GNU LilyPond 2.2.0
Dear music enthusiasts,
LilyPond is a program for making beautiful music notation. It is
free/open source software, and is available for all popular
operating systems. It runs on most Unix flavors –including Linux
and MacOS X– and MS Windows. Use it for your music too!
LilyPond version 2.2 was released today!
This release has completely revamped support for for orchestral
score formatting, cue notes, font size management, lyric
formatting, drum notation/playback and document integration.
In addition, it has numerous syntax simplifications, proper
support for 8va brackets, and a completely updated manual.
Go and grab it at
A big thank-you goes out to our contributors:
David Bobroff, Edward Sanford Sutton, Heikki Junes, and Nicolas
Sceaux.
Also thanks to our bug-hunters:
Alexandre Beneteau, Andrew McNabb, Atte Andre Jensen , Bertalan
Fodor, Bruce McIntyre, Dave Symonds, David Bobroff, Darius, Delma
Avers, Doug Linhardt, Eric Wurbel, Erik Sandberg, Ferenc Wagner,
Hans Forbrich, John Williams, José Luis Cruz, Juergen
Reuter, Kieren Richard MacMillan, Laurent Martelli, Mats Bengtsson,
Matthias Kilian, Nancho Alvarez, Nick Busigin, Nicolas Sceaux ,
Olivier Guery, Patrick Atamaniuk, Paul Scott, Pawel D, Pedro
Kroger, Ray McKinney, Reuben Thomas, Rob V, Stef Epardaud, Thomas
Willhalm, Thomas Scharkowski, Tom Tom Bäckstöm, Werner
Lemberg, and Will Oram.
Happy music printing,
Han-Wen Nienhuys & Jan Nieuwenhuizen
(core development team)
New features in 2.2 since 2.0
- Setting `raggedlast = ##t’ in the `paper’ block causes the last
line to be set flush-left instead of justified. - The `Timing_engraver’ now sets the `Timing’ alias on its
containing context automatically. - The code for font selection has been rewritten. In addition to
existing font selection properties, the property `font-encoding’
has been added, which makes the switch between normal `text’ and
other encodings like `braces’, `music’ and `math’. - The pmx2ly script has been removed from the distribution.
- Pedal brackets will now run to the last bar of a piece if they
are not explicitly ended. - Context definitions now use the word `context’ instead of
`translator’. - Property functions may be used as an argument to `set!’, for
example(set! (ly:grob-property grob ‘beam) … )
- In anticipation of Emacs 21.4 or 22.1, the info documentation
contains images. - Cue notes can be quoted directly from the parts that contain
them. This will take into account transposition of source and
target instrument. For example,addquote clarinet notesrelative c' { transposition bes fis4 fis fis fis } score { notes relative c'' { c8 d8 quote 2 oboe es8 gis } } - The transposition of an instrument can be specified using the
`transposition’ command. An E-flat alto saxophone is specified astransposition es’
- The naming of exported Scheme functions now follows Scheme
conventions. Changes be applied to Scheme files withconvert-ly -e -n –from=2.1.24 –to=2.1.26 *.scm
- Notes can be excluded from auto-beaming, by marking them with
`noBeam’c8 c noBeam c c
will print two separate eighth notes, and two beamed notes.
- Translators and contexts have been split. The result of this
internal cleanup is that `Score’ no longer is the top context;
`Score’ is contained in the `Global’ context. Consequently, it is
possible to tweak `Score’ as follows:context Score with { ... } - The number of staff lines in Tablature notation is now
automatically deduced from the `stringTunings’ property. - The program reference has been cleaned up and revised.
- The syntax for setting properties has been simplified: the
following table lists the differences:(old) (new) property A.B = #C set A.B = #C property A.B unset unset A.B property A.B set #C = #D override A.B #C = #D property A.B override #C = #D (removed) property A.B revert #C revert A.B #CFurthermore, if `A’ is left out, the bottommost context is used by
default. In other words, it is no longer necessary to explicitly
mention `Voice’, `Lyrics’ or `ChordNames’.Old:
property Voice.autoBeaming = ##f property Staff.TimeSignature set #'style = #'CNew:
set autoBeaming = ##f override Staff.TimeSignature #'style = #'C - Tweaks made with `override’ and `revert’ no longer hide tweaks
at higher context levels. - Melismata in lyrics are also properly handled in the MIDI
output. - The lilypond-book script has been rewritten. It is shorter,
cleaner and faster. The special construct `mbinclude’ has been
removed, plain `@include’ or `input’ can be used now.It now supports running convert-ly on the lilypond snippets, lilypond-book --filter='convert-ly --from=2.0.0' my-book.tely - The `LyricsVoice’ context has been removed. Lyrics should only
be constructed in `Lyrics’. - The `Thread’ context has been removed. Note heads and rests are
now constructed at `Voice’ level. - Harmonic notes can now be entered as
<c’ g”harmonic>
- Drum notation is now supported as a regular feature: percussion
may be entered in `drums’ mode, and printed or performed in a
`DrumStaff’ context:score { drums new DrumStaff { hihat4 cowbell8 } } - The automatic staff changer was internally rewritten. As a
result, the syntax has been simplified as well:autochange THE-MUSIC
- The ergonomic syntax of `markup’ now has an equivalent in
Scheme. The `markup*’ macro creates such objects; the following two
markup commands are equivalent:f4^#(markup* #:raise 0.2 #:bold "hi") f4^markup { raise #0.2 bold hi } - Voice names, for vocal lines, have been added. They are similar
to instrument names. They can be set by defining `vocalName’ and
`vocNam’. - Safe mode has been reinstated for lilypond. When lilypond is
invoked with `–safe-mode’, TeX and PostScript file output is
disallowed, and lilypond-bin is invoked with `–safe-mode’, the
user’s Guile expressions are evaluated in a safe environment and
file inclusion is not allowed.Warning: this does not protect against
denial-of-service attacks using Guile, TeX or PostScript. (This
feature is still experimental.) - There is now a Scheme macro for defining markup commands.
