I've been working on LilyPond for Google Summer of Code, and I have a few questions for those of you who use shape-notes in your publications.
In order to better fit a new font standard (SMuFL), I'm planning to remove the whole noteheads in Emmentaler's shape note category, since they are identical to the half noteheads. When a whole or half note is needed, the half note glyph will now always be used. This would not make any visible changes, except for Walker notehead users. In Walker's case, Emmentaler's whole noteheads have previously only appeared in the down-stem variant, while half and shorter notes could appear in either direction. This change means that whole notes will now be able to appear in both directions.
My first question is: those of you who use Walker glyphs, would this change disrupt your workflow? (I understand that in Walker's Christian Harmony, the stems almost always point down anyway, so if you're making sure of that already, you shouldn't see any change.)
Second, since Christian Harmony almost always uses down-stems, only resorting to up-stems when there isn't enough room to put the stems below, would it be desirable for LilyPond to automatically force down-stems whenever \walkerHeads or \walkerHeadsMinor is used?
Third, for users of the Aikin, Funk, and Sacred Harp sets, LilyPond currently distinguishes between two different, mirrored versions of the diamond-shaped "mi" notehead. Is this distinction important enough that we should ask to make it an official part of SMuFL? (If not, it'll still be around in our font, but it won't be as likely to be found in future fonts made by other folks who abide by the standard.)