Re: NR 2.1 Vocal music

[Trevor Daniels]

James Bailey wrote Wednesday, September 08, 2010 5:34 PM


> The current solution for lyrics independent of 
> notes is predicated on the idea that the lyrics 
> should be attached to some voice. Since \lyricmode
> just tells lilypond that the entry will be text
> rather than notes, why not simply use that instead
> of the DevNull context, and explicitly state the
> rhtyhms for the lyrics. The rhythms are entered
> anyway because of the lyricrhythm tag, so the
> user will have to enter rhythms at some point.
> I think it makes for a much more elegant solution.
> Consider:
>
> voice = {
>   c''2 c''
>   d''1
> }
>
> lyr = \lyricmode { I4 like2 my cat!2. }
>
> <<
>   \new Staff \voice
>   \new Lyrics \lyr
>   \new Staff { c'8 c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' c' }
> >>
>
> It has the disadvantage of having to explicitly enter 
> the rhtyhm for all of the lyrics, not just the tagged
> part, but it eliminates the need for the DevNull context.
> Bad idea? Good idea?

We certainly need an example in this section which shows
durations attached to lyric syllables, but I think we need
to keep the Devnull example too, as this is useful if only
a few syllables have to have a different rhythm, as might
occur, for example, in just one bar of one stanza.  BTW,
durations on lyric syllables is briefly mentioned in 
"Automatic syllable durations" in 2.1.1.

Would you like to generate another example along the lines
you suggest with some text for inclusion either here or in
"Dialogue over music" in "Opera and stage musicals"?  This 
technique would be suited to dialogue which is not in strict
rhythm but which needs to be keyed into music at certain
points, usually when a sentence starts.  It might need a
bit of research to work out the best way to generate 
alignments.  Hint: try quotes :)

Trevor