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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 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::
561 * Using an extra voice for breaks::
565 @subsection Line breaking
568 @cindex breaking lines
570 Line breaks are normally computed automatically. They are chosen so
571 that lines look neither cramped nor loose, and that consecutive lines
572 have similar density.
574 Occasionally you might want to override the automatic breaks; you can
575 do this by specifying @code{\break}. This will force a line break at
576 this point. Line breaks can only occur at places where there are bar
577 lines. If you want to have a line break where there is no bar line,
578 you can force an invisible bar line by entering @code{\bar
579 ""}. Similarly, @code{\noBreak} forbids a line break at a
583 @cindex regular line breaks
584 @cindex four bar music.
586 For line breaks at regular intervals use @code{\break} separated by
587 skips and repeated with @code{\repeat}:
589 << \repeat unfold 7 @{
590 s1 \noBreak s1 \noBreak
591 s1 \noBreak s1 \break @}
592 @emph{the real music}
597 This makes the following 28 measures (assuming 4/4 time) be broken every
598 4 measures, and only there.
602 @code{\break}, and @code{\noBreak}.
608 Internals: @internalsref{LineBreakEvent}.
610 A linebreaking configuration can be saved as a @code{.ly} file
611 automatically. This allows vertical alignments to be stretched to
612 fit pages in a second formatting run. This is fairly new and
613 complicated. More details are available in
618 Line breaks can only occur if there is a @q{proper} bar line. A note
619 which is hanging over a bar line is not proper, such as
621 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
622 c4 c2 c2 \break % this does nothing
623 c2 c4 | % a break here would work
624 c4 c2 c4 ~ \break % as does this break
628 This can be avoided by removing the @code{Forbid_line_break_engraver}
629 and adding the line breaks in another voice:
631 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,verbatim]
634 \remove Forbid_line_break_engraver
646 @subsection Page breaking
648 The default page breaking may be overriden by inserting
649 @code{\pageBreak} or @code{\noPageBreak} commands. These commands are
650 analogous to @code{\break} and @code{\noBreak}. They should be
651 inserted at a bar line. These commands force and forbid a page-break
652 from happening. Of course, the @code{\pageBreak} command also forces
655 The @code{\pageBreak} and @code{\noPageBreak} commands may also be
656 inserted at top-level, between scores and top-level markups.
658 Page breaks are computed by the @code{page-breaking} function.
659 LilyPond provides two algorithms for computing page
660 breaks, @code{ly:optimal-breaking} and @code{ly:page-turn-breaking}. The
661 default is @code{ly:optimal-breaking}, but the value can be changed in
662 the @code{\paper} block:
666 #(define page-breaking ly:page-turn-breaking)
670 The old page breaking algorithm is called
671 @code{optimal-page-breaks}. If you are having trouble with the new page
672 breakers, you can enable the old one as a workaround.
678 @funindex \noPageBreak
682 @node Optimal page breaking
683 @subsection Optimal page breaking
685 @funindex ly:optimal-breaking
687 The @code{ly:optimal-breaking} function is LilyPond's default method of
688 determining page breaks. It attempts to find a page breaking that minimizes
689 cramping and stretching, both horizontally and vertically. Unlike
690 @code{ly:page-turn-breaking}, it has no concept of page turns.
693 @node Optimal page turning
694 @subsection Optimal page turning
696 @funindex ly:page-turn-breaking
698 Often it is necessary to find a page breaking configuration so that there is
699 a rest at the end of every second page. This way, the musician can turn the
700 page without having to miss notes. The @code{ly:page-turn-breaking} function
701 attempts to find a page breaking minimizing cramping and stretching, but with
702 the additional restriction that it is only allowed to introduce page turns
705 There are two steps to using this page breaking function. First, you must
706 enable it in the @code{\paper} block. Then, you must tell the function
707 where you would like to allow page breaks.
709 There are two ways to achieve the second step. First, you can specify each
710 potential page turn manually, by inserting @code{\allowPageTurn} into your
711 input file at the appropriate places.
713 If this is too tedious, you can add a @code{Page_turn_engraver} to a Staff or
714 Voice context. The @code{Page_turn_engraver} will scan the context for
715 sections without notes (note that it does not scan for rests; it scans for
716 the absence of notes. This is so that single-staff polyphony with rests in one
717 of the parts does not throw off the @code{Page_turn_engraver}). When it finds
718 a sufficiently long section without notes, the @code{Page_turn_engraver} will
719 insert an @code{\allowPageTurn} at the final barline in that section, unless
720 there is a @q{special} barline (such as a double bar), in which case the
721 @code{\allowPageTurn} will be inserted at the final @q{special} barline in
724 @funindex minimumPageTurnLength
725 The @code{Page_turn_engraver} reads the context property
726 @code{minimumPageTurnLength} to determine how long a note-free section must
727 be before a page turn is considered. The default value for
728 @code{minimumPageTurnLength} is @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 1)}. If you want
729 to disable page turns, you can set it to something very large.
732 \new Staff \with @{ \consists "Page_turn_engraver" @}
735 R1 | % a page turn will be allowed here
737 \set Staff.minimumPageTurnLength = #(ly:make-moment 5 2)
738 R1 | % a page turn will not be allowed here
740 R1*2 | % a page turn will be allowed here
745 @funindex minimumRepeatLengthForPageTurn
746 The @code{Page_turn_engraver} detects volta repeats. It will only allow a page
747 turn during the repeat if there is enough time at the beginning and end of the
748 repeat to turn the page back. The @code{Page_turn_engraver} can also disable
749 page turns if the repeat is very short. If you set the context property
750 @code{minimumRepeatLengthForPageTurn} then the @code{Page_turn_engraver} will
751 only allow turns in repeats whose duration is longer than this value.
753 The page turning commands, @code{\pageTurn}, @code{\noPageTurn} and
754 @code{\allowPageTurn}, may also be used at top-level, between scores and
761 @funindex \noPageTurn
763 @funindex \allowPageTurn
764 @code{\allowPageTurn}
768 There should only be one @code{Page_turn_engraver} in a score. If there is more
769 than one, they will interfere with each other.
772 @node Explicit breaks
773 @subsection Explicit breaks
775 Lily sometimes rejects explicit @code{\break} and @code{\pageBreak}
776 commands. There are two commands to override this behavior:
779 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-permission = ##f
780 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'page-break-permission = ##f
783 When @code{line-break-permission} is overriden to false, Lily will insert
784 line breaks at explicit @code{\break} commands and nowhere else. When
785 @code{page-break-permission} is overriden to false, Lily will insert
786 page breaks at explicit @code{\pageBreak} commands and nowhere else.
788 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
797 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-permission = ##f
798 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn #'page-break-permission = ##f
801 \repeat unfold 2 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
802 \repeat unfold 4 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
803 \repeat unfold 6 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
804 \repeat unfold 8 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \pageBreak
805 \repeat unfold 8 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
806 \repeat unfold 6 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
807 \repeat unfold 4 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 } \break
808 \repeat unfold 2 { c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 }
815 @node Using an extra voice for breaks
816 @subsection Using an extra voice for breaks
818 Line- and page-breaking information usually appears within note entry directly.
823 \repeat unfold 2 @{ c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 @}
825 \repeat unfold 3 @{ c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 @}
830 This makes @code{\break} and @code{\pageBreak} commands easy to enter but mixes
831 music entry with information that specifies how music should lay out
832 on the page. You can keep music entry and line- and page-breaking
833 information in two separate places by introducing an extra voice to
834 contain the breaks. This extra voice
835 contains only skips together with @code{\break}, @code{pageBreak} and other
836 breaking layout information.
838 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
848 \repeat unfold 2 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
849 \repeat unfold 3 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
850 \repeat unfold 6 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
851 \repeat unfold 5 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
857 This pattern becomes especially helpful when overriding
858 @code{line-break-system-details} and the other useful but long properties of
859 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumnGrob}, as explained in @ref{Vertical spacing}.
861 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
866 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
867 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 0))
870 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
871 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 35))
874 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
875 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 70))
878 \overrideProperty "Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
879 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 105))
883 \repeat unfold 2 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
884 \repeat unfold 3 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
885 \repeat unfold 6 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
886 \repeat unfold 5 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 }
893 @node Vertical spacing
894 @section Vertical spacing
896 @cindex vertical spacing
897 @cindex spacing, vertical
899 Vertical spacing is controlled by three things: the amount of
900 space available (i.e., paper size and margins), the amount of
901 space between systems, and the amount of space between
902 staves inside a system.
905 * Vertical spacing inside a system::
906 * Vertical spacing between systems::
907 * Explicit staff and system positioning::
908 * Two-pass vertical spacing::
909 * Vertical collision avoidance::
913 @node Vertical spacing inside a system
914 @subsection Vertical spacing inside a system
916 @cindex distance between staves
917 @cindex staff distance
918 @cindex space between staves
919 @cindex space inside systems
921 The height of each system is determined automatically. To prevent
922 staves from bumping into each other, some minimum distances are set.
923 By changing these, you can put staves closer together. This
924 reduces the amount of space each system requires, and may result
925 in having more systems per page.
