ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Michael Maurer]

I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the
appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows pdfs
just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute tangle
on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file generated so can't play!".
org-version 9.4.6
emacs 27.2
Win 10

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Jonathan Gregory]

Hi

On 26 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:

> I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the 
> appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows 
> pdfs just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute 
> tangle on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file 
> generated so can't play!". org-version 9.4.6 emacs 27.2 Win 10

Can you also send a MWE of the code you're using to generate the 
score?

-- 
Jonathan

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Michael Maurer]

On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 15:03, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> On 26 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
>
> > I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the
> > appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows
> > pdfs just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute
> > tangle on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file
> > generated so can't play!". org-version 9.4.6 emacs 27.2 Win 10
>
> Can you also send a MWE of the code you're using to generate the
> score?
>

It's just the example from the org-mode website

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Michael Maurer]

On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 15:03, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> On 26 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
>
> > I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the
> > appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows
> > pdfs just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute
> > tangle on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file
> > generated so can't play!". org-version 9.4.6 emacs 27.2 Win 10
>
> Can you also send a MWE of the code you're using to generate the
> score?
>

I used a test file I copied over from Frescobaldi

#+begin_src lilypond :file test.pdf
\version "2.18.2"
\score {
\drums {
  \time 2/4
  sn16 sn8 sn16 sn8 sn8:32 ~
  sn8 sn8 sn4:32 ~
  sn4 sn8 sn16 sn16
  sn4 r4
}
  \layout { }
  \midi { }
}
#+end_src

In Frescobaldi this gets me both midi-output and pdf. In Emacs with
org it does say "Midi output to test.midi", but then there's that "no
midi file generated" message.

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Nick Dokos]

Michael Maurer <maurer.michael@gmail.com> writes:

> On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 15:03, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi
>>
>> On 26 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
>>
>> > I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the
>> > appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows
>> > pdfs just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute
>> > tangle on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file
>> > generated so can't play!". org-version 9.4.6 emacs 27.2 Win 10
>>
>> Can you also send a MWE of the code you're using to generate the
>> score?
>>
>
> I used a test file I copied over from Frescobaldi
>
> #+begin_src lilypond :file test.pdf
> \version "2.18.2"
> \score {
> \drums {
>   \time 2/4
>   sn16 sn8 sn16 sn8 sn8:32 ~
>   sn8 sn8 sn4:32 ~
>   sn4 sn8 sn16 sn16
>   sn4 r4
> }
>   \layout { }
>   \midi { }
> }
> #+end_src
>
> In Frescobaldi this gets me both midi-output and pdf. In Emacs with
> org it does say "Midi output to test.midi", but then there's that "no
> midi file generated" message.
>

What happens if you save the contents of the source block into a file
and run lilypond on the file from the command line?

-- 
Nick

"There are only two hard problems in computer science: cache
invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors." -Martin Fowler

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Michael Maurer]

On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 21:54, Nick Dokos <ndokos@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Michael Maurer <maurer.michael@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 15:03, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi
> >>
> >> On 26 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
> >>
> >> > I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the
> >> > appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows
> >> > pdfs just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute
> >> > tangle on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file
> >> > generated so can't play!". org-version 9.4.6 emacs 27.2 Win 10
> >>
> >> Can you also send a MWE of the code you're using to generate the
> >> score?
> >>
> >
> > I used a test file I copied over from Frescobaldi
> >
> > #+begin_src lilypond :file test.pdf
> > \version "2.18.2"
> > \score {
> > \drums {
> >   \time 2/4
> >   sn16 sn8 sn16 sn8 sn8:32 ~
> >   sn8 sn8 sn4:32 ~
> >   sn4 sn8 sn16 sn16
> >   sn4 r4
> > }
> >   \layout { }
> >   \midi { }
> > }
> > #+end_src
> >
> > In Frescobaldi this gets me both midi-output and pdf. In Emacs with
> > org it does say "Midi output to test.midi", but then there's that "no
> > midi file generated" message.
> >
>
> What happens if you save the contents of the source block into a file
> and run lilypond on the file from the command line?
>

Both pdf and midi files get generated. Btw, ob-lilypond does generate
the midi file as well, it just doesn't want to play it/recognize it.
Maybe it's related to what helper app I've configured to open it? (but
why that doesn't make sense, it's vlc btw).

