<dem...@suffolk.lib.ny.us> writes: > On Wed, Jul 22, 2009, Trevor Daniels <t.dani...@treda.co.uk> said: > >>> Anyway, I think that it would make a lot more sense if the staff >>> were determined by the "average" pitch of the chord. And, I think >>> I've solved this in the attached patch. > > What would make the most sense is to consider the range of the > intended instrument. music for a mid-range instrument (eg classical > guitar) is conventionally presented on the same suboctave G clef a > tenor vocalist uses. > > Some music for low brass and winds uses c-3, c-4, and f-4 clefs. > Hopefully these automatic clef changes are an optional feature, many > players find any clef change annoying.
I'll agree that any optionally usable clefs should be specified in advance. A "clef" in this respect may also consist of "8va" notations. There are instrument-dependent "thresholds of pain" involved: singers' clefs will just not change in midpiece. I don't think that the right hand of a (non-bass) accordion would ever change clefs (even though I have a button accordion going down to deep A, needing 5 ledger lines, which is not all that untypical). The best strategy probably would be to specify badnesses for clef changes (separate for in-bar and between-bar), ledger lines (with progressive badness for the vertical arrangement and/or badness for ledger lines which actually change the system spacing), a large badness for the first clef change, another one for a repeat ending with a different clef than it begins... > Look to the earliest publications of Ottaviano Petrucci (Canti C, > Canti B, Odhecaton), available in facsimile at the best music > libraries (and direct from Broude Brothers if you care to purchase) > for examples of how rare clef changes were even when movable C clefs > were the norm. What do you mean "even when"? We are talking about singers (with a limited range) and the movable clef was placed such that you did not need clef changes or ledger lines in midpiece. > Initial clef should be chosen based on overall range, But today's available clef choice is much smaller. And quite a few instruments have a fixed clef (which you, if at all, extend using 8va notation). -- David Kastrup _______________________________________________ lilypond-devel mailing list lilypond-devel@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel
