Reading your example, it seems to me that the "FAIL" is caused by the
hypothetical user misunderstanding the semantics of relative mode. Using
relative mode without explicitly defining what pitch the phrase is meant to
be relative to is unreadable and prone to break. If it were written
properly, it would be:
\relative {
\resetRelativeOctave c'
c4 d e f g1 % a rising diatonic scale, starting on middle C
% if the next line is meant to start on the G above middle C, it should
have a new \resetRelativeOctave
g'4 f e d c1 % written relatively, this means we care about the melodic
leap upward from the previous note
% now I want to reuse the rising diatonic scale… so I cut and paste the
first two lines:
\resetRelativeOctave c'
c4 d e f g1 % a rising diatonic scale, starting on middle C — no
problem!
}
Relative mode makes perfect sense if you're entering music that cares
mainly about the relationship between notes within a phrase (i.e. most
music). IMO absolute mode might be easier from the perspective of the
software, but it's not how most musicians think, and that's important. Maybe
the documentation could do a better job explaining the semantics of
relative mode and when to use \resetRelativeOctave?
I take exception to the idea that relative mode ought to be deprecated.
I've been using exclusively relative mode to compose for almost ten years,
and I think it's great.
On Wed, Dec 13, 2017 at 4:29 PM, Kieren MacMillan <
kieren_macmil...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> Hi David,
>
> >> Because my only goal was to clarify for future readers of the list that
> "manipulations on stuff" are not the only thing that can cause headaches.
> > I failed to see how cut and paste differed from manipulations on stuff.
>
> I think of "manipulations on stuff" as being
>
> foo = { stuff }
> ...
> \transpose c d \foo
> \foo \foo \foo
> etc.
>
> Cut and paste on the other hand, is this:
>
> \relative {
> c'4 d e f g1 % a rising diatonic scale, starting on middle C
> g'4 f e d c1 % a falling diatonic scale, starting on the G a 12th above
> middle C
> % now I want to reuse the rising diatonic scale… so I cut and paste the
> first line:
> c'4 d e f g1 % a rising diatonic scale, starting on middle C <-- FAIL!
> }
>
> >> For future list-readers: Using absolute and fixed entry modes allows
> you to avoid the issues/effort described by David.
> > If people would only cease bringing any questions about \relative
> > to the list, we'd be able to avoid this particular drum beat.
>
> Agreed. But I would offer that the reason people (esp. newbies)
> continually bring questions about \relative to the list is because it's not
> as intuitive and "idiot-proof" as our documentation would suggest — which
> is precisely why I keep beating the drum, to try to keep people from making
> the same decade-long mistake that I did (which was to use \relative, as
> suggested/implied in the official documentation).
>
> Cheers,
> Kieren.
>
> ________________________________
>
> Kieren MacMillan, composer
> ‣ website: www.kierenmacmillan.info
> ‣ email: i...@kierenmacmillan.info
>
>
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> lilypond-user mailing list
> lilypond-user@gnu.org
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>
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