Re: Is lilypond really suitable for composing?

[Flaming Hakama by Elaine]

 ---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Jonas Daverio <address@hidden>
To: address@hidden
Subject: Is lilypond suitable for big composition projects?

That may seem like a stupid question, but I've been using LilyPond with Frescobaldi for a year and a half, but I start to ask myself if it is as efficient as if I had used another tool like Musescore.

I explain: I don't have at all a powerful computer, and I think that an essential feature that I have to have to compose efficiently is to see what I've written in real-time. There is such a feature in Frescobaldi name "continuous engraving" (or something like that, my version is not in English), but on my slow computer and with a big project such as a 20-pages quartet or symphony, it takes at least 40 to 50 seconds to render.

In addition, it would be great to hear the music out of the midi file by clicking on the preview (like on almost every WYSIWYG music software) but Frescobaldi's midi player is pretty useless for that.

I'm not saying that LilyPond and Frescobaldi are bad, it's probably just me who don't know the right tools or the right way to use them. I'm asking to find a way to make my workflow more convenient to compose.

Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

I find that, for my scores that consist of about a dozen staves, that 32 bars or so is the largest chunk that I like to work on (for PDF, since MIDI compilation is much faster).

I use a tag structure to switch on which segments of the piece I want to see.  It requires a bit of setup, so it is not fun to impose on something already in existence.

For previewing MIDI, I import the MIDI file into Logic.  Not an automatic process, but  not too bad.


\version "2.19.15"

melodyChorusOne = \relative { \mark "Chorus 1" c''1 1 1 1 \bar "||" }
melodyChorusTwo = \relative { \mark "Chorus 2" d''1 1 1 1 \bar "|." }

melody = {
    \tag #'ChorusOne { \melodyChorusOne }
    \tag #'ChorusTwo { \melodyChorusTwo }
}

harmonyChorusOne = \relative { e'1 1 1 1 }
harmonyChorusTwo = \relative { b'1 1 1 1 }

harmony = {
    \tag #'ChorusOne { \harmonyChorusOne }
    \tag #'ChorusTwo { \harmonyChorusTwo }
}


%  Full Score
\score {

    \keepWithTag #'(

        %  Formatting one tag per line allows you to easily comment-in/out a segment
        ChorusOne
        ChorusTwo
        %ChorusThree

        %  In case you do have differing content between PDF and MIDI,
        %  like fermatas, tempo changes and repeats
        %  you can add a tag pair PDF/MIDI to distinguish between them
        PDF

    ) <<
        \melody
        \harmony
    >>
    \layout {}


    %  The MIDI version can contain a different set of segments than the PDF
    \keepWithTag #'(
        MIDI
        ChorusOne
        ChorusTwo
        ChorusThree
    ) <<
        \melody
        \harmony
    >>
   \midi {}
}


%  Just 2nd Chorus
\score {
    \keepWithTag #'(
        PDF
        %ChorusOne
        ChorusTwo
        %ChorusThree
    ) <<
         \melody
         \harmony
    >>
    \layout {}
}

HTH,

David Elaine Alt

415 . 341 .4954                                           "Confusion is highly underrated"

address@hidden

skype: flaming_hakama
Producer ~ Composer ~ Instrumentalist
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