1 New features in 2.20 since 2.18
2 *******************************
4 • The music function ‘\\unfoldRepeats’ can now take an optional
5 argument-list specifying which type(s) of repeated music should be
6 unfolded. Possible entries are ‘percent’, ‘tremolo’, ‘volta’. If
7 the optional argument-list is unspecified, ‘repeated-music’ will be
10 • A new ‘output-attributes’ grob property is now used for svg output
11 instead of the ‘id’ grob property. It allows multiple attributes
12 to be defined as an association list. For example, ‘#'((id . 123)
13 (class . foo) (data-whatever . “bar”))’ will produce the following
14 group tag in an SVG file: ‘<g id=“123” class=“foo”
15 data-whatever=“bar”> ... </g>’.
17 • Slurs and phrasing slurs may now be started from individual notes
18 in a chord. Several simultanous slurs per ‘Voice’ need to be
19 distinguished by ‘spanner-id’ setting.
21 • The music and grob property ‘spanner-id’ for distinguishing
22 simultaneous slurs and phrasing slurs has been changed from a
23 string to a ‘key’, a non-negative integer or symbol.
25 • There is a new command ‘\=’ for specifying the ‘spanner-id’ for
26 simultaneous slurs and phrasing slurs.
28 <c~ f\=1( g\=2( >2 <c e\=1) a\=2) >
32 • Blocks introduced with ‘\header’ can be stored in variables and
33 used as arguments to music and scheme functions and as the body of
34 ‘#{...#}’ constructs. They are represented as a Guile module.
36 While ‘\book’, ‘\bookpart’, ‘\score’, ‘\with’, ‘\layout’, ‘\midi’,
37 ‘\paper’ blocks can be passed around in similar manner, they are
38 represented by different data types.
40 • Dot-separated symbol lists like ‘FretBoard.stencil’ were already
41 supported as of version 2.18. They may now also contain unsigned
42 integers, and may alternatively be separated by commata. This
44 { \time 2,2,1 5/8 g'8 8 8 8 8 }
48 \tagGroup violin,oboe,bassoon
50 • Such lists may also be used in expressions for assignments, sets,
51 and overrides. This allows usage such as
52 { \unset Timing.beamExceptions
53 \set Timing.beatStructure = 1,2,1
57 • Association list elements could previously be assigned values
58 individually (for example, paper variables like
59 ‘system-system-spacing.basic-distance’). They may now be also
60 referenced in this manner, as with
62 \void \displayScheme \system-system-spacing.basic-distance
65 In combination with the previously mentioned changes, this allows
66 setting and referencing pseudovariables like ‘violin.1’.
68 • LilyPond source files may now be embedded inside the generated PDF
69 files. This experimental feature is disabled by default and may be
70 regarded as unsafe, as PDF documents with hidden content tend to
71 present a security risk. Please note that not all PDF viewers have
72 the ability to handle embedded documents (if not, the PDF output
73 will appear normally and source files will remain invisible). This
74 feature only works with the PDF backend.
76 • French note names are now defined specifically instead of being
77 aliased to Italian note names: in addition to the generic
78 Italian-derived syntax, the D pitch may be entered as ‘ré’. Double
79 sharps may also be entered using the ‘-x’ suffix.
81 • Additional bass strings (for lute tablature) are supported.
82 m = { f'4 d' a f d a, g, fis, e, d, c, \bar "|." }
89 tablatureFormat = #fret-letter-tablature-format
93 stringTunings = \stringTuning <a, d f a d' f'>
94 additionalBassStrings = \stringTuning <c, d, e, fis, g,>
95 fretLabels = #'("a" "b" "r" "d" "e" "f" "g" "h" "i" "k")
101 • The markup-list-command ‘\table’ is now available. Each column may
102 be aligned differently.
104 \override #'(padding . 2)
108 \underline { center-aligned right-aligned center-aligned left-aligned }
109 one "1" thousandth "0.001"
110 eleven "11" hundredth "0.01"
111 twenty "20" tenth "0.1"
112 thousand "1000" one "1.0"
117 • A new markup-command, ‘\with-dimensions-from’, makes
118 ‘\with-dimensions’ easier to use by taking the new dimensions from
119 a markup object, given as first argument.
