Re: Tips on quick entry

[Nathan Ho]

On 2017-01-06 13:39, Samuel Speer wrote:
> Hello list,
>
> It takes me ages to enter the note data into LilyPond. Last night I
> spent almost an hour a page just getting notes and lyrics in. Does
> anyone have any tips for quick entry? I do have a midi keyboard but
> haven't tried it much. It seems slow because I have to switch back and
> forth with the computer keyboard to do articulations, durations, etc.

Hi Samuel,

Composing and arranging directly into LilyPond is always going to be 
slow (since you're doing more than just note entry). But if you're just 
transferring music from paper to LilyPond, you can get pretty efficient.

It's important to have a workflow that doesn't involve switching windows 
and typing "lilypond prelude.ly" in the terminal and whatnot. Use 
Frescobaldi or a similar setup with your editor of choice.

Don't feel the need to wait for LilyPond to compile, especially for 
large scores. My approach is to keep typing music continuously. I hit 
Ctrl+M (Frescobaldi) every few bars or so, leave it on in the background 
while I keep transcribing, and maybe glance at its results. It's largely 
a matter of practice -- get really comfortable with LilyPond's syntax so 
you can confidently type a large chunk of music in without needing to 
look at the compiled output. Proofreading comes after the initial sprint 
through the music, and point and click is essential for that.

Oh yeah, and I suggest using \language "english". Save a few characters.


Nathan