Special mark-up commands can be defined in user-files too. - Many fixes for dimension scaling have been made, resulting in
correct results for scores that mix staves in different sizes. - Improved robustness when layout properties are accidentally
removed. - A more cleanly constructed part combiner has been installed. It
is more robust and less buggy. The part-combiner can be used withpartcombine MUS1 MUS2
See `input/regression/new-part-combine.ly’ for an example.
- Formatting of rehearsal marks has been improved. The `mark’
command now only does automatic incrementing for marks specified as
integer. For example, `mark #1′ will print an A in the default
style. See `input/regression/rehearsal-mark-letter.ly’,
`input/regression/rehearsal-mark-number.ly’. - Formatting of ottava brackets has been much improved.
- Objects in the output can now be documented: the following
fragment boxes the note head, and adds the text “heads or tails?”
three spaces below the box.context Voice applyoutput #(add-balloon-text 'NoteHead "heads, or tails?" '(0 . -3)) c8 - Default staff sizes are now scalable. There are two new
mechanisms for setting staff sizes. Both are demonstrated in this
fragment:#(set-global-staff-size 15) paper { #(paper-set-staff-size (* 15 pt)) }Both have the same effect on the global layout of a piece.
Similarly, the paper size may be changed as follows#(set-default-paper-size "a4") paper { #(set-paper-size "a4") } - Warnings for bar check errors are more cleverly printed. This
makes `barCheckSynchronize’ superfluous, so it is now switched off
by default.Warning: this will cause problems in scores that use
bar checks to shorten measures. - The black note head was made a little rounder, which causes a
less frantic graphic impression. - A more concise syntax for checking octaves was introduced. A
note may be followed by `=’QUOTES which indicates what its absolute
octave should be. In the following example,relative c” { c=” b=’ d,=” }
the d will generate a warning, because a d” is
expected, but a d’ is found. - There is a new mechanism for putting lyrics to melodies. With
this mechanism, `Lyrics’ lines can be put melodies individually,
allowing for different melismatic sections in every `Lyrics’. See
`input/regression/lyric-combine-new.ly’. - Bar lines may now be dotted.
- The documentation now has links to a wiki, where everyone can
add personal comments to the manual. - Contexts may now be changed locally for an isolated music
expression. For example,new Voice with { consists "Pitch_squash_engraver" } { c'4 } - The syntax for changing staffs has changed. The keyword
`change’ should now be used, e.g.change Staff = up
- Features of spanner contexts, like `Staff’, can now be changed
using `set’, eg.new Staff { override Staff.StaffSymbol #'line-count = #4 c'4 } puts a quarter note C on a staff with 4 lines. - Multi measure rests are now truly centered between the
clefs/barlines of the staff, their position is independent of
symbols on the other staffs. - Collision resolution for dots in chords has been improved
greatly. - Spacing following barlines was improved for widely stretched
lines. - Lyric hyphens and extenders now conform to standard typesetting
practice. - Lyrics are now aligned under note heads conforming to engraving
standards. The responsible code has been rewritten, and is
drastically simpler from the previous version. To aid this rewrite,
the syntactic function of the extender line ( __ ) has been
changed: it is now attached to the lyric syllable. - When redefining a context, the associated identifier is also
updated. For example, after reading the following snippet,translator { ScoreContext autoBeaming = ##f }the definition of `ScoreContext’ is updated to include the changed
setting. - The weight of the stafflines is now heavier at smaller staff
sizes. The font has been modified to match this look: at smaller
sizes, the font is heavier and the note heads are more
rounded. - Processing scores is now done while parsing the file. New
Scheme functions give more flexibility: for example, it is now
possible interpret a score, collecting synchronized musical events
in a list, and manipulate that information using inline Scheme. For
an example, see `input/no-notation/recording.ly’. - Font sizes can now truly be scaled continuously: the
`font-size’ is similar to the old `font-relative-size’, but may be
set to fractional values; the closest design size will be scaled to
achieve the desired size. As a side-effect, there are now no longer
limitations in using smaller fonts (eg. grace notes) at small staff
sizes. - Stem tips are now also engraved with rounded corners.
- The placement of accidentals on chords and ledgered notes is
improved.
—
Jan Nieuwenhuizen <janneke@gnu.org> | GNU LilyPond –
The music typesetter
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jantien |
http://www.lilypond.org