Re: splitting .ly files into chunks

[David Raleigh Arnold]

On Thu, 13 Jun 2002 16:04:11 Colin Cotter wrote:
> Hello ladies and gentlemen,
> I am using lilypond as a composing tool -I tend to think in terms of 
> manuscript so it is quicker to type stuff in than use sequencer
> software. 
> My question is this: I am writing a piano piece with multiple parts
> which 
> I am including into the main body of the .ly file by writing e.g.
> \alto,
> \tenor for the different parts. Can anyone give me any tips on how to 
> break the music into managable parts so I can listen to small chunks
> in 
> midi instead of sitting through the whole piece each time? The
> analogue 
> would be when I use \include in a LaTeX file and rem out all the
> \include 
> bits I don't want to see in the DVI at that particular time.
> COlin

You \included the answer in your question!

\notes { \etc etc
\include "masterpiece1-8-pt1.ly"
\include "masterpiece9-16-pt1.ly"
}
Rename the parts you don't want to hear, but touch the original
name becaues lilypond insists on the existence of included
files, but it is ok if they are empty.

I've written a utility (sly) to greatly facilitate this, but I have
to fix it so it can be used in/with an emacs-xemacs buffer.  I
strongly advocate getting the notes out of the .ly file.
Here are 22 bars--lines of Bach's 1st Lute Suite Prelude transcr. for
guitar--very simple in two parts.  The *s are placeholders for
the notes in the beginning of the measure (in the part).
The " |" is not a barline, it is a field separator:

d16  d'  f'  a'   f'  d'    f'  d'   a    d'   f    d'   |  d    a   f  
*4  r4  *8  *
d16  d'  f'  a'   f'  d'    f'  d'   a    d'   f    d'   |  d    a 
 f   *4  r4  *8  *
d16  d'  g'  bf'  g'  d'    g'  d'   bf   d'   g    d'   |  d    bf
 g   *4  r4  *8  *
d16  d'  g'  bf'  g'  d'    g'  d'   bf   d'   g    d'   |  d    bf
 g   *4  r4  *8  *
d16  cs' e'  g'   e'  cs'   e'  cs'  bf   cs'  g    cs'  |  d    bf
 g   *4  r4  *8  *
d16  cs' e'  g'   e'  cs'   e'  cs'  bf   cs'  g    cs'  |  d    bf
 g   *4  r4  *8  *
d    a    d'   f'    d'   a    d'    a    f   a   d   a   |  d    f    d
  *4  r4  *8  *
c    a    d'   f'    d'   a    d'    a    f   a   d   a   |  c    f    d
  *4  r4  *8  *
bf,  a    d'   f'    d'   a    d'    a    f   a   d   a   |  bf,  f    d
  *4  r4  *8  *
a,   a    d'   f'    d'   a    d'    a    f   a   d   a   |  a,   f    d
  *4  r4  *8  *
gs,  b    d'   f'    d'   b    d'    b    f   b   d   b   |  gs,  f    d
  *4  r4  *8  *
gs,  b    d'   f'    d'   b    d'    b    gs  b   e   b   |  gs,  gs   e
  *4  r4  *8  *
a,   b    c'   e'    c'   b    c'    b    e   b   c   b   |  a,   e    c
  *4  r4  *8  *
a,   a    c'   e'    c'   a    c'    a    c   a   a,  a   |  a,   c   
a,  *4  r4  *8  *
f,   c'   e'   a'    e'   c'   e'    c'   a   c'  f   c'  |  f,   a    f
  *4  r4  *8  *
d    b    f'   a'    f'   b    f'    b    d   b   b,  b   |  d    d   
b,  *4  r4  *8  *
e,   b    d'   gs'   d'   b    d'    b    e   b   b,  b   |  e,   e   
b,  *4  r4  *8  *
e,   b    d'   gs'   d'   b    d'    b    e   b   b,  b   |  e,   e   
b,  *4  r4  *8  *
e,   c'   e'   a'    e'   c'   e'    c'   e   c'  c   c'  |  e,   e    c
  *4  r4  *8  *
e,   d'   gs'  b'    gs'  d'   gs'   d'   f   d'  d   d'  |  e,   f    d
  *4  r4  *8  *
e,   e'   a'   c''   a'   e'   a'    e'   a   e'  e   e'  |  e,   a    e
  *4  r4  *8  *
e,   e'   gs'  d''   gs'  e'   gs'   e'   b   e'  gs  e'  |  e,   b   
gs  *4  r4  *8  *

I only had to type six pitches for each 15 in the score.  How sweet it
is.  I used
"rectangular editing" which everyone else calls column copying.  A
keyboard macro
would have been better, and I will finish the piece with one of those
one day. 

------------------------------------------------------------
Information is not knowledge.           Belief is not truth.
Indoctrination is not teaching.   Tradition is not evidence.
         David Raleigh Arnold   address@hidden