computer prints.
However, it only takes a little attention to see for yourself what is
+what the differences are. The procedure is easy. Find two editions of
+the same piece, an old edition a reputable publishing house, and one
+which is formatted with a computer. If you are unsure, both can be
+told apart easily. Traditional hand-work has slight variations in
+symbol placements, while computer programs repeat all their errors in
+placement with iron rigidity. To illustrate this, we show two scanned
+fragments of the same piece, the first Cello Suite by Johann Sebastian
+Bach. The top one was hand made (published in 1950 by
+B@"{a}renreiter), while the bottom one was computer made (published in
+2000 by Henle).
+@ignore
+@iftex
+@image{baer-suite1-line,15cm}
+@image{henle-suite1-line,15.3cm}
+@end iftex
- oftenmostly itself,
-than studying the looks of , and will so most l playing Since we
-normally don't For normal users, it is difficult If you are familiar
-with this sensation, you will probably not be able to pinpoint what
-exactly causes this feeling.
-
-
-
-
- Normally, one notices these details only subconsiously. The best way
-to become conscious of these differences is to compare a traditionally
-printed and a computer printed edition of the same piece, preferably
-with a magnifying glass. If you are not sure: traditional engraving is
-photographically reproduced hand-work, and can be recognized by
-slightly irregularities in symbol placement, and small blotches due to
-the reproduction process.
-
-
-
-By contrast, we try to mimick traditional plate engraving in the
-general impression, layout algorithms, and the font
-design. Consequently, our output often beats our competitors when it
-comes to good looks.
-
-
-
-
-LilyPond is an automated music engraving system.
-
-
-With LilyPond is a program that lets you print sheet music. It is
-certainly not unique in that sense.
-
-
-it is more than that
-
- If you are reading this
+@ifhtml
+@html
+<img src="baer-suite1-line.png">
+<p>
+<img src="henle-suite1-line.png">
+<p>
+@end html
+@end ifhtml
+@end ignore
-What is LilyPond?
-Automatic notation, so that means I can play the music, and then it
-rolls out of the printer?
+The fragments come from different editions, so there are some
+editorial differences regarding the slurs. However, we want to compare
+the typography of both. We can see that the Henle edition looks
+mechanical. This is caused by lack of variation in the spacing: the
+note heads in both systems are on the same horizontal positions, as is
+the bar line. A second difference is in the blackness of the page: the
+B@"{a}renreiter has a stronger look, simply because it uses a heavier
+font, and thicker staff lines. In the printed editions, the Henle
+version is 7 mm wider (approximately 4 %). Often, this difference is
+larger: computer scores tend to be spaced very widely, thus putting
+less information on a page, on average. Besides these global
+characteristics, software also make errors in the details. Beams
+should normally completely cover staff lines. In this case, the
+programmers have tried to do so, but forgot to take into account the
+thickness of the staff lines. The result is that the endings of all
+sloped beams are wedge-formed. The effect is subtle, it may not show
+up in this reproduction due to limits of the resolution, but it is
+certainly noticeable in the original.
+
+Looking at such detail to the formatting of a score certainly is
+nitpicky. However, all these details serve a purpose, and that is to
+help the musician perform better: variation in spacing give each line
+a unique, which helps you remember where you are when you look
+away. Boldly print notes stand out more clearly when viewed from a
+distance. Tightly spaced scores take up less pages, which reduces the
+frequency of page turns. Correctly formatted beams and slurs indicate
+the direction of music, and without distracting the reader with
+unnecessary clusters of ink. Clearly, good music typography is
+desirable.
-There are other program that do notation. What's so special about yours?
What is wrong with other computer printed scores?
What is engraving?
@menu
-* Batch processing::
* Music engraving::
-* Computerized typography ::
+* Computerized typography::
* Music representation::
* Example applications::
* About this manual::
@end menu
-@node Batch processing
-@section Batch processing
-
-@cindex GUI
-@cindex Batch
-@cindex UNIX
-
-LilyPond is a @emph{batch} program. To use it, one enters commands in a
-file, and runs the program on that file. The output is produced without
-requiring any further interaction.
-
-When we started developing LilyPond, we were still studying at the
-university. We were interested in music notation, not as publishers
-or musicians, but as programmers and scientists. We wanted to figure
-to what extent formatting sheet music could be automated. Back then
-GUIs were not as ubiquitous as they are today, and we were immersed in
-the UNIX operating system, where it is very common to use compilers to
-achieve computing tasks. So, our computerized music engraving
-experiment took on the form of a compiler.
-
-
-@ignore
-@cindex free software
-@cindex sharing software
-
-You can freely use, modify and redistribute LilyPond. This choice was
-also motivated by our academic background. In the scientific community
-it has always been a tradition to share knowledge, also if that
-knowledge was packaged as software. One of the most visible groups
-that stimulated this philosophy, was the Free Software Foundation,
-whose popular GNU project aimed to replace closed and proprietary
-computing solutions with free (as in ``Libre'') variants. We jumped on
-that bandwagon, and released LilyPond as free software. That is the
-reason that you can get LilyPond at no cost and without any strings
-attached.
-@end ignore
-
-
@node Music engraving
@section Music engraving
projects / lilypond.git / commitdiff