121 \pattern #5 #Y #0 "x"
122 \pattern #5 #Y #0 \with-dimensions-from "x" "f"
123 \pattern #5 #Y #0 \with-dimensions-from "x" "g"
124 \override #'(baseline-skip . 2)
126 \pattern #5 #X #0 "n"
127 \pattern #5 #X #0 \with-dimensions-from "n" "m"
128 \pattern #5 #X #0 \with-dimensions-from "n" "!"
133 • There are two new page breaking functions. ‘ly:one-page-breaking’
134 automatically adjusts the height of the page to fit the music, so
135 that everything fits on one page.
136 ‘ly:one-line-auto-height-breaking’ is like ‘ly:one-line-breaking’,
137 placing the music on a single line and adjusting the page width
138 accordingly, however it also automatically adjusts the page height
141 • Markup-command ‘\draw-squiggle-line’ is now available. Customizing
142 is possible with overrides of ‘thickness’, ‘angularity’, ‘height’
146 \draw-squiggle-line #0.5 #'(3 . 3) ##t
149 \override #'(thickness . 4)
150 \draw-squiggle-line #0.5 #'(3 . -3) ##t
153 \override #'(angularity . -5)
154 \draw-squiggle-line #0.5 #'(-3 . -3) ##t
156 \translate #'(3 . -3)
157 \override #'(angularity . 2)
158 \override #'(height . 0.3)
159 \override #'(orientation . -1)
160 \draw-squiggle-line #0.2 #'(-3 . 3) ##t
164 • A new command, ‘\RemoveAllEmptyStaves’, has been made available,
165 which acts exactly like ‘\RemoveEmptyStaves’, except for also
166 removing empty staves on the first system in a score.
168 • Markup-commands ‘\undertie’ and ‘\overtie’ are now available, as
169 well as the generic markup-command ‘\tie’.
171 \undertie "undertied"
176 c''1 \prall -\tweak text \markup \tie "131" -1
179 { \voiceOne \m \voiceTwo \m }
182 • ‘TabStaff’ is now able to print micro-tones for bendings etc.
186 supportNonIntegerFret = ##t
190 mus = \relative { c'4 cih d dih }
193 \new Staff << \clef "G_8" \mus >>
198 • Two new styles of whiteout are now available. The ‘outline’ style
199 approximates the contours of a glyph’s outline, and its shape is
200 produced from multiple displaced copies of the glyph. The
201 ‘rounded-box’ style produces a rounded rectangle shape. For all
202 three styles, including the default ‘box’ style, the whiteout
203 shape’s ‘thickness’, as a multiple of staff-line thickness, can be
208 \filled-box #'(-1 . 15) #'(-3 . 4) #1
209 \override #'(thickness . 3)
210 \whiteout whiteout-box
214 \filled-box #'(-1 . 24) #'(-3 . 4) #1
215 \override #'(style . rounded-box)
216 \override #'(thickness . 3)
217 \whiteout whiteout-rounded-box
221 \filled-box #'(-1 . 18) #'(-3 . 4) #1
222 \override #'(style . outline)
223 \override #'(thickness . 3)
224 \whiteout whiteout-outline
227 \override Staff.Clef.whiteout-style = #'outline
228 \override Staff.Clef.whiteout = 3
233 • All of ‘\override’, ‘\revert’, ‘\set’, and ‘\unset’ now work with
234 the ‘\once’ prefix for making one-time settings.
237 \override NoteHead.color = #red
239 \once \override NoteHead.color = #green
241 \once \revert NoteHead.color
243 \revert NoteHead.color
248 • When outputting MIDI, LilyPond will now store the ‘title’ defined
249 in a score’s ‘\header’ block (or, if there is no such definition on
250 the ‘\score’ level, the first such definition found in a ‘\header’
251 block of the score’s enclosing ‘\bookpart’, ‘\book’, or top-level
252 scope) as the name of the MIDI sequence in the MIDI file.
