Re: Questions From a New User

[Werner LEMBERG]

[I took the liberty to forward this e-mail to the list.  Please write
 to the list whenever possible!  There you will often get help almost
 immediately; additionally, the knowledge base is much broader.]


Hello Damien,


> Are you the developer of LilyPond?

No, I'm not.  The original authors are two Dutch guys (Han-Wen
Nienhuys and Jan Nieuwenhuizen); today, a small group of enthusiasts
take care of the development.

> If so, I'd like to thank you right here and now.  Without it I think
> we would struggle even more - we've tried several GUI-based
> solutions and none of them have given us even half the chance at
> progress that LilyPond has given us.

Glad to hear that!

> To answer your question.  To be honest, I think our problems come
> less from LilyPond and its manual, and more from the fact that we
> were blind from birth and thus have little knowledge beyond the
> basics of music theory and notation, and little to no knowledge of
> print (Jenny has at least felt tactile print before, while I have no
> experience with it whatsoever).  We've primarily been playing by ear
> and improvising for most of our lives.
>
> That's why, ideally, we're looking for help that goes beyond the
> scope of the manuals.  If there are tutorials aimed for people in
> our situation that you can direct us to, or if not, even if we have
> to pay someone to teach us.

Maybe you can contact Haipeng Hu <hhpcomposer@gmail.com>, who is also
a blind composer, and who has successfully used LilyPond to create
large orchestra scores.  He is actively involved in the DAISY music
braille project:

  https://daisy.org/activities/projects/music-braille/

> We've grasped the basics, as in, how to write notes.  But now we're
> struggling with visual aspects of section 1, and most aspects of
> section 2 and beyond.

OK.

> When do we use tied chords in favour of separate staves?

In my opinion, this depends on the instruments.  If you write for a
piano, you can have more than a single note in a staff (i.e., using
chords).  On the other hand, if you write for three clarinets, say, in
most cases it makes sense to have a separate staff for each
instrument, not using chords at all since clarinets can't produce more
than a single note.

> When do we use staff groups and when do we just use staves on their
> own?

Staff groups is a feature of orchestra scores.  For example, the
standard groups are “winds” (flute, oboe, etc.), “brass” (horn,
trumpet etc.), and “strings” (violin 1, violin 2, viola, etc.).
Instruments that don't belong into one of these groups (for example,
timpani) should get a staff of their own.

> Why would we use braces inside chord/group symbols and vice versa?
> When would we use each variation?

Normally, there aren't braces within < and >.  However, for LilyPond
there is also << and >>, which is something completely different.  The
former encloses notes of a chord, while the latter encloses parallel
music (usually a whole piece).

> When would we have to use manual beaming?

You would use it if automatic beaming doesn't deliver good results, or
if you want to have special beaming: For example, you write music in
4/4, and your normal rhythm scheme is

  > - - - > - - -

(this is, two groups with four eights each).  But suddenly you need

  > - - > - - > -

(this is, two groups with three eights, followed by a group with two
eights).  Normally this gets indicated with a different beaming, which
you must input manually to override the default.

> When do we use the tons of available barlines there are?

For the beginning, it's rather simple: At the very end of a piece, use

  \bar "|."

All other bar lines are inserted automatically by LilyPond.  The token
“|” does *not* produce a bar line!  Instead, it is a bar line check,
to be inserted where you expect a bar line – it can be omitted, but in
most cases you shouldn't do this.

> In short, how do we make sure the output looks professional and not
> just readable?

LilyPond output looks great without further tweaking in almost all
cases.  People on this list are more than willing to provide support
if you need help!  The right way to ask the list for specific
solutions of an issue is to create a minimal working example (MWE)
that exhibits the problem.

I also suggest that you contact some musicians who are not visually
impaired, and who can give comments on the global layout of your
score.  In the long run I'm rather sure that you will be able to use a
visually satisfying template that you can simply fill out with your
music.


    Werner