The typesetting term for this is "kerning" -- modifying the space between letters. A valuable tool in text setting.
Long ago Adobe sold fonts that were continuously variable, i.e. you could
"dial in" any degree of bold or italic. I don't recall, though, that even
those fonts had a "narrow" option.
In tight lyric situations, I have had to resort to one or both of two
tricks:
1. Change the point-size of the lyric font.
2. Underlay lyrics using _\markup commands. While this loses the exact
note-by-note underlay, it can be used to good effect to borrow extra space
from words in a phrase.
Query for the group: is there any way to ensure that the baselines of two
note-linked markups (e.g., _\markup) are aligned? Consider the following
mini-code:
\relative c'' {
c4_\markup{ "A pseudo-lyric" } b a g
f g_\markup{ "won't align"} a e'
\break
c4_\markup{ "A pseudo-lyric" } b a g
f g_\markup{ \null \vspace #0.85 "now aligns"} a e'
\break
c4_\markup{ \concat { "A pseudo-lyric" \hspace #3 "re-aligned" }} b a g
f g a e'
}
I hate the kludge required to eye-ball the alignment in the second version
above, and the third is hardly better; is there a better solution?
~Robert Stoddard
www.bostonsing.org
2011/1/13 Janek Warchoł <lemniskata.bernoull...@gmail.com>
> 2011/1/11 Alexander Kobel <n...@a-kobel.de>:
> > On 2011-01-11 00:30, Janek Warchoł wrote:
> >> Ok, thanks.
> >> What about compressing words? I mean, is it possible to change the
> >> amount of space between the letters?
> >
> > I don't think so, and I don't think it's to come: this is not even a
> > feature too common in amateur-grade DTP applications.
>
> The only thing i can say is that OpenOffice supports it. I don't know
> if this is an appropriate program to speak of, though.
>
> > But if you were to choose 'bold-narrow, you'd get the same as selecting
> > a condensed font for this syllable. It might look okay if you just use
> > this for a syllable, depending on the very font and the difference
> > between the variants. Otherwise, try something like \markup \scale
> > #'(0.97 . 1) "syllable"; that's about all I can come up with.
>
> I tried it and unfortunately the scaled syllabes start to look weird
> as soon as i compress them by the amount that makes any difference in
> my situation (0.9 for example).
> I think that adding ability to reduce distances between letters
> without affecting letters would be useful, especially in tight lyrics
> situations.
> Nevertheless, thank you very much for your help!
>
> cheers,
> Janek
>
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