Hi,
Does anyone know how produce the style of ties used by Messiaen (or his publisher)?
I've attached an image file taken from a first page of results given by Google images.
The style of ties is unconventional because there are effectively no ties exiting tied notes (or chords); only ties entering into non-first notes (or chords) joined together in series. (The augmented fourth held in the pianist's left hand in the bottom system provides a good example of this.)
I haven't yet used this style of tie in my own scores. But it seems like it might be a particularly effective way to reduce the graphic noise dense chords cause when tied over long durations.
(One last thought: Messiaen's notation might be conceptually equivalent to a type of "reverse" l.v. indication. That might help provide a name for the feature should it ever find its way into LilyPond.)
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messiaen-ties.jpg