Beam nibs

Beam nibs at the start and end of beams together with beams attached to solitary notes that look like flat flags are possible with a combination of stemLeftBeamCount, stemRightBeamCount, and paired [] beam indicators.

For imitating right-pointing flat flags on lone notes, use paired [] beam indicators and set stemLeftBeamCount to zero. For imitating left-pointing flat flags on lone notes, set stemRightBeamCount to zero instead (line one).

For right-pointing nibs at the end of a run of beamed notes, set stemRightBeamCount to a positive value. For left-pointing nibs at the start of a run of beamed notes, set stemLeftBeamCount instead (line two).

Sometimes it may make sense for a lone note surrounded by rests to carry both a left- and right-pointing nib. Do this with paired [] beam indicators alone (line three).

Note that \set stemLeftBeamCount is always equivalent to \once \set. In other words, the beam count settings are not « sticky », so the pair of nibs attached to the lone 16th note in the last example has nothing to do with the \set command for the beam before.

\score {
  <<
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      \set stemLeftBeamCount = 0
      c16[] r8.
      r8.
      \set stemRightBeamCount = 0
      16[]
    }
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      16 16
      \set stemRightBeamCount = 2
      16 r r
      \set stemLeftBeamCount = 2
      16 16 16
    }
    \new RhythmicStaff {
      16 16
      \set stemRightBeamCount = 2
      16 r16
      16[] r16
      \set stemLeftBeamCount = 2
      16 16
    }
  >>
}

[image of music]


LilyPond snippets v2.25.22 (development-branch).