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PUBLIC MARKS from pvergain with tags python & lilycomp

30 January 2007 12:30

LilyComp

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LilyComp is a graphical note entry program for use with the LilyPond music typesetting program. I am in no way connected with LilyPond, so do not blame them for the quality of this program. This program was written to speed up the creation of lead sheets. It just enters notes and rests with the indicated duration. Do not expect to enter anything too fancy, although a couple of other common items like ties, slurs, and measure bars are supported as well. LilyComp is not like Rosegarden or NoteEdit. Think of LilyComp as the number pad on your keyboard; it is just for quick data entry. The target user of LilyComp would be someone who knows a little music notation, but is not an expert. I play accoustic guitar, so I am more interested in the chords and note timing than the note pitches. I have difficulty transcribing a lead sheet from other more complicated sheet music quickly. If the music is in C Major I am quick enough, but add four sharps, and I slow down a lot. The idea with LilyComp is that you do not need to know hardly anything. You just look at the sheet music, find the corresponding note on the LilyComp window, and push the button. I can extract a melody from a complicated score in a few minutes using this technique. The notes may be excessively notated (lots of commas or apostrophes) because they are all absolute (relative is not used.) Likewise, the duration is always included even if the previous duration is the same. I do this so that I can cut and paste fearlessly. I don't have to worry about changing the duration or octave of a note accidentally. LilyComp is written in pure Python. If you care to do so, it is very trivial to add clefs or ledger lines if you need more. I use English notation (C# = cs); if you do not use that notation you can change a pair of variables near the top of the script to redefine the default behaviour. Also, in case you are wondering, the name LilyComp is the combination of LilyPond and Composer. As I was programming the first version, I kept thinking of it as my "LilyPond composer", so when it came time to save the file I just typed lilycomp.py. Now that I am releasing this for other people to use, I wish I had picked something catchier. :) By the way, free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See the LICENSE file in the distributed package for details.