I took the liberty to download and look at your songbook, and just wanted to share a few questions that occured to me while reading it:
Hi, Valentin. Thanks for your feedback- I would mind responsing to your questions point by point.
-first of all, many kudos for your work; you wanted something that looked professionnal and it does indeed. I particularly like the font you use (though maybe the capital "S" is a bit too condensed): what' its
name? is it free?
The specific font I chose for this instance is called Maiandra GD, which came free with my installation of XP. I liked the way it looked in this case, but there are tons of OTF fonts available from Adobe that can be ordered individually- they are not free.
-you seem to mix up free and non-free software in your introduction, which can be okay as long as you specify the difference: LilyPond is indeed open-source, but Adobe isn't (however there are opensource alternatives, maybe worth to mention), and OpenOffice is hardly "a freeware version of Microsoft Office"... This is a detail, but this kind of details makes such projects as LilyPond
particularly valuable, in my opinion.
I think in my pre-edited intro notes, I made the distinction that Adobe Standard was an additional commerical package I purchased for pdf management. I think I shot myself in the foot in the editing process :-)
While OpenOffice isn't technically a freeware version of Microsoft Office, I don't know how else to describe it to folks who have never heard of it or used it. And since I wrote these intro notes, I am more inclined to use GIMP for image editing and Scribus for general layout. The general point I was hoping to convey to someone is that it doesn't require hundreds of dollars investment in software to produce professional looking songbooks, thanks to lilypond.
-you're right to mention the "lilypond.org" website in your introduction, but the footer (or copyright) field you use in the scores mentions "lilypond.com", which belongs to Campbell Industrial Supplies. I've nothing wrong with giving them some PR help, but maybe this wasn't on purpose :)
Arggh! While it is too late for me to correct printed versions I have made, I will correct the online version. My apoligies to all in the lilypond community for this brain-addled error.
-the engraving looks definitely great -- no wonder: simply genuine LilyPond :) -- just one little detail though: when you have to enter empty measures, maybe you'd better use R1
instead of r1, so you can have nice centered rests (yours are always left-aligned). Similarly, if you enter your chords diagrams as a separate voice, you don't have to split rests, like in the first line of "Put It Right". I see that you aim to make the rhythm of the chord changes as clear as possible, but I've never seen it affect the rests in the vocal line.
Thanks for the tips. It honestly never occurred to me to create a separate voice for the chord changes. I will start experimenting.
-I think developing LilyPond-made songbooks is definitely a great idea, and I hope many people will eventually be interested in supporting your project. You do not mention, as
far as I can see, the source files of the scores you typeset: maybe it would be cool to mention their existence, and possibly their licensing, if you plan to let them available online, or send them upon request, etc.
I have a specfic market I am trying to interest in having songbooks created, and I will have a better idea over the next couple of months the level of interest within that market.
Making the source files files available is a very good idea but it provides a bit of a conundrum. Here's an example using a project I am currently involved with creating a collection of notated traditional fiddle songs. The person who I am doing the notation for has decided, after I've gotten halfway throught the set of tunes, that compensation for my time is too expensive and if I could just spend an hour teaching how to use the package, he could learn to do it himself.
Fair enough. But I think it is fair to say that while lilypond can be learned fairly quickly for simple notation tasks, the mastery of the dozens of tips and tricks found in the mailing list archives can not be internalized overnight. Many of these tricks inform the templates the I initially setup to do the transcribing. I have no qualms about sharing these templates within the lilypond community, but feel differently about it for this specific example. Anyway, it raises a number of interesting points.
Really a nice project. It's a pity you don't do contemporary orchestral music, I definitely could use a copyist :)