Re: Grace note spacing & alignment in score

[Michael Seifert]

        Hey there Lib,

        Thanks for that — and sorry for the delayed reply.  I was hoping that 
there would be some combination of overrides that could be set to fix the 
spacing automatically (SpacingSpanner.strict-grace-spacing in combination with 
something else?) but this will work, faute de mieux.  

        I was going to submit a bug report about the collision issues, but it 
appears that someone already did so about 10 years ago: 
https://gitlab.com/lilypond/lilypond/-/issues/2630

        Take care,

        Mike Seifert 

> On Jun 15, 2023, at 12:54 PM, Lib Lists <listslib@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> Here is a hack, and among the various things to be fixed, the beam
> thickness of the fake grace notes needs to be checked more carefully
> against the 'real' grace notes. I calculated the starting point of the
> fake grace according to the percussion part, so it begins on the
> upbeat of the 3rd beat. Another possibility is to use tuplets, but the
> results are pretty much the same. I'm not a Lilypond expert, so
> probably there are better solutions to this issue.
> Cheers,
> Lib
> 
> \version "2.25.5"
> 
> RHpianonotes = {
>  \time 2/2
>  \clef bass
> 
>  \relative c {
>    \transposition c'
>    \stemUp \change Staff = "lower" \grace { d,32( a' bes \change
> Staff = "upper" \stemDown e f fis} a8) \stemNeutral r8 r2*1/4
>    \stemUp \change Staff = "lower" \override Beam.length-fraction =
> 1.1 \magnifyMusic 0.70  { d,,32*12/6[( a' bes \change Staff = "upper"
> { \stemDown e f fis]}} a8) \stemNeutral r8
>    r2*1/4 \stemUp \change Staff = "lower" \magnifyMusic 0.70  {
> d,,32*12/6[( a' bes \change Staff = "upper" { \stemDown e f fis]}} a8)
> \stemNeutral r8  r4
>  }
> }
> 
> LHpianonotes = {
>  \time 2/2
>  \clef bass
>  \relative c {
>    \grace{s8.} s1*2
>  }
> }
> 
> bassnotes = {
>  \relative c {
>    \clef bass
>    \time 2/2
>    \transposition c
>    \grace{s8.} fis'8->( f) d4 r8  \clef tenor a'8 b[ a]
>    \tuplet 3/2 {c[->( b) a]} eis8. fis16 d4 r8 cis8~
>  }
> }
> 
> \score{
>  \layout {
>    \context {
>      \Score
>      %  \override SpacingSpanner.strict-grace-spacing = ##f
> 
>    }
>  }
> 
>  <<
>    \new PianoStaff
>    <<
>      \new Staff = "upper" {\RHpianonotes}
>      \new Staff = "lower" {\LHpianonotes}
>>> 
>    \new Staff="Staff_bass"
>    << \bassnotes  >>
>>> 
> }
> 
> On Wed, 14 Jun 2023 at 05:04, Michael Seifert <mseifert@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>        Hello everyone,
>> 
>>        I’m working on a score transcription project, and I’m having some 
>> trouble getting “nice” grace note placement in a section involving a piano 
>> part and a double bass.
>> 
>>        Specifically, if I use the default settings in the snippet below, the 
>> grace notes in the piano part cause extra space to be inserted between two 
>> of the eighth notes in the bass line.  This makes the rhythm harder to read 
>> for the conductor.
>> 
>>        If, on the other hand, I use the "\override 
>> SpacingSpanner.strict-grace-spacing = ##t” line (currently commented out), 
>> then the spacing of the bass line looks fine.  But the accidentals for the 
>> grace notes collide with nearby noteheads, and the grace notes at the start 
>> of the measure collide with the time signature (or, in other situations, the 
>> preceding bar line).
>> 
>>        What I would like is for grace notes at the start of a bar to lead to 
>> additional space insertion in other lines, but mid-bar arpeggios not to lead 
>> to additional space insertion.  This is effectively the convention suggested 
>> in Gould (p. 127–8), and it's also what’s done in the hand-engraved score 
>> I’m transcribing (screenshots attached;  they also include a percussion part 
>> which I’ve omitted from my MWE.)
>> 
>>        Any ideas on how to accomplish this?  Thanks in advance for your help!
>> 
>>        Mike Seifert
>>        Quaker Hill, CT, USA
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Code follows:
>> —————————————————
>> \version "2.24.0"
>> 
>> RHpianonotes = {
>> 
>> \time 2/2
>> \clef bass
>> 
>> \relative c {
>> \transposition c'
>> 
>> \stemUp \change Staff = "lower" \grace { d,32( a' bes \change Staff = 
>> "upper" \stemDown e f fis} a8) \stemNeutral r8 r4
>> r4 \stemUp \change Staff = "lower" \grace { d,,32( a' bes \change Staff = 
>> "upper" \stemDown e f fis} a8) \stemNeutral r8
>> 
>> r2 \stemUp \change Staff = "lower" \grace { d,,32( a' bes \change Staff = 
>> "upper" \stemDown e f fis} a8) \stemNeutral r8 r4
>> 
>> }
>> }
>> 
>> LHpianonotes = {
>> 
>> \time 2/2
>> 
>> \clef bass
>> 
>> \relative c {
>> 
>> \grace{s8.} s1*2
>> }
>> }
>> 
>> bassnotes = {
>> 
>> \relative c {
>> 
>> \clef bass
>> \time 2/2
>> \transposition c
>> 
>> \grace{s8.} fis'8->( f) d4 r8 \clef tenor a'8 b a
>> \tuplet 3/2 {c->( b) a} eis8. fis16 d4 r8 cis8~
>> 
>> }
>> 
>> }
>> 
>> \score{
>> 
>> \layout {
>>    \context {
>>      \Score
>> %         \override SpacingSpanner.strict-grace-spacing = ##t
>>    }
>>  }
>> 
>> <<
>> 
>> \new PianoStaff
>> <<
>>        \new Staff = "upper" {\RHpianonotes}
>>  \new Staff = "lower" {\LHpianonotes}
>>>> 
>> 
>> \new Staff="Staff_bass"
>> << \bassnotes  >>
>> 
>>>> 
>> }
>> 
> <grace_notes-crop.pdf>