Piano Pedal placement

[Martin Tarenskeen]

I am experimenting a bit with piano sustainpedal notation (see attachments) and
have some questions:

- IMO by default *All* pedal markings are aligned too far to the left by
  default. Is there a reason for this, or is this a bug or something that
  needs improvement? This seems to be a structural problem.

- In my example I use some overrides to show how I think the pedalmarkings
  and brackets should be placed. Especially in "mixed" and
  "bracket"  pedalstyle, when I use \sustainOff\sustainOn the ^ should
  point exactly to the center of the notehead (I think?).  In most
  situations a trained pianist will do \sustainOff exactly *on* the start of
  a note or chord and \sustainOn directly *after* the note or chord.

- Question: Is there a shorthand for the frequently needed
  \sustainOff\sustainOn combination? a single command,
  something like \sustainSwitch, would be nice.

--

Martin Tarenskeen
\version "2.19.83"
\pointAndClickOff


rh = \relative c' {
  \clef treble
  %\set Dynamics.pedalSustainStyle = #'text
  <c e a>1_\markup \tiny "pedalSustainStyle = #'text" |
  <d f b> |
  <e g c> ~ | q |
  \bar "|."
  \break

  \set Dynamics.pedalSustainStyle = #'mixed
  <c e a>1_\markup \tiny "pedalSustainStyle = #'mixed" |
  <d f b> |
  <e g c> ~ | q |
  \bar "|."
  \break

  \set Dynamics.pedalSustainStyle = #'bracket
  <c e a>1_\markup \tiny "pedalSustainStyle = #'bracket" |
  <d f b> |
  <e g c> ~ | q |
  \bar "|."
}

lh = \relative c {
  \clef bass
  \repeat unfold 3 {
    c1 | c | c ~ | c |
    \bar "|."
  }
}

pedalA = {
  \repeat unfold 3 {
    s1\sustainOn |
    s1\sustainOff\sustainOn |
    s1\sustainOff\sustainOn |
    s2. s4\sustainOff |
  }
}

pedalB = {
 \override Dynamics.SustainPedal.self-alignment-X = #LEFT
 \override Dynamics.PianoPedalBracket.shorten-pair = #'(1 . -1)
  \repeat unfold 3 {
    s1\sustainOn |
    s1\sustainOff\sustainOn |
    s1\sustainOff\sustainOn |
    s2. s4\sustainOff |
  }
}

\header {
  title = "Sustain Pedal Test"
}

\score {
  \header { piece = "Default" }
  \new PianoStaff
  <<
    \new Staff \rh
    \new Staff \lh
    \new Dynamics \pedalA
  >>
  \layout {}
}


\score {
  \header { piece = "Optimized" }
  \new PianoStaff
  <<
    \new Staff \rh
    \new Staff \lh
    \new Dynamics \pedalB
  >>
  \layout {}
}

Sustain-Pedal.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document