Very first I comment on the stuff I wrote below: When I wrote it I
didn't really notice / think about the fact the the first five sections
are left out. Probably some of my comments are not totally valid. Well,
I will think some more, and post another message about the overall
structure of the manual.
First a general comment.
I think it should be possible to read the manual from start to finish,
understanding the stuff that you encounter.
If understanding section B requires you to have read section A, this
means that section A should come before section B in the manual.
I think the old layout accomplished this relatively well. And the new
definitely does not.
* 6 Basic musical notation
o 6.1 Pitches
+ 6.1.1 Normal pitches
+ 6.1.2 Accidentals
+ 6.1.3 Cautionary accidentals
+ 6.1.4 Micro tones
+ 6.1.5 Note names in other languages
+ 6.1.6 Relative octaves
+ 6.1.7 Octave check
+ 6.1.8 Rests
+ 6.1.9 Skips
Yep.
o 6.2 Affecting multiple pitches
+ 6.2.1 Clef
+ 6.2.2 Key signature
Hmm, neither clefs nor key signatures affect pitches. They only affect
how they are displayed.
+ 6.2.3 Transpose
Well, yeah, transpose affects multiple pitches that is true.
+ 6.2.4 Instrument transpositions
No, This subsection is very advanced (try reading it!) - I think it is
way too early in the manual.
I am not even sure, that I understand it properly.
+ 6.2.5 Ottava brackets
No, again they do not affect pitches. They just affect how they are
displayed.
Summa summarum I only accepted the "Transpose" subsection in this
section - and hence really do not think that this section has any
purpose. And in all cases, it is way too early. The user has not even
learned what the "4" in "c4" means.
o 6.3 Rhythms
+ 6.3.1 Durations
+ 6.3.2 Augmentation dots
+ 6.3.3 Tuplets
+ 6.3.4 Scaling durations
Yep.
+ 6.3.5 Automatic note splitting
This does not work before the "Bars" section.
I see no problem in simply moving this to there.
+ 6.3.6 Aligning to cadenzas
I don't think that the user would be able to understand a single word of
this subsection at this time. Scheme functions. Staves, Grand staves.
And it has really nothing to do with rhythms.
o 6.4 Meter
+ 6.4.1 Time signature
+ 6.4.2 Partial measures
+ 6.4.3 Unmetered music
+ 6.4.4 Polymetric notation (alternating)
+ 6.4.5 Polymetric notation (simultaneous)
+ 6.4.6 Time administration
I like the "meter" title, though I think it is a bit early. Does it make
sence to have "simultainous polymetric notation" before "polyphony"? I
think not.
Also the "Time administration" subsection is very advanced.
The meter section is easy to handle because you can read and understand
the rest of the manual without ever reading this section. - You just
won't be able to use anything but 4/4 meter if you don't read it.
Therefore we could postpone it to a much later place.
+ 6.4.7 Proportional notation (introduction)
No, this is too layout specific for this section. It has nothing to do
with the musical content, only with how it is displayed.
+ 6.4.8 Automatic beams
+ 6.4.9 Manual beams
+ 6.4.10 Feathered beams
I don't think that beams belong in this section - they belong together
with phrasing slurs.
I liked the old "Connecting notes" section.
o 6.5 Bars
+ 6.5.1 Bar check
+ 6.5.2 Barnumber check
+ 6.5.3 Multi measure rests
+ 6.5.4 Bar lines
+ 6.5.5 Bar numbers
+ 6.5.6 Rehearsal marks
Fine.
Makes a lot of sense to put everything about bars together.
o 6.6 Polyphony
+ 6.6.1 Chords
Yep.
+ 6.6.2 Stems
Currently, this subsection has nothing to do with polyphony.
Furthermore it is layout specific, and should therefore be postponed.
+ 6.6.3 Basic polyphony
+ 6.6.4 Explicitly instantiating voices
ok.
+ 6.6.5 Collision resolution
No, this should be postponed to some "tweaking" section. A "Polyphony"
section should not contain layout-specific subsections.
