Re: lilypond ./ChangeLog ./VERSION Documentation/us...

[Han-Wen Nienhuys]

address@hidden writes:
> Thanks also for implementing function kill-ambitus, but ...
> For a new lilypond user without knowledge of lilypond internals, I think
> it will be conceptually hard to understand why to transform the input by
> some magic function in order to compensate something that is declared in
> the paper section.  Is there a reason for prefering some magic
> kill-ambitus function over my approach of defining a VoiceWithAmbitus and
> StaffWithAmbitus context (which I think is conceptually easier to
> understand)?  Furthermore, in a big score with many staves, you probably

I think that making new contexts is more involved and puts users in
more direct contact with internals, which I consider bad practice. As
for the function: I think that it is feasible to make things more
easy, by defining a more generic one:

  \applyoutput #(kill-object 'Ambitus)

> want (if at all) to apply ambitus only to very few staves.  So, saying
> "put ambitus here and there" (as in my approach similar to a positive
> list) is much more appropriate than saying "do not put ambitus here and
> there and over there and ... but only everywhere else" (as in your
> approach of a negative list).

In that case, we should make the ambitus invisible by default, and
have a \applyoutput #show-ambitus function.

In any event, the last word over these ambituses is not said yet. I
think that it would be better to tackle this on the input side, i.e.

      \apply #ambitusify { ..the music.. }

since the ambitus is the range of a piece of music, not the range of a
notational device like Staff.

> BTW, the plural of "ambitus" is "ambitus" (i.e. same spelling as singular,

Point taken.

> but pronounced with a stressed "u").  If you want to englishify the
> plural, "ambituses" may be a acceptable (although I am pretty sure, Latin
> speakers will protest).


Do you know any latin speakers ? :-)


--
Han-Wen Nienhuys   |   address@hidden   |   http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanwen