Re: Best support programs for Lilypond

[David Wright]

On Sun 06 Mar 2016 at 00:58:55 (+0000), Stan Mulder wrote:
> Just wondering how to achieve the best output with supporting programs when
> working with Lilypond. I find Frescobaldi a huge leap forward in using
> Lilypond. Frescobaldi increases productivity many times. 
> 
> Are there any other programs I should be using to speed the notation process?

If someone has gone to the trouble of entering the notes and producing
a midi file, I find rosegarden useful to translate the .midi into .ly
format. (I've had less success with midi2ly.) I fish out just the notes
and trash everything else.

The output from rosegarden is in absolute notation and sometimes in the
"wrong" key. ly is a useful program that is able to convert absolute
to relative notation (my preference for vocal music) and to transpose.

Obviously it helps to be really proficient at driving your editor.
For example, I can happily type a couple of hundred bars in my
"canonical style" barely taking my eye off the score, but navigating
the result would be horrendous without the
  \barNumberCheck #135 | % sopranoii
markers I use every five bars. Adding those would be tedious and error
prone without the automation of (in my case) emacs. But editors are an
area of individual taste firmly held.

Because I work a lot with vocal music (few parts in long lines), I
use consistent names for the voices and have "potted" midi-generating
include files so that I can add, for example,
\include "Midi-ssattb.ily"
at the end of the parts and automatically generate seven midi files,
one tutti and six with each part highlighted in turn. That allows me
to rapidly proof-read each part by following the score while playing
the respective midi file; much quicker than trying to compare the
preview and original scores side by side.

Hope something in there might help...

Cheers,
David.