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Topic: Conversion to LilyPond (Read 7063 times) previous topic - next topic

Conversion to LilyPond

Hi Folks,

For those of you who are using the LilyPond engraver and are interested in a conversion tool from NoteWorthy to LilyPond please see my website:

http://hans.octet.nl/muziek/nwc2ly.html

It's far from perfect, but can possibly save you a lot of time.

Regards,

Hans de Rijck.

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #1 –
The work Hans did is very important. On behalf of NWC users who have not yet realized its importance, I would like to thank Hans.

Lilypond is not for everybody. But the ability to bring NWC to LY will be very useful for some users. Hans: By E-mail to NWC, inquire if your link can be given a more prominent location.

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #2 –
In the bad old days, Lilypond required Windows users to install the Cygwin (UNIX-like) environment. Nowadays, there is a Windows self-installer that does not require Cygwin (or, perhaps it contains the necessary components from there).

I just installed Lilypond 2.6.1 for Windows. Believe me, it is slow. Even a simple test (one staff, one system) takes surprising long to process. But in the end, it works. I am referring to Lilypond itself, not the NWC2LY Python script mentioned above (downloaded here, but not yet tried).

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #3 –
I found an interesting link, for those who don't know what this is all about:

http://linuxmusician.com/index.php?option=articles&task=viewarticle&artid=10

Don't be put off by the Linux emphasis. NWC will (to my knowledge and trial test) run under popular Linux distributions with WINE. In fact, I tried it using the Knoppix "Live Linux" CD. Knopix (search Internet for it) runs a pre-packaged, no-installation version of Linux that does not interfere with Windows.

The above-linked article refers to several professional music publishing tools (such as Finale), rather than tools used by amateurs to make sheet music and MIDI (such as NWC). The gist is simple enough: The Finale-class programs are intended for elaborate user input, consistent with price and end purpose. Without elaborate user input, the default appearance may be disappointing, according to the interview.

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #4 –
The Lilypond examples I have seen are not much better, if any, than NWC can do. I have recently done a set of orchestral parts which look little different from Bahrenreiter models in note style and density.
NWC is streets ahead in ease of use and just keeps getting better. Allowing user fonts enables placing almost any mark where it is desired.

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #6 –
Lilypond is a kind of music software, particularly intended to produce "nice-looking" print, according to the standards of its programmers (comparison to traditional typeset music).

Originally, Lilypond was for UNIX-like systems (including Linux, and also Cygwin, which is a way to run some UNIX-like programs on a Windows machine).

Unlike NWC, Lilypond does not have a graphical interface. The input music must be "programmed" in text, using a special language. The text file is processed by Lilypond using a command-line interface, although drag-and-drop may work. So although Lilypond is free, there won't be a rush to get it.

Recently, Lilypond has been compiled as a stand-alone application for Windows, which does not require co-installation of the complicated Cygwin environment. But Lilypond is still a programmed, command-line application.

It is unlikely that any NWC user would ever want to learn the language of Lilypond (I sure don't!). However, the ability to take a NWC file (at least some of them), and convert it to Lilypond input text, is a bonus. To do this, the free Python language must be installed on your system.

As Kevin noted, Lilypond printout really is not much better than NWC. The reason is that NWC does a lot of "thinking" for the user. By contrast, the more comprehensive Finale is known for requiring the user to do more thinking and adjustments. When music is transferred from Finale into Lilypond, there may be more noticeable changes.

My interest is not so much that NWC printout would be any better, but that conversion to a *.LY format file might be useful to others. Also, the *.LY format is hand-editable, but again, I doubt if many NWC users would want to bother with the language.

MusicXML would be even better... but that's another topic.

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #7 –
Robert,

Thanks for answering. To others: as with every topic where 'taste' is involved, different people have different opinions. In my view, and for my usage (I often print music to play myself), the printout from NWC (even version 2) is tolerable, but LilyPond's typesetting abilities are another league. As Robert pointed out, 'programming' LilyPond is a lot of work and can be seen as hard graphical labour. For every day use it is definitely not the first choise but when I have a piece of music that I am studying for weeks, I find it a pleasure to have an 'engraved' print, especially when printed on tinted paper on a laserprinter.

If you don't see the difference, don't bother to use it. If you appreciate the printing, this tool can save hours and hours of work.

Kind regards,

Hans de Rijck.

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #8 –
OK, can we have the Frog song in Lilypond, then?

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #9 –
Robert-

Sorry to rain on your flame, but Cygwin is not really a complicated environment.  It might seem that way if you've never used Unix (or a command line) before, but for those that have (or choose to learn) it's not complicated at all.

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #10 –
There is a conversion tool available here http://nwc2ly.sourceforge.net/index.php?P=1

" NoteWorthy Composer exporter for Lilypond  (by Mike Wiering)"

It requires Noteworthy version 2.  I am not a version 2 beta tester so I'm not able to try it out.  Has anyone tried it?

Re: Conversion to LilyPond

Reply #11 –
Quote from: dogcircus –
Has anyone tried it?
I have. It is a noble effort, but note entry is just a small part of formatting a song in lilypond.

Lilypond is a massively complex program. 80% of the documentation is auto-generated from the source code and becomes useful only after you use the program for several months. The lilypond forum  is even less useful.

It could be that NWC2 would make a good front-end to lilypond. After a few months of using lilypond, I am still undecided. It would be a strange combination as the philosophies of the two packages could hardly be more different.
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