haskore -> lilypond -> typesetting?
I tried using lilypond ( http://www.lilypond.org/ ) for typesetting of sheet music. While the output looks nice, the input language IMHO is quite horrible, because the underlying data/execution model is underspecified. For some parts, it tries to describe the logical structure of the score; but for others, the layout; and in addition it has several non-obvious context-dependencies (but see below), preventing modularity. Is there a better option? E.g., starting from a clear mathematical model, as in Haskore, and use lilypond only as a PDF rendering engine? Do I want hly / hts perhaps? http://rd.slavepianos.org/?t=hly As I see it, the main high-level design problem is that the source language needs partial evaluation annotations for abstractions applications: sometimes they should be expanded (for MIDI rendering, always) and sometimes not (in typesetting, to create repetition marks instead of actually repeating notes). PS: I agree that some of lilypond's context dependencies (relative pitch, implicit note length) do really save large amounts of tedious typing: "c4 e g a c1" is much more economical than "[c 1 qn, e 1 qn, g 1 qn , a 1 qn, c 2 fn]" which I guess is the Haskore equivalent.
On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 6:35 PM, Johannes Waldmann
I tried using lilypond ( http://www.lilypond.org/ ) for typesetting of sheet music.
While the output looks nice, the input language IMHO is quite horrible,
I use musescore. Its got 3 modes on entry a. clickety-click -- ie mouse b. keyboard shortcuts c. midi keyboard For bulk entry direct entry from a midi keyboard is best http://musescore.org/en/handbook/note-entry [Since I am not much of a musician, I usually hover between a and b] If after that you want the lilypond toolchain, it will export to lilypond and then use your favorite text editor. [Not sure of the quality of export]
I think the big question is whether you are dealing with music or scores. a .ly file represents not the music, but the music plus typographic annotations (and I find that even lilypond quite often benefits from hints). Most gui programs represent scores, but I think lilypond stands alone in that among text formats. So the question, to me, is whether you need a representation of music, or of a score; if of music, I would choose an input format other than lilypond (abc recommends itself from my folk-music background), using an appropriate backend for rudimentary typesetting. But if you need the full layout flexibility, I doubt you can beat writing straight lilypond: I have yet to see a frontend produce easily hand-edited lilypond source (which I find very quickly becomes a featureless blob without judicious use of whitespace), nor one that exposes the flexibility of the lilypond engine (and I find lilypond much faster to write than Finale, and little slower than Mozart's superb keyboard entry (not being a keyboardist, I cannot speak for midi entry)). haskore and hly I would reserve for internal representations for conversion or transformation programs; I think there are much better alternatives for human writing. I would also be careful with excessively "mathematical" representations; before finding lilypond, I had to discard more than one program for failure to handle irregular meters. ________________________________________ From: Haskell-Cafe [haskell-cafe-bounces@haskell.org] on behalf of Rustom Mody [rustompmody@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 10:46 AM To: Johannes Waldmann Cc: Haskell Cafe Subject: Re: [Haskell-cafe] haskore -> lilypond -> typesetting?
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Sturdy, Ian