Re: orchestra and individual parts

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi Marc,

> the problem with this approach is that one has to edit one file that contains 
> all the music, (which can be long) then has to switch to another file that 
> contains the score part for the part currently being edited. It seems a 
> simple things but it makes a big difference when one has to do that over and 
> over.

It all depends on how much flexibility you want in your output, I think…

I almost *always* put the music variables (content) and score definition 
(presentation) in different files. As one good example of how this helps me, 
consider my chamber opera, "Drunken Moon". I have five different score files: 
two for the full score (one in C, one transposed), one for the vocal score 
(with piano reduction), one for the Tango [instrumental interlude] as a 
separate salon piece for piano trio, and one for the Sarabande [interlude] as a 
solo piano piece.

To try to manage all of this in a single Lilypond file would:
    1. be far too confusing (for me, anyway);
    2. limit (or maybe eliminate) the possibility of outputting a single one of 
those 5 score options;
    3. restrict (or at least hamper) applying different stylesheets to each 
score; and
    4. add far more complexity scrolling/jumping within the one file, than the 
small difficulty added by the need to switch between content and presentation 
files.

Of course, if you have a single simple output (e.g., you're always outputting 
all bookparts, and they all use the same stylesheet), then a single Lilypond 
file would likely be fine -- that's just not a situation I run into very often 
in my Lilypond work.

But that's one of the great benefits of Lilypond: it is excellent at allowing 
each user to work according to that user's requirements/habits/preferences.  =)

Hope this helps!
Kieren.