ah, now I see why I wasn't using something like your example. Look at
what happens when the last note is raised a fourth:
\version "2.19.35"
<<
\relative c'' {
c4 d f
\override Stem.stemlet-length = #0.5
\override Stem.details.beamed-lengths = #'(5)
r8.[ b16]
}
\addlyrics {
this is a test
}
>>
You'll note that the rest is also displaced vertically. To avoid this,
I have to set the beamed-lengths property to 6.5. I'd like the beam to
be a bit closer vertically to the rest; is there a property to set
that achieves this without having to specify the vertical position of
the rest?