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Nick Dokos]

Michael Maurer <maurer.michael@gmail.com> writes:

> On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 21:54, Nick Dokos <ndokos@gmail.com> wrote:

>>
>> Michael Maurer <maurer.michael@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>> > On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 15:03, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Hi
>> >>
>> >> On 26 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the
>> >> > appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows
>> >> > pdfs just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute
>> >> > tangle on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file
>> >> > generated so can't play!". org-version 9.4.6 emacs 27.2 Win 10
>> >>
>> >> Can you also send a MWE of the code you're using to generate the
>> >> score?
>> >>
>> >
>> > I used a test file I copied over from Frescobaldi
>> >
>> > #+begin_src lilypond :file test.pdf
>> > \version "2.18.2"
>> > \score {
>> > \drums {
>> >   \time 2/4
>> >   sn16 sn8 sn16 sn8 sn8:32 ~
>> >   sn8 sn8 sn4:32 ~
>> >   sn4 sn8 sn16 sn16
>> >   sn4 r4
>> > }
>> >   \layout { }
>> >   \midi { }
>> > }
>> > #+end_src
>> >
>> > In Frescobaldi this gets me both midi-output and pdf. In Emacs with
>> > org it does say "Midi output to test.midi", but then there's that "no
>> > midi file generated" message.
>> >
>>
>> What happens if you save the contents of the source block into a file
>> and run lilypond on the file from the command line?
>>
>
> Both pdf and midi files get generated. Btw, ob-lilypond does generate
> the midi file as well, it just doesn't want to play it/recognize it.
> Maybe it's related to what helper app I've configured to open it? (but
> why that doesn't make sense, it's vlc btw).
>
>

Oh, I thought that it did not generate a midi file at all. So you are
saying that the midi file *is* produced and you *can* play it from the
command line with vlc, correct?

If that's the case, check the value of the variable
`org-babel-lilypond-midi-command' and see what happens when you invoke
that command on the midi file. In my case, the command is `xdg-open'
(I'm using Gnome on Fedora 33) and it opens Banshee to play it which
fails because of missing codecs. I installed the missing codecs and
`xdg-open foo.midi' sends the file to Banshee which can play it fine.

Also check if `org-babel-lilypond-arrange-mode' is t or nil: behavior
is very different depending on that.

Final thought: `xdg-open' starts whatever app it is supposed to run
in the background and returns immediately. That may cause problems with
babel. I still don't get anything when processing the file in babel.

-- 
Nick

"There are only two hard problems in computer science: cache
invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors." -Martin Fowler

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Maxim Nikulin]

On 28/08/2021 02:54, Nick Dokos wrote:
> 
> Also check if `org-babel-lilypond-arrange-mode' is t or nil: behavior
> is very different depending on that.
> 
> Final thought: `xdg-open' starts whatever app it is supposed to run
> in the background and returns immediately. That may cause problems with
> babel.

To be precise, xdg-open is merely a wrapper. It does not decide whether 
a viewer should be started in background or in foreground, it just 
delegates decision concerning particular application and a way to start 
it to desktop environment (if any is running). Gnome's gio open and 
kde-open5 launch appropriate viewer in background. In my opinion they 
are free to do so.

It is a decade-old problem that emacs kills such processes. I disagree 
that it is e.g. Gnome bug.
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2009-07/msg00279.html

ob-lilypond.el suffers from this problem in its original form, and it 
should be fixed.

