There are a lot of programs that let you print sheet music with a
computer. Unfortunately, most of them do not do good job. Most
computer printouts have a bland, mechanical look, and are unpleasant
-to play from. If you agree with us on that, than you will like
+to play from. If you agree with us on that, then you will like
LilyPond: we have tried to capture the original look of hand-engraved
music in a program: we have tuned our algorithms, font-designs, and
program settings to make the output match that of the old editions
@menu
* Music notation and engraving::
-* Computerized typography::
+* Notation and engraving in LilyPond::
+* Typography and program architecture::
* Music representation::
* Example applications::
* About this manual::
@cindex engraving
@cindex typography
+@c eerste zin beetje deur in huis
Making sheet music may seem trivial, ``you print 5 lines, and then put
-in the notes at different heights'', but as one learns more of it, the
-opposite turns out to be true. There are two problems when making
-sheet music. First, one has to master music notation: the science of
-knowing which symbols to use when what. Second, one has to master
-music engraving: the art of placing symbols such that they look
-elegant.
-
-Common music notation has its roots in the medieval centuries. In this
+in the notes at different heights'', but as you learn more of it, the
+opposite turns out to be true. One has to master two difficult
+tasks. First, one has to master music notation: the science of knowing
+which symbols to use for what. Second, one has to master music
+engraving: the art of placing symbols such that the result looks
+pleasing.
+
+
+
+@lilypondfile[notexidoc]{puer-fragment.ly}
+
+@center A fragment of neume notation
+
+
+Common music notation has its roots in the medieval time. In this
time, monks started to write down hints that indicated how their
sacred music was sung. These hints, neumes, gradually became simpler,
and at some point became the note heads. Lines were added to the
notation is still under development; the innovations of contemporary
music require still newer and more complex notations.
-In summary, common music notation encompasses such a wide scope of
-music inherently is complex: there are many rules, and for every rule
-there are exceptional situations where they do not apply. The result
-is that LilyPond cannot support each and every form of notation in
-existence. Rather, we focus on a specific style and idiom: we take
-inspiration from late-romantic music printed at the beginning of the
-20th century. Most of the contemporary music after that, and most of
-the music going back to 17th century can be written in this
-idiom. That is not a fundamental limit, though. There is support for
-some modern notation like clusters, and older notation, such as white
-mensural and gregorian notation, is being worked on.
-The term music engraving derives from the traditional process of
-music printing. Only a few decades ago, sheet music was made by
-cutting and stamping the music into zinc or pewter plates,
-mirrored. The plate would be inked, and the depressions caused by the
-cutting and stamping would hold ink. An image was formed by pressing
-paper to the plate. The stamping and cutting was completely done by
-hand. Making corrections was cumbersome, so engraving had to be done
-correctly in one go. As you can imagine this was a highly specialized
-skill, much more so than the traditional process of printing books.
+
+The term music engraving derives from the traditional process of music
+printing. Only a few decades ago, sheet music was made by cutting and
+stamping the music into zinc or pewter plates, in mirror image. The plate
+would be inked, and the depressions caused by the cutting and stamping
+would hold ink. An image was formed by pressing paper to the
+plate. The stamping and cutting was completely done by hand. Making
+corrections was cumbersome, so engraving had to be done correctly in
+one go. Of course, this was a highly specialized skill, much more so
+than the traditional process of printing books.
@cindex craftsmanship
@cindex master
-In the traditional German craftsmanship six years of full-time
+In the traditional German system of craftsmanship six years of full-time
training, more than any other craft, were required before a student
could call himself a master of the art. After that many more years of
practical experience were needed to become an established music
advanced software, music requires lots of manual fine tuning before it
is acceptable for publication.
-Sheet music is performance material, hence everything is done to aid
-the musician in letting him perform better. Music often is far away
-from its reader---it might be on a music stand. To make it clearly
+Sheet music is performance material: everything is done to aid the
+musician in letting him perform better. Music often is far away from
+its reader---it might be on a music stand. To make it clearly
readable, traditionally printed sheet music always uses bold symbols,
on heavy staff lines, and is printed on large sheets of paper. This
``strong'' look is also present in the horizontal spacing. To
minimize the number of page breaks, (hand-engraved) sheet music is
spaced very tightly. Yet, by a careful distribution of white space,
-the feeling of balance is retained, and clutters of black are avoided.
+the feeling of balance is retained, and a clutter of symbols is
+avoided.
+
+
+@node Notation and engraving in LilyPond
+@section Notation and engraving in LilyPond
+
+Common music notation encompasses such a wide scope of music, and
+therefore inherently is complex: there are many rules, and for every
+rule there are exceptional situations where they do not apply. The
+result is that LilyPond cannot support each and every form of notation
+in existence. Rather, we focus on a specific style and idiom: we take
+inspiration from late-romantic music printed at the beginning of the
+20th century. Most of the contemporary music after that, and most of
+the music going back to 17th century can be written in this
+idiom. That is not a fundamental limit, though. There is support for
+some modern notation like clusters, and older notation, such as white
+mensural and gregorian notation, is being worked on.
We have used these observations in designing LilyPond. The images
-below shows the flat symbol. On the left, a scan from a Henle edition,
+below show the flat symbol. On the left, a scan from a Henle edition,
which was made by a computer, and in the center is the flat from a
-B@"{a}renreiter edition of the same music. The symbols have noticeable
-differences: the left image is much lighter, the staff lines are
-thinner, and the glyph has a straight layout with sharp corners. By
-contrast, the B@"{a}renreiter has a bold and almost voluptuous rounded
-look. Our flat symbol is designed after, among others, this one. It
-is tuned it to harmonize with the thickness of our staff lines, which
-are also much thicker than Henle's lines.
+hand engraved B@"{a}renreiter edition of the same music. The left scan
+illustrates typical flaws of computer print: the symbol is much
+lighter, the staff lines are thinner, and the glyph has a straight
+layout with sharp corners. By contrast, the B@"{a}renreiter has a bold
+and almost voluptuous rounded look. Our flat symbol is designed
+after, among others, this one. It is tuned it to harmonize with the
+thickness of our staff lines, which are also much thicker than Henle's
+lines.
@multitable @columnfractions .1 .3 .3 .3
@item @tab
@cindex regular rhythms
@cindex regular spacing
-The fragment that was printed uses only quarter notes: notes that are
-played in a constant rhythm. The spacing should reflect
-that. Unfortunately, the eye deceives us a little: the eye not only
-notices the distance between note heads, but also between consecutive
-stems. As a result, the notes of an up-stem/down-stem combination
-should be put farther apart, and the notes of a down-up combination
-should be put closer together, all depending on the combined vertical
-positions of the notes. The first two measures are printed with this
-correction, the last two measures without. The notes in the last two
-measures form down-stem/up-stems clumps of notes.
-
-@node Computerized typography
-@section Computerized typography
-
-Producing good engraving requires skill and knowledge. It was our
-challenge to see if we could put such typographical knowledge into a
-computer program. Capturing that knowledge has two aspects: first, it
-has to be acquired. Then, it has to be encoded in data-structures and
-algorithms. As the previous examples show, there is a lot of subtlety
-involved in music engraving, and unfortunately, only a small fraction
-of these details are documented.
-
-One reason for the time that it takes to become a master engraver, is
-that all these details must be learned either from experience or from
-other engravers: as an engraver gets older and wiser, he will be able
+The fragment only uses quarter notes: notes that are played in a
+constant rhythm. The spacing should reflect that. Unfortunately, the
+eye deceives us a little: not only does it notice the distance between
+note heads, it also takes into account the distance between
+consecutive stems. As a result, the notes of an up-stem/down-stem
+combination should be put farther apart, and the notes of a down-up
+combination should be put closer together, all depending on the
+combined vertical positions of the notes. The first two measures are
+printed with this correction, the last two measures without. The notes
+in the last two measures form down-stem/up-stems clumps of notes.
+
+@node Typography and program architecture
+@section Typography and program architecture
+
+Producing good engraving requires skill and knowledge. As the
+previous examples show, there is a lot of subtlety involved in music
+engraving, and unfortunately, only a small fraction of these details
+are documented. Master engraver must learn all these details from
+experience or from other engravers, which is why it takes so long to
+become a master. As an engraver gets older and wiser, he will be able
to produce better and more complex pieces. A similar situation is
-present when putting typography into computer programs. It is not
-possible to come up with a final solution for a problem at the first
-try. Instead, we start out with simple solution that might cover 75%
-of the cases, and gradually refine that solution over the course of
-months or years, so that 90 or 95 % of the cases are handled.
-
-This has an important implication for the design of the
-program. During development, almost every piece of formatting code
-must be considered as temporary. When the need arises, is to be
-replaced a solution that will cover even more cases. A clean way to
-accomplish this, is a ``plug-in'' architecture: an architecture where
-new pieces of code can be inserted in the program dynamically. In
-such a program, a new solution can be developed along-side the
-existing code. It can be perfected separately until it is better than
-the existing solution, at which point, the new solution is switched on
-by default, and the old one is removed.
+present when putting typographical knowledge into a computer program.
+It is not possible to come up with a definitive solution for a problem
+at the first try. Instead, we start out with simple solution that
+might cover 75% of the cases, and gradually refine that solution over
+the course of months or years, so 90 or 95 % of the cases are
+handled.
+
+This has an important implication for the design of the program: at
+any time, almost every piece of formatting code must be considered as
+temporary. When the need arises, it is to be replaced a solution that
+will cover even more cases. is A ``plug-in'' architecture is a clean
+way to accomplish this. This is an architecture where new pieces of
+code can be inserted in the program dynamically. In such a program, a
+new solution can be developed along-side the existing code. For
+testing, it is plugged in, but for production use, the old solution is
+used. The new module can be perfected separately until it is better
+than the existing solution, at which point it replaces the old one.
Until that time, users must have a way to deal with imperfections:
these 25%, 10% or 5% of the cases that are not handled
automatically. In these cases, a user must be able to override
formatting decisions. A way to accomplish this, is to store decisions
in generic variables, and let the user manipulate these variables.
-For example, consider the following fragment of notation.
+For example, consider the following fragment of notation:
@lilypond
-\score { \notes {
- g'4-\f g4
+\score { \notes \relative c'' {
+\stemUp
+ a4^\f f8
}
\paper { raggedright = ##t }
}
The position of the forte symbol is slightly awkward, because it is
next to the low note, whereas dynamics should be below notes in
general. This may be remedied by inserting extra space between the
-high note and the `f', as shown in this example
+high note and the `f', as shown in this example:
@lilypond
-\score { \notes {
+\score { \notes \relative c'' {
+\stemUp
\once\property Voice. DynamicLineSpanner \override #'padding = #4.0
- g'4-\f g4
+ a4^\f f8
}
\paper { raggedright = ##t }
}
@end lilypond
-This was achieved with the input statement
+This was achieved with the following input statement:
@example
- \property Voice. DynamicLineSpanner \override #'padding = #4.0
+ \once \property Voice. DynamicLineSpanner \override #'padding = #4.0
@end example
-which increases the amount of space (@code{padding}) between the note
-and the dynamic symbol to 4.0 (which is measured in staff space, so
-4.0 equals the height of a staff).
+It increases the amount of space (@code{padding}) between the note and
+the dynamic symbol to 4.0 (which is measured in staff space, so 4.0
+equals the height of a staff). The keyword @code{\once} indicates that
+this is a tweak: it is only done one time.
Both design aspects, a plug-in architecture, and formatting variables,
are built on top of GUILE, an interpreter for the programming language
default layout, and wants heavier stems. Normally, they are @code{1.3}
times the thickness of staff lines, but suppose that their editions
require them to be twice the thickness of the staff lines. The same
-mechanism can be used to adjust a setting globally. By issuing
+mechanism can be used to adjust a setting globally. By issuing the
+following command, the entire piece is now formatted with thicker stems:
@example
\property Score.Stem \override #'thickness = #2.0
@end example
-the entire piece is formatted with thick stems:
+
@lilypond
-\score { \notes {
+\score { \notes \relative c'' {
\property Score.Stem \override #'thickness = #2.0
\once\property Voice. DynamicLineSpanner \override #'padding = #4.0
- g'4-\f g4
+\stemUp
+ a4^\f f8
}
\paper { raggedright = ##t }
}
there is no need to fear: normally, it is not necessary to define
style-sheets or rewrite formatting functions. In fact, LilyPond gets a
lot of formatting right automatically, so adjusting individual layout
-situations is not needed very often at all.
+situations is not needed often at all.
@node Music representation
@section Music representation
-One of the big questions when writing batch programs, is what kind of
-input the program should expect. Many music notation programs offer a
-graphical interface that shows notation, and allow you to enter the
-music by placing notes on a staff. From our point of view, this design
-is a form of cheating. After all, the core message of a piece of music
-notation simply is the music itself. If you start by offering notation
-to the user, you have already skipped one conversion, even if it is
-implicit. If we want to generate music notation from something else,
-then the obvious candidate for the source is the music itself.
+Our premise is that LilyPond is a system that does music formatting
+completely automatically. Under this assumption, the output does not
+have to be touched up. Consequently, an interactive display of the
+output, where it is possible to reposition notation elements, is
+superfluous. This implies that the program should be a batch program:
+the input is entered in a file, which then is @emph{compiled}, i.e.
+put through the program. The final output is produced as a file ready
+to view or print. The compiler fills in all the details of the
+notation, those details should be left out of the input file. In other
+words, the input should mirror the content as closely as possible. In
+the case of music notation the content is the music itself, so that is
+what the input should consist of.
On paper this theory sounds very good. In practice, it opens a can of
worms. What really @emph{is} music? Many philosophical treatises must
There are also more practical concerns. Our users have to key in the
music into the file directly, so the input format should have a
friendly syntax: a quarter note C is entered as @code{c4}, the code
-@code{r8.} signifies a dotted eighth rest.
-
-As programmers and scientists, we want a clean formal
-definition. After all, producing music notation is a difficult
-problem, and problems can only be solved if they are
-well-specified. Moreover, formally defined formats are easier to write
-programs for. We have chosen for a format that is based on music
-expressions: complex musical constructs are built from simple entities
-like notes and rests in much the same way that complex formulas are
-built from simple expressions such as numbers and mathematical
-operators. The language is described by a context-free
-grammar. Reading such languages robustly is a well studied problem,
-and we use a standard solution to do it.
-
-LilyPond is a batch program, so the syntax of the program is its
-user-interface. It is the part that they see most, so it is easy to
-think that music representation is a very important or interesting
-problem. In reality, less than 10% of the source code of the program
-handles reading and representing the input, and they form the easy
-bits of the program. Converting the music to notation, and calculating
-a pretty layout is much more difficult.
+@code{r8.} signifies a dotted eighth rest. Notes and rests form the
+simplest musical expressions in the input syntax. More complex
+constructs are produced by combining them into compound
+structures. This is done in much the same way that complex
+mathematical formulas are built from simple expressions such as
+numbers and operators.
+
+In effect, the input format is a language, and the rules of that
+language can be specified succinctly with a so-called context-free
+grammar. The grammar formally specificies what types of input form
+valid `sentences'. Reading such languages, and splitting them into
+grammatical structures is a problem with standard solutions.
+Moreover, they make the format easier to understand: a concise
+formal definition permits a simple informal description.
+
+The user-interface of LilyPond is its syntax. That part is what users
+see most. As a results, some users think that music representation is
+a very important or interesting problem. In reality, less than 10% of
+the source code of the program handles reading and representing the
+input, and they form the easy bits of the program. In our opinion,
+producing music notation, and formatting it prettily are much more
+interesting and important than music representation: solving
+these problems takes up most of the bulk of the code, and they are the
+most difficult things to get right.
@node Example applications
@section Example applications
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 tasks. The
-simplest application is printing notes.
+simplest application is printing notes:
@lilypond[relative=1]
\time 2/4 c4 c g'4 g a4 a g2
@end lilypond
By adding chord names and lyrics we obtain a lead sheet:
+
@lilypond[raggedright]
\score { <
\context ChordNames \chords { c2 c f2 c }
@end lilypond
Polyphonic notation and piano music can also be printed. The following
-example combines some more exotic constructs.
