Re: (fwd)

[David Rogers]

Martin Tarenskeen <address@hidden> writes:

> ... writing LilyPond code directly is in fact easier and much faster
> than ... fixing errors.


Especially this. Most of the export and import processes end up with
some errors, and being forced to find and solve machine-made errors
(maybe obscure ones) is not easy if you're not used to Lilypond in the
first place.

It can be hard to get Lilypond to do a perfect job with (for example) a
long and complicated opera or symphony. But to get Lilypond to do a good
job on some fairly simple music is almost certainly easier than learning
how to fix export/import problems.

You don't need to read the entire documentation before you begin. It's
laid out so that if you want to do something simple, your problems will
mostly be solved after reading only part way - you can save the rest of
the studying for later, if you end up needing it. And as you get used to
the manual, you become more comfortable with knowing where "whatever
thing you need today" can probably be found.

Also, about the documentation - the "Snippets" section will often have a
pre-made solution to your problem. (When someone has a hard time
figuring out how to do something in Lilypond, and then they get it
right, they put it up as a snippet so that everyone else can just use
that, instead of wasting their time discovering the solution over
again.)  If you want to do something that's musically fairly normal, and
it seems to be turning out a bit more difficult than it should, then
it's possible that someone else has already run into the same problem,
solved it, and created a snippet out of it.

-- 
David R