Re: Merge/Condense vocal parts arbitrarily, on a per-'master staff' basis

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi Jeff,

> I think my question came across differently than I intended. What I 
> want is NOT for LilyPond to programmatically determine the best 
> layout for each system. Rather, *I* want to tell Lily Pond that,

Yes, that is "easy" (read: possible).

> (I'm thinking that each system could be a different LilyPond piece, 
> and I would merge them visually, so it looks like one piece when I 
> ultimately print it. Not sure if that's feasible, but it's the first thing 
> that 
> hits me.)

No. You want to set up variables for each type of music, and then stitch them 
together, such as

sopNotes = \relative { soprano-only music, with skips where sopranos won't have 
their own staff }
altoNotes = \relative { alto-only music, with skips where altos won't have 
their own staff }
tenorNotes = \relative { tenor-only music, with skips where tenors won't have 
their own staff }
bassNotes = \relative { bass-only music, with skips where basses won't have 
their own staff }
saNotes = \relative { "ladies"-only music, with skips where "ladies" won't have 
their own staff }
tbNotes = \relative { "men"-only music, with skips where "men" won't have their 
own staff }
unisNotes = \relative { unison music, with skips where the choir not in unison }

\score {
  \new ChoirStaff <<
    \new Staff \unisNotes
    \new Staff \saNotes
    \new Staff \sopNotes
    \new Staff \altoNotes
    \new Staff \tenorNotes
    \new Staff \bassNotes
    \new Staff \tbNotes
  >>
}

Now, using \break appropriately (and having \RemoveEmptyStaffContext active), 
you will be able to get the system setup you desire.

Good luck!
Kieren.