253 Optionally, the name of the MIDI sequence can be overridden using
254 the new ‘midititle’ ‘\header’ field independently of ‘title’ (for
255 example, in case ‘title’ contains markup code which does not render
256 as plain text in a satisfactory way automatically).
258 • Music (and scheme and void) functions and markup commands that just
259 supply the final parameters to a chain of overrides, music function
260 and markup command calls can now be defined in the form of just
261 writing the expression cut short with ‘\etc’.
263 bold-red-markup = \markup \bold \with-color #red \etc
264 highlight = \tweak font-size 3 \tweak color #red \etc
266 \markup \bold-red "text"
267 \markuplist \column-lines \bold-red { One Two }
269 { c' \highlight d' e'2-\highlight -! }
272 • LilyPond functions defined with ‘define-music-function’,
273 ‘define-event-function’, ‘define-scheme-function’ and
274 ‘define-void-function’ can now be directly called from Scheme as if
275 they were genuine Scheme procedures. Argument checking and
276 matching will still be performed in the same manner as when calling
277 the function through LilyPond input. This includes the insertion
278 of defaults for optional arguments not matching their predicates.
279 Instead of using ‘\default’ in the actual argument list for
280 explicitly skipping a sequence of optional arguments,
281 ‘*unspecified*’ can be employed.
283 • Current input location and parser are now stored in GUILE fluids
284 and can be referenced via the function calls ‘(*location*)’ and
285 ‘(*parser*)’. Consequently, a lot of functions previously taking
286 an explicit ‘parser’ argument no longer do so.
288 Functions defined with ‘define-music-function’,
289 ‘define-event-function’, ‘define-scheme-function’ and
290 ‘define-void-function’ no longer use ‘parser’ and ‘location’
293 With those particular definitions, LilyPond will try to recognize
294 legacy use of ‘parser’ and ‘location’ arguments, providing
295 backwards-compatible semantics for some time.
297 • In the "english" notename language, the long notenames for pitches
298 with accidentals now contain a hyphen for better readability. You
301 instead of the previous
304 Double accidentals do not get another hyphen, so the Dutch ‘cisis’
305 has the long English notename ‘c-sharpsharp’.
307 • The visual style of tremolo slashes (shape, style and slope) is now
308 more finely controlled.
311 • Multi-measure rests have length according to their total duration,
312 under the control of ‘MultiMeasureRest.space-increment’.
315 • Page numbers may now be printed in roman numerals, by setting the
316 ‘page-number-type’ paper variable.
318 • It is now possible to use ‘\time’ and ‘\partial’ together to change
319 the time signature in mid measure.
321 \override Score.BarNumber.break-visibility = #end-of-line-invisible
322 \partial 4 \time 3/4 f4 | 2 4 | 2 \bar "||"
323 \time 9/8 \partial 4. f8 8 8 | 2. 8 8 8 |
326 • It is now possible to override the ‘text’ property of chord names.
329 \new ChordNames \chordmode {
331 \once \override ChordName.text = #"foo"
337 • Improved horizontal alignment when using ‘TextScript’, with
338 ‘DynamicText’ or ‘LyricText’.
340 • A new command ‘\magnifyStaff’ has been added which scales staff
341 sizes, staff lines, bar lines, beamlets and horizontal spacing
342 generally at the ‘Staff’ context level. Staff lines are prevented
343 from being scaled smaller than the default since the thickness of
344 stems, slurs, and the like are all based on the staff line
347 • ‘InstrumentName’ now supports ‘text-interface’.
349 • There is now support for controlling the ‘expression level’ of MIDI
350 channels using the ‘Staff.midiExpression’ context property. This
351 can be used to alter the perceived volume of even sustained notes
352 (albeit in a very ‘low-level’ way) and accepts a number value
353 between ‘0.0’ and ‘1.0’.
