Re: Tangled up in Lilypond syntax

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi there,

> The issue is not \relative, per se.  I wish people would stop maligning it.

If it didn’t cause so many problems (especially for newbies) that are easily 
avoided by not using it, I wouldn’t keep getting up on my soapbox. Believe me: 
I’d prefer not to get my exercise that way.  ;)

> All you need to do to prevent mishaps is to start each distinct segment with 
> a new \relative.
> At the minimum, just wrap the new voice in its own \relative.  


Yuck.

> For maximal protection, especially if you ever cut & paste things and move 
> them to new contexts, or are composing and change things around, it helps to 
> be explicit about each segment:
> 
> \new Staff {
>     \relative a' { a a a } 
>     << 
>       \relative a' { \voiceOne a a a } 
>       \new Voice \voiceTwo \relative a' { e b b } 
>     >> 
>       \oneVoice \relative a' { a a a }
> }

o_O

I can’t tell you how much that example reinforces — actually, strengthens — my 
deep distaste for \relative. The chaos it plays with any process involving 
cutting & pasting (unless, evidently, you add a \relative every couple of 
characters?!) is *exactly* the reason I abandoned the \relative ship a decade 
ago.

But I guess YMMV…

Cheers,
Kieren.
________________________________

Kieren MacMillan, composer
‣ website: www.kierenmacmillan.info
‣ email: address@hidden