Re: Beam slope tweaking

[David Nalesnik]

Hi Marc,

On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 2:40 PM, MarcM <address@hidden> wrote:

I also slopped beaming compared to the default horizontal beaming.
I looked at the example and notice the following:

1) by default the 2nd group of eight notes is too horizontal
2) in the 2nd example the 2nd group of eight notes is beamed correctly
3) in the 3rd example the slope of 2nd group of eight notes is too acute but
it's probably the nicest layout.

why isn't it the default settings?

Because it isn't correct with respect to traditional engraving practice, which LilyPond emulates as far as possible (given varying standards).  Large beam slopes are avoided, and stem lengths are lengthened/shortened to achieve these more moderate angles.  The second beamed group in the first measure of your example (which you mark as being too horizontal), involves another consideration: notes below the staff are lengthened to reach the midline of the staff.  Another aspect in beam slope is termed "quantization" in the LilyPond docs: beams are oriented to the staff lines--directly above, below, or centered on them.  So, while, beams tend to follow the general trend of the notes, they will usually not be exactly parallel.

Hope this answers your question!

--David