927 Normally staves are stacked vertically. To make staves maintain a
928 distance, their vertical size is padded. This is done with the
929 property @code{minimum-Y-extent}. When applied to a
930 @internalsref{VerticalAxisGroup}, it controls the size of a horizontal
931 line, such as a staff or a line of lyrics. @code{minimum-Y-extent}
932 takes a pair of numbers, so
933 if you want to make it smaller than its default @code{#'(-4 . 4)}
937 \override Staff.VerticalAxisGroup #'minimum-Y-extent = #'(-3 . 3)
941 This sets the vertical size of the current staff to 3 staff spaces on
942 either side of the center staff line. The value @code{(-3 . 3)} is
943 interpreted as an interval, where the center line is the 0, so the
944 first number is generally negative. The numbers need not match;
945 for example, the staff can be made larger at the bottom by setting
946 it to @code{(-6 . 4)}.
948 After page breaks are determined, the vertical spacing within each
949 system is reevaluated in order to fill the page more evenly; if a page
950 has space left over, systems are stretched in order to fill that space.
951 The amount of stretching can be configured though the @code{max-stretch}
952 property of the @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} grob. To disable this
953 stretching entirely, set @code{max-stretch} to zero.
955 In some situations, you may want to stretch most of a system while
956 leaving some parts fixed. For example, if a piano part occurs in the
957 middle of an orchestral score, you may want to leave the piano staves
958 close to each other while stretching the rest of the score. The
959 @code{keep-fixed-while-stretching} property of
960 @internalsref{VerticalAxisGroup} can be used to achieve this. When set
961 to @code{##t}, this property keeps its staff (or line of lyrics) from
962 moving relative to the one directly above it. In the example above,
963 you would override @code{keep-fixed-while-stretching} to @code{##t} in
964 the second piano staff:
967 #(set-default-paper-size "a6")
968 #(set-global-staff-size 14.0)
972 ragged-last-bottom = ##f
980 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
981 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
982 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
987 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
989 \override VerticalAxisGroup #'keep-fixed-while-stretching = ##t
996 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
997 \new Staff {c' d' e' f'}
1006 Internals: Vertical alignment of staves is handled by the
1007 @internalsref{VerticalAlignment} object. The context parameters
1008 specifying the vertical extent are described in connection with
1009 the @internalsref{Axis_group_engraver}.
1011 Example files: @lsr{spacing,page-spacing.ly},
1012 @lsr{spacing,alignment-vertical-spacing.ly}.
1015 @node Vertical spacing between systems
1016 @subsection Vertical spacing between systems
1018 Space between systems are controlled by four @code{\paper} variables,
1022 between-system-space = 1.5\cm
1023 between-system-padding = #1
1025 ragged-last-bottom=##f
1030 @node Explicit staff and system positioning
1031 @subsection Explicit staff and system positioning
1033 One way to understand the @code{VerticalAxisGroup} and @code{\paper}
1034 settings explained in the previous two sections is as a collection of
1035 different settings that primarily concern the amount of vertical padding
1036 different staves and systems running down the page.
1038 It is possible to approach vertical spacing in a different way using
1039 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details}. Where
1040 @code{VerticalAxisGroup} and @code{\paper} settings specify vertical padding,
1041 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details} specifies exact
1042 vertical positions on the page.
1044 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details} accepts an associative
1045 list of five different settings:
1048 @item @code{X-offset}
1049 @item @code{Y-offset}
1050 @item @code{alignment-offsets}
1051 @item @code{alignment-extra-space}
1052 @item @code{fixed-alignment-extra-space}
1055 Grob overrides, including the overrides for @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn}
1056 below, can occur in any of three different places in an input file:
1059 @item in the middle of note entry directly
1060 @item in a @code{\context} block
1061 @item in the @code{\with} block
1064 When we override @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn}, we use the usual
1065 @code{\override} command in @code{\context} blocks and in the
1066 @code{\with} block. On the other hand, when we override
1067 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} in the middle of note entry,
1068 use the special @code{\overrideProperty} command. Here are some
1069 example @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} overrides with the special
1070 @code{\overrideProperty} command:
1073 \overrideProperty NonMusicalPaperColumn
1074 #'line-break-system-details #'((X-offset . 20))
1076 \overrideProperty NonMusicalPaperColumn
1077 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 40))
1079 \overrideProperty NonMusicalPaperColumn
1080 #'line-break-system-details #'((X-offset . 20) (Y-offset . 40))
1082 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn
1083 #'line-break-system-details #'((alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1085 \override NonMusicalPaperColumn
1086 #'line-break-system-details #'((X-offset . 20) (Y-offset . 40)
1087 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1090 To understand how each of these different settings work, we begin
1091 by looking at an example that includes no overrides at all.
1093 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1101 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1104 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1109 This score isolates line- and page-breaking information in a dedicated
1110 voice. This technique of creating a breaks voice will help keep layout
1111 separate from music entry as our example becomes more complicated.