+ 6.6.6 Clusters
+ 6.6.7 Automatic part combining
+ 6.6.8 Writing music in parallel
Yep.
* 7 Decorating musical notation
The way I always thought of the distinction between "basic" and
"advanced" notation is that the basic notation contained the parts that
lilypond understands the musical meaning of whereas the advanced
notation was the parts that lilypond does not know how to interpret
musically. I.e. if you do stuff that you have read about in the "basic"
section, the generated midi will (or at least should) reflect it; if you
do stuff in the "advanced" section, the midi will not reflect it.
I can see that this is not strictly correct, but this is the way I have
always thought about it and therefore I think that the distinction made
great sense.
I do not in the same way see the meaning in "decorating musical notation".
o 7.1 Connecting notes
+ 7.1.1 Ties
+ 7.1.2 Slurs
+ 7.1.3 Phrasing slurs
+ 7.1.4 Laissez vibrer ties
+ 7.1.5 Grace notes
+ 7.1.6 Analysis brackets
No. This is not decorating. It has musical meaning. c~c is not some
decoration of c c. It means something totally different.
o 7.2 Expressive marks
+ 7.2.1 Articulations
+ 7.2.2 Dynamics (absolute)
+ 7.2.3 Dynamics (crescendi)
+ 7.2.4 Breath marks
+ 7.2.5 Trills
+ 7.2.6 Glissando
+ 7.2.7 Arpeggio
+ 7.2.8 Falls and doits
Well, yeah, I guess.
o 7.3 Staff notation
+ 7.3.1 System start delimiters
+ 7.3.2 Staff symbol
+ 7.3.3 Hiding staves
+ 7.3.4 Metronome marks
+ 7.3.5 Instrument names
+ 7.3.6 Quoting other voices
+ 7.3.7 Formatting cue notes
Ok, though I think that 7.3.1 belongs with staffgroups not with staves.
o 7.4 Repeats
No, repeats are not decorative.
+ 7.4.1 Repeat types
+ 7.4.2 Repeat syntax
+ 7.4.3 Repeats and MIDI
+ 7.4.4 Manual repeat commands
+ 7.4.5 Tremolo repeats
+ 7.4.6 Tremolo subdivisions
+ 7.4.7 Measure repeats
Section looks fine just in the wrong chapter.
o 7.5 Educational use
+ 7.5.1 Balloon help
+ 7.5.2 Fingering instructions
+ 7.5.3 Blank music sheet
+ 7.5.4 Grid lines
+ 7.5.5 Shape note heads
+ 7.5.6 Easy Notation note heads
o 7.6 Special use
+ 7.6.1 Special noteheads
+ 7.6.2 Improvisation
+ 7.6.3 Selecting notation font size
+ 7.6.4 Hidden notes
+ 7.6.5 Coloring objects
+ 7.6.6 Parentheses
ok
* 8 Instrument-specific notation
o 8.1 Piano music
+ 8.1.1 Pedals
+ 8.1.2 Automatic staff changes
+ 8.1.3 Manual staff switches
+ 8.1.4 Staff switch lines
+ 8.1.5 Cross staff stems
yep.
o 8.2 Chord names
How are chord names instrument-specific?
+ 8.2.1 Introducing chord names
+ 8.2.2 Chords mode
+ 8.2.3 Printing chord names
+ 8.2.4 Figured bass
ok.
o 8.3 Rhythmic music
+ 8.3.1 Showing melody rhythms
+ 8.3.2 Entering percussion
+ 8.3.3 Percussion staves
+ 8.3.4 Ghost notes
o 8.4 Guitar
+ 8.4.1 String number indications
+ 8.4.2 Tablatures basic
+ 8.4.3 Non-guitar tablatures
+ 8.4.4 Banjo tablatures
+ 8.4.5 Fret diagrams
+ 8.4.6 Right hand fingerings
+ 8.4.7 Other guitar issues
o 8.5 Bagpipe
+ 8.5.1 Bagpipe definitions
+ 8.5.2 Bagpipe example
ok.
o 8.6 Bowed strings
+ 8.6.1 Artificial harmonics
Well, isn't this also used in classical guitar? I am not sure, though.
o 8.7 Ancient notation
Hmm, not really instrument specific.
