Re: transposition: entering parts in absolute pitch

[David Kastrup]

Tom Yates <address@hidden> writes:

> I apologise if this is a FAQ; I've gone back a few months in the
> archives and can't find anything that seems relevant, and I want to
> get my head straight before I do any more work on my arrangement.
>
> I'm arranging something for brass band, which means dealing with 22
> lines in a variety of transpositions (C, Bb, Eb).  To prevent my head
> exploding, I'm entering all the notes in C (ie, untransposed); what I
> want to do is print the parts, and perhaps the score, with the
> relevant transpositions in place.  I'm also rendering to midi (as an
> idiot check) and I want that to work, too.
>
> But the documentation about \transposition says "\transposition should
> only be used if the pitches are not being entered in concert pitch"
> [1], and that is the reverse of my problem - I'm entering pitches in
> concert pitch and wish only to print transposed.
>
> Am I going about this the wrong way?  Should I go back and re-enter
> all my parts in printed (ie, transposed) pitch?

Which version of LilyPond are you using?  In 2.17.13 the behavior was
changed and is much simpler now.  I am describing how this works now:

You use \transposition to state the relation of printed to played music,
regardless of whether you are entering in concert pitch or printed
pitch.

You use \transpose to change the printed pitch (and the played pitch
will move along).

-- 
David Kastrup