Ottava brackets

Ottava brackets introduce an extra transposition of an octave for the staff:

     
     a'2 b
     #(set-octavation 1)
     a b
     #(set-octavation 0)
     a b

The set-octavation function also takes -1 (for 8va bassa), 2 (for 15ma), and -2 (for 15ma bassa) as arguments.

Selected Snippets

Ottava text

Internally, the set-octavation function sets the properties ottavation (for example, to "8va" or "8vb") and middleCPosition. To override the text of the bracket, set ottavation after invoking set-octavation.

     
     {
       #(set-octavation 1)
       \set Staff.ottavation = #"8"
       c''1
       #(set-octavation 0)
       c'1
       #(set-octavation 1)
       \set Staff.ottavation = #"Text"
       c''1
     }

See also

Music Glossary: octavation.

Snippets: Pitches.

Internals Reference: Ottava_spanner_engraver, OttavaBracket, ottava-bracket-interface.

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