+ 8.7.1 Ancient note heads
+ 8.7.2 Ancient accidentals
+ 8.7.3 Ancient rests
+ 8.7.4 Ancient clefs
+ 8.7.5 Ancient flags
+ 8.7.6 Ancient time signatures
+ 8.7.7 Ancient articulations
+ 8.7.8 Custodes
+ 8.7.9 Divisiones
+ 8.7.10 Ligatures
# 8.7.10.1 White mensural ligatures
# 8.7.10.2 Gregorian square neumes ligatures
+ 8.7.11 Gregorian Chant contexts
+ 8.7.12 Mensural contexts
+ 8.7.13 Musica ficta accidentals
* 9 Text
Hmm, text occurs in all parts of a note sheet. I think the manual should
be divided by musical content not by looks.
Having a text-chapter is a bit like having a "lines" chapter with
subsections "bar lines", "stems", "staves", "system start delimiter".
o 9.1 Text in a score
+ 9.1.1 Text scripts
+ 9.1.2 Text and line spanners
+ 9.1.3 Text spanners
+ 9.1.4 Text marks
This is definitely decorative. Put it in the decorative section now it's
there.
o 9.2 Text markup section
This would be a great candidate for its own chapter, imo.
+ 9.2.1 Text markup
+ 9.2.2 Nested scores
+ 9.2.3 Page wrapping text
+ 9.2.4 Overview of text markup commands
+ 9.2.5 Overview of text markup list commands
+ 9.2.6 Font selection
+ 9.2.7 New dynamic marks
o 9.3 Vocal music
If we consider the human voice an instrument, then this is very
instrument specific. Move it to that section.
+ 9.3.1 Setting simple songs
+ 9.3.2 Entering lyrics
+ 9.3.3 Aligning lyrics to a melody
# 9.3.3.1 Automatic syllable durations
# 9.3.3.2 Another way of entering lyrics
# 9.3.3.3 Assigning more than one syllable to a
# single note
# 9.3.3.4 More than one note on a single syllable
# 9.3.3.5 Extenders and hyphens
+ 9.3.4 Working with lyrics and identifiers
+ 9.3.5 Flexibility in placement
# 9.3.5.1 Lyrics to multiple notes of a melisma
# 9.3.5.2 Divisi lyrics
# 9.3.5.3 Switching the melody associated with a
# lyrics line
# 9.3.5.4 Lyrics independent of notes
+ 9.3.6 Spacing lyrics
+ 9.3.7 More about stanzas
# 9.3.7.1 Adding stanza numbers
# 9.3.7.2 Adding dynamics marks
# 9.3.7.3 Adding singer names
# 9.3.7.4 Printing stanzas at the end
# 9.3.7.5 Printing stanzas at the end in multiple
# columns
+ 9.3.8 Ambitus
+ 9.3.9 Other vocal issues
o 9.4 Titles and headers
I would like a "Page layout" chaper, where this section should go.
Mentioning "multi scores in one files" would also fit nicely in there,
along with the discussion of the paper- and layout-blocks.
+ 9.4.1 Creating titles
+ 9.4.2 Custom titles
+ 9.4.3 Reference to page numbers
+ 9.4.4 Table of contents
* 10 Input and output
o 10.1 Input files
+ 10.1.1 File structure (introduction)
+ 10.1.2 File structure
+ 10.1.3 A single music expression
+ 10.1.4 Multiple scores in a book
+ 10.1.5 Extracting fragments of notation
+ 10.1.6 Including LilyPond files
+ 10.1.7 Different editions from one source
+ 10.1.8 Text encoding
o 10.2 MIDI output
+ 10.2.1 Creating MIDI files
+ 10.2.2 MIDI block
+ 10.2.3 MIDI instrument names
o 10.3 Displaying LilyPond notation
o 10.4 Skipping corrected music
Ok.
* 11 Changing defaults
-Rune
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