@node Engraving
@unnumberedsubsec Engraving
+@cindex engraving
+@cindex typography, music
+@cindex music typography
+@cindex plate engraving
+@cindex music engraving
+
The art of music typography is called @emph{(plate) engraving}.
The term derives from the traditional process of music printing.
Just a few decades ago, sheet music was made by cutting and
@cindex regular rhythms
@cindex regular spacing
+@cindex spacing, regular
Each bar in the fragment only uses notes that are played in a
constant rhythm. The spacing should reflect that. Unfortunately,
correction, the lower two measures without, forming
down-stem/@/up-stem clumps of notes.
-@cindex typography
Musicians are usually more absorbed with performing than with
studying the looks of a piece of music, so nitpicking about
@node Automated engraving
@unnumberedsubsec Automated engraving
+@cindex engraving, automated
+@cindex automated engraving
+
How do we go about implementing typography? If craftsmen need
over ten years to become true masters, how could we simple hackers
ever write a program to take over their jobs?
@end itemize
+@cindex Scheme programming language
+
These problems have been addressed by integrating an interpreter
for the Scheme programming language and rewriting parts of
LilyPond in Scheme. The current formatting architecture is built
}
@end lilypond
+@cindex score formatting
+@cindex formatting a score
+@cindex formatting rules
+
@noindent
The process of formatting a score consists of reading and writing
the variables of graphical objects. Some variables have a preset
@cindex engraving
@cindex typography
+@cindex engraver
+@cindex plug-in
The formatting process decides where to place symbols. However,
this can only be done once it is decided @emph{what} symbols
\score { \topVoice }
@end lilypond
+@cindex polyphony
+@cindex engraving multiple voices
+@cindex contexts
+
This system works well for monophonic music, but what about
polyphony? In polyphonic notation, many voices can share a staff.
@node Music representation
@unnumberedsubsec Music representation
+@cindex syntax
+@cindex recursive structures
+
Ideally, the input format for any high-level formatting system is
an abstract description of the content. In this case, that would
be the music itself. This poses a formidable problem: how can we
@node Example applications
@unnumberedsubsec Example applications
+@cindex simple examples
+@cindex examples, simple
+
We have written LilyPond as an experiment of how to condense the
art of music engraving into a computer program. Thanks to all
that hard work, the program can now be used to perform useful
This section explains the different portions of the documentation.
+@cindex Learning Manual
+@cindex Music Glossary
+@cindex Notation Reference
+@cindex Application Usage
+@cindex Snippet List
+@cindex Internals Reference
+
@c leave these lines wrapping around. It's some texinfo 4.12 thing. -gp
+@c This is actually a limitation of texi2html. -jm
@menu
-* About the Learning Manual (LM):: this manual introduces LilyPond, giving in-depth explanations of how to create notation.
-
-* About the Music Glossary (MG):: this manual explains musical terms and gives translations of terms in other languages.
-
-* About the Notation Reference (NR):: this manual is the main portion of the documentation. It provides detailed information about creating notation. This book assumes that the reader knows basic material covered in the LM and is familiar with the English musical terms presented in the MG.
-
-* About the Application Usage (AU):: this discusses the actual programs and operation system-specific issues.
-
-* About the Snippet List (SL):: this is a collection of short LilyPond examples.
-
-* About the Internals Reference (IR):: this document gives information about LilyPond internal programming information, which is required for constructing tweaks.
-
+* About the Learning Manual:: this manual introduces LilyPond, giving in-depth explanations of how to create notation.
+* About the Music Glossary:: this manual explains musical terms and gives translations of terms in other languages.
+* About the Notation Reference:: this manual is the main portion of the documentation. It provides detailed information about creating notation. This book assumes that the reader knows basic material covered in the Learning Manual and is familiar with the English musical terms presented in the Musical Glossary.
+* About the Application Usage:: this discusses the actual programs and operating system-specific issues.
+* About the Snippet List:: this is a collection of short LilyPond examples.
+* About the Internals Reference:: this document gives reference information about LilyPond's internal structures, which is required for constructing tweaks.
* Other documentation:: there are a few other portions of the documentation, such as News items and the mailist archives.
-
@end menu
-@node About the Learning Manual (LM)
-@unnumberedsubsec About the Learning Manual (LM)
+@node About the Learning Manual
+@unnumberedsubsec About the Learning Manual
+
+@cindex Learning Manual
This book explains how to begin learning LilyPond, as well as
explaining some key concepts in easy terms. You should read these
chapters in a linear fashion.
