Center lyric syllables (ignoring punctuation) - Revision history

Gabriel Ellsworth: I corrected some typos.

2026-05-06T10:09:07Z

I corrected some typos.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:09, 6 May 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
	When a lot of verses have the same text, but with ~~difference~~ punctuation, e.g. because some verses are in quotation marks, ~~it looks~~ awkward because the text ~~doesn't~~ line up vertically. Even when there is only a single verse, it can look awkward to have the punctuation be included in the width of the syllable when centering it beneath the note~~. Settings for <code>'self-alignment-X</code> and <code>lyricMelismaAlignment</code> are respected~~.		When a lot of verses have the same text, but with different punctuation (e.g., because some verses are in quotation marks), LilyPond’s default output can look awkward because the text does not line up vertically. Even when there is only a single verse, it can look awkward to have the punctuation be included in the width of the syllable when centering it beneath the note.

	It looks much nicer to center the text of the syllable and then put the punctuation around it.		It looks much nicer to center the text of the syllable and then put the punctuation around it. Settings for <code>'self-alignment-X</code> and <code>lyricMelismaAlignment</code> are respected.

	<lilypond version="2.24">		<lilypond version="2.24">

Lemzwerg: Lemzwerg moved page Center Lyric Syllables (ignoring punctuation) to Center lyric syllables (ignoring punctuation) without leaving a redirect: Only the first letter of a title should be uppercase

2025-11-24T05:22:01Z

Lemzwerg moved page Center Lyric Syllables (ignoring punctuation) to Center lyric syllables (ignoring punctuation) without leaving a redirect: Only the first letter of a title should be uppercase

← Older revision	Revision as of 05:22, 24 November 2025
(No difference)

Lemzwerg: New category

2025-11-21T23:27:33Z

New category

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:27, 21 November 2025
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	[[Category:Vocal music]]		[[Category:Vocal music]]
	[[Category:Scheme]]		[[Category:Scheme]]
	[[Category:Tweaks and overrides]][[Category:Snippet]]		[[Category:Tweaks and overrides]]
			[[Category:Snippet]]

Lemzwerg at 22:48, 21 November 2025

2025-11-21T22:48:38Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:48, 21 November 2025
Line 122:		Line 122:
	[[Category:Vocal music]]		[[Category:Vocal music]]
	[[Category:Scheme]]		[[Category:Scheme]]
	[[Category:Tweaks and overrides]]		[[Category:Tweaks and overrides]][[Category:Snippet]]

Jean Abou Samra: Replace version="2.24.0" with version="2.24" now that the LilyWiki extension supports auto-selecting the latest release in a stable series

2025-11-16T18:56:14Z

Replace version="2.24.0" with version="2.24" now that the LilyWiki extension supports auto-selecting the latest release in a stable series

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:56, 16 November 2025
Line 3:		Line 3:
	It looks much nicer to center the text of the syllable and then put the punctuation around it.		It looks much nicer to center the text of the syllable and then put the punctuation around it.

	<lilypond version="2.24.0">		<lilypond version="2.24">
	%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=888		%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=888

Jean Abou Samra: Import snippet from LSR

2025-10-26T22:50:04Z

Import snippet from LSR

New page

When a lot of verses have the same text, but with difference punctuation, e.g. because some verses are in quotation marks, it looks awkward because the text doesn't line up vertically. Even when there is only a single verse, it can look awkward to have the punctuation be included in the width of the syllable when centering it beneath the note. Settings for <code>'self-alignment-X</code> and <code>lyricMelismaAlignment</code> are respected.

It looks much nicer to center the text of the syllable and then put the punctuation around it.

<lilypond version="2.24.0">
%% http://lsr.di.unimi.it/LSR/Item?id=888

%LSR by Wolf Alight
%=>http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2010-02/msg00444.html
%=>http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2013-05/msg00800.html

%LSR modified by Alexander Kobel
%=>http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.gnu.lilypond.general/89675

%LSR modified by Thomas Morley
%=>http://lilypond.1069038.n5.nabble.com/LyricText-center-on-word-breaks-lyricMelismaAlignment-tt183456.html

%As of 2.25.10 (ly:grob-property-data lyric-text-grob 'self-alignment-X) may return a procedure.
% -Harm

%% Note: Only characters of the string used to define space-set
%% are recognized by 'center-on-word'
#(define space-set
(list->char-set
(string->list "—.?-;,:“”‘’–— */()[]{}|<>!`~&…")))

#(define (width grob text)
(let* ((X-extent
(ly:stencil-extent (grob-interpret-markup grob text) X)))
(if (interval-empty? X-extent)
0
(cdr X-extent))))

#(define (center-on-word grob)
(let* ((text (ly:grob-property-data grob 'text))
(syllable (markup->string text))
(word-position
(if (string-skip syllable space-set)
(string-skip syllable space-set)
0))
(word-end
(if (string-skip-right syllable space-set)
(+ (string-skip-right syllable space-set) 1)
(string-length syllable)))
(preword (substring syllable 0 word-position))
(word (substring syllable word-position word-end))
(preword-width (width grob preword))
(word-width (width grob (if (string-null? syllable) text word)))
(note-column (ly:grob-parent grob X))
(note-column-extent (ly:grob-extent note-column note-column X))
(note-column-width (interval-length note-column-extent))
(self-X (ly:grob-property-data grob 'self-alignment-X)))

(-
(*
(/ (- note-column-width word-width) 2)
(1+ (if (procedure? self-X) (self-X grob) self-X)))
preword-width)))

%% For general use this take this layout-setting
%% In the example below the override is applied to selected Lyrics only
%%
%\layout {
% \context {
% \Lyrics
% \override LyricText.X-offset = #center-on-word
% }
%}

melody = \relative c' {
c4
d e f |
c d
e( f)
g1 \bar"|."
}

lyr = \lyricmode {
\set stanza = "1. "
Do, ““Re, Mi, Fa, Do, Re,
%\once \set Score.lyricMelismaAlignment = #4.5
"...mimifa,"
\markup \bold Sol—
}

lyrA = \lyricmode {
\set stanza = "2. "
“Do Re, Mi, Fa, Do, Re,
mimifa...
Sol!”
}

lyrControl = \lyricmode{
\set stanza = "Control: "
\revert LyricText.X-offset
Do Re Mi Fa Do Re mimifa Sol
}

\score {
\new Staff <<
\new Voice = "voice" \melody
\new Lyrics = "testI"
\with { \override LyricText.X-offset = #center-on-word }
\lyricsto "voice" \lyr
\new Lyrics = "testII"
\with { \override LyricText.X-offset = #center-on-word }
\lyricsto "voice" \lyrA
%% The control-voice omits the override
\new Lyrics = "control"
\lyricsto "voice" \lyrControl
>>
\layout {
\context {
\Score
lyricMelismaAlignment = #-0.6
}
}
}
</lilypond>

[[Category:Vocal music]]
[[Category:Vocal music]]
[[Category:Scheme]]
[[Category:Tweaks and overrides]]