Re: GDP: rearrangement (third attempt)

[Rune Zedeler]

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