can set it to something very large.
731 \new Staff \with @{ \consists "Page_turn_engraver" @}
734 R1 | % a page turn will be allowed here
736 \set Staff.minimumPageTurnLength = #(ly:make-moment 5 2)
737 R1 | % a page turn will not be allowed here
739 R1*2 | % a page turn will be allowed here
744 @funindex minimumRepeatLengthForPageTurn
745 The @code{Page_turn_engraver} detects volta repeats. It will only allow a page
746 turn during the repeat if there is enough time at the beginning and end of the
747 repeat to turn the page back. The @code{Page_turn_engraver} can also disable
748 page turns if the repeat is very short. If you set the context property
749 @code{minimumRepeatLengthForPageTurn} then the @code{Page_turn_engraver} will
750 only allow turns in repeats whose duration is longer than this value.
752 The page turning commands, @code{\pageTurn}, @code{\noPageTurn} and
753 @code{\allowPageTurn}, may also be used at top-level, between scores and
760 @funindex \noPageTurn
762 @funindex \allowPageTurn
763 @code{\allowPageTurn}
767 There should only be one @code{Page_turn_engraver} in a score. If there is more
768 than one, they will interfere with each other.
770 @node Minimal page breaking
771 @subsection Minimal page breaking
773 @funindex ly:minimal-breaking
775 The @code{ly:minimal-breaking} function performs minimal computations to
776 calculate the page breaking: it fills a page with as many systems as
777 possible before moving to the next one. Thus, it may be prefered for
778 scores with many pages, where the other page breaking functions could be
779 too slow or memory demanding, or a lot of texts. It is enabled using:
783 #(define page-breaking ly:minimal-breaking)
787 @node Explicit breaks
788 @subsection Explicit breaks
790 Lily sometimes rejects explicit @code{\break} and @code{\pageBreak}
791 commands. There are two commands to override this behavior:
794 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-permission = ##f
795 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'page-break-permission = ##f
798 When @code{line-break-permission} is overriden to false, Lily will insert
799 line breaks at explicit @code{\break} commands and nowhere else. When
800 @code{page-break-permission} is overriden to false, Lily will insert
801 page breaks at explicit @code{\pageBreak} commands and nowhere else.
803 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
812 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-permission = ##f
813 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'page-break-permission = ##f
816 \repeat unfold 2 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
817 \repeat unfold 4 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
818 \repeat unfold 6 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
819 \repeat unfold 8 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \pageBreak
820 \repeat unfold 8 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
821 \repeat unfold 6 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
822 \repeat unfold 4 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
823 \repeat unfold 2 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 }
830 @node Using an extra voice for breaks
831 @subsection Using an extra voice for breaks
833 Line- and page-breaking information usually appears within note entry directly.
838 \repeat unfold 2 @{ c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 @}
840 \repeat unfold 3 @{ c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 @}
845 This makes @code{\break} and @code{\pageBreak} commands easy to enter but mixes
846 music entry with information that specifies how music should lay out
847 on the page. You can keep music entry and line- and page-breaking
848 information in two separate places by introducing an extra voice to
849 contain the breaks. This extra voice
850 contains only skips together with @code{\break}, @code{pageBreak} and other
851 breaking layout information.
853 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
863 \repeat unfold 2 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
864 \repeat unfold 3 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
865 \repeat unfold 6 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
866 \repeat unfold 5 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
872 This pattern becomes especially helpful when overriding
873 @code{line-break-system-details} and the other useful but long properties of
874 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumnGrob}, as explained in @ref{Vertical spacing}.
876 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
881 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
882 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 0))
885 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
886 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 35))
889 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
890 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 70))
893 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
894 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 105))
898 \repeat unfold 2 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
899 \repeat unfold 3 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
900 \repeat unfold 6 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
901 \repeat unfold 5 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
908 @node Vertical spacing
909 @section Vertical spacing
911 @cindex vertical spacing
912 @cindex spacing, vertical
914 Vertical spacing is controlled by three things: the amount of
915 space available (i.e., paper size and margins), the amount of
916 space between systems, and the amount of space between
917 staves inside a system.
