World music
Arabic improvisation
For improvisations or taqasim which are temporarily free, the
time signature can be omitted and \cadenzaOn can be
used. Adjusting the accidental style might be required, since the
absence of bar lines will cause the accidental to be marked only
once. Here is an example of what could be the start of a hijaz
improvisation:
\include "arabic.ly"
\relative sol' {
\key re \kurd
\accidentalStyle forget
\cadenzaOn
sol4 sol sol sol fad mib sol1 fad8 mib re4. r8 mib1 fad sol
}
Makam example
Makam is a type of melody from Turkey using 1/9th-tone microtonal alterations.
Consult the initialization file ‘ly/makam.ly’ for details of pitch names and alterations.
% Initialize makam settings
\include "makam.ly"
\relative c' {
\set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((6 . ,(- KOMA)) (3 . ,BAKIYE))
c4 cc db fk
gbm4 gfc gfb efk
fk4 db cc c
}
Non-traditional key signatures
The commonly used \key command sets the keyAlterations
property in the Staff context. To create non-standard key
signatures, set this property directly.
The format of this command is a list:
\set Staff.keyAlterations = #`(((octave . step) . alter) ((octave
. step) . alter) ...)
where, for each element in the list octave specifies the octave
(0 being the octave from middle c to the b above), step specifies
the note within the octave (0 means c and 6 means b), and alter
is ,SHARP ,FLAT ,DOUBLE-SHARP etc.
Alternatively, using the more concise format for each item in the list,
(step . alter) specifies the same alteration holds in all
octaves. For microtonal scales where a “sharp” is not 100 cents,
alter refers to the proportion of a 200-cent whole tone.
\include "arabic.ly"
\relative do' {
\set Staff.keyAlterations = #`((0 . ,SEMI-FLAT)
(1 . ,SEMI-FLAT)
(2 . ,FLAT)
(5 . ,FLAT)
(6 . ,SEMI-FLAT))
%\set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
re reb \dwn reb resd
dod dob dosd \dwn dob |
dobsb dodsd do do |
}
Printing text from right to left
It is possible to print text from right to left in a markup object, as demonstrated here.
{
b1^\markup {
\line { i n g i r u m i m u s n o c t e }
}
f'_\markup {
\override #'(text-direction . -1)
\line { i n g i r u m i m u s n o c t e }
}
}
Turkish Makam example
This template uses the start of a well-known Turkish Saz Semai that is familiar in the repertoire in order to illustrate some of the elements of Turkish music notation.
% Initialize makam settings
\include "turkish-makam.ly"
\header {
title = "Hüseyni Saz Semaisi"
composer = "Lavtacı Andon"
}
\relative {
\set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
\set Staff.autoBeaming = ##f
\key a \huseyni
\time 10/8
a'4 g'16 [fb] e8. [d16] d [c d e] c [d c8] bfc |
a16 [bfc a8] bfc c16 [d c8] d16 [e d8] e4 fb8 |
d4 a'8 a16 [g fb e] fb8 [g] a8. [b16] a16 [g] |
g4 g16 [fb] fb8. [e16] e [g fb e] e4 r8 |
}