3 FAQ - GNU LilyPond FAQs
9 A: Please read this document carefully. If you are still at loss,
10 send your questions to the B<mailing list>, and not to authors
13 Note: relative paths are meant to be relative to the source directory
18 Q: Wow, the webpages look really neat, but if I install the .exe file
19 on my windows 3.11 machine, it doesn't work.
21 A: The DOS port is done with the cygnus W32 port of the GNU utils. It
22 does I<not> work with windows 3.x; you need NT or w95 (this is not a
23 recommendation, btw. We recommend you use Unix, in particular, use
26 Q: I get all kinds of errors while compiling F<parser.cc>
28 A: LilyPond uses features of bison version 1.25. Please confirm that
29 you are using a version 1.25 or better, that is B<GNU> bison
30 B<1.25>. Don't forget to do "make clean" after installing it. Don't
31 forget to remove the stale F<bison.simple> as well.
33 If the problem persists, then please mail me.
35 Q: I upgraded by applying a patch, and now my configure/build breaks.
37 A: Patches don't include automatically generated files, i.e. F<configure>
38 and files generated by F<configure>. Regenerate them yourself:
43 You might need to create some extra "out" directories. Do this
48 Q: Some of your neat scripts fail, what directories do you use:
50 A: [This only applies if you don't do C<make install>, and develop out
51 of the source directory] I have a directory which contains all music
58 lilypond/ # the directory as unpacked from the tarball
59 releases/ # directory for .tar.gz releases
60 patches/ # directory for patches between different releases
61 test/ # create tarballs and do diffs from this directory
63 ~/something/lilypond/bin is in the PATH, and contains symlinks to the
64 compiled executables. For some of the scripts to work, you have to set
66 LILYPOND_SOURCEDIR=/home/myself/something/lilypond
70 If you don't use patches, you'd probably want to symlink
72 lilypond -> lilypond-x.y.z
74 =head2 Language: mudela
76 Q: Why can't you type C<#c> in stead of C<cis> ?
78 A: We think that C<#c> looks as if you are entering the symbols to
79 print (which you are not; remember, you're entering the musical
82 We're not sure on leaving out this feature. If you think this is a
83 good idea, please let us know.
86 Q: Why do I have to type the accidentals to the note if I specified them?
92 Independently of how it was written and what the current key was, you
93 would say that you are playing and reading "two C-sharp" notes. We
94 have tried to make the language somewhat context-free. Of course
95 sheet music is not context-free. Unfortunately, sheet music is also 2
96 dimensional, and ASCII is not.
98 Technically it would be feasible to have the Interpreting phase do
99 tricky things to add (or leave out) the accidentals, but we think that
100 it is impractical: it hampers the readability and portability of your
101 source, since you need LilyPond to fill in the details and actually
105 Q: What is C<cis> anyway
107 A: C<cis> is the dutch naming for C-sharp. The notes are named
108 a, b,.., g. The suffix -is means sharp, and -es flat. This system is
109 common in a number of languages (such as swedish, dutch, german.)
110 Certain other languages (such as English, French and Italian) just add
111 the word for "sharp" to the notename.
113 We chose the Dutch system, because we're dutch. You are free to chose
114 whatever names you like; they are user definable.
120 to make a few chords, but why do I have to type
123 < { a~ e } { c ~ g } >
129 to generate ties between the chords?
135 this is shorthand for
137 < { a } { c } > < { e } { g } >
139 Ties have to be confined to `voices', and the a and the e are in
140 different {} blocks, so they are in different voices. You should view
141 the desired construct as a "generalised chord" (two voices stacked
142 vertically). It might help you visualise this by using the following
149 Q: and where do the beams come into this picture?
151 A: Beams are voice-wide, and may be entered in any part of the
154 < { [a ~ e] } { c ~ g } >
155 < { [a ~ e } { c ~ g] } >
156 < { [a ~ e] } { [c ~ g] } >
158 These all give the same result.
160 Q: Why are [] around the notes, and () inbetween?
162 A: [] designate beams, a note can only be in one beam at the same
163 time. () is a slur, which connects notes. You need to be able to
169 Q: I want to insert some TeX commands
171 A: You shouldn't: it's against LilyPond philosophy to have typesetting
172 commands in the mudela source. Moreover, this would be difficult. The
173 manner in which Request (the basic building blocks of mudela) are
174 translated into printable items is complex: it is not always possible
175 to associate one Request with one Item or Spanner.
