Typesetting musical scores - Re: Word Perfect 5.1 Documents?

On 15 Dec 2011 at 9:27, Toby Thain wrote: I believe I mentioned that one when the thread was started. The problem with Lilypond is that it's like troff--straight text input. Straight text is usable for applications such as troff, as you're essentially going from text-to-text. Try that with an orchestra score where you have piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, harp, celesta, divisi first and second violins, violas, 'celli and double-basses--all with parallel scoring (e.g. take a look at the full score for "The Nutcracker"). "Cumbersome" doesn't even come close to describing the situation, particularly where there are a lot of graphical elements involved. There's a reason that musical notation is complicated. To be sure, there are front-ends such as Rosegarden, but most are either in abandonment status or not ready for prime-time. There's been a slight move toward using MusicXML as an interchange medium, so you could use your favorite WYSIWYG notation package, but MusicXML is not exactly an "open" standard. --Chuck