Hallo, everyone - I'm new here. I'm not a member of the list - at least not yet. So I'm not even sure if this will get through, and whether I will be able to read any response on the web site archives. (If not, I guess I'll have to join, then submit this message again.) I'm considering whether to use LilyPond; but, because I have hard disk space problems and this is a very active list, I'm a bit hesitant to subscribe and receive lots of mail until I have an idea whether LilyPond will be suitable for me to use or not. If I decide that it is, no doubt I will want to subscribe in due course, and discuss things a lot more. In any case, I will need to do something about my space problems before starting to use any music notation program at all. While I'm about it, I should change operating systems, too, since I cannot live with Windows, long-term. This is all bound up with the problem of choosing a music notation program, which has been plaguing me for several years. (Long story, which it would bore people to explain here.) I am on the mailing lists for Sibelius, Score, Finale, and Igor Engraver - and for each of these, there seem to be reasons that make me hesitate to adopt that program. Perhaps the most general of these reasons is that all are Windows or Macintosh programs, and I do not feel committed to using either of these systems long term, and have been considering whether to convert all or most of my computing activities to some version of Unix or Linux. (I haven't done so yet, though, for a variety of reasons.) So that is why, when LilyPond came to my attention and I found it to be Unix-based, I was interested. Hitherto, I had not been aware of particular programs for Unix or Linux which I knew to be of good quality.
In general, each of the programs I named above seems to have problems for me, at least insofar as I have gleaned information about how they work (since I do not have copies of any of them, and have tried only demo versions of older versions of Finale and Sibelius): Finale: User interface seems awkward and difficult, not sufficiently keyboard-based. Perhaps I just haven't learned enough about it, but I couldn't perform any tasks at all with the keyboard. Sibelius: Keyboard use seems better than Finale, but still not sufficiently so. Certain things seemed rigidly determined, not alterable by the user. (Admittedly I was using an older demo, and the problem may have been corrected - but an example is: I was able to change the position of a note, but couldn't change the position of an accidental relative to the note.) Also, heavy reliance on the keypad seemed too much of an obstacle for use on a laptop. Score: Being an MS-DOS-style program is, if anything, a drawcard for me; but I gather this program is more suitable for engraving already-complete music than for composing, which involves frequent changing of bars. Graphire Music Press: I'm not aware of any mailing list for this program, and know almost nothing about it. But I believe that, like Score, it is not suitable for composing in, for similar reasons. Igor Engraver: I have concerns about speed of operation and stability of the software, based on reports I heard from others. Constant crashes of Windows-based software I already use make my computing life a real obstacle course, and the last thing I need is unstable major software. (My attention has drifted away from Igor, so maybe more recent releases have corrected this - I don't know.) Also, changes in the company and in the apparent direction of development of the software give me concern about long-term commitment to this software. Maybe I have the ideal software in mind, which doesn't exist outside my own mind, and maybe I'd find significant problems with any existing software. However, since it appears LilyPond is Unix-based, and doesn't have a graphical user interface (which I don't like much anyway), and I have read high praise for it, and am considering switching to Linux, it at least seems worth considering for my own use. Could I please ask for any general opinions on the following questions? 1. Does LilyPond compare well in features with professional-level programs such as those I named above? My composing style is not avant-garde, but does tend to occasionally use rather complex textures which require flexible solutions to notation problems. So I definitely need to be able to notate the sort of complexity one might find in late-19th or early-20th century piano music. For instance: are devices such as polytonal key signatures in different staves, non-standard key signatures, and different metres in different staves possible in LilyPond. 2. I am a touch-typist and pianist, and thus efficient keyboard use of software is an important consideration to me. I do not like software where I have to alternate my right hand often between the mouse and the keyboard; and I do not like any software that requires me to use the mouse hundreds of times per hour, and feel that it could cause hand damage (even more than the keyboard might). So I would appreciate some opinions about how efficiently music can be entered on the computer keyboard without using the mouse at all, or at least not for often-repeated operations. 3. If I adopt any music notation program, it will be used on a laptop computer, with its lack of a separate numeric keypad. (While this can be simulated by toggling shift keys, this seems a clumsy procedure.) Is LilyPond dependent on frequent use of a numeric keypad - like Sibelius is, for instance. If so, can the configuration be altered to get around this. In general, how configurable is LilyPond for different methods of usage? 4. Playback of a score on the computer is of secondary importance to me, but I might as well know about this: so does LilyPond play back music? Or is it strictly *notation* only. Are the playback features (if they exist) quite advanced, or rather basic? Do you need a lot of technical knowledge to get good playback. (I know a lot about notation and music theory, but almost nothing about the use of audio on computers, and have limited interest in getting involved in complex technical matters.) If I get interested in LilyPond, no doubt I will come up with lots more questions. Perhaps that will do for a start, though. I would be grateful for any opinions anyone can offer on these questions. Thanks. Regards, Michael Edwards. _______________________________________________ Lilypond-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-user