177 As a further notice, we want to move away from TeX (and perhaps
178 output PostScript or render to an X window too), so using TeX will
179 make sources non-portable at some time.
181 =head2 Do you support ...
183 Q: Do you support pop songs (chords, single staff, lyrics)?
185 A: Yes, see the F<twinkle-pop> example.
187 Q: Do you support guitar chord diagrams?
189 A: No, not yet. We ourselves don't play guitar, and don't know the
190 fine points of this notation. We would welcome anyone who could give
193 Q: Do you support TAB notation?
195 A: No. The same as for the previous question goes, but TAB is a lot
196 more work than diagrams (TAB needs modification of Parser, Lexer,
197 Staff, Notehead, Stem code and all the code that creates these graphic
200 Q: Do you support multiple staff-sizes?
202 A: Yes and no. At this time you can choose between 11, 13, 16, 19,
203 20, 23 and 20 pt staff-size. The sizes can't be changed per staff
204 (yet). Look at F<standchen.ly> for an example.
209 Q: How do I change the TeX layout?
211 A: See F<lilyponddefs.tex>, it has some comments.
213 Q: How do I place lyrics under I<each> of the staves in a score, as in
214 choral music. I can work out how to put lyrics for each line all under
215 the top line, or at the bottom but not between!
217 A: You change the order lyrics and staves. You have to name all
218 staves (lyric and melodic), otherwise they will end up in the same
223 < \melodic \type Staff = "treble" \trebleMelody
224 \lyric \type Lyrics = "tlyrics" \trebtext
225 \type Staff = "bass" \melodic \bassMelody
226 \lyric \type Lyrics = "blyrics" \basstext
232 Q: How do I put more than one marking on a note.
234 A: You can stack them
238 or use spacing-notes to put markings at different horizontal positions
241 { s4\ff s4^"text" s4-\marcato s4 }
245 Q: How do I get bar numbers?
247 A: See F<init/engraver.ly>. You have to uncomment some entries. To
248 do this `portably' you should redefine some engravers in your own
249 source files. Check out F<init/rhythm.ly>.
253 Q: Could you implement feature XXXX? It is really easy, just extend
254 the syntax to allow YYYY!
256 A: If it is reasonable, I'll add XXXX to the TODO list. In general
257 finding a cute syntax (such as YYYY) isn't very hard. The complicated
258 issue how to adapt the internals to do XXXX. The parser is really a
259 simple front end to the complicated internals.
261 Q: Can I join in on LilyPond development? How do I do this?
263 A: LilyPond development is open for anyone who wants to join. We try
264 to use a Bazaar style development model for LilyPond, see
265 http://locke.ccil.org/~esr/writings/cathedral.html. This means:
266 frequent releases, everyone can send in a patch or do suggestions and
267 all development discussions are public.
269 To be precise, discussions take place on the gnu-music-discuss mailing
270 list, which is open for subscription to everyone.
273 Q: I want to implement XXXX! Should I do this?
275 A: There might be better ways of doing XXXX, so it's a good thing to
276 ask about this before you start hacking. If you want to keep in touch
277 with current developments, you should subscribe to the mailing list
278 (see the "links" section of the documentation).
281 Q: I want to implement XXXX! How should I do this?
283 A: Your best bet of getting me to include code, is to present it as a
284 "fait accompli", ie., to send me a patch.
287 Q: I made some code, how do I get you to include it?
291 diff -urN old-file new-file > patch
295 diff -urN old-directory/ new-directory/ > patch
297 Alternatively, you can use F<bin/make-patch.py>. Don't forget to put
298 your name and e-mail address in the F<AUTHORS.pod> file.
