Re: Re: Typesetting music in ConTeXt

[Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl>]

At 09:24 11/12/2003, you wrote:

>So instead of Hans restarting a new Music Notation project, Hans should
>make lilypond team using Context instead of LaTeX ;-)

i'm not that sure (remembering a talk) that th lilypond team is that fond 
on tex -)

>Also I noted that :
>- Lilypond is NOT a TeX macro, it only seems to be a
>   dedicated (powerfull) subset of TeX (but allow input of TeX macro)

it uses the \ as escape (as tex and rtf do)

>- Lilypond make use of TeX for page breaking and other stuff
>
>So How to use Lilypond with ConTeXt?
>1 - use Lilypond as an independant tool for building short
>     (less or equal to one page) as pdf figure and
>     include them in context as external figure
>     (that is the way I'll do, because I'm not clever
>     enought to do much more :-)

if there is a clean way to generate a cropped piece of music, this is 
actually simple:

There is a mechanism in context for processign snippets, something along 
the lines:

\long\def\dostartTEXapplication[#1]#2#3\stopTEXapplication
   {\bgroup
    \bgroup
    \let\f!temporaryextension\c!tex
    \setbuffer[\@@texapp]%
      \ifx\starttext\undefined
        \pdfoutput=1
        \pdfcompresslevel=9
        \hsize0pt
        \vsize0pt
        #2\relax% preamble
        \ifdim\hsize=0pt \hsize20cm\fi
        \ifdim\vsize=0pt \vsize20cm\fi
        \output{}
        \parindent=0pt
        \everypar{}
        \hoffset=-1in
        \voffset=\hoffset
        \setbox0\vbox{#3}
        \ifdim\wd0<1in \message{[warning:  width<1in]}\fi
        \ifdim\ht0<1in \message{[warning: height<1in]}\fi
        \pdfpageheight=\ht0
        \pdfpagewidth=\wd0
        \box0
        \expandafter \bye
      \else
        \starttext
        #2% preamble
        \startTEXpage[#1]%
          \topskip\zeropoint
          \setbox\scratchbox\hbox{#3}%
          \saveTEXapplication02% dimensions
          \box\scratchbox
        \stopTEXpage
        \expandafter \stoptext
      \fi
    \endbuffer
    \egroup
%   \doifelse\jobsuffix{dvi}\donetrue\donefalse
%   \executesystemcommand{texexec \bufferprefix\@@texapp.tex --once --batch}%
    \executesystemcommand{texexec --tex=pdftex --format=plain 
\bufferprefix\@@texapp.tex}%
%   \ifdone % eps
%     \executesystemcommand{dvips -E* -o \@@texapp.eps \@@texapp}%
%   \else % pdf
%     \executesystemcommand{dvips \bufferprefix\@@texapp}%
%     \executesystemcommand{ps2pdf \bufferprefix\@@texapp.ps 
\bufferprefix\@@texapp.pdf}%
%   \fi
%   \restoreTEXapplication % dimensions
    \setbox\scratchbox\hbox
      {\expanded{\externalfigure
%        [\bufferprefix\@@texapp.\ifdone eps\else pdf\fi]
         [\bufferprefix\@@texapp.pdf]
         [\c!object=\v!nee]}}%
%   \setbox\scratchbox\hbox
%     {\lower\ht\scratchbox\hbox{\raise\dimen2\box\scratchbox}}%
%   \wd\scratchbox\dimen0
%   \ht\scratchbox\dimen2
%   \dp\scratchbox\zeropoint
\ruledhbox\bgroup
    \box\scratchbox
\egroup
    \egroup}

\def\startMUSICTEX
   {\dosingleempty\dostartMUSICTEX}

\long\def\dostartMUSICTEX[#1]#2\stopMUSICTEX
   {\startTEXapplication[#1]
      {\input musicnft\relax
       \input musictex\relax
       \hsize5cm}#2%
    \stopTEXapplication}

\protect

\starttext

\starthiding

\startMUSICTEX
   \def\nbinstruments{1}\relax % a single instrument
   \generalmeter{\meterfrac{4}{4}}\relax % 4/4 meter chosen
   \debutextrait % starting real score
   \normal % normal 12 pt note spacing
   \temps\Notes\ibu0f0\qh0{cge}\tbu0\qh0g\enotes
   \finextrait % terminate excerpt
\stopMUSICTEX

\startMUSICTEX
   \def\nbinstruments{3}\relax % a single instrument
   \debutextrait % starting real score
   \temps
     \Notes\ibu0f0\qh0{cge}\tbu0\qh0g\enotes
     \Notes\ibu0f0\qh0{cge}\tbu0\qh0g\enotes
   \finextrait % terminate excerpt
\stopMUSICTEX

\stophiding

\startMUSICTEX
  \generalsignature{1}%
  \def\nbinstruments{1}%
\debutextrait
  \NOtes\zsong{Au }\qu g\enotes
  \NOtes\zsong{clair }\qu g\enotes
  \NOtes\zsong{de }\qu g\enotes
  \NOtes\zsong{la }\qu h\enotes
  \finextrait
\stopMUSICTEX

\stoptext

Willi has played with this and maybe the two of you can figure out what 
this should look like for lilypond.

>2 - make Lilypond team understand how ConTeXt is much
>     more interesting as automatic formatic tool for
>     creating pdf than LaTeX is!

go ahead ...

>3 - Allow using lilypond inside ConTeXt with
>           \startmusic
>       \stopmusic
>         I think this method would be much like typesetting
>     chimical
>     Hans has not to be developping a nex package, just
>     using one that already exist

see a few lines back

>Also I think Lilipond could interest much more people
>that the only short xTeX poeple user.
>But Lilipond in not as easy to install (to many LaTeX
>dependancy).

which is strange since there is not much latex needed for music

>So the Lilypond tead could be interested by the new future
>alternative ConTeXt-live CDROM distribution ;-)
>
>ConTeXt-live (alias LaTeX-3: the only "nothing to install"
>TeX based type system that allow to do :
>- Mathematical,
>- graphical (Metapost),
>- Chimical,
>- Musical
>hight quality pdf documentation or web based presentation!!!
>
>
>
>P.S.
>I don't (yet) use  Lilypond, but I looked after some text based
>Music notation for my wife.
>I thought first to MusixTex (too eavy, too old) then the abc format
>(which could be import as ps/pdf figure), then I found that
>lilypond was closely related to TeX.
>So it's probably the choice I'll do.

i suggest that you mail a bit with Willi Egger (also on this list) in order 
to sort out how to proceed; i can hack tha macros once i know what needs to 
be done

Hans