Re: Lyrics and centering

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi, Michael:

> I am having a problem with the centering of lyrics, for which I was  
> hoping to get some help.
> I cannot get the words to center underneath the proper note when a  
> tie is involved.
> For instance, if a note is tied, the word is centering underneath  
> the Two notes,
> and not underneath only the first note of the tie, as it should.

I think you might be mistaken regarding the traditional engraving  
convention -- my copy of "The Essential Dictionary of Musical  
Notation" says

    "Another help in reading a melisma is the proper alignment of  
the lyric.
    The word or syllable, instead of being centered under the note,
    should be aligned flush left with the left edge of the notehead."

Which is exactly what Lilypond does (in my experience). That being  
said, I do think that Lilypond is too "severe" in its left- 
alignedness -- therefore, I have resorted to using

    \once \override LyricText #'X-offset = #-0.5

in order to give the lyrics a slightly "softer" look.

In any case, play around with #'X-offset, #'self-alignment-X, etc.,  
in your LyricText object(s) to see what best fixes your specific issue 
(s).

Cheers,
Kieren.