Re: Issue 329 in lilypond: lyrics messed up when assigned to voices with different rhythms

[Francisco Vila]

2008/8/14 Valentin Villenave <address@hidden>:
> 2008/8/4 Francisco Vila <address@hidden>:
>
>> so \lyrics alone without \lyricsto or explicit \set associatedVoice
>> never works, even in this case durations are needed, I'd not recommend
>> to use \lyrics, it seems to be a bit useless.
>
> (taking a deep breath)
>
> hhhh... I think I got lost somewhere in this thread; Francisco, can
> you help me on this? I'd need a minimal example and a concise
> description of the problem so I can add it to the tracker.

Well, my last message (last in thread) is now ten days old, I'll try it.

Firstly, there was a #329 that did concern me. Then I tried to
reproduce it in .53 and saw that the behavior of \lyrics seemed to
have changed.

Then, I tried to clarify and summarize when exactly durations are
needed in lyrics to align them with a voice. I discovered that:

% This could be a bug
 \new Lyrics  { \textDurations }   % wrong: left aligned

% This could be a bug, the lack of warning
 \new Lyrics  { \textNodurations } % wrong: durations needed (but
doesn't issue warning)

% Lyricsto is a must
 \new Lyrics  \lyricsto v { \textDurations }   % correct

% Lyricsto is a must AND durations here are superfluous (interesting!)
 \new Lyrics  \lyricsto v { \textNodurations } % correct: durations not needed

% Extra context here could be the classical explicit/implicit problem,
% Therefore this use of \lyrics is not recommended
% From here on, the lyricmode into lyrics variables are redundant but harmless
 \new Lyrics  \lyricsto v \lyrics { \textDurations }   % correct but
creates extra context
 \new Lyrics  \lyricsto v \lyrics { \textNodurations } % correct but
creates extra context

% \lyrics alone is useless:
%This could be a bug
 \lyrics { \textDurations }   % wrong:  left aligned

% \lyrics alone is useless:
% Lack of warning here could be a bug
 \lyrics { \textNodurations } % wrong: durations needed (but doesn't
issue warning)

% \lyrics needs to explicitly \set associatedVoice, so it is not practical
 \lyrics { \set associatedVoice = v \textDurations }   % correct
 \lyrics { \set associatedVoice = v \textNodurations } % wrong:
durations needed, issues warning

Now my own abstract:
--- \new Lyrics  \lyricsto v { \textNodurations }      is the only
secure way to align lyrics to a voice, and durations are superfluous
--- \lyrics is a sort of useless or impractical or not recommended
shortcut that nobody understands well.
--- possible bugs, there seem to be two: the syllables being left
aligned, and the lack of warning when durations are not specified in
lyrics.

Take this as a minimal example of the first and forget the second, it
would deserved a "highly postponed" label, if it there exist.

\version "2.11.55"
% the \lyrics command is said to be more or less equivalent to
% \new Lyrics \lyricmode
% Both of them left align the syllables, instead of centering them
<<
 \new Voice { g1 }
 \new Lyrics \lyricmode { longggggg1 }   % wrong: left aligned
 \lyrics { longggggg1 }   % wrong:  left aligned
>>

Thanks!
-- 
Francisco Vila. Badajoz (Spain)
http://www.paconet.org