300 Q: How do I learn the C++ code?
302 A: The entry point is in C<main()>. Good luck. :-)
304 Seriously, read, reread and reread internals and CodingStyle, and
307 Anywhere? Well, most of the comment doco are in the header files, so
308 your best bet would be C<less lily/include/*.hh>. Some of the most
309 important data-structures are to be found in:
328 Q: Your make system does not adhere to GNU coding standards, could you
331 A: No. We have evaluated the standard GNU combination for compiling
332 programs (autoconf, automake, libtool) and found to be inadequate in
333 several respects. More detailed argumentation is included with
334 LilyPond (see F<Documentation/automake.urgh>)
337 Q: Why do I need g++ >= 2.7?
339 A: By using g++, GNU LilyPond is portable to all platforms which support
340 g++ (there are quite a few). Not having to support other compilers
341 saves us a I<lot> of trouble.
347 Q: There are lots of warning messages for the printing, all
350 dvilj4l: warning: Invalid keyword or value in \special -
352 A: You should use dvips and ghostscript to print it: the slurs and
353 beams are PS C<\special> commands
356 Q: My symbols are all messed up after I upgraded, I get the wrong
357 symbols and dvi-checksum errors!
359 A: We obviously mucked with the fonts in the upgrade. Remove I<all>
360 previous fonts, including the F<.pk> and F<.tfm> fonts in
361 F</var/lib/texmf>. A script automating this has been included, see
362 F<bin/clean-fonts.sh>
365 Q: I don't get midi-output, even if I use B<-M>!
367 A: Your \score should include a \midi block, eg.
370 \melodic { c4 c g g }
373 \output "myfile.mid";
378 The B<-M> option was added to LilyPond because processing the \paper
381 Q: A lot of musical stuff doesn't make it to the MIDI file (dynamics,
384 A: The MIDI output was originally put in as a proof that MIDI could be
385 done, and as a method of proof"reading" the input. The MIDI support
386 is by no means finished. Patches appreciated.
390 can't load library 'libflower.so'
392 A: You are using the dynamically compiled Flower library. Please set
393 LD_LIBRARY_PATH to a directory containing F<libflower.so>
397 Q: I downloaded the W95 port, and it doesn't match the website!
399 A: The website is usually made from the latest snapshots. The W95
400 binaries are only made every once in a while. They can lag several
401 versions behind the latest version.
403 Q: I want a DOS/NT/W95 port.
405 A.0: Reconsider. Try Linux. It's fun!
407 A.1: Currently (0.0.27), GNU LilyPond (and flowerLib) compiles,
408 links and runs on Windows-nt, using Cygnus' gnu port (release b17.1).
409 I (JCN) only had to make a minor workaround for missing library calls.
410 Have a look at http://www.cygnus.com/gnu-win32. To make GNU LilyPond
411 type C<make>. (I am not promising to maintain this platform, it is just
412 that when forced into doze, i'm sometimes too lazy to reboot.)
414 A.2: I haven't had time to find a Linux GCC crosscompiler (I<with> g++
415 and libg++, mind you) to DOS/Windows (in rpm, please :-)
417 A.3: If you are knowledgeable enough to make w32 compiles from time to
418 time, please do so! We want to keep away from w32 as far as possible.
420 Q: I just love to blindly run the (sometimes bit stale) .exe's you distribute.
421 Why do i need cygwin.dll?
423 A: It's all in this cut-n-paste:
425 Minimalist GNU-Win32 Readme
428 Colin Peters <colin@bird.fu.is.saga-u.ac.jp>
432 0.3 Fixes and Improvements
435 In the "coming soon" category I have a version of the GNU Standard C++
436 library ported to Mingw32. This means you can use iostreams, complex
437 numbers and all those neat STL (Standard Template Library) things
438 without needing the Cygwin DLL. I hope to put this port up for
439 downloading soon (along with the source of course).
445 To add C++ Support to the above the following extra files are required:
447 In C:\cygnus\H-i386-cygwin32\lib\gcc-lib\i386-cygwin32\cygnus-2.7.2-
451 Note that this does not include support for the standard C++ libraries
452 (only the C run time libraries) or for iostreams. That support is still
453 only available with the Cygwin32 API.