920 * Vertical spacing inside a system::
921 * Vertical spacing between systems::
922 * Explicit staff and system positioning::
923 * Two-pass vertical spacing::
924 * Vertical collision avoidance::
928 @node Vertical spacing inside a system
929 @subsection Vertical spacing inside a system
931 @cindex distance between staves
932 @cindex staff distance
933 @cindex space between staves
934 @cindex space inside systems
936 The height of each system is determined automatically. To prevent
937 staves from bumping into each other, some minimum distances are set.
938 By changing these, you can put staves closer together. This
939 reduces the amount of space each system requires, and may result
940 in having more systems per page.
942 Normally staves are stacked vertically. To make staves maintain a
943 distance, their vertical size is padded. This is done with the
944 property @code{minimum-Y-extent}. When applied to a
945 @internalsref{VerticalAxisGroup}, it controls the size of a horizontal
946 line, such as a staff or a line of lyrics. @code{minimum-Y-extent}
947 takes a pair of numbers, so
948 if you want to make it smaller than its default @code{#'(-4 . 4)}
952 \override Staff.VerticalAxisGroup #'minimum-Y-extent = #'(-3 . 3)
956 This sets the vertical size of the current staff to 3 staff spaces on
957 either side of the center staff line. The value @code{(-3 . 3)} is
958 interpreted as an interval, where the center line is the 0, so the
959 first number is generally negative. The numbers need not match;
960 for example, the staff can be made larger at the bottom by setting
961 it to @code{(-6 . 4)}.
963 After page breaks are determined, the vertical spacing within each
964 system is reevaluated in order to fill the page more evenly; if a page
965 has space left over, systems are stretched in order to fill that space.
966 The amount of stretching can be configured though the @code{max-stretch}
967 property of the @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} grob. To disable this
968 stretching entirely, set @code{max-stretch} to zero.
970 In some situations, you may want to stretch most of a system while
971 leaving some parts fixed. For example, if a piano part occurs in the
972 middle of an orchestral score, you may want to leave the piano staves
973 close to each other while stretching the rest of the score. The
974 @code{keep-fixed-while-stretching} property of
975 @internalsref{VerticalAxisGroup} can be used to achieve this. When set
976 to @code{##t}, this property keeps its staff (or line of lyrics) from
977 moving relative to the one directly above it. In the example above,
978 you would override @code{keep-fixed-while-stretching} to @code{##t} in
979 the second piano staff:
982 #(set-default-paper-size "a6")
983 #(set-global-staff-size 14.0)
987 ragged-last-bottom = ##f
995 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
996 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
997 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
1002 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
1004 \override VerticalAxisGroup #'keep-fixed-while-stretching = ##t
1011 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
1012 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
1021 Internals: Vertical alignment of staves is handled by the
1022 @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} object. The context parameters
1023 specifying the vertical extent are described in connection with
1024 the @internalsref{Axis_group_engraver}.
1026 Example files: @lsr{spacing,page-spacing.ly},
1027 @lsr{spacing,alignment-vertical-spacing.ly}.
1030 @node Vertical spacing between systems
1031 @subsection Vertical spacing between systems
1033 Space between systems are controlled by four @code{\paper} variables,
1037 between-system-space = 1.5\cm
1038 between-system-padding = #1
1040 ragged-last-bottom=##f
1044 When only a couple of flat systems are placed on a page, the resulting
1045 vertical spacing may be non-eleguant: one system at the top of the page,
1046 and the other at the bottom, with a huge gap between them. To avoid this
1047 situation, the space added between the systems can be limited. This
1048 feature is activated by setting to @code{#t} the
1049 @code{page-limit-inter-system-space} variable in the @code{\paper}
1050 block. The paper variable @code{page-limit-inter-system-space-factor}
1051 determines how much the space can be increased: for instance, the value
1052 @code{1.3} means that the space can be 30% larger than what it would be
1053 on a ragged-bottom page.
1055 In the following example, if the inter system space were not limited,
1056 the second system of page 1 would be placed at the page bottom. By
1057 activating the space limitation, the second system is placed closer to
1058 the first one. By setting @code{page-limit-inter-system-space-factor} to
1059 @code{1}, the spacing would the same as on a ragged-bottom page, like
1063 #(set-default-paper-size "a6")
1066 page-limit-inter-system-space = ##t
1067 page-limit-inter-system-space-factor = 1.3
1069 oddFooterMarkup = \markup "page bottom"
1070 evenFooterMarkup = \markup "page bottom"
1071 oddHeaderMarkup = \markup \fill-line {
1072 "page top" \fromproperty #'page:page-number-string }
1073 evenHeaderMarkup = \markup \fill-line {
1074 "page top" \fromproperty #'page:page-number-string }
1076 \new Staff << \repeat unfold 4 { g'4 g' g' g' \break }
1077 { s1*2 \pageBreak } >>
1081 @node Explicit staff and system positioning
1082 @subsection Explicit staff and system positioning
1084 One way to understand the @code{VerticalAxisGroup} and @code{\paper}
1085 settings explained in the previous two sections is as a collection of
1086 different settings that primarily concern the amount of vertical padding
1087 different staves and systems running down the page.
1089 It is possible to approach vertical spacing in a different way using
1090 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details}. Where
1091 @code{VerticalAxisGroup} and @code{\paper} settings specify vertical padding,
1092 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details} specifies exact
1093 vertical positions on the page.
1095 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details} accepts an associative
1096 list of five different settings:
1099 @item @code{X-offset}
1100 @item @code{Y-offset}
1101 @item @code{alignment-offsets}
1102 @item @code{alignment-extra-space}
1103 @item @code{fixed-alignment-extra-space}
1106 Grob overrides, including the overrides for @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn}
1107 below, can occur in any of three different places in an input file:
1110 @item in the middle of note entry directly
1111 @item in a @code{\context} block
1112 @item in the @code{\with} block
1115 When we override @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn}, we use the usual
1116 @code{\override} command in @code{\context} blocks and in the
1117 @code{\with} block. On the other hand, when we override
1118 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} in the middle of note entry,
1119 use the special @code{\overrideProperty} command. Here are some
1120 example @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} overrides with the special
1121 @code{\overrideProperty} command:
1124 \overrideProperty NonMusicalPaperColumn
1125 #'line-break-system-details #'((X-offset . 20))
1127 \overrideProperty NonMusicalPaperColumn
1128 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 40))
1130 \overrideProperty NonMusicalPaperColumn
1131 #'line-break-system-details #'((X-offset . 20) (Y-offset . 40))
1133 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn
1134 #'line-break-system-details #'((alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1136 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn
1137 #'line-break-system-details #'((X-offset . 20) (Y-offset . 40)
1138 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1141 To understand how each of these different settings work, we begin
1142 by looking at an example that includes no overrides at all.
1144 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1152 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1155 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1160 This score isolates line- and page-breaking information in a dedicated
1161 voice. This technique of creating a breaks voice will help keep layout
1162 separate from music entry as our example becomes more complicated.
1163 See @ref{Using an extra voice for breaks}.
1165 Explicit @code{\breaks} evenly divide the music into six measures per
1166 line. Vertical spacing results from LilyPond's defaults. To set
1167 the vertical startpoint of each system explicitly, we can set
1168 the @code{Y-offset} pair in the @code{line-break-system-details}
1169 attribute of the @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} grob:
1171 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1175 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1176 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 0))
1178 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1179 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 40))
1181 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1182 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 80))
1185 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1188 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1193 Note that @code{line-break-system-details} takes an associative list of
1194 potentially many values, but that we set only one value here. Note,
1195 too, that the @code{Y-offset} property here determines the exact vertical
1196 position on the page at which each new system will render.
1198 Now that we have set the vertical startpoint of each system
1199 explicitly, we can also set the vertical startpoint of each staff
1200 within each system manually. We do this using the @code{alignment-offsets}
1201 subproperty of @code{line-break-system-details}.
1203 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1207 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1208 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 20)
1209 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1211 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1212 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 60)
1213 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1215 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1216 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 100)
1217 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1220 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1223 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1228 Note that here we assign two different values to the
1229 @code{line-break-system-details} attribute of the
1230 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} grob. Though the
1231 @code{line-break-system-details} attribute alist accepts many
1232 additional spacing parameters (including, for example, a corresponding
1233 @code{X-offset} pair), we need only set the @code{Y-offset} and
1234 @code{alignment-offsets} pairs to control the vertical startpoint of
1235 every system and every staff. Finally, note that @code{alignment-offsets}
1236 specifies the vertical positioning of staves but not of staff groups.
1238 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1242 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1243 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 0)
1244 (alignment-offsets . (0 -30 -40)))
1246 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1247 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 60)
1248 (alignment-offsets . (0 -10 -20)))
1250 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1251 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 100)
1252 (alignment-offsets . (0 -10, -40)))
1255 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1259 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1262 \repeat unfold 18 { e'4 e'4 e'4 e'4 }
1268 Some points to consider:
1271 @item When using @code{alignment-offsets}, lyrics count as a staff.
1273 @item The units of the numbers passed to @code{X-offset},
1274 @code{Y-offset} and @code{alignment-offsets} are interpreted as multiples
1275 of the distance between adjacent staff lines. Positive values move staves
1276 and lyrics up, negative values move staves and lyrics down.
1278 @item Because the @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details}
1279 settings given here allow the positioning of staves and systems anywhere
1280 on the page, it is possible to violate paper or margin boundaries or even
1281 to print staves or systems on top of one another. Reasonable values
1282 passed to these different settings will avoid this.
1286 @node Two-pass vertical spacing
1287 @subsection Two-pass vertical spacing
1289 Warning: two-pass vertical spacing is deprecated and will be removed in
1290 a future version of LilyPond. Systems are now stretched automatically
1291 in a single pass. See @ref{Vertical spacing inside a system}.
1293 In order to automatically stretch systems so that they should fill the
1294 space left on a page, a two-pass technique can be used:
1297 @item In the first pass, the amount of vertical space used to increase
1298 the height of each system is computed and dumped to a file.
1299 @item In the second pass, spacing inside the systems are
1300 stretched according to the data in the page layout file.
1303 The @code{ragged-bottom} property adds space between systems, while
1304 the two-pass technique adds space between staves inside a system.
1306 To allow this behaviour, a @code{tweak-key} variable has to be set in
1307 each score @code{\layout} block, and the tweaks included in each score
1308 music, using the @code{\scoreTweak} music function.
1312 %% include the generated page layout file:
1313 \includePageLayoutFile
1318 %% Include this score tweaks:
1319 \scoreTweak "scoreA"
1320 { \clef french c''1 \break c''1 }
1322 \new Staff { \clef soprano g'1 g'1 }
1323 \new Staff { \clef mezzosoprano e'1 e'1 }
1324 \new Staff { \clef alto g1 g1 }
1325 \new Staff { \clef bass c1 c1 }
1328 piece = "Score with tweaks"
1330 %% Define how to name the tweaks for this score:
1331 \layout { #(define tweak-key "scoreA") }
1336 For the first pass, the @code{dump-tweaks} option should be set to
1337 generate the page layout file.
1340 lilypond -dbackend=null -d dump-tweaks <file>.ly
1345 @node Vertical collision avoidance
1346 @subsection Vertical collision avoidance
1348 @funindex outside-staff-priority
1349 @funindex outside-staff-padding
1350 @funindex outside-staff-horizontal-padding
1352 Intuitively, there are some objects in musical notation that belong
1353 to the staff and there are other objects that should be placed outside
1354 the staff. Objects belonging outside the staff include things such as
1355 rehearsal marks, text and dynamic markings (from now on, these will
1356 be called outside-staff objects). LilyPond's rule for the
1357 vertical placement of outside-staff objects is to place them as close
1358 to the staff as possible but not so close that they collide with
1361 LilyPond uses the @code{outside-staff-priority} property to determine
1362 whether a grob is an outside-staff object: if @code{outside-staff-priority}
1363 is a number, the grob is an outside-staff object. In addition,
1364 @code{outside-staff-priority} tells LilyPond in which order the objects
1367 First, LilyPond places all the objects that do not belong outside
1368 the staff. Then it sorts the outside-staff objects according to their
1369 @code{outside-staff-priority} (in increasing order). One by one, LilyPond
1370 takes the outside-staff objects and places them so that they do
1371 not collide with any objects that have already been placed. That
1372 is, if two outside-staff grobs are competing for the same space, the one
1373 with the lower @code{outside-staff-priority} will be placed closer to
1376 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1379 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = #1
1380 c4_"Text"\pp % this time the text will be closer to the staff
1382 % by setting outside-staff-priority to a non-number, we
1383 % disable the automatic collision avoidance
1384 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
1385 \once \override DynamicLineSpanner #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
1386 c4_"Text"\pp % now they will collide
1389 The vertical padding between an outside-staff object and the
1390 previously-positioned grobs can be controlled with
1391 @code{outside-staff-padding}.
