On Jan 9, 2013, at 2:50 PM, Werner LEMBERG wrote: > >>> What's the difference between `fine' and `laser' printing? >> >> It is a question of the level of detail. If you are making a font >> for laser printers you have to avoid certain characteristics in >> shapes. The shapes have to be more gross or brutal to reproduce >> well. If you know you want something to look great in fine print >> (digital and offset can have very similar resolution now) then you >> want to be sure to build in extra nuance to take advantage of the >> medium. Probably you would want to emphasize one over the other and >> then test to see that the less favored medium produces results that >> are still acceptable. >> >> With laser printing and fine print the distance is far less than >> print and web and so a nice compromise is very reachable. > > OK, this is essentially the same as David's reply. > >>> The font should cover the most important languages used for >>> `classical' vocal music, especially operas. This includes >>> Italian, German, French, Czech (e.g. Dvořák), Russian (in >>> Cyrillic), English, probably Hungarian (Bartók). Today it's >>> common that the original language is typeset in upright shape, and >>> a translation in italic, but sometimes it's vice versa. >>> >>> I've also seen a transliteration (using IPA) instead of a >>> translation, so covering the IPA characters for the above >>> languages would be useful also. >> >> Wow. This is a large project in terms of glyph coverage then. :-) > > It can evolve, starting with Latin-1 & Latin-2, for example.
That makes sense. > >> You will want someone who is sensitive to Cyrillic to Latin and who >> can manage the difficulties of the dense use of diacritics in Czech >> set which are significant. Is Polish relevant? > > Interestingly, no. There aren't any Polish operas or famous > `classical' songs I'm aware of. > >> What about small caps? Do they matter? > > Not really. Of course it is good to have them, but this is not > essential for the beginning IMHO. Note that Lilypond currently can't > access OpenType features. That would be a good reason to have separate fonts for all caps then. > >>> It's not clear what exactly you mean with `font for setting >>> music'. The font used for lyrics essentially doesn't interact >>> with any other font. Normally, you only see upright and italic. >> >> What I mean is not that the two fonts should mix but if there is a >> font that tends to be used for the score it will have >> characteristics too and so it will be a good idea to design in >> relationship to it. >> >> If there are 3 music fonts that are most likely to be used then the >> new text font should be tested next to all 3. It is a question >> which is a bit like does this lamp look good next to this chair? >> The two are separate but if you know what the chair is like you can >> better choose the character of the lamp that suits it. I hope that >> makes sense. > > Have a look at the attached image which shows all the necessary fonts. > The `Tempo di Menuetto' font is the lyrics font enlarged, and both > `Servilia' and `Arie' is displayed with completely different fonts. Right. Is that difference in the service of telling the reader different categories of things? Is the style a label of a category of information? Maybe you need 4 designs - a regular high contrast condensed, a bold, a low contrast and an italic. > >>> Most important is very good kerning to get optimal legibility with >>> the highest possible density, since lyrics usually need more >>> horizontal space than the associated note heads, so the smaller >>> the needed horizontal extension, the better the layout for the >>> music. >> >> Right - this is why you want a somewhat condensed design as well. >> It might even be a good idea to stipulate that the font should still >> perform well even if it is tracked negatively to -5 or -10 or -15 or >> whatever is typical. Ideally of course a narrower font won’t need >> that because it will be more efficient. But it is good to set the >> performance standards at the start! > > Well, right now Lilypond's font interface is very primitive, so > tracking or other nifty font features are not supported yet. I see. So then you would just want to make a good compromise in the basic spacing to make it a very space efficient font. -e. > > > Werner > > <tito1.jpg> _______________________________________________ lilypond-user mailing list lilypond-user@gnu.org https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user