1112 See @ref{Using an extra voice for breaks}.
1114 Explicit @code{\breaks} evenly divide the music into six measures per
1115 line. Vertical spacing results from LilyPond's defaults. To set
1116 the vertical startpoint of each system explicitly, we can set
1117 the @code{Y-offset} pair in the @code{line-break-system-details}
1118 attribute of the @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} grob:
1120 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1124 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1125 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 0))
1127 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1128 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 40))
1130 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1131 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 80))
1134 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1137 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1142 Note that @code{line-break-system-details} takes an associative list of
1143 potentially many values, but that we set only one value here. Note,
1144 too, that the @code{Y-offset} property here determines the exact vertical
1145 position on the page at which each new system will render.
1147 Now that we have set the vertical startpoint of each system
1148 explicitly, we can also set the vertical startpoint of each staff
1149 within each system manually. We do this using the @code{alignment-offsets}
1150 subproperty of @code{line-break-system-details}.
1152 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1156 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1157 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 20)
1158 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1160 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1161 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 60)
1162 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1164 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1165 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 100)
1166 (alignment-offsets . (0 -15)))
1169 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1172 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1177 Note that here we assign two different values to the
1178 @code{line-break-system-details} attribute of the
1179 @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn} grob. Though the
1180 @code{line-break-system-details} attribute alist accepts many
1181 additional spacing parameters (including, for example, a corresponding
1182 @code{X-offset} pair), we need only set the @code{Y-offset} and
1183 @code{alignment-offsets} pairs to control the vertical startpoint of
1184 every system and every staff. Finally, note that @code{alignment-offsets}
1185 specifies the vertical positioning of staves but not of staff groups.
1187 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1191 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1192 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 0)
1193 (alignment-offsets . (0 -30 -40)))
1195 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1196 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 60)
1197 (alignment-offsets . (0 -10 -20)))
1199 \overrideProperty #"Score.NonMusicalPaperColumn"
1200 #'line-break-system-details #'((Y-offset . 100)
1201 (alignment-offsets . (0 -10, -40)))
1204 \new Voice { \repeat unfold 18 { c'4 c'4 c'4 c'4 } }
1208 \repeat unfold 18 { d'4 d'4 d'4 d'4 }
1211 \repeat unfold 18 { e'4 e'4 e'4 e'4 }
1217 Some points to consider:
1220 @item When using @code{alignment-offsets}, lyrics count as a staff.
1222 @item The units of the numbers passed to @code{X-offset},
1223 @code{Y-offset} and @code{alignment-offsets} are interpreted as multiples
1224 of the distance between adjacent staff lines. Positive values move staves
1225 and lyrics up, negative values move staves and lyrics down.
1227 @item Because the @code{NonMusicalPaperColumn #'line-break-system-details}
1228 settings given here allow the positioning of staves and systems anywhere
1229 on the page, it is possible to violate paper or margin boundaries or even
1230 to print staves or systems on top of one another. Reasonable values
1231 passed to these different settings will avoid this.
1235 @node Two-pass vertical spacing
1236 @subsection Two-pass vertical spacing
1238 Warning: two-pass vertical spacing is deprecated and will be removed in
1239 a future version of LilyPond. Systems are now stretched automatically
1240 in a single pass. See @ref{Vertical spacing inside a system}.
1242 In order to automatically stretch systems so that they should fill the
1243 space left on a page, a two-pass technique can be used:
1246 @item In the first pass, the amount of vertical space used to increase
1247 the height of each system is computed and dumped to a file.
1248 @item In the second pass, spacing inside the systems are
1249 stretched according to the data in the page layout file.
1252 The @code{ragged-bottom} property adds space between systems, while
1253 the two-pass technique adds space between staves inside a system.
1255 To allow this behaviour, a @code{tweak-key} variable has to be set in
1256 each score @code{\layout} block, and the tweaks included in each score
1257 music, using the @code{\scoreTweak} music function.
1261 %% include the generated page layout file:
1262 \includePageLayoutFile
1267 %% Include this score tweaks:
1268 \scoreTweak "scoreA"
1269 { \clef french c''1 \break c''1 }
1271 \new Staff { \clef soprano g'1 g'1 }
1272 \new Staff { \clef mezzosoprano e'1 e'1 }
1273 \new Staff { \clef alto g1 g1 }
1274 \new Staff { \clef bass c1 c1 }
1277 piece = "Score with tweaks"
1279 %% Define how to name the tweaks for this score:
1280 \layout { #(define tweak-key "scoreA") }
1285 For the first pass, the @code{dump-tweaks} option should be set to
1286 generate the page layout file.
