Re: note collision when in a chord there is a second above or below an unison

[Carl Sorensen]

 

 

From: Davide Bonetti <address@hidden>
Date: Saturday, January 12, 2019 at 2:00 PM
To: Paolo Cantamessa <address@hidden>
Cc: Malte Meyn <address@hidden>, <address@hidden>
Subject: Re: note collision when in a chord there is a second above or below an unison

 

Do you (or someone else) know where in the source code is handled the position of the notes in a chord?

I think that Lilypond does the right thing.  There should never be a unison and a second in a chord.  In the cluster of whole notes without a stem, it seems harmless enough to move the notehead.  But if this same chord had a stem (e.g., half-note or shorter), you’d see that moving the notehead away to eliminate the collision also takes it away from the stem, which is musically wrong.

 

To properly show the notes in your example in a half-note chord, you will need two stems, which means you need two voices.  And if it is needed for half notes, it is also needed for whole notes, at least in my opinion.

 

To get what you want, you can manually move the note head with its associated accidentals.  I believe that is the proper approach, since it is inconsistent with standard engraving techniques.

 

Sincerely,

 

Carl