RE: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines

[Mark Stephen Mrotek]

Dave,

You are asking a computer (Lilypond) to look good when "one never knows what's 
going to happen."

IMHO, the two are mutually exclusive.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: David Bellows [mailto:address@hidden 
Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2019 1:23 PM
To: Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden>
Cc: lilypond-user <address@hidden>
Subject: Re: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines

Hey Mark,

This music is generated algorithmically and there are a lot of options for the 
user to choose from, so one never knows what's going to happen. I need for 
Lilypond to do its usual thing and look perfect without any additional user 
interaction.

For example, I left out of these examples the scheme code that automatically 
adds ottava markings based on the instrument and so on.

Dave

On Sun, May 19, 2019 at 10:35 AM Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> David,
>
> My experience is transcribing 18th and 19th century piano scores.
> I do get "run-off" staves.
> This is usually the result of incorrect mensuration of a note or notes.
>
> You piece still has some sort of vertical simultaneity.
> Perhaps you could start with a temporary time signature, just to see if 
> voices align.
> Then remove it for publication.
>
> Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Bellows [mailto:address@hidden
> Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2019 10:46 PM
> To: Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden>
> Cc: lilypond-user <address@hidden>
> Subject: Re: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines
>
> Hey Mark,
>
> > Maybe use bar checks?
>
> Given that a lot of the music isn't generated to fit any particular time 
> signature (ie, the bar lines are often there just to break things up to ease 
> reading), I would get tons of bar check errors. Plus, keeping track of when 
> bars should be inserted in my software seems like it would be a huge chore. 
> Is this something you think would solve the problem?
>
> On Sat, May 18, 2019 at 10:25 PM Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden> wrote:
> >
> > David
> >
> > Maybe use bar checks?
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: lilypond-user
> > [mailto:address@hidden On 
> > Behalf Of David Bellows
> > Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2019 3:59 PM
> > To: lilypond-user <address@hidden>
> > Subject: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines
> >
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > I tried to keep the examples minimal but I also needed to show the full 
> > extent of what is going on.
> >
> > Attached are two Lilypond files and pdfs showing an unconventional score. 
> > Each part has the same number of notes but since the durations are random, 
> > each part ends at its own time.
> >
> > badtest.ly and badtest.pdf show the default behavior. When a part ends, one 
> > of its staves continues on till the last part ends. I don't want this 
> > behavior.
> >
> > test.ly and test.pdf do a better job of showing what happens with the 
> > workaround hack of adding s128 at the end of each part. The problem with 
> > that -- and I didn't include examples -- is that if all the durations are 
> > the same and end at a natural bar line, an extra empty measure is added at 
> > the end of each part. I can't check for this occurrence ahead of time in my 
> > own software as it would be insane to keep track of all of that.
> >
> > You'll notice a lot of context commands all of which I think are necessary 
> > to get everything else to look as it should.
> >
> > So I'm hoping someone has an idea about what's going on here and how 
> > to prevent those extra staves like in test.pdf
> >
> > Also, these Lilypond files are generated automatically by another program 
> > I've created so the layout of the Lilypond file can't really be changed 
> > without a massive amount of work. Hopefully a solution won't require 
> > something like that.
> >
>