1289 lilypond -dbackend=null -d dump-tweaks <file>.ly
1294 @node Vertical collision avoidance
1295 @subsection Vertical collision avoidance
1297 @funindex outside-staff-priority
1298 @funindex outside-staff-padding
1299 @funindex outside-staff-horizontal-padding
1301 Intuitively, there are some objects in musical notation that belong
1302 to the staff and there are other objects that should be placed outside
1303 the staff. Objects belonging outside the staff include things such as
1304 rehearsal marks, text and dynamic markings (from now on, these will
1305 be called outside-staff objects). LilyPond's rule for the
1306 vertical placement of outside-staff objects is to place them as close
1307 to the staff as possible but not so close that they collide with
1310 LilyPond uses the @code{outside-staff-priority} property to determine
1311 whether a grob is an outside-staff object: if @code{outside-staff-priority}
1312 is a number, the grob is an outside-staff object. In addition,
1313 @code{outside-staff-priority} tells LilyPond in which order the objects
1316 First, LilyPond places all the objects that do not belong outside
1317 the staff. Then it sorts the outside-staff objects according to their
1318 @code{outside-staff-priority} (in increasing order). One by one, LilyPond
1319 takes the outside-staff objects and places them so that they do
1320 not collide with any objects that have already been placed. That
1321 is, if two outside-staff grobs are competing for the same space, the one
1322 with the lower @code{outside-staff-priority} will be placed closer to
1325 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1328 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = #1
1329 c4_"Text"\pp % this time the text will be closer to the staff
1331 % by setting outside-staff-priority to a non-number, we
1332 % disable the automatic collision avoidance
1333 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
1334 \once \override DynamicLineSpanner #'outside-staff-priority = ##f
1335 c4_"Text"\pp % now they will collide
1338 The vertical padding between an outside-staff object and the
1339 previously-positioned grobs can be controlled with
1340 @code{outside-staff-padding}.
1342 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1343 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-padding = #0
1344 a'^"This text is placed very close to the note"
1345 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-padding = #3
1346 c^"This text is padded away from the previous text"
1347 c^"This text is placed close to the previous text"
1350 By default, outside-staff objects are placed without regard to
1351 their horizontal distance from the previously-posititioned grobs. This
1352 can lead to situations in which objects are placed very close to each
1353 other horizontally. Setting @code{outside-staff-horizontal-padding}
1354 causes an object to be offset vertically so that such a situation
1357 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1358 % the markup is too close to the following note
1361 % setting outside-staff-horizontal-padding fixes this
1363 \once \override TextScript #'outside-staff-horizontal-padding = #1
1370 @node Horizontal spacing
1371 @section Horizontal Spacing
1373 @cindex horizontal spacing
1374 @cindex spacing, horizontal
1377 * Horizontal spacing overview::
1378 * New spacing area::
1379 * Changing horizontal spacing::
1381 * Proportional notation::
1385 @node Horizontal spacing overview
1386 @subsection Horizontal spacing overview
1388 The spacing engine translates differences in durations into stretchable
1389 distances (@q{springs}) of differring lengths. Longer durations get
1390 more space, shorter durations get less. The shortest durations get a
1391 fixed amount of space (which is controlled by
1392 @code{shortest-duration-space} in the @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}
1393 object). The longer the duration, the more space it gets: doubling a
1394 duration adds a fixed amount (this amount is controlled by
1395 @code{spacing-increment}) of space to the note.
1397 For example, the following piece contains lots of half, quarter, and
1398 8th notes; the eighth note is followed by 1 note head width (NHW).
1399 The quarter note is followed by 2 NHW, the half by 3 NHW, etc.
1401 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=1]
1402 c2 c4. c8 c4. c8 c4. c8 c8
1406 Normally, @code{spacing-increment} is set to 1.2 staff space, which is
1407 approximately the width of a note head, and
1408 @code{shortest-duration-space} is set to 2.0, meaning that the
1409 shortest note gets 2.4 staff space (2.0 times the
1410 @code{spacing-increment}) of horizontal space. This space is counted
1411 from the left edge of the symbol, so the shortest notes are generally
1412 followed by one NHW of space.
1414 If one would follow the above procedure exactly, then adding a single
1415 32nd note to a score that uses 8th and 16th notes, would widen up the
1416 entire score a lot. The shortest note is no longer a 16th, but a 32nd,
1417 thus adding 1 NHW to every note. To prevent this, the shortest
1418 duration for spacing is not the shortest note in the score, but rather
1419 the one which occurs most frequently.
1422 The most common shortest duration is determined as follows: in every
1423 measure, the shortest duration is determined. The most common shortest
1424 duration is taken as the basis for the spacing, with the stipulation
1425 that this shortest duration should always be equal to or shorter than
1426 an 8th note. The shortest duration is printed when you run
1427 @code{lilypond} with the @code{--verbose} option.
1429 These durations may also be customized. If you set the
1430 @code{common-shortest-duration} in @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, then
1431 this sets the base duration for spacing. The maximum duration for this
1432 base (normally an 8th), is set through @code{base-shortest-duration}.
