I'm a newcomer to lilypond, having previously used abc. One thing I find vexing is how to enter scores so it is easy to see all the staves on the screen at the same time during coding (i.e. in the source code).
The Lilypond manual explains well how to code this way:
staff1, all measures
staff2, all measures
staff3, all measures
With compositions of any length, this means you can't see in the source, for instance, measure 57 from all staves at the same time, except perhaps with awkward editor screen splits.
I'd prefer to have this organization in the source:
This is how I'm accustomed to coding in abc, and what I like about it is that I get to the point where I can compose this way, without having to use paper first. In a sense, the source is organized similarly to the actual score, with staves aligned vertically and the notes proceeding to the right.
I suppose it would be possible to do this with the simple expedient of using one text line for each staff, no matter how long it is, but then it's not particularly scrollable or printable. A better solution would be to break each staff up into measure groups that fit in a conveniently-sized line of source.
Two ways I can think of that might work would be...
1. assign measure groups to separate strings, then concatenate the strings
2. change contexts on the fly, adding notes to each staff in turn (like abc)
Unfortunately I'm having a hard time figuring out how to do either. Could any seasoned lilyponders offer me some coding advice, and help me "across the pond", so to speak?