I did some experiments and it turns out that most of the
features people have requested for figured bass is actually
supported in Lilypond if you use a lyrics line.
Take a look at the following example. It illustrates how
the figures can be typeset using both text scripts and
lyric lines. Some things to note:
- There's a bug in the script handling, ^"ABC"^"DEF"
collapses into a single line. I tried with 1.3.57 which
worked fine.
- You could (in principle) have <5 6> in a lyrics line,
but you have to add some clumsy details to get the
context handling correct.
- The syntax is very clumsy with all the quotation marks.
However I don't see a way around that even if we implement
more specific support for figured bass, since we need to
separate the figures from the durations.
- Another disadvantage of using lyric lines is that it's
much easier to get lost in the input file when entering
and correcting the figures.
- I didn't use \addlyrics since only a fraction of the notes
have figures and some notes have
>8>8>8>8>8>8>8>8>8>8 figuredbass.ly 8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<
\header{
title = "Extract from Rosenkranzsonata II";
composer = "Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber";
enteredby = "Mats Bengtsson";
copyright = "Public Domain ";
subtitle = "Mary's Visit to Elizabeth";
%latexheaders = "tuning.tex";
}
\version "1.3.77";
BCwithfigures = \notes\relative c {
\clef "bass";
\time 2/2;
\key a \major;
a4. b8 cis d e4 |
cis_"6" gis a a' |
fis_"6" cis d a8 gis |
fis2_"7 6" e_"\\textsharp \ 4"_"7 6" |
e'_"4 \\textsharp" cis4_"6" gis |
a b cis2 |
d4 a'8 gis fis2_"7 6" |
e_"\\textsharp \ 4 \\textsharp"_"7 6 5" fis_"\\textsharp 6" |
e4. fis8 gis a b4_"\\textsharp" |
gis_"6" dis e e'8 d |
cis4_"6" gis a d |
gis,_"5"_"6" a fis_"6" e |
d8 cis b4_"6" a4. cis8 |
d4. d,8 e4 e' |
cis_"6" fis e2_"4 \\textsharp" |
a,1^\fermata |
}
BC = \notes\relative c {
\clef "bass";
\time 2/2;
\key a \major;
a4. b8 cis d e4 |
cis gis a a' |
fis cis d a8 gis |
fis2 e |
e' cis4 gis |
a b cis2 |
d4 a'8 gis fis2 |
e fis |
e4. fis8 gis a b4 |
gis dis e e'8 d |
cis4 gis a d |
gis, a fis e |
d8 cis b4 a4. cis8 |
d4. d,8 e4 e' |
cis fis e2 |
a,1^\fermata |
}
figures = \lyrics{
\time 2/2;
_1 | "6" |
"6" | "7"4 "6" < { "7" "6" } \context Lyrics = fII { "\\textsharp" "4"
} > |
"4" "\\textsharp" "6"2 | _1 |
_2 "7"4 "6" |
<{ "7" "6"8 "5" }
\context Lyrics = fII { "\\textsharp"4 "4"8 "\\textsharp" } >
"5"4 "6" |
_2. "\\textsharp"4 | "6"1 |
"6" | <{ "6"2 } \context Lyrics = fII { "5" } > "6" |
_4 "6"2. | _1 |
"6"2 "4"4 "\\textsharp" | _1
}
\score{
\BCwithfigures
\header{
piece = "Figures as text scripts";
}
}
\score{
<\context Staff = BC \BC
\context Lyrics = figures \figures>
\paper{
\translator{\BarNumberingStaffContext
timeSignatureStyle = "C";
textScriptPadding = 6;
}
}
\header{
piece = "Figures as lyrics line";
}
}
>8>8>8>8>8>8>8>8>8>8 end of figuredbass.ly 8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<8<
Comments or suggestions?
Can someone come up with an input syntax for a future
figured bass engraver that's much better than what's
offered today?
/Mats