1434 @funindex common-shortest-duration
1435 @funindex base-shortest-duration
1436 @funindex stem-spacing-correction
1439 Notes that are even shorter than the common shortest note are
1440 followed by a space that is proportional to their duration relative to
1441 the common shortest note. So if we were to add only a few 16th notes
1442 to the example above, they would be followed by half a NHW:
1444 @lilypond[quote,fragment,verbatim,relative=2]
1445 c2 c4. c8 c4. c16[ c] c4. c8 c8 c8 c4 c4 c4
1449 In the introduction (see @ref{Engraving}), it was explained that stem
1450 directions influence spacing. This is controlled with the
1451 @code{stem-spacing-correction} property in the
1452 @internalsref{NoteSpacing}, object. These are generated for every
1453 @internalsref{Voice} context. The @code{StaffSpacing} object
1454 (generated in @internalsref{Staff} context) contains the same property
1455 for controlling the stem/bar line spacing. The following example shows
1456 these corrections, once with default settings, and once with
1457 exaggerated corrections:
1459 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right]
1463 \override Staff.NoteSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
1464 \override Staff.StaffSpacing #'stem-spacing-correction = #1.5
1470 Proportional notation is supported; see @ref{Proportional notation}.
1475 Internals: @internalsref{SpacingSpanner}, @internalsref{NoteSpacing},
1476 @internalsref{StaffSpacing}, @internalsref{SeparationItem}, and
1477 @internalsref{SeparatingGroupSpanner}.
1482 There is no convenient mechanism to manually override spacing. The
1483 following work-around may be used to insert extra space into a score.
1485 \once \override Score.SeparationItem #'padding = #1
1488 No work-around exists for decreasing the amount of space.
1491 @node New spacing area
1492 @subsection New spacing area
1494 New sections with different spacing parameters can be started with
1495 @code{newSpacingSection}. This is useful when there are
1496 sections with a different notions of long and short notes.
1498 In the following example, the time signature change introduces a new
1499 section, and hence the 16ths notes are spaced wider.
1501 @lilypond[relative,fragment,verbatim,quote]
1504 c8 c c4 c16[ c c8] c4
1511 The @code{\newSpacingSection} command creates a new
1512 @internalsref{SpacingSpanner} object, and hence new @code{\override}s
1513 may be used in that location.
1516 @node Changing horizontal spacing
1517 @subsection Changing horizontal spacing
1519 Horizontal spacing may be altered with the
1520 @code{base-shortest-duration} property. Here
1521 we compare the same music; once without altering
1522 the property, and then altered. Larger values
1523 of @code{ly:make-moment} will produce smaller
1524 music. Note that @code{ly:make-moment} constructs
1525 a duration, so @code{1 4} is a longer duration
1528 @lilypond[relative,verbatim,line-width=12\cm]
1531 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 d e f | g4 g g2 |
1532 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1533 d4 d d d | d4 e f2 | e4 e e e | e4 f g2 |
1534 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1539 @lilypond[relative,verbatim,line-width=12\cm]
1542 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 d e f | g4 g g2 |
1543 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1544 d4 d d d | d4 e f2 | e4 e e e | e4 f g2 |
1545 g4 e e2 | f4 d d2 | c4 e g g | c,1 |
1550 \override SpacingSpanner
1551 #'base-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1560 By default, spacing in tuplets depends on various non-duration
1561 factors (such as accidentals, clef changes, etc). To disregard
1562 such symbols and force uniform equal-duration spacing, use
1563 @code{Score.SpacingSpanner #'uniform-stretching}. This
1564 property can only be changed at the beginning of a score,
1566 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1568 \override SpacingSpanner #'uniform-stretching = ##t
1586 When @code{strict-note-spacing} is set, notes are spaced without
1587 regard for clefs, bar lines, and grace notes,
1589 @lilypond[quote,ragged-right,relative=2,fragment,verbatim]
1590 \override Score.SpacingSpanner #'strict-note-spacing = ##t
1591 \new Staff { c8[ c \clef alto c \grace { c16[ c] } c8 c c] c32[ c32] }
1596 @subsection Line length
1599 @cindex breaking pages
1602 @funindex line-width
1603 @funindex ragged-right
1604 @funindex ragged-last
1606 @c Although line-width can be set in \layout, it should be set in paper
1607 @c block, to get page layout right.
1608 @c Setting indent in \paper block makes not much sense, but it works.
1610 @c Bit verbose and vague, use examples?
1611 The most basic settings influencing the spacing are @code{indent} and
1612 @code{line-width}. They are set in the @code{\layout} block. They
1613 control the indentation of the first line of music, and the lengths of
1616 If @code{ragged-right} is set to true in the @code{\layout} block, then
1617 systems ends at their natural horizontal length, instead of being spread
1618 horizontally to fill the whole line. This is useful for
1619 short fragments, and for checking how tight the natural spacing is.
