Re: Lyrics to hymn - new user

[Carl Peterson]

On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 9:26 PM, Garrett McGilvray <address@hidden> wrote:

Hi folks,

The short version of the question (I think) is this: how do you set a multi-measure rest when manually specifying lyric duration?

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If the short version isn't sufficient, here is what I am trying to solve:

I've hit a brick wall trying to figure out how to layout my lyrics for a hymn. The arrangement is fairly common, where everyone sings the same line for each of the stanzas, but there are split parts in the chorus. I attached a picture of the hymn so you can see what I mean more clearly:

I had in mind setting almost all of the lyrics to the "women" voice (soprano & alto), and then manually entering the duration for only the lower part of the chorus (where the basses start their soli in the chorus). However, that's the part where I would need to know how to put a multi-measure rest so that that line won't begin during the verses. Or is there a better way?

I have a template I use for my hymn writing that allows me to deal with this fairly easily, but it relies in part on a hacked version of LilyPond. The basic answer is that you ideally need two sequential sets of voice contexts, one for the verse, one for the chorus. So this would be your basic setup:

\score {

   \new Staff = "top" {

    << \new Voice = "sopVerse" { } % voice for verse melody and combined alto

         \new Voice = "altoVerse" { } % voice for verse alto lines that require separate stem, such as "days" on line 2

    >>

    << \new Voice = "sopChorus" { } % voice for chorus melody and combined alto

         \new Voice = "altoChorus" { } % voice for chorus alto lines that require separate stem, particularly "gently home" at end

    >>

  }

  \new Staff = "bottom" {

    << \new Voice = "tenVerse" { } % voice for verse tenor lines requiring separate stems

         \new Voice = "bassVerse" { } % voice for verse bass and combined tenor stems

    >>

    << \new Voice = "tenChorus" { } % voice for chorus tenor lines requiring separate stems

         \new Voice = "bassChorus" { } % voice for chorus bass and combined tenor stems

    >>

  }

}

You'll then associate your lyrics with the proper voices. Since the tenor requires no separate lyrics (the final "gently home" can be attached to the altoChorus voice), the mmr is not a huge issue here. You may need to do some manual positioning to put it up high enough.

Cheers,

Carl

P.S.: nice scan from Wiegand's _Praise for the Lord_