1393 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1394 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-padding = #0
1395 a'^"This text is placed very close to the note"
1396 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-padding = #3
1397 c^"This text is padded away from the previous text"
1398 c^"This text is placed close to the previous text"
1401 By default, outside-staff objects are placed without regard to
1402 their horizontal distance from the previously-posititioned grobs. This
1403 can lead to situations in which objects are placed very close to each
1404 other horizontally. Setting @code{outside-staff-horizontal-padding}
1405 causes an object to be offset vertically so that such a situation
1408 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1409 % the markup is too close to the following note
1412 % setting outside-staff-horizontal-padding fixes this
1414 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-horizontal-padding = #1
1421 @node Horizontal spacing
1422 @section Horizontal Spacing
1424 @cindex horizontal spacing
1425 @cindex spacing, horizontal
1428 * Horizontal spacing overview::
1429 * New spacing area::
1430 * Changing horizontal spacing::
1432 * Proportional notation::
1436 @node Horizontal spacing overview
1437 @subsection Horizontal spacing overview
1439 The spacing engine translates differences in durations into stretchable
1440 distances (@q{springs}) of differring lengths. Longer durations get
1441 more space, shorter durations get less. The shortest durations get a
1442 fixed amount of space (which is controlled by
1443 @code{shortest-duration-space} in the @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}
1444 object). The longer the duration, the more space it gets: doubling a
1445 duration adds a fixed amount (this amount is controlled by
1446 @code{spacing-increment}) of space to the note.
1448 For example, the following piece contains lots of half, quarter, and
1449 8th notes; the eighth note is followed by 1 note head width (NHW).
1450 The quarter note is followed by 2 NHW, the half by 3 NHW, etc.
1452 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=1]
1453 c2 c4. c8 c4. c8 c4. c8 c8
1457 Normally, @code{spacing-increment} is set to 1.2 staff space, which is
1458 approximately the width of a note head, and
1459 @code{shortest-duration-space} is set to 2.0, meaning that the
1460 shortest note gets 2.4 staff space (2.0 times the
1461 @code{spacing-increment}) of horizontal space. This space is counted
1462 from the left edge of the symbol, so the shortest notes are generally
1463 followed by one NHW of space.
1465 If one would follow the above procedure exactly, then adding a single
1466 32nd note to a score that uses 8th and 16th notes, would widen up the
1467 entire score a lot. The shortest note is no longer a 16th, but a 32nd,
1468 thus adding 1 NHW to every note. To prevent this, the shortest
1469 duration for spacing is not the shortest note in the score, but rather
1470 the one which occurs most frequently.
1473 The most common shortest duration is determined as follows: in every
1474 measure, the shortest duration is determined. The most common shortest
1475 duration is taken as the basis for the spacing, with the stipulation
1476 that this shortest duration should always be equal to or shorter than
1477 an 8th note. The shortest duration is printed when you run
1478 @code{lilypond} with the @code{--verbose} option.
1480 These durations may also be customized. If you set the
1481 @code{common-shortest-duration} in @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, then
1482 this sets the base duration for spacing. The maximum duration for this
1483 base (normally an 8th), is set through @code{base-shortest-duration}.
1485 @funindex common-shortest-duration
1486 @funindex base-shortest-duration
1487 @funindex stem-spacing-correction
1490 Notes that are even shorter than the common shortest note are
1491 followed by a space that is proportional to their duration relative to
1492 the common shortest note. So if we were to add only a few 16th notes
1493 to the example above, they would be followed by half a NHW:
1495 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=2]
1496 c2 c4. c8 c4. c16[ c] c4. c8 c8 c8 c4 c4 c4
1500 In the introduction (see @ref{Engraving}), it was explained that stem
1501 directions influence spacing. This is controlled with the
1502 @code{stem-spacing-correction} property in the
1503 @internalsref{NoteSpacing}, object. These are generated for every
1504 @internalsref{Voice} context. The @code{StaffSpacing} object
1505 (generated in @internalsref{Staff} context) contains the same property
1506 for controlling the stem/bar line spacing. The following example shows
1507 these corrections, once with default settings, and once with
1508 exaggerated corrections:
1510 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1514 \override Staff.NoteSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
1515 \override Staff.StaffSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
1521 Proportional notation is supported; see @ref{Proportional notation}.
1526 Internals: @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, @internalsref{NoteSpacing},
1527 @internalsref{StaffSpacing}, @internalsref{SeparationItem}, and
1528 @internalsref{SeparatingGroupSpanner}.
