Re: Concert pitch question (confused ex-tuba player)

[JxStarks]

I frequently speak in generalities, trying to show a pattern rather than an exact example. Thank you for your clarification. I apologize for any confusion I caused.

Jerry

On Sat, Sep 18, 2021, 1:47 AM Lukas-Fabian Moser <lfm@gmx.de> wrote:

Hi Jerry,

Am 18.09.21 um 00:22 schrieb JxStarks:
> Hi Kenneth,
>  I use LilyPond v 2.22.1 through Frescobaldi. When I'm dealing with
> transposing instruments I arrange everything in C, then transpose the
> parts. I would write a trumpet part like this:
>
> trumpet = \transpose c bes {
>    \global
>    notes, etc,
>   }
> }
>
> This way I can insert a % to comment out the transposition when I want
> Lilypond's MIDI to play it for me:
> trumpet = %\transpose c bes {
>    \global
>    notes, etc,
>   %}
> }
>  When printing the parts, I remove the % signs, and they print out in
> the transposed key.

I think that's wrong in multiple ways.

First: "c" and "bes" are from the same octave, so they are a 7th apart.
This is not the usual transposition of a Bb trumpet: It should be c' and
bes, for example.

Second: Your description sounds as if "notes" are meant "in C" (concert
pitch, "sounding") (because you do not want \transpose for MIDI
generation). Then your transposition goes in the wrong direction: If
\mus contains concert pitch music, it has to be printed by

\transpose bes c' \mus

or equivalently

\transpose c d \mus

in order to be played correctly by a player using a Bb trumpet, as
explained by various people in this thread. (For a written "d", a Bb
trumpet gives a "physical" "c"; so in order to get a "c", one has to
write a "d", and so forth.)

Lukas