Re: anybody understand the instrumentCueName docs?

[Reinhold Kainhofer]

Am Dienstag, 19. Oktober 2010, um 23:34:52 schrieb Keith E OHara:
> On Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:34:05 -0700, Trevor Daniels wrote:
> 
> >> 2) Two pieces of instruction were a bit vague :
> [ . . . ]
> 
> >> "[...] when cue notes end, the name of the original instrument2
> >> should be printed, and any other changes introduced by the cued
> >> part should be undone.  This can be accomplished by using
> >> @code{\addInstrumentDefinition}"
> > 
> > I think we need a clearer description about using instrument
> > definitions in relation to cued notes
> 
> I searched, but found no reason to use these features together.  I merely
> lacked the confidence to suggest removing those sentence altogether.
> 
> I *think* the source of this bit of documentation the thread,
> <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2008-02/msg00278.html>
> which resulted, I think, in the solution
> <http://lsr.dsi.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=388>.
> 
> That solution does not, in the end, use \addInstrumentDefinition, but I am
> not sufficiently git-savvy to see if the docs addition can be traced to
> that discussion and snippet.  (Maybe Reinhold he will have input if I cc:
> him.) 

Actually, the \addInstrumentDefinition functions were there long before I even 
started using lilypond. I don't think they have been maintained for a long 
time. In theory, they are a very good idea, namely to assign an instrument 
(and all settings that are defined by the instrument, all in one go) to a 
voice/staff and let lilypond decide what information to print (i.e. 
instrumentName, shortInstrumentName, even clef etc.). However, I didn't find 
out how to use them exactly (I didn't try too hard, I have to admit). So, 
basically, I have no idea whether instrument definitions work now, and how 
they can/should be used. It's on my todo-list to find out, but there are so 
many more pressing issues that I doubt I'll investigate in the near (or even 
mid-term) future.

The other issue that appeared in this thread is about cue names for 
instruments. They are governed by the \set Voice.instrumentCueName=..., and 
whenever this property is changed, the new cue name is printed in an 
InstrumentSwitch grob. So, to change the appearance of those cue names, one 
just has to modify the properties of the InstrumentSwitch grob. I'm using 
those in OrchestralLily to indicate the instrument of the cue notes (just like 
the LSR snippet shows), and I change its font size to a smaller value like:

\layout {
  \context {
    \Score
    \override InstrumentSwitch #'font-size = #-1
  }
}

Hope that helps clearing up some issues that came up in this thread.

Cheers,
Reinhold
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Reinhold Kainhofer, address@hidden, http://reinhold.kainhofer.com/
 * Financial & Actuarial Math., Vienna Univ. of Technology, Austria
 * http://www.fam.tuwien.ac.at/, DVR: 0005886
 * LilyPond, Music typesetting, http://www.lilypond.org