An idea for a systematic development of a large score.

[wjm]

Greetings!
After watching Sarah K Alawami's work on a score recently on this 
user-list, but not having the musical and compositional skills to make 
constructive remarks, and after reading the thread entitled 'stylesheet 
structure', it occurred to me that an approach might be found which 
might make the whole process a little less opaque.

After a lot of fiddling around I came up with this schema:-

Write separate files for each instrument, containing only its musical 
elements, and name them 'instrument'.ily, signifiying that they are not 
to be compiled directly by Lilypond.
Write separate files for each instrument, "\include"ing the relevant 
.ily file, and with enough information to allow Lilypond to process it 
correctly. (This would enable 'proofing' of each instrument for musical 
correctness concerning octaves, barchecks, etc., without having to deal 
with the complete score).
Write a separate file for the version, paper, header, sections, naming 
it version-paper-header.ily
Write a separate file for the global constants; time, beat, key, etc., 
-structure, naming it global.ily
Write an overarching 'score' file "\include"ing all the relevant .ily 
files, and containg any additional information for the final processing 
by Lilypond, naming it 'musical-title'.ly
This approach is well-facilitated in Frescobaldi, using the 
point-and-click correlation between the output pane and the relevant 
input file. (Frescobaldi calls up the relevant .ily file even if it is 
not loaded at the time - a very convenient feature).
Whether this would work well for someone with severe visual impairment 
or other disability, I don't know.

Regards,
Bill

This is how a work might be structured:-
+++++++++++++++++
global.ily
version-paper-header.ily
+++++++++++++++++
bass.ily
bassoon.ily
cello.ily
clarinet.ily
drum.ily
flute.ily
horn.ily
oboe.ily
score.ily
trumpet.ily
viola.ily
violin-ii.ily
violin-i.ily
+++++++++++++++++
bass.ly
bassoon.ly
cello.ly
clarinet.ly
drum.ly
flute.ly
horn.ly
oboe.ly
trumpet.ly
viola.ly
violin-ii.ly
violin-i.ly
+++++++++++++++++
fullscore.ly
+++++++++++++++++

Example files are as follows:-
global.ily ---
==============
global=
{\time 12/8
\tempo 4. = 100
\key g \major
}
==============
version-paper.ily ---
==============
\version "2.17.15"
\header
{
%whatever is wanted from the full header definition as in the Lilypond 
documentation...
}

#(set-global-staff-size 17)
\paper
{
  indent = 30  % space for instrumentName
  short-indent = 15  % space for shortInstrumentName
}
==============
a music file ---
==============
\include "version-paper.ily"
\include "global.ily"
\include "bass.ily"

\score {
{ \global \bassMusic }
\layout { }
}
==============
the 'score' file ---
==============
\score {
   <<
    \new StaffGroup = "StaffGroup_woodwinds"
    <<
        \new Staff = "Staff_flute"
        {
        \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Flute"
       \global    \fluteMusic
        }
        \new Staff = "Staff_clarinet"
        {
        \set Staff.instrumentName =
        \markup { \concat { "Clarinet in B" \flat } }
           \transposition bes
        \global         \transpose bes c' \clarinetMusic
        }
        \new Staff = "Staff_bassoon"
        {
        \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Bassoon"
        \global   \bassoonMusic
        }
    >>
    \new StaffGroup = "StaffGroup_brass"
    <<
      \new Staff = "Staff_hornI"
      {
        \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Horn in F"
        \transposition f
        \transpose f c'  \global \hornMusic
      }
      \new Staff = "Staff_trumpet"
      {
        \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Trumpet in  C"
      \global   \trumpetMusic
      }
    >>
    \new RhythmicStaff = "RhythmicStaff_percussion"
    <<
      \set RhythmicStaff.instrumentName = #"Percussion"
     \global  \percussionMusic
    >>

       \new StaffGroup = "StaffGroup_strings"
       <<
      \new StaffGroup = "StaffGroup_violins"
      <<
        \new Staff = "Staff_violinI"
        {
          \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Violin I"
        \global   \violinIMusic
        }
        \new Staff = "Staff_violinII"
        {
          \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Violin II"
         \global  \violinIIMusic
        }
      >>
      \new Staff = "Staff_viola"
      {
        \set Staff.instrumentName = #"Viola"
       \global  \violaMusic
      }