1533 There is no convenient mechanism to manually override spacing. The
1534 following work-around may be used to insert extra space into a score.
1536 \once \override Score.SeparationItem #'padding = #1
1539 No work-around exists for decreasing the amount of space.
1542 @node New spacing area
1543 @subsection New spacing area
1545 New sections with different spacing parameters can be started with
1546 @code{newSpacingSection}. This is useful when there are
1547 sections with a different notions of long and short notes.
1549 In the following example, the time signature change introduces a new
1550 section, and hence the 16ths notes are spaced wider.
1552 @lilypond[relative,fragment,verbatim,quote]
1555 c8 c c4 c16[ c c8] c4
1562 The @code{\newSpacingSection} command creates a new
1563 @internalsref{SpacingSpanner} object, and hence new @code{\override}s
1564 may be used in that location.
1567 @node Changing horizontal spacing
1568 @subsection Changing horizontal spacing
1570 Horizontal spacing may be altered with the
1571 @code{base-shortest-duration} property. Here
1572 we compare the same music; once without altering
1573 the property, and then altered. Larger values
1574 of @code{ly:make-moment} will produce smaller
1575 music. Note that @code{ly:make-moment} constructs
1576 a duration, so @code{1 4} is a longer duration
1579 @lilypond[relative,verbatim,line-width=12\cm]
1582 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 d e f | g4 g g2 |
1583 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1584 d4 d d d | d4 e f2 | e4 e e e | e4 f g2 |
1585 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1590 @lilypond[relative,verbatim,line-width=12\cm]
1593 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 d e f | g4 g g2 |
1594 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1595 d4 d d d | d4 e f2 | e4 e e e | e4 f g2 |
1596 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1601 \override SpacingSpanner
1602 #'base-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1611 By default, spacing in tuplets depends on various non-duration
1612 factors (such as accidentals, clef changes, etc). To disregard
1613 such symbols and force uniform equal-duration spacing, use
1614 @code{Score.SpacingSpanner #'uniform-stretching}. This
1615 property can only be changed at the beginning of a score,
1617 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1619 \override SpacingSpanner #'uniform-stretching = ##t
1637 When @code{strict-note-spacing} is set, notes are spaced without
1638 regard for clefs, bar lines, and grace notes,
1640 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1641 \override Score.SpacingSpanner #'strict-note-spacing = ##t
1642 \new Staff { c8[ c \clef alto c \grace { c16[ c] } c8 c c] c32[ c32] }
1647 @subsection Line length
1650 @cindex breaking pages
1653 @funindex line-width
1654 @funindex ragged-right
1655 @funindex ragged-last
1657 @c Although line-width can be set in \layout, it should be set in paper
1658 @c block, to get page layout right.
1659 @c Setting indent in \paper block makes not much sense, but it works.
1661 @c Bit verbose and vague, use examples?
1662 The most basic settings influencing the spacing are @code{indent} and
1663 @code{line-width}. They are set in the @code{\layout} block. They
1664 control the indentation of the first line of music, and the lengths of
1667 If @code{ragged-right} is set to true in the @code{\layout} block, then
1668 systems ends at their natural horizontal length, instead of being spread
1669 horizontally to fill the whole line. This is useful for
1670 short fragments, and for checking how tight the natural spacing is.
1673 @cindex vertical spacing
1675 The option @code{ragged-last} is similar to @code{ragged-right}, but
1676 only affects the last line of the piece. No restrictions are put on
1677 that line. The result is similar to formatting text paragraphs. In a
1678 paragraph, the last line simply takes its natural horizontal length.
1679 @c Note that for text there are several options for the last line.
1680 @c While Knuth TeX uses natural length, lead typesetters use the same
1681 @c stretch as the previous line. eTeX uses \lastlinefit to
1682 @c interpolate between both these solutions.
