12.6.4.2. Continue with the Wind and Timpani Parts

⁠12.6.4.2. Continue with the Wind and Timpani Parts

Now we need to start adding notes. We'll start with the parts that have only rests:
1. The trumpets and timpani have no notes in the slow introduction, so all they need is the three-beat measure with a fermata on the third beat.
2. Rests are notated as though they were a pitch called "r". That is to say, if you want to input a rest, then you input the pitch r. This three-quarter-rest measure will be notated as r4 r r |. Put this into the trumpets and timpani parts. Remember: it's always a good idea to indicate the duration at the beginning of a measure, but it's not necessary to indicate a repeated duration.
3. Frescobaldi allows you to insert common musical signs with the "Quick Insert" tab on the left of the screen. It may be hidden; to show it, click "Quick Insert" on the left-most edge of the Frescobaldi window.
4. We need a regular fermata on the third quarter rest of this measure. So, place the text-input caret just after the third quarter rest, and click the fermata symbol in the "Quick Insert" toolbar-thing.
5. You should end up with r4 r r\fermata |.
6. While the word for a fermata symbol is easy to remember, other symbols have less-obvious LilyPond notations, so the "Quick Insert" toolbar-thing is very handy.
7. Copy this measure to the other part.
The next easiest part is the bassoons:
1. We've already input the bassoons' full-measure rests, so we can start with the first measure in which they play. It should be notated as r8 d g bes d bes |. Input this, and preview the score to see what happens.
2. Success! When first starting an instrument, it's important to check that the notes begin in the right register. If they don't, it can be adjusted easily by changing the pitch indication that follows the \relative declaration. In this case, the bassoon happened to be in the right register for us by default.
3. The next measure is g8 cis cis4 r |. Remember to indicate "cis" twice. Put it in and check that it's correct.
4. It is, but we're still missing some formatting. Use the "Quick Insert" toolbar-thing to add staccato markings to the first measure. You can add a staccato to the eighth-rest, but this doesn't make sense, so you shouldn't.
5. Slurs begin at ( and end at ). Add a slur from the g to c-sharp.
6. Preview the score to make sure that you entered these articulations correctly. Your code should be:
  r8 d-. g-. bes-. d-. bes-. |
  g8( cis) cis4 r |
Now to add the "forte" marking. You can add text (or any object, for that matter) onto a note (or rest, etc.) with one of these three symbols:
- ^ meaning "put this above the object"
- - meaning "put this above or below, as you think is best"
- _ meaning "put this below the object"
As you saw earlier, Frescobaldi attached our staccato markings with the "as you think best" symbol, which is almost always the right choice for articulations. By convention, dynamic markings always go below the staff to which they apply, so we won't want to give LilyPond so much freedom, this time.
The easiest way to add (unformatted) text to a note is to simply attach it in quotation marks. For the "forte" marking, put this on the eighth-rest: r8_"f" and so on
When you preview this, you'll notice that the result is thoroughly underwhelming. It looks quite unlike a "forte" marking, and people reading the score would probably be confused, if just momentarily.
Thankfully, LilyPond provides a very easy and elegant way to input well-formatted dynamic markings. Change the eighth-rest to this: r8\f and so on
When you preview this, you will see that it now looks exactly like a typical "forte" marking. Not all dynamic markings have these short-forms, but most do.
The "a 2" marking, meaning "to be played by two players," does need the text-in-quotes format, however. Put that marking above the d following the eighth rest.
Those two measures should now look like this:
r8\f d-.^"a 2" g-. bes-. d-. bes-. |
g8( cis) cis4 r |
Note that d-.^"a 2" gives the same result as d^"a 2"-.