Re: Poster for music engraving conference

[Jacques Menu]

Hello,

A unique feature of Lily is the ability to place scores in markups at will, 
that may be impressive.

JM

> Le 5 déc. 2019 à 20:48, address@hidden a écrit :
> 
> On 12/04, Werner LEMBERG wrote:
>> 
>> Folks,
>> 
>> 
>> the music engraving conference in Salzburg (January 17.-19.) aims to
>> present as much note engraving programs as possible.  While some
>> companies send representatives (e.g., Dorico, Capella, Finale) – some
>> even with talks – we don't have something similar for LilyPond in the
>> main part of the conference.
>> 
>> Instead, we would like to have a poster (in A0 format) that shows how
>> LilyPond works, together with some showcase results.
>> 
>> Now my question: Are there people who are willing to produce such a
>> poster?  Has anyone already done something similar for other
>> conferences?
>> 
>> 
>>    Werner
> 
> I don't have the time/skill to make a poster right now, but here are my
> first thoughts about some things which might be good to include.  In no
> particular order:
> 
> (1) Mention Frescobaldi, and include a screenshot which exposes the
> playback functionality.  While Frescobaldi is not the only way to use
> Lilypond, seeing a GUI and playback bar will likely be comforting to
> people used to graphical notational software who are intimidated by the
> idea of working with straight text files.
> 
> (2) Show off things which are easier in Lilypond than in graphical
> notation software.  Some things which come to mind are
> 
> * quarter tones
> 
> * \cadenzaOn and \cadenzaOff
> 
> * per-staff meters
> 
> * percussion input
> 
> (3) Keep Lilypond code snippets simple.  Focus on one thing per snippet.
> (For example, don't use any accidentals, except for a snippet
> demonstrating accidentals and quarter tone accidentals and nothing
> else.)  Lilypond's syntax often consists of English words and musical
> terms.  Try to stick to code that an English-speaking musician could
> parse without any familiarity with Lilypond.
> 
> (4) If the text of the poster is in English, use English note names.  If
> the text of the poster is not in English, I am on the fence as to
> whether it would be better to use note names consistent with the
> language of the poster, or to use English note names in order to be
> consistent with the language of Lilypond's syntax.  Or perhaps have only
> one example using accidentals at all, and demonstrate in multiple
> languages.
> 
> (5) Emphasize the high quality of Lilypond's default output,
> pre-tweaking.  Lilypond takes longer to learn than graphical notation
> software, but it makes up for that in the long run by requiring far less
> manual tweaking.  I rarely have to manually tweak anything other than
> slurs.  This also makes Lilypond more robust against layout changes,
> which when I used Sibelius always came with the risk of ruining my score
> and requiring hours of cleanup.
> 
> (6) Show off a simple macro example.  Another time-saving feature of
> Lilypond is the ability define a specific set of instructions once and
> apply it multiple times.  Back when I used Sibelius, I had a
> several-step process, which involved disabling and renabling magnetic
> layout and alternating between Ctrl+Up/Down and Up/Down, plus several
> clicks, in order to create an acceptable glissando, and I use a *lot* of
> glissandi in my music.  Doing this over and over again wasted countless
> hours of my life.  I'm sure many other composers/engravers have their
> own tedious workarounds that they would automate with a macro if they
> could.
> 
> (7) Also show off some fancy, Ferneyhough-esque or otherwise specialist
> examples, perhaps including some of the wackier stuff from the LSR,
> 
> http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=1007
> 
> but without the Lilypond source code, in order to demonstrate what
> Lilypond is capable of without overwhelming people with too much code.
> Only include enough code  on the poster to demystify how Lilypond is
> actually used.
> 
> (8) As free software, Lilypond does not require a subscription or a EULA
> or any other loss of autonomy over the ability to access your work now
> or in the future.  Moreover, Lilypond files are human readable/editable
> without even having a copy of Lilypond.  Both are advantages in terms of
> long-term sustainability and preservation.
> 
> (9) Include some of the information from here,
> 
> http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.18/Documentation/essay-big-page#engraving-details
> 
> in order to show off Lilypond's attention to detail.
> 
> (10) The ability to use LyLuaTex, Edition-Engraver, and version control
> also come to mind as huge advantages of using Lilypond, but they might
> be too much to explain briefly on a poster.
> 
> (11) Even without the knowledge of scheme needed to extend Lilypond
> yourself, someone the mailing list can often provide an include snippet
> to achieve what you want.  Good luck convincing AVID to implement a new
> feature just for your unique use case.  The helpfulness of Lilypond's
> community might be something to mention on the poster.
> 
> (12) Describe some ways in which Lilypond has been used in large
> projects.  Some of Urs's work comes to mind.  MediaWiki/Wikipedia
> integration might also be something to mention.
> 
> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Score
> 
> (13) Include one full page of a complex and highly-polished score.
> 
> I'll let you know if I think of anything else.  I wish I could help a
> little more directly, but I'm in the middle of a few very busy weeks.  I
> would like to be involved in some way next year.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Mason