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Absolute dynamic marks are specified using a command after a note,
such as c4\ff. The available dynamic marks are
\ppppp, \pppp, \ppp, \pp, \p,
\mp, \mf, \f, \ff, \fff,
\ffff, \fp, \sf, \sff, \sp,
\spp, \sfz, and \rfz. The dynamic marks may
be manually placed above or below the staff, see
Direction and placement.
c2\ppp c\mp
c2\rfz c^\mf
c2_\spp c^\ff
A crescendo mark is started with \< and
terminated with \!, an absolute dynamic, or an additional
crescendo or decrescendo mark. A decrescendo mark is
started with \> and is also terminated with \!, an
absolute dynamic, or another crescendo or decrescendo mark.
\cr and \decr may be used instead of \< and
\>. Hairpins are engraved by default using this
notation.
c2\< c\!
d2\< d\f
e2\< e\>
f2\> f\!
e2\> e\mp
d2\> d\>
c1\!
Spacer rests are needed to engrave multiple marks on one note.
c4\< c\! d\> e\!
<< f1 { s4 s4\< s4\> s4\! } >>
In some situations the \espressivo articulation mark may be
the appropriate choice to indicate a crescendo and decrescendo on
one note:
c2 b4 a
g1\espressivo
Crescendos and decrescendos can be engraved as textual markings
instead of hairpins. Dashed lines are printed to indicate their
extent. The built-in commands that enable these text modes are
\crescTextCresc, \dimTextDecresc,
\dimTextDecr, and \dimTextDim. The corresponding
\crescHairpin and \dimHairpin commands will revert
to hairpins again:
\crescTextCresc
c2\< d | e f\!
\dimTextDecresc
e2\> d | c b\!
\crescHairpin
c2\< d | e f\!
\dimHairpin
e2\> d\!
To create new absolute dynamic marks or text that should be aligned with dynamics, see New dynamic marks.
Vertical positioning of dynamics is handled by DynamicLineSpanner.
\dynamicUp,
\dynamicDown,
\dynamicNeutral,
\crescTextCresc,
\dimTextDim,
\dimTextDecr,
\dimTextDecresc,
\crescHairpin,
\dimHairpin.
Setting hairpin behavior at bar lines
If the note which ends a hairpin falls on a downbeat,
the hairpin stops at the bar line immediately preceding. This behavior
can be controlled by overriding the to-barline property.
\relative c'' {
e4\< e2.
e1\!
\override Hairpin #'to-barline = ##f
e4\< e2.
e1\!
}
Setting the minimum length of hairpins
If hairpins are too short, they can be lengthened by modifying the
minimum-length property of the Hairpin object.
\relative c'' {
c4\< c\! d\> e\!
\override Hairpin #'minimum-length = #5
<< f1 { s4 s\< s\> s\! } >>
}
Printing hairpins using al niente notation
Hairpins may be printed with a circled tip (al niente notation) by
setting the circled-tip property of the Hairpin object to
#t.
\relative c'' {
\override Hairpin #'circled-tip = ##t
c2\< c\!
c4\> c\< c2\!
}
Vertically aligned dynamics and textscripts
By setting the Y-extent property to a suitable value, all
DynamicLineSpanner objects (hairpins and dynamic texts) can be
aligned to a common reference point, regardless of their actual extent.
This way, every element will be vertically aligned, thus producing a
more pleasing output.
The same idea is used to align the text scripts along their baseline.
music = \relative c'' {
c2\p^\markup { gorgeous } c\f^\markup { fantastic }
c4\p c\f\> c c\!\p
}
{
\music \break
\override DynamicLineSpanner #'staff-padding = #2.0
\override DynamicLineSpanner #'Y-extent = #'(-1.5 . 1.5)
\override TextScript #'Y-extent = #'(-1.5 . 1.5)
\music
}
Hiding the extender line for text dynamics
Text style dynamic changes (such as cresc. and dim.) are printed with a dashed line showing their extent. This line can be suppressed in the following way:
\relative c'' {
\override DynamicTextSpanner #'dash-period = #-1.0
\crescTextCresc
c1\< | d | b | c\!
}
Changing text and spanner styles for text dynamics
The text used for crescendos and decrescendos can be
changed by modifying the context properties crescendoText
and decrescendoText. The style of the spanner line can
be changed by modifying the 'style property of
DynamicTextSpanner. The default value is
'hairpin, and other possible values include
'line, 'dashed-line, and
'dotted-line:
\relative c'' {
\set crescendoText = \markup { \italic { cresc. poco } }
\set crescendoSpanner = #'text
\override DynamicTextSpanner #'style = #'dotted-line
a2\< a
a2 a
a2 a
a2 a\mf
}
Music Glossary: crescendo, decrescendo.
Learning Manual: Articulation and dynamics.
Notation Reference: Direction and placement, New dynamic marks, What goes into the MIDI output?, Controlling MIDI dynamics.
Snippets: Expressive marks.
Internals Reference: DynamicText, Hairpin, DynamicLineSpanner.
This page is for LilyPond-2.11.58 (development-branch).
Report errors to http://post.gmane.org/post.php?group=gmane.comp.gnu.lilypond.bugs.
Your suggestions for the documentation are welcome.