+example combines some more exotic constructs:
@lilypondfile{screech-boink.ly}
-The fragments shown above have all been written by hand, but that is not
-a requirement. Since the formatting engine is mostly automatic, it can
-serve as an output means for other programs that manipulate music. It
-can also be used to convert databases of musical fragments to images for
-use on websites on multimedia presentations.
+The fragments shown above have all been written by hand, but that is
+not a requirement. Since the formatting engine is mostly automatic, it
+can serve as an output means for other programs that manipulate
+music. For example, it can also be used to convert databases of
+musical fragments to images for use on websites and multimedia
+presentations.
This manual also shows an application: the input format is plain text,
and can therefore be easily embedded in other text-based formats, such
@node About this manual
@section About this manual
-The manual is divided into the following chapters
+The manual is divided into the following chapters:
@itemize @bullet
@item
@ifhtml The
The
@end ifhtml
@emph{@ref{Notation manual}}
-discusses topics grouped by notation construct.
+discusses topics grouped by notation construct. Once you master the
+basics, this is the place to lookup details.
+@item
+@ifhtml
+The
+@end ifhtml
+@emph{@ref{Literature}}
+chapter lists useful reference books on notation and engraving.
@item
@ifhtml
The
@cindex search in manual
@cindex using the manual
-@c TODO: advise to buy a book on notation?
If you are not familiar with music notation, or music terminology
-(especially if you are a foreigner), then it is advisable to consult
-the glossary as well. The glossary explains musical terms, and
-includes translations to various languages. It is a
+(especially if you are a non-native English speaker), then it is
+advisable to consult the glossary as well. The glossary explains
+musical terms, and includes translations to various languages. It is a
@ifhtml
-@uref{../glossary.html,separate document}
+@uref{../music-glossary.html,separate document}.
@end ifhtml
@ifnothtml
-separate document, available in HTML and PDF and can be printed as
-well.
+separate document, available in HTML and PDF.
@end ifnothtml
@cindex idiom
@cindex jargon
This manual is not complete without a number of other documents. They
are not available in print, but should be included with the
-documentation package for your platform
+documentation package for your platform:
@itemize @bullet
@item
-Generated internal documentation.
+Program reference
@ifhtml
-available @uref{../lilypond-internals/lilypond-internals.html,here}
+(available @uref{../lilypond-internals/lilypond-internals.html,here})
@end ifhtml
-The generated internal documentation is a heavily crosslinked HTML
-document, produced directly from the formatting definitions used. It
-documents the nit-gritty details of each and every LilyPond class,
-object and function.
+The program reference is a set of heavily crosslinked HTML pages,
+which documents the nit-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 thicknesses, distances, etc, can be changed in input
files. There are a huge number of formatting options, and all of them
are described in the generated documentation. Each section of the
-reference manual has a @b{See also} subsection, which refers to the
+notation manual has a @b{See also} subsection, which refers to the
the generated documentation. In the HTML document, these subsections
have clickable links.
@item
Templates
@ifhtml
-(available @uref{../../../input/templates/out-www/collated-files.html,here})
+(available @uref{../../../input/template/out-www/collated-files.html,here})
@end ifhtml
After you have gone through the tutorial, in theory you should be able
to write input files. In practice, writing files from scratch turns
-out to be intimidating. To give a headstart, we have collected a
+out to be intimidating. To give you a headstart, we have collected a
number of often-used formats in example files. These files can be
used as a start, by copying the template, and adding notes in the
appropriate places.
@item
Various input examples
@ifhtml
-available @uref{../../../input/test/out-www/collated-files.html,here}
+(available @uref{../../../../input/test/out-www/collated-files.html,here})
@end ifhtml
@cindex snippets
@item
The regression test
@ifhtml
-available @uref{../../../input/regression/out-www/collated-files.html,here}
+(available @uref{../../../input/regression/out-www/collated-files.html,here})
@end ifhtml
-We strive to test each feature in one test file. This collection is
-primarilyt there to help us debug problems, but it can be instructive
-to see how we excercise the program. The format is like the tips and
-tricks document.
+This collection of files tests each notation and engraving feature of
+LilyPond in one file. The collection is primarily there to help us
+debug problems, but it can be instructive to see how we excercise the
+program. The format is like the tips and tricks document.
@end itemize
+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
projects / lilypond.git / blobdiff