1622 @cindex vertical spacing
1624 The option @code{ragged-last} is similar to @code{ragged-right}, but
1625 only affects the last line of the piece. No restrictions are put on
1626 that line. The result is similar to formatting text paragraphs. In a
1627 paragraph, the last line simply takes its natural horizontal length.
1628 @c Note that for text there are several options for the last line.
1629 @c While Knuth TeX uses natural length, lead typesetters use the same
1630 @c stretch as the previous line. eTeX uses \lastlinefit to
1631 @c interpolate between both these solutions.
1642 @node Proportional notation
1643 @subsection Proportional notation
1645 LilyPond supports proportional notation, a type of horizontal spacing
1646 in which each note consumes an amount of horizontal space exactly
1647 equivalent to its rhythmic duration. This type of proportional spacing
1648 is comparable to horizontal spacing on top of graph paper. Some late
1649 20th- and early 21st-century scores use proportional notation to
1650 clarify complex rhythmic relationships or to faciliate the placement
1651 of timelines or other graphics directly in the score.
1653 LilyPond supports five different settings for proportional notation,
1654 which may be used together or alone:
1657 @item @code{proportionalNotationDuration}
1658 @item @code{uniform-stretching}
1659 @item @code{strict-note-spacing}
1660 @item @code{\remove Separating_line_group_engraver}
1661 @item @code{\override PaperColumn #'used = ##t}
1664 In the examples that follow, we explore these five different
1665 proportional notation settings and examine how these settings interact.
1667 We start with the following one-measure example, which uses classical
1668 spacing with ragged-right turned on.
1670 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1672 \new RhythmicStaff {
1676 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1682 Notice that the half note which begins the measure takes up far less
1683 than half of the horizontal space of the measure. Likewise, the
1684 sixteenth notes and sixteenth-note quintuplets (or twentieth notes)
1685 which end the measure together take up far more than half the
1686 horizontal space of the measure.
1688 In classical engraving, this spacing may be exactly what we want
1689 because we can borrow horizontal space from the half note and conserve
1690 horizontal space across the measure as a whole.
1692 On the other hand, if we want to insert a measured timeline or other
1693 graphic above or below our score, we need proportional notation. We
1694 turn proportional notation on with the proportionalNotationDuration
1697 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1699 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 20)
1701 \new RhythmicStaff {
1705 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1711 The half note at the beginning of the measure and the faster notes in
1712 the second half of the measure now occupy equal amounts of horizontal
1713 space. We could place a measured timeline or graphic above or below
1716 The @code{proportionalNotationDuration} setting is a context setting that
1717 lives in @context{Score}. Recall that context settings appear in one of
1718 three locations in our input file -- in a @code{\with} block, in a
1719 @code{\context} block, or directly in music entry
1720 preceeded by the @code{\set} command. As with all
1721 context settings, users can pick which of the three different
1722 locations they would like to set @code{proportionalNotationDuration}.
1724 The @code{proportionalNotationDuration} setting takes a single argument,
1725 which is the reference duration against which all music will be
1726 spaced. The LilyPond Scheme function make-moment takes two arguments
1727 -- a numerator and denominator which together express some fraction of
1728 a whole note. The call @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 20)} therefore produces a
1729 reference duration of a twentieth note. The values
1730 @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 16)}, @code{#(ly:make-moment 1 8)}, and
1731 @code{#(ly:make-moment 3 97)} are all possible as well.
1733 How do we select the right reference duration to pass to
1734 @code{proportionalNotationDuration}? Usually by a process of trial and error,
1735 beginning with a duration close to the fastest (or smallest) duration
1736 in the piece. Smaller reference durations space music loosely; larger
1737 reference durations space music tightly.
1739 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1741 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 8)
1743 \new RhythmicStaff {
1747 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1753 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1755 \new RhythmicStaff {
1759 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1765 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
1767 \new RhythmicStaff {
1771 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1777 Note that too large a reference duration -- such as the eighth note,
1778 above -- spaces music too tightly and can cause notehead collisions.
1779 Note also that proportional notation in general takes up more
1780 horizontal space that does classical spacing. Proportional spacing
1781 provides rhythmic clarity at the expense of horizontal space.
1783 Next we examine how to optimally space overlapping tuplets.
1785 We start by examining what happens to our original example, with
1786 classical spacing, when we add a second staff with a different type of
1789 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1791 \new RhythmicStaff {
1795 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1798 \new RhythmicStaff {
1800 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8
1806 The spacing is bad because the evenly notes of the bottom staff do not
1807 stretch uniformly. Classical engraving includes very few complex
1808 triplets and so classical engraving rules can generate this type of
1809 result. Setting @code{proportionalNotationDuration} remedies this
1810 situation considerably.
