Thanks for the question again Walt. I’ve just taken a look and changing the
string tuning on the fly is much easier than I thought, so I’ll likely take
this approach as it seems more correct.
Here’s a very simple test of changing string tunings and setting the same note
sequence with a bass type instrument (not a pedal steel tuning - just for
practice):
\version "2.24.1"
<<
\new TabStaff \with {
stringTunings = #bass-tuning
} {
\relative {
c,4 d e f
}
\set stringTunings =\stringTuning <c,, gis,, dis, a,>
\relative {
c,4 d e f
}
}
>>
I’ll need to keep track of which pedals are down somewhere and how they combine
to create a specific tuning, but that is likely my next task, to be able to
write some music that sets correctly for the specified pedals, and also in
stave notation That doesn’t seem too hard.
Alex
> On 5 Nov 2024, at 00:15, Alex Harker <ajhar...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Actually it was more this thread that covers formatting issues:
>
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2015-01/msg00266.html
> <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2015-01/msg00266.html>
>
> Alex
>
>> On 4 Nov 2024, at 23:52, Alex Harker <ajhar...@gmail.com
>> <mailto:ajhar...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Walt,
>>
>> I’m just starting to get into this so there’s still a lot to figure out. I
>> am using a tab staff with a custom tuning and there are some previous
>> threads I’d found useful:
>>
>> The most notable is this one which has given me various clues as to how to
>> format in a variety of potentially more relevant ways to some of the pedal
>> steel conventions (should that be necessary in my case).
>>
>> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2015-01/msg00246.html
>> <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2015-01/msg00246.html>
>>
>> In this thread the notation is dealt with separately for tab and stave
>> notation and the alterations are applied to the notes in the tab (and not
>> the tuning). I think I will likely write some scheme code that is able to do
>> this kind of thing automatically (given a string specification per note and
>> some way of indicating pedals). Changing the tuning temporally would be more
>> correct, but it’s likely easier to change the music going into the tab
>> system than to mess with that - I will look at that as an option though. The
>> thread above shows how to put pedals in the tab next to frets, but I think
>> I’ll end up with them under the stave, partly due to the details I’d like to
>> add to them.
>>
>> I’m not a pedal steel player at all, and my usage is pretty esoteric
>> (musically and likely in terms of the look of the score), so I’m just in a
>> notation research phase to figure it out. I’ve got a lot of experience as a
>> programmer in general, but my lilypond knowledge is more limited, so I’m
>> hoping (as in the past) that my determination will get me through. In a
>> previous project I made a custom look woodwind fingering by modifying what
>> is in the internal scm as a separate file for instance.
>>
>> Happy to share what I come up with in this case if it might be of use.
>>
>> Alex
>>
>>> On 4 Nov 2024, at 23:32, Walt North <waltno...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I don't have an answer to your question but I am curious how are you
>>> handling the varying string pitch changes related to pedal usage. I assume
>>> you are using TabStaff with custom turnings. Do you switch back and forth
>>> between custom turnings when pedals are pressed or released? Just a
>>> general question because I've been hesitant so far to dive into tabs for my
>>> pedal steel. I've also have not experimented yet with non-re entrant E9
>>> tuning. I have found tabstaff works fairly well for lap steel tabs with
>>> c6th and D7.
>>>
>>>
>>> Walt North
>>>
>>
>
