Re: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines

[David Bellows]

Hey Mark,

> You are asking a computer (Lilypond) to look good when "one never knows 
> what's going to happen."

> IMHO, the two are mutually exclusive.

One of the big reasons I chose Lilypond for this project is how good a
job it does at making things look good by default without human
intervention. Obviously I have to experiment a lot with options and
how I handle things but so far it's doing really well. And even when
something is less than ideal on a particular run -- since the notes
being generated are random --, the results are still generally
acceptable. Lilypond really is a pretty terrific program.

On Sun, May 19, 2019 at 2:39 PM Mark Stephen Mrotek
<address@hidden> wrote:
>
> Dave,
>
> You are asking a computer (Lilypond) to look good when "one never knows 
> what's going to happen."
>
> IMHO, the two are mutually exclusive.
>
> Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Bellows [mailto:address@hidden
> Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2019 1:23 PM
> To: Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden>
> Cc: lilypond-user <address@hidden>
> Subject: Re: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines
>
> Hey Mark,
>
> This music is generated algorithmically and there are a lot of options for 
> the user to choose from, so one never knows what's going to happen. I need 
> for Lilypond to do its usual thing and look perfect without any additional 
> user interaction.
>
> For example, I left out of these examples the scheme code that automatically 
> adds ottava markings based on the instrument and so on.
>
> Dave
>
> On Sun, May 19, 2019 at 10:35 AM Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden> wrote:
> >
> > David,
> >
> > My experience is transcribing 18th and 19th century piano scores.
> > I do get "run-off" staves.
> > This is usually the result of incorrect mensuration of a note or notes.
> >
> > You piece still has some sort of vertical simultaneity.
> > Perhaps you could start with a temporary time signature, just to see if 
> > voices align.
> > Then remove it for publication.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: David Bellows [mailto:address@hidden
> > Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2019 10:46 PM
> > To: Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden>
> > Cc: lilypond-user <address@hidden>
> > Subject: Re: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines
> >
> > Hey Mark,
> >
> > > Maybe use bar checks?
> >
> > Given that a lot of the music isn't generated to fit any particular time 
> > signature (ie, the bar lines are often there just to break things up to 
> > ease reading), I would get tons of bar check errors. Plus, keeping track of 
> > when bars should be inserted in my software seems like it would be a huge 
> > chore. Is this something you think would solve the problem?
> >
> > On Sat, May 18, 2019 at 10:25 PM Mark Stephen Mrotek <address@hidden> wrote:
> > >
> > > David
> > >
> > > Maybe use bar checks?
> > >
> > > Mark
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: lilypond-user
> > > [mailto:address@hidden On
> > > Behalf Of David Bellows
> > > Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2019 3:59 PM
> > > To: lilypond-user <address@hidden>
> > > Subject: Unconventional score and unwanted stray staff lines
> > >
> > > Hello everyone,
> > >
> > > I tried to keep the examples minimal but I also needed to show the full 
> > > extent of what is going on.
> > >
> > > Attached are two Lilypond files and pdfs showing an unconventional score. 
> > > Each part has the same number of notes but since the durations are 
> > > random, each part ends at its own time.
> > >
> > > badtest.ly and badtest.pdf show the default behavior. When a part ends, 
> > > one of its staves continues on till the last part ends. I don't want this 
> > > behavior.
> > >
> > > test.ly and test.pdf do a better job of showing what happens with the 
> > > workaround hack of adding s128 at the end of each part. The problem with 
> > > that -- and I didn't include examples -- is that if all the durations are 
> > > the same and end at a natural bar line, an extra empty measure is added 
> > > at the end of each part. I can't check for this occurrence ahead of time 
> > > in my own software as it would be insane to keep track of all of that.
> > >
> > > You'll notice a lot of context commands all of which I think are 
> > > necessary to get everything else to look as it should.
> > >
> > > So I'm hoping someone has an idea about what's going on here and how
> > > to prevent those extra staves like in test.pdf
> > >
> > > Also, these Lilypond files are generated automatically by another program 
> > > I've created so the layout of the Lilypond file can't really be changed 
> > > without a massive amount of work. Hopefully a solution won't require 
> > > something like that.
> > >
> >
>