Re: Problems with LilyJAZZ.ily

[Marc Hohl]

Am 10.10.2013 08:10, schrieb Martin Tarenskeen:
> On Wed, 9 Oct 2013, Tim McNamara wrote:
>
> > Thanks for having a bash at that.  As a matter of taste, I think I
> > prefer not having the font's sharps and flats used in the chord names
> > because they look disproportionately large compared to the text,
> > whereas the default accidentals look fine to my eyes.  Also, the lack
> > of a lower case "m" in the font has confused my horn players so I use
> > "-" instead of "m" in minor chords.
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm following this discussion from a distance. I am not a Jazz musician
> and have always wondered why Jazz musicians prefer computer-engraved
> sheet music that tries to look like it is hand written. My brother is a
> jazz composer/arranger who uses Finale and who always uses Finale's
> jazzfont for his compositions.
>
> Is it just a tradition, and something jazz musicians feel familiar and
> comfortable with while writing and reading music? Or is a Jazzfont
> *really* easier to read on stage?

I think the chord names are easier to read with that font, but a bold
version of a text font will work as well (LilyPonds default and the
fonts used in guitar song books would not work quite well).

Apart from that it is merely a habit. I found out that I am irritated
to find a H-7 (the german B minor 7) in a Jazz score, but have no
problems playing a Hm7 in a songbook, so it is probably some kind of
context dependency.
(As a side note: I can read the bass clef much faster when I have a
bass guitar on the strap. Trying to identify the notes with a
guitar at hand feels unfamiliar and thus takes more time).

Just my personal experience, but this is an interesting topic for sure

> It would be interesting to do scientific research in what way a music
> font can influence the way we read music: reading speed, number of
> errors when sight-reading, things like that.

There is an interesting attempt for a slanted music font called 'Musica 
presto' by Hermann Zapf sketched in 1938 that should mimic the speed of
the piece by having slanted clefs, stems etc.
I assume the second world war prevented further work in this direction,
but the specimens look interesting.

> Maybe it could even be possible to design a music font that improves the
> reading skills for people who have always had trouble to read music.
> Something comparable to that special text font that was designed for
> people with dyslexia: http://www.studiostudio.nl/en/information/

This would imply a lot of testing in real-world conditions.
But the idea is promising ;-)

Marc