Re: Unable to align lyric to rests (with MWE)

[Hans Aikema]

> On 3 Jan 2024, at 00:41, John Helly <hellyj@ucsd.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hi Kieren.
> 
> But, ... I don't really see why it should.  There are many songs for which 
> the vocal precedes the melody.  Perhaps there is some other way to accomplish 
> this that I'm unaware of.  I'm pretty much a novice at writing.  However, I 
> am transcribing a published score into LP as an exercise but also to do my 
> own arrangement.
> 

My take on it would be that you should attach the first two syllables to the 
first note "but it's" in the lyrics should do the trick, adding some horizontal 
shift as needed to get it shifted a bit to the left if needed.
Lyrics are typically attached to the notes of the voice that tell how to voice 
the syllables. Voicing a syllable on a rest is a physical impossibility, you 
cannot both stop performing and voice a syllable.
So it sounds to me like the performer is supposed to voice "but it's" on the 
first 8th note and the performer can decide by themselves on the time-division 
to do so (e.g. 16th + 16th or dotted 16th+32nd) using any custom subdivision as 
long as the total voicing of both syllables together is done on an 8th) 

> Rests are valid musical expressions (AFAIK) so why shouldn't it be possible 
> to attach a syllable to a rest?
> 
> J.
> 
>> On 1/2/24 13:03, Kieren MacMillan wrote:
>> Hi John,
>> 
>>> I need to attach the word to the rest so the rest of the lyrics align 
>>> properly.
>> Right. (Certainly it would be *VERY* unusual to actually attach a lyric to a 
>> rest!)
>> 
>>> I don't think shifting it will do the job (although I'll try it).
>> Just to clarify: I gave you an adjusted snippet to consider; if it’s not 
>> shifted enough, increase the #0.5.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Kieren.
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> 
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> John Helly / San Diego Supercomputer Center / Scripps Institution of 
> Oceanography
> https://www.sdsc.edu/~hellyj / 808 205 9882 / 760 8408660
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>