357 midiExpression = #0.6
358 midiInstrument = #"clarinet"
363 \set Staff.midiExpression = #0.7 s4\f\<
364 \set Staff.midiExpression = #0.8 s4
365 \set Staff.midiExpression = #0.9 s4
366 \set Staff.midiExpression = #1.0 s4
368 \set Staff.midiExpression = #0.9 s4\>
369 \set Staff.midiExpression = #0.8 s4
370 \set Staff.midiExpression = #0.7 s4
371 \set Staff.midiExpression = #0.6 s4\!
377 • Support for making it easier to use alternative ‘music’ fonts other
378 than the default Emmentaler in LilyPond has been added. See
379 <http://fonts.openlilylib.org/> for more information.
381 • Grobs and their parents can now be aligned separately allowing more
382 flexibility for grob positions. For example the ‘left’ edge of a
383 grob can now be aligned on the ‘center’ of its parent.
385 • Improvements to the ‘\partial’ command have been made to avoid
386 problems when using multiple, parallel contexts.
388 • ‘\chordmode’ can now use ‘< >’ and ‘<< >>’ constructs.
390 • A new command ‘\tagGroup’ has now been added. This complements the
391 existing ‘\keepWithTag’ and ‘\removeWithTag’ commands. For
394 \tagGroup #'(violinI violinII viola cello)
396 declares a list of ‘tags’ that belong to a single ‘tag group’.
398 \keepWithTag #'violinI
400 Is now only concerned with ‘tags’ from ‘violinI’’s tag group.
402 Any element of the included music tagged with one or more tags from
403 the group, but _not_ with VIOLINI, will be removed.
405 • The ‘\addlyrics’ function now works with arbitrary contexts
408 • String numbers can now also be used to print roman numerals (e.g.
409 for unfretted string instruments).
417 • The ‘thin-kern’ property of the ‘BarLine’ grob has been renamed to
420 • ‘KeyCancellation’ grobs now ignore cue clefs (like ‘KeySignature’
423 • Add support for ‘\once \unset’
425 • It is now possible to individually color both the dots and
426 parentheses in fret diagrams when using the ‘\fret-diagram-verbose’
431 \override #'(fret-diagram-details . (
432 (finger-code . in-dot))) {
433 \fret-diagram-verbose #'((mute 6)
434 (place-fret 5 3 1 red)
435 (place-fret 4 5 2 inverted)
436 (place-fret 3 5 3 green)
437 (place-fret 2 5 4 blue inverted)
438 (place-fret 1 3 1 violet)
443 \override #'(fret-diagram-details . (
444 (finger-code . below-string))) {
445 \fret-diagram-verbose #'((mute 6)
446 (place-fret 5 3 1 red parenthesized)
447 (place-fret 4 5 2 yellow
450 (place-fret 3 5 3 green)
451 (place-fret 2 5 4 blue )
459 • Two new properties have been added for use in
460 ‘fret-diagram-details’ when using the ‘\fret-diagram-verbose’
461 markup command; ‘fret-label-horizontal-offset’ which affects the
462 ‘fret-label-indication’ and ‘paren-padding’ which controls the
463 space between the dot and the parentheses surrounding it.
467 \fret-diagram-verbose #'((mute 6)
471 (place-fret 1 6 4 parenthesized)
476 \override #'(fret-diagram-details . (
477 (fret-label-horizontal-offset . 2)
478 (paren-padding . 0.25))) {
479 \fret-diagram-verbose #'((mute 6)
483 (place-fret 1 6 4 parenthesized)
491 • A new markup command ‘\justify-line’ has been added. Similar to
492 the ‘\fill-line’ markup command except that instead of setting
493 _words_ in columns, the ‘\justify-line’ command balances the
494 whitespace between them ensuring that when there are three or more
495 words in a markup, the whitespace is always consistent.