+There is a paragraph @strong{See also} at the end of each section,
+which contains cross-references to other sections: you should not
+follow these cross-references at first reading; when you have read all
+of the Learning Manual, you may want to read some sections again and
+follow cross-references for further reading.
+
@itemize
@item
@end itemize
-The LM also contains appendices which are not part of the
+The Learning Manual also contains appendices which are not part of the
recommended linear reading. They may be useful for later
viewing:
@end itemize
-@node About the Music Glossary (MG)
-@unnumberedsubsec About the Music Glossary (MG)
+@node About the Music Glossary
+@unnumberedsubsec About the Music Glossary
+@cindex Music Glossary
@cindex idiom
@cindex jargon
@cindex terminology
@cindex foreign languages
@cindex language
-@ref{Top,Music glossary,,music-glossary}:
+@rglosnamed{Top,Music glossary}
this explains musical terms, and includes translations to various
languages. If you are not familiar with music notation or music
terminology (especially if you are a non-native English speaker),
it is highly advisable to consult the glossary.
-@node About the Notation Reference (NR)
-@unnumberedsubsec About the Notation Reference (NR)
+@node About the Notation Reference
+@unnumberedsubsec About the Notation Reference
+
+@cindex Notation Reference
+@cindex appendices
+@cindex reference charts
+@cindex charts, reference
This book explains all the LilyPond commands which produce
notation. It assumes that readers are familiar with the concepts
-in the Learning manual.
+in the Learning Manual.
@itemize
particular instrument (or vocal) groups.
@item
-@ruser{Input syntax}:
-discusses general information about LilyPond files and controlling
-output.
+@ruser{General input and output}:
+discusses general information about LilyPond input files and
+controlling output.
@item
@ruser{Spacing issues}:
@end itemize
-The NR also contains appendices with useful reference charts.
+The Notation Reference also contains appendices with useful
+reference charts.
@itemize
@end itemize
-@node About the Application Usage (AU)
-@unnumberedsubsec About the Application Usage (AU)
+@node About the Application Usage
+@unnumberedsubsec About the Application Usage
-This book explains how to execute the program and how to integrate
+@cindex Application Usage
+@cindex integrating LilyPond with other programs
+
+This book explains how to execute the programs and how to integrate
LilyPond notation with other programs.
@itemize
@item
@rprogram{Install}:
-explains how to install LilyPond (including compilation if
-desired).
+explains how to install LilyPond, including compilation if
+desired.
@item
@rprogram{Setup}:
@end itemize
-@node About the Snippet List (SL)
-@unnumberedsubsec About the Snippet List (SL)
+@node About the Snippet List
+@unnumberedsubsec About the Snippet List
@cindex snippets
@cindex LSR
+@cindex Snippet List
+@cindex LilyPond Snippet Repository
-@c FIXME: check on kainhofer.
-@ref{Top,LilyPond Snippet List,,lilypond-snippets}:
-this shows a selected set of LilyPond snippets from the
+@rlsrnamed{Top,LilyPond Snippet List}: this shows a
+selected set of LilyPond snippets from the
@uref{http://lsr@/.dsi@/.unimi@/.it,LilyPond Snippet Repository}
-(LSR). It is in the public domain.
+(LSR). All the snippets are in the public domain.
Please note that this document is not an exact subset of LSR. LSR
is running a stable LilyPond version, so any snippet which
separately. These are stored in @file{input/new/} in the LilyPond
source tree.
-The list of snippets for each subsection of the Notation Reference
-(NR) are also linked from the @strong{See also} portion.
+The list of snippets for each subsection of the Notation Reference are
+also linked from the @strong{See also} portion.
-@node About the Internals Reference (IR)
-@unnumberedsubsec About the Internals Reference (IR)
+@node About the Internals Reference
+@unnumberedsubsec About the Internals Reference
-@c zzz
+@cindex Internals Reference
-@itemize
-@item
-The
-@iftex
-Internals Reference
-@end iftex
-@ifnottex
-@ref{Top,Internals Reference,,lilypond-internals}
-@end ifnottex
-is a set of heavily cross linked HTML pages, which document the
-nitty-gritty details of each and every LilyPond class, object, and
-function. It is produced directly from the formatting definitions used.
