Re: Setting Gregorian chant: Note spacing for two note neumes seem to depend on length of lyric text

[Matthew Fong]

Hello Aaron,

Thanks for pointing out the many ways LilyPond can accomplish something. Going to play around with those options!

Many thanks,

mattfong

On Wed, Oct 7, 2020 at 6:11 PM Aaron Hill <lilypond@hillvisions.com> wrote:

On 2020-10-07 11:03 am, Matthew Fong wrote:
> I suppose I could also use markup on the note if it's
> a graphical articulation?

I can think of four ways to decorate a note:

%%%%
\version "2.20.0"

decoMarkup = \markup \circle \normalsize \normal-text !
decoDynamic = #(make-dynamic-script decoMarkup)
decoFingering = \finger \decoMarkup
decoScript = \tweak stencil #ly:text-interface::print
              \tweak text \decoMarkup
              \staccato

{
   \override TextScript.color = #'(0.9 0.4 0.3)
   \override Script.color = #'(0.9 0.8 0.3)
   \override Fingering.color = #'(0.3 0.8 0.4)
   \override DynamicText.color = #'(0.3 0.6 0.9)
   \set fingeringOrientations = #'(left)
   <b' \decoFingering>4 \decoScript ^\decoMarkup \decoDynamic
}
%%%%

TextScript is the most straightforward, although it may require tweaking
to get its positioning as desired.  DynamicText aligns differently by
default, so it might be better candidate; however, it assumes the
\dynamic font style which would require use of \normal-text to
counteract.

Fingering and Script are both interesting because they naturally can
exist within the staff lines while still avoiding collisions with other
elements.  Fingering both assumes the \number font style and a smaller
font size; so you may need to use both \normal-text and \normalsize, as
demonstrated in the example above.

Customizing Script involves hijacking an existing articulation, so it is
the least "clean" of the options.  Note that each articulation has its
own preferred spacing and alignment, so you may need to play around a
bit to find one that matches your needs.


-- Aaron Hill