1812 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1814 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 20)
1816 \new RhythmicStaff {
1820 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16 c'16
1823 \new RhythmicStaff {
1825 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8 c'8
1831 But if we look very carefully we can see that notes of the second half
1832 of the 9-tuplet space ever so slightly more widely than do the notes
1833 of the first half of the 9-tuplet. To ensure uniform stretching, we
1834 turn on @code{uniform-stretching}, which is a property of
1835 @code{SpacingSpanner}.
1837 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1839 proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 20)
1840 \override SpacingSpanner #'uniform-stretching = ##t
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 Our two-staff example now spaces exactly, our rhythmic relationships
1858 are visually clear, and we can include a measured timeline or graphic
1861 The @code{SpacingSpanner} is an abstract grob that lives in the
1862 @context{Score} context. As with our settings of
1863 @code{proportionalNotationDuration},
1864 overrides to the @code{SpacingSpanner} can occur in any of three different
1865 places in our input file -- in the Score @code{\with} block, in a
1866 Score @code{\context} block, or in note entry directly.
1868 There is by default only one @code{SpacingSpanner} per @code{Score}. This
1869 means that, by default, @code{uniform-stretching} is either turned on for the
1870 entire score or turned off for the entire score. We can, however,
1871 override this behavior and turn on different spacing features at
1872 different places in the score. We do this with the command
1873 @code{\newSpacingSection}. See @ref{New spacing area}, for more info.
1875 Next we examine the effects of the @code{Separating_line_group_engraver} and
1876 see why proportional scores frequently remove this engraver. The following
1877 example shows that there is a small amount of @qq{preferatory} space
1878 just before the first note in each system.
1880 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1893 The amount of this preferatory space is the same whether after a time
1894 signature, a key signature or a clef. @code{Separating_line_group_engraver}
1895 is responsible for this space. Removing @code{Separating_line_group_engraver}
1896 reduces this space to zero.
1898 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1904 \remove Separating_line_group_engraver
1912 Nonmusical elements like time signatures, key signatures, clefs and
1913 accidentals are problemmatic in proportional notation. None of these
1914 elements has rhythmic duration. But all of these elements consume
1915 horizontal space. Different proportional scores approach these
1916 problems differently.
1918 It may be possible to avoid spacing problems with key signatures
1919 simply by not having any. This is a valid option since most
1920 proportional scores are contemporary music. The same may be true
1921 of time signatures, especially for those scores
1922 that include a measured timeline or other graphic. But these scores
1923 are exceptional and most proportional scores include at least some
1924 time signatures. Clefs and accidentals are even more essential.
1926 So what strategies exist for spacing nonmusical elements in a
1927 proportional context? One good option is the @code{strict-note-spacing}
1928 property of @code{SpacingSpanner}. Compare the two scores below:
1930 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1932 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1942 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 16)
1943 \override Score.SpacingSpanner #'strict-note-spacing = ##t
1953 Both scores are proportional, but the spacing in the first score is
1954 too loose because of the clef change. The spacing of the second score
1955 remains strict, however, because @code{strict-note-spacing} is turned
1956 on. Turning on @code{strict-note-spacing} causes the width of time
1957 signatures, key signatures and clefs to play no part in the spacing
1958 algorithm. Accidentals are a different matter, however. By default, all
1959 accidentals consume a little extra space, as the following pair of
1962 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1964 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
1976 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
1988 Both scores are proportional but the second score exhibits spacing
1989 irregularities due to accidentals. Turning on @code{strict-note-spacing}
1990 does not work for accidentals. Instead,
1991 we override the @code{X-extent} of all accidentals to zero and then move the
1992 accidentals to the left of the notes they modify.
1994 @lilypond[quote,verbatim,ragged-right]
1996 \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 32)
1997 \override Accidental #'X-extent = #'(0 . 0)
1998 \override Accidental #'extra-offset = #'(-1 . 0)
2010 In addition to the settings given here, there are other settings that
2011 frequently appear in proportional scores. These include:
2014 @item @code{\override SpacingSpanner #'strict-grace-spacing = ##t}
2015 @item @code{tupletFullLength = ##t}
2016 @item @code{\override Beam #'breakable = ##t}
2017 @item @code{\override Glissando #'breakable = ##t}
2018 @item @code{\override TextSpanner #'breakable = ##t}
2019 @item @code{\remove Forbid_line_break_engraver in the Voice context}
2022 These settings space grace notes strictly, extend tuplet brackets to
2023 mark both rhythmic start- and stop-points, and allow spanning elements
2024 to break across systems and pages. See the respective parts of the manual
2025 for these related settings.