Is it OK to post suggestions on this site?
(I could not find any link for such in the Lilypond site,
other than for documentation changes).
1). If a note duration such as c3 is detected, an error message is issued:
error: not a duration: 3
Why should 3 not be a valid duration, mid-way between 2 and 4?
(It would have the same value as a dotted 4).
After all, if the program is going to the trouble of weeding-out
these values and printing an error message, it may just as well
substitute the code for a dotted 4 !
Similarly, 6 should be a valid code equivalent to a dotted eigth-note.
[Why did I enter a 3? Because, decades ago, I wrote an music interpreter
program for a Z80 that used exactly these codes. I had a mental relapse!]
2). Currently, if an stand-alone number is detected, a complier error is issued:
error: syntax error, unexpected DIGIT
Why should this be so?
What else can such a number represent, other than a duration?
Previous notes are "memorised" for used in relative mode calculations.
Why then shouldn't it be possible to type a "quick note", e.g.:
c2 8 8 4 d1 ?
3). The convenience of omitting a duration when it is the same as the previous
note is frequently upset by the requirement for a dotted note.
Dotted notes usually "steal time" from the following notes:
g4 g8. g16 a4 g8. g16 g4 f8. e16 d2 (chorus from "Waltzing Matilda")
If the previous two suggestions were to be merged, then would it be
possible to reserve durations 3 and 6 as a special case?
In this special case, the duration of the preceding note is "remembered"
and stached away. The 3 or 6 temporarily sets-up a duration of a dotted
4 or 8 and sets a flag. After the note is completed, the presence
of this flag over-rides the next note duration to be a 8 or 16.
The original duration stored-away is then restored.
That means the above music sequence can be written in "quick" style as:
g4 3 g a g3 g g f3 e d2
The stand-alone 3 signifies that the previous pitch is to be used.
The g following the 3 is the pitch of the automatic 16th-note.
The a following the g is restored to the original quarter-note.
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