1693 @node Proportional notation
1694 @subsection Proportional notation
1696 LilyPond supports proportional notation, a type of horizontal spacing
1697 in which each note consumes an amount of horizontal space exactly
1698 equivalent to its rhythmic duration. This type of proportional spacing
1699 is comparable to horizontal spacing on top of graph paper. Some late
1700 20th- and early 21st-century scores use proportional notation to
1701 clarify complex rhythmic relationships or to faciliate the placement
1702 of timelines or other graphics directly in the score.
1704 LilyPond supports five different settings for proportional notation,
1705 which may be used together or alone:
1708 @item @code{proportionalNotationDuration}
1709 @item @code{uniform-stretching}
1710 @item @code{strict-note-spacing}
1711 @item @code{\remove Separating_line_group_engraver}
1712 @item @code{\override PaperColumn #'used = ##t}
1715 In the examples that follow, we explore these five different
1716 proportional notation settings and examine how these settings interact.
1718 We start with the following one-measure example, which uses classical
1719 spacing with ragged-right turned on.
1721 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1723 \new RhythmicStaff {
1727 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1733 Notice that the half note which begins the measure takes up far less
1734 than half of the horizontal space of the measure. Likewise, the
1735 sixteenth notes and sixteenth-note quintuplets (or twentieth notes)
1736 which end the measure together take up far more than half the
1737 horizontal space of the measure.
1739 In classical engraving, this spacing may be exactly what we want
1740 because we can borrow horizontal space from the half note and conserve
1741 horizontal space across the measure as a whole.
1743 On the other hand, if we want to insert a measured timeline or other
1744 graphic above or below our score, we need proportional notation. We
1745 turn proportional notation on with the proportionalNotationDuration
1748 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1750 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 20)
1752 \new RhythmicStaff {
1756 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1762 The half note at the beginning of the measure and the faster notes in
1763 the second half of the measure now occupy equal amounts of horizontal
1764 space. We could place a measured timeline or graphic above or below
1767 The @code{proportionalNotationDuration} setting is a context setting that
1768 lives in @context{Score}. Recall that context settings appear in one of
1769 three locations in our input file -- in a @code{\with} block, in a
1770 @code{\context} block, or directly in music entry
1771 preceeded by the @code{\set} command. As with all
1772 context settings, users can pick which of the three different
1773 locations they would like to set @code{proportionalNotationDuration}.
1775 The @code{proportionalNotationDuration} setting takes a single argument,
1776 which is the reference duration against which all music will be
1777 spaced. The LilyPond Scheme function make-moment takes two arguments
1778 -- a numerator and denominator which together express some fraction of
1779 a whole note. The call @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 20)} therefore produces a
1780 reference duration of a twentieth note. The values
1781 @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 16)}, @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 8)}, and
1782 @code{#(ly:make-moment 3 97)} are all possible as well.
1784 How do we select the right reference duration to pass to
1785 @code{proportionalNotationDuration}? Usually by a process of trial and error,
1786 beginning with a duration close to the fastest (or smallest) duration
1787 in the piece. Smaller reference durations space music loosely; larger
1788 reference durations space music tightly.
1790 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1792 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 8)
1794 \new RhythmicStaff {
1798 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1804 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1806 \new RhythmicStaff {
1810 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1816 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
1818 \new RhythmicStaff {
1822 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1828 Note that too large a reference duration -- such as the eighth note,
1829 above -- spaces music too tightly and can cause notehead collisions.
1830 Note also that proportional notation in general takes up more
1831 horizontal space that does classical spacing. Proportional spacing
1832 provides rhythmic clarity at the expense of horizontal space.
1834 Next we examine how to optimally space overlapping tuplets.
1836 We start by examining what happens to our original example, with
1837 classical spacing, when we add a second staff with a different type of
1840 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1842 \new RhythmicStaff {
1846 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1849 \new RhythmicStaff {
1851 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8
1857 The spacing is bad because the evenly notes of the bottom staff do not
1858 stretch uniformly. Classical engraving includes very few complex
1859 triplets and so classical engraving rules can generate this type of
1860 result. Setting @code{proportionalNotationDuration} remedies this
1861 situation considerably.
1863 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1865 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 20)
1867 \new RhythmicStaff {
1871 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1874 \new RhythmicStaff {
1876 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8
1882 But if we look very carefully we can see that notes of the second half
1883 of the 9-tuplet space ever so slightly more widely than do the notes
1884 of the first half of the 9-tuplet. To ensure uniform stretching, we
1885 turn on @code{uniform-stretching}, which is a property of
1886 @code{SpacingSpanner}.
1888 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1890 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 20)
1891 \override SpacingSpanner #'uniform-stretching = ##t
1893 \new RhythmicStaff {
1897 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1900 \new RhythmicStaff {
1902 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8
1908 Our two-staff example now spaces exactly, our rhythmic relationships
1909 are visually clear, and we can include a measured timeline or graphic
1912 The @code{SpacingSpanner} is an abstract grob that lives in the
1913 @context{Score} context. As with our settings of
1914 @code{proportionalNotationDuration},
1915 overrides to the @code{SpacingSpanner} can occur in any of three different
1916 places in our input file -- in the Score @code{\with} block, in a
1917 Score @code{\context} block, or in note entry directly.
1919 There is by default only one @code{SpacingSpanner} per @code{Score}. This
1920 means that, by default, @code{uniform-stretching} is either turned on for the
1921 entire score or turned off for the entire score. We can, however,
1922 override this behavior and turn on different spacing features at
1923 different places in the score. We do this with the command
1924 @code{\newSpacingSection}. See @ref{New spacing area}, for more info.
1926 Next we examine the effects of the @code{Separating_line_group_engraver} and
1927 see why proportional scores frequently remove this engraver. The following
1928 example shows that there is a small amount of @qq{preferatory} space
1929 just before the first note in each system.
1931 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1944 The amount of this preferatory space is the same whether after a time
1945 signature, a key signature or a clef. @code{Separating_line_group_engraver}
1946 is responsible for this space. Removing @code{Separating_line_group_engraver}
1947 reduces this space to zero.
1949 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1955 \remove Separating_line_group_engraver
1963 Nonmusical elements like time signatures, key signatures, clefs and
1964 accidentals are problemmatic in proportional notation. None of these
1965 elements has rhythmic duration. But all of these elements consume
1966 horizontal space. Different proportional scores approach these
1967 problems differently.
1969 It may be possible to avoid spacing problems with key signatures
1970 simply by not having any. This is a valid option since most
1971 proportional scores are contemporary music. The same may be true
1972 of time signatures, especially for those scores
1973 that include a measured timeline or other graphic. But these scores
1974 are exceptional and most proportional scores include at least some
1975 time signatures. Clefs and accidentals are even more essential.
1977 So what strategies exist for spacing nonmusical elements in a
1978 proportional context? One good option is the @code{strict-note-spacing}
1979 property of @code{SpacingSpanner}. Compare the two scores below:
1981 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1983 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1993 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1994 \override Score.SpacingSpanner #'strict-note-spacing = ##t
2004 Both scores are proportional, but the spacing in the first score is
2005 too loose because of the clef change. The spacing of the second score
2006 remains strict, however, because @code{strict-note-spacing} is turned
2007 on. Turning on @code{strict-note-spacing} causes the width of time
2008 signatures, key signatures and clefs to play no part in the spacing
2009 algorithm. Accidentals are a different matter, however. By default, all
2010 accidentals consume a little extra space, as the following pair of
2013 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
2015 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
2027 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
2039 Both scores are proportional but the second score exhibits spacing
2040 irregularities due to accidentals. Turning on @code{strict-note-spacing}
2041 does not work for accidentals. Instead,
2042 we override the @code{X-extent} of all accidentals to zero and then move the
2043 accidentals to the left of the notes they modify.
2045 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
2047 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
2048 \override Accidental #'X-extent = #'(0 . 0)
2049 \override Accidental #'extra-offset = #'(-1 . 0)
2061 In addition to the settings given here, there are other settings that
2062 frequently appear in proportional scores. These include:
2065 @item @code{\override SpacingSpanner #'strict-grace-spacing = ##t}
2066 @item @code{tupletFullLength = ##t}
2067 @item @code{\override Beam #'breakable = ##t}
2068 @item @code{\override Glissando #'breakable = ##t}
2069 @item @code{\override TextSpanner #'breakable = ##t}
2070 @item @code{\remove Forbid_line_break_engraver in the Voice context}
2073 These settings space grace notes strictly, extend tuplet brackets to
2074 mark both rhythmic start- and stop-points, and allow spanning elements
2075 to break across systems and pages. See the respective parts of the manual
2076 for these related settings.