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why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"]
From: |
Kieren MacMillan |
Subject: |
why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"] |
Date: |
Sun, 14 Mar 2021 08:53:05 -0400 |
Hi Davids,
>> One might wonder why the subject of \relative, a textual input
>> method, should concern you so much.
1. I lament how much struggle I went through for the decade that I used
\relative, and how much struggle I see other newbies go through — posting about
it, over and over — because they are using it. I personally believe that
struggle is totally unnecessary. It’s worth noting the relative [ha!] dearth of
posts about absolute music giving anyone trouble when transposing, reusing
code, etc.
2. The obstacles and confusion generated by the use of \relative compound
quickly when one uses Lilypond for more complicated scores, or tries to reuse
code (ostensibly to increase efficiency), etc. We are (I thought?) trying to
make Lilypond *more* user-friendly, not *less*. It frustrates me when I see
newbies being led up the already-not-easy early learning curve via the
\relative path, because I know that most of those who get beyond simple scores
will hit these \relative-only problems, and that will [unnecessarily!] make it
seem like Lilypond is “even more complicated and fussy” than they first
imagined.
3. The *single* serious argument against absolute music — that it requires
extra typing [of apostrophes and commas] — is essentially eliminated by using
an IDE like Frescobaldi: using MIDI input means I avoid typing note code
(including octavation symbols) almost entirely, and the transposition functions
let me instantaneously re-octavate large sections of code if that’s ever
required (which it basically never is). I believe we should be encouraging
users to use tools like Frescobaldi — because I believe their coding lives
would be made easier in *so* many ways — and the “crutch” of \relative means
there’s less incentive to do so in the early stages of the learning curve
(which is exactly when habits, good or bad, tend to be formed).
Perhaps “back then”, if someone had clearly explained how to get around some of
the bigger problems (e.g., by always making sure there’s a \relative inside
\transpose), I might not have been driven to such a point of frustration by
\relative that I found no alternative but to abandon it and become an \absolute
evangelist…? That being said, the fact that it’s STILL clearly a problem YET
ANOTHER decade later apparently justifies my choice.
> a majority of traffic on this list is generated by people doing
> their best to be helpful, making other people's lives easier.
>
> Is there a reason you think that this isn't what Kieren is doing?
Making other people’s (especially newbies’) lives easier *is* ultimately what
I’m trying to do.
Cheers,
Kieren.
________________________________
Kieren MacMillan, composer (he/him/his)
‣ website: www.kierenmacmillan.info
‣ email: kieren@kierenmacmillan.info
- Re: Nested transposition, (continued)
- Re: Nested transposition, Flaming Hakama by Elaine, 2021/03/12
- Re: Nested transposition, Kieren MacMillan, 2021/03/13
- Re: Nested transposition, Carl Sorensen, 2021/03/13
- MIDI input [was Re: Nested transposition], Kieren MacMillan, 2021/03/13
- Re: MIDI input [was Re: Nested transposition], Ralph Palmer, 2021/03/14
- Re: MIDI input [was Re: Nested transposition], Kieren MacMillan, 2021/03/14
- Re: MIDI input [was Re: Nested transposition], Ralph Palmer, 2021/03/14
- Re: MIDI input [was Re: Nested transposition], Silvain Dupertuis, 2021/03/14
- Re: Nested transposition, David Wright, 2021/03/13
- Re: Nested transposition, David Kastrup, 2021/03/14
- why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"],
Kieren MacMillan <=
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], Paul Scott, 2021/03/16
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], David Kastrup, 2021/03/16
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], Kieren MacMillan, 2021/03/16
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], David Kastrup, 2021/03/16
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], Paul Scott, 2021/03/16
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], Karlin High, 2021/03/16
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], David Kastrup, 2021/03/17
- RE: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], Mogens Lemvig Hansen, 2021/03/16
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], Knute Snortum, 2021/03/17
- Re: why Kieren is a \relative evangelist [was “Re: Nested transposition"], Vaughan McAlley, 2021/03/16