I'm editing a score where I would like to specify "8va".
If I write
\version "2.19.52"
{
\ottava #1
a b
}
lilypond creates a score with the text 8va---- but it also shifts the notes one lower octave. So to avoid the shift I also had to specify a \transpose. I have seen that the manual says this is what should happen but isn't this strange? Sorry if the question is naif.