497 \markup \fill-line {oooooo oooooo oooooo oooooo}
498 \markup \fill-line {ooooooooo oooooooo oo ooo}
501 \markup \justify-line {oooooo oooooo oooooo oooooo}
502 \markup \justify-line {ooooooooo oooooooo oo ooo}
505 • A new command ‘\magnifyMusic’ has been added, which allows the
506 notation size to be changed without changing the staff size, while
507 automatically scaling stems, beams, and horizontal spacing.
510 \new Voice \relative {
512 <e' e'>4 <f f'>8. <g g'>16 <f f'>8 <e e'>4 r8
514 \new Voice \relative {
517 \override Score.SpacingSpanner.spacing-increment = #(* 1.2 0.63)
518 r32 c'' a c a c a c r c a c a c a c
519 r c a c a c a c a c a c a c a c
525 • A new flexible template suitable for a range of choral music, is
526 now provided. This may be used to create simple choral music, with
527 or without piano accompaniment, in two or four staves. Unlike
528 other templates, this template is ‘built-in’, which means it does
529 not need to be copied and edited: instead it is simply ‘\include’’d
530 in the input file. For details, see *note
531 (lilypond-learning)Built-in templates::.
533 • The positioning of tuplet numbers for kneed beams has been
534 significantly improved. Previously, tuplet numbers were placed
535 according to the position of the tuplet bracket, even if it was not
536 printed. This could lead to stranded tuplet numbers. Now they are
537 now positioned closer to the kneed-beam when an appropriate beam
538 segment exists for its placement and when the bracket is not drawn.
540 Collision detection is also added, offsetting horizontally if too
541 close to an adjoining note column but preserving the number’s
542 vertical distance from the kneed beam. If the number itself is too
543 large to fit in the available space the original, bracket-based,
544 positioning system is used instead; and in the event of a collision
545 (e.g. with an accidental) the tuplet number is moved vertically
549 \override Beam.auto-knee-gap = 3
557 The original kneed-beam tuplet behavior is still available through
558 an ‘\override’ via a new, ‘knee-to-beam’ property.
561 \override Beam.auto-knee-gap = 3
562 \override TupletNumber.knee-to-beam = ##f
570 • ‘\lyricsto’ and ‘\addLyrics’ have been ‘harmonized’. Both now
571 accept the same kind of delimited argument list that ‘\lyrics’ and
572 ‘\chords’ accept. Backward compatibility has been added so music
573 identifiers (i.e. ‘\mus’) are permitted as arguments. A
574 ‘convert-ly’ rule has been added that removes redundant uses of
575 ‘\lyricmode’ and rearranges combinations with context starters such
576 that ‘\lyricsto’ in general is applied last (i.e. like
577 ‘\lyricmode’ would be).
579 • Scheme functions and identifiers can now be used as output
582 • Scheme expressions can now be used as chord constituents.
584 • Improved visual spacing of small and regular ‘MI’ Funk and Walker
585 noteheads so they are now the same width as other shaped notes in
586 their respective sets. ‘SOL’ noteheads are also now visually
587 improved when used with both the normal Aiken and Sacred Harp
588 heads, as well as with the thin variants.
590 • ‘LeftEdge’ now has a definable ‘Y-extent’ (i.e.vertical). See
591 *note (lilypond-internals)LeftEdge::.
593 • Added a new ‘make-path-stencil’ function that supports all ‘path’
594 commands both relative and absolute:
596 ‘lineto’, ‘rlineto’, ‘curveto’, ‘rcurveto’, ‘moveto’, ‘rmoveto’,
597 ‘closepath’. The function also supports ‘single-letter’ syntax
598 used in standard SVG path commands:
600 ‘L’, ‘l’, ‘C’, ‘c’, ‘M’, ‘m’, ‘Z’ and ‘z’. The new command is also
601 backward-compatible with the original ‘make-connected-path-stencil’
602 function. Also see ‘scm/stencil.scm’.
604 • Context properties named in the ‘alternativeRestores’ property are
605 restored to their value at the start of the _first_ alternative in
606 all subsequent alternatives.