-
-Almost all formatting functionality that is used internally, is
-available directly to the user. For example, all variables that control
-thickness values, distances, etc., can be changed in input files. There
-are a huge number of formatting options, and all of them are described
-in this document. Each section of the notation manual has a @b{See
-also} subsection, which refers to the generated documentation. In the
-HTML document, these subsections have clickable links.
+@rinternalsnamed{Top,Internals Reference}: this is a set
+of heavily cross linked HTML pages which document the nitty-gritty
+details of each and every LilyPond class, object, and function.
+It is produced directly from the formatting definitions in the
+source code.
-@end itemize
+Almost all formatting functionality that is used internally is
+available directly to the user. For example, most variables that
+control thickness values, distances, etc., can be changed in input
+files. There are a huge number of formatting options, and all of
+them are described in this document. Each section of the Notation
+Reference has a @b{See also} subsection, which refers to the
+generated documentation. In the HTML document, these subsections
+have clickable links.
@node Other documentation
@unnumberedsubsec Other documentation
-FIXME: most of this should go higher up. Discuss News, mailist
-archives, ...?
+There are a number of other sources of information which may be
+very valuable.
-There are a number of other places which may be very valuable.
+@itemize
-Once you are an experienced user, you can use the manual as reference:
-there is an extensive index@footnote{If you are looking for something,
-and you cannot find it in the manual, that is considered a bug. In
-that case, please file a bug report.}, but the document is also
-available in
-@iftex
-a big HTML page,
-@end iftex
+@item
@ifhtml
-@uref{source/Documentation/user/lilypond-big-page.html, one big page},
+@ifset bigpage
+@uref{../topdocs/NEWS.html,News}:
+@end ifset
+@ifclear bigpage
+@uref{../../topdocs/NEWS.html,News}:
+@end ifclear
@end ifhtml
-which can be searched easily using the search facility of a web
-browser.
-
-
-In all HTML documents that have music fragments embedded, the LilyPond
-input that was used to produce that image can be viewed by clicking
-the image.
-
-The location of the documentation files that are mentioned here can vary
-from system to system. On occasion, this manual refers to
-initialization and example files. Throughout this manual, we refer to
-input files relative to the top-directory of the source archive. For
-example, @file{input/@/lsr/@/dirname/@/bla@/.ly} may refer to the file
+@ifnothtml
+News:
+@end ifnothtml
+this is a summary of important changes
+and new features in LilyPond since the previous version.
+
+@item @uref{http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/, The
+lilypond-user mailist archives}: this is a collection of previous
+emails sent to the user list. Many questions have been asked
+multiple times; there is a very good chance that if you have a
+question, the answer might be found in these archives.
+
+@item @uref{http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-devel/, The
+lilypond-devel mailist archives}: this is a collection of previous
+emails sent to the developer's list. The discussion here is more
+technical; if you have an advanced question about lilypond
+internals, the answer might be in these archives.
+
+@item Embedded music fragments: in all HTML documents that have
+music fragments embedded, the exact LilyPond input that was used
+to produce that image can be viewed by clicking the image.
+
+@item Init files: the location of the documentation files that are
+mentioned here can vary from system to system. On occasion, this
+manual refers to initialization and example files. Throughout this
+manual, we refer to input files relative to the top-directory of the
+source archive. For example, @file{input/@/lsr/@/dirname/@/bla@/.ly}
+may refer to the file
@file{lilypond@/2.x.y/@/input/@/lsr/@/dirname/@/bla@/.ly}. On binary
packages for the UNIX platform, the documentation and examples can
typically be found somewhere below
@file{/usr/@/share/@/doc/@/lilypond/}. Initialization files, for
example @file{scm/@/lily@/.scm}, or @file{ly/@/engraver@/-init@/.ly},
are usually found in the directory @file{/usr/@/share/@/lilypond/}.
+For more details, see @ref{Other sources of information}.
-@cindex adjusting output
-@cindex variables
-@cindex properties
-@cindex lilypond-internals
-@cindex internal documentation
-@cindex Scheme
-@cindex extending LilyPond
-@cindex index
-
-Finally, this and all other manuals, are available online both as PDF
-files and HTML from the web site, which can be found at
-@uref{http://@/www@/.lilypond@/.org/}.
-
-
-
+@end itemize
projects / lilypond.git / blobdiff