608 Currently the default set restores ‘current meter’;
611 \repeat volta 2 { c2 e4 | }
622 \repeat volta 2 { c2 e4 | }
625 \set Timing.measurePosition = #(ly:make-moment -1/2)
636 \set chordChanges = ##t
637 \chordmode { c1:m d:m c:m d:m }
640 \repeat volta 2 { \chordmode { c1:m } }
642 { \chordmode { d:m } }
643 { \chordmode { c:m } }
650 • Improved MIDI output for breathe marks. After tied notes, breaths
651 take time _only_ from the last note of the tie; e.g. ‘{ c4~ c8
652 \breathe }’ performs as ‘{ c4~ c16 r }’ instead of ‘{ c4 r8 }’.
653 This is more consistent with articulations and how humans interpret
654 breaths after ties. It now also makes it easier to align
655 simultaneous breathe marks over multiple parts, all with different
658 • A new note head style for Tabulature has been added;
659 ‘TabNoteHead.style = #'slash’.
661 • Four new Clef glyphs have been added _Double G_, _Tenor G_,
662 _Varpercussion_ and _varC_ and their related tessitura.
663 \override Staff.Clef.full-size-change = ##t
666 \clef "tenorG" c c c c
668 \clef "altovarC" c c c c
669 \clef "tenorvarC" c c c c
670 \clef "baritonevarC" c c c c
671 \clef "varpercussion" c c c c
674 \override Staff.Clef.full-size-change = ##f
677 \clef "tenorG" c c c c
679 \clef "altovarC" c c c c
680 \clef "tenorvarC" c c c c
681 \clef "baritonevarC" c c c c
682 \clef "varpercussion" c c c c
685 • Isolated durations in music sequences now stand for unpitched
686 notes. This may be useful for specifying rhythms to music or
687 scheme functions. When encountered in the final score, the pitches
688 are provided by the preceding note or chord. Here are two examples
689 where this makes for readable input:
691 \new DrumStaff \with { \override StaffSymbol.line-count = 1 }
694 tambourine 8 \tuplet 3/2 { 16 16 16 }
695 8 \tuplet 3/2 { 16 16 16 } 8 8 |
699 \new Staff { r16 c'16 ~ 8 ~ 4 ~ 2 | }
702 • ‘\displayLilyMusic’ and its underlying Scheme functions no longer
703 omit redundant note durations. This makes it easier to reliably
704 recognize and format standalone durations in expressions like
707 • Beaming exceptions can now be constructed using the
708 ‘\beamExceptions’ scheme function. One can now write
711 \set Timing.beamExceptions =
712 \beamExceptions { 32[ 32] 32[ 32] 32[ 32] }
714 \repeat unfold 6 { c32 } |
717 with multiple exceptions separated with ‘|’ bar checks (writing the
718 exception pattern without pitches is convenient but not mandatory).
719 Previously, setting the beam exceptions would have required writing
721 \set Timing.beamExceptions =
723 (end . ;entry for end of beams
724 ( ;start of alist of end points
725 ((1 . 32) . (2 2 2)) ;rule for 1/32 beams -- end each 1/16
728 • The most common articulations are now reflected in MIDI output.
729 Accent and marcato make notes louder; staccato, staccatissimo and
730 portato make them shorter. Breath marks shorten the previous note.
732 This behavior is customizable through the ‘midiLength’ and
733 ‘midiExtraVelocity’ properties on ‘ArticulationEvent’. See
734 ‘script-init.ly’ for examples.
736 • The PostScript functionality of stroke adjustment is no longer
737 applied automatically but left to the discretion of the PostScript
738 device (by default, Ghostscript uses it for resolutions up to
739 150dpi when generating raster images). When it is enabled, a more
740 complex drawing algorithm designed to benefit from stroke
741 adjustment is employed mostly for stems and bar lines.
743 Stroke adjustment can be forced by specifying the command line
744 option ‘-dstrokeadjust’ to LilyPond. When generating ‘PDF’ files,
745 this will usually result in markedly better looking ‘PDF’ previews
746 but significantly larger file size. Print quality at high
747 resolutions will be unaffected.