Approach taken in Org mode for compatibility reasons:
https://code.orgmode.org/bzg/org-mode/commit/869b7a21b94ed112f6640c8f2711c2a68b661dea
Emacs mailcap:
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/tree/lisp/net/mailcap.el#n1180

Pipe process instead of pty one is not a really robust way. The sour 
truth is that emacs API does allow reliable "shoot and forget" approach 
for external applications. Currently viewers might make Emacs CPU hungry 
for no reason (unsure if applications with such behavior exist in real 
world however). Eli Zaretskii suspects some incompatibility due to 
switching from pty to pipe processes, but he refused to provide details
https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=12972#38

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Michael Maurer]

On Fri, 27 Aug 2021 at 21:55, Nick Dokos <ndokos@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Michael Maurer <maurer.michael@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 21:54, Nick Dokos <ndokos@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>
> >> Michael Maurer <maurer.michael@gmail.com> writes:
> >>
> >> > On Thu, 26 Aug 2021 at 15:03, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> Hi
> >> >>
> >> >> On 26 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> > I've installed lilypond and customized ob-lilypond to use the
> >> >> > appropriate helper programs, but although it generates & shows
> >> >> > pdfs just fine, generating a midi file it does not. I execute
> >> >> > tangle on the codeblock, and all I get is "No midi file
> >> >> > generated so can't play!". org-version 9.4.6 emacs 27.2 Win 10
> >> >>
> >> >> Can you also send a MWE of the code you're using to generate the
> >> >> score?
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> > I used a test file I copied over from Frescobaldi
> >> >
> >> > #+begin_src lilypond :file test.pdf
> >> > \version "2.18.2"
> >> > \score {
> >> > \drums {
> >> >   \time 2/4
> >> >   sn16 sn8 sn16 sn8 sn8:32 ~
> >> >   sn8 sn8 sn4:32 ~
> >> >   sn4 sn8 sn16 sn16
> >> >   sn4 r4
> >> > }
> >> >   \layout { }
> >> >   \midi { }
> >> > }
> >> > #+end_src
> >> >
> >> > In Frescobaldi this gets me both midi-output and pdf. In Emacs with
> >> > org it does say "Midi output to test.midi", but then there's that "no
> >> > midi file generated" message.
> >> >
> >>
> >> What happens if you save the contents of the source block into a file
> >> and run lilypond on the file from the command line?
> >>
> >
> > Both pdf and midi files get generated. Btw, ob-lilypond does generate
> > the midi file as well, it just doesn't want to play it/recognize it.
> > Maybe it's related to what helper app I've configured to open it? (but
> > why that doesn't make sense, it's vlc btw).
> >
> >
>
> Oh, I thought that it did not generate a midi file at all. So you are
> saying that the midi file *is* produced and you *can* play it from the
> command line with vlc, correct?
>
> If that's the case, check the value of the variable
> `org-babel-lilypond-midi-command' and see what happens when you invoke
> that command on the midi file. In my case, the command is `xdg-open'
> (I'm using Gnome on Fedora 33) and it opens Banshee to play it which
> fails because of missing codecs. I installed the missing codecs and
> `xdg-open foo.midi' sends the file to Banshee which can play it fine.
>
> Also check if `org-babel-lilypond-arrange-mode' is t or nil: behavior
> is very different depending on that.

So out of curiosity I changed the entry for midi-player to random
gibberish, and the same message pops up, "no midi file generated so
can't play". Toggling arrange-mode has no effect. I can play the
generated midi-file from the command line using vlc just fine.

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Jonathan Gregory]

Hi Michael

On 28 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:

> So out of curiosity I changed the entry for midi-player to 
> random gibberish, and the same message pops up, "no midi file 
> generated so can't play". Toggling arrange-mode has no effect. I 
> can play the generated midi-file from the command line using vlc 
> just fine.

What variable are you using to change the midi command? It should 
be org-babel-lilypond-commands. You may also have to restart emacs 
after you've made the changes. BTW I'm using timidity and it works 
fine.

-- 
Jonathan

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Michael Maurer]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2021 at 15:09, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
>
> Hi Michael
>
> On 28 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
>
> > So out of curiosity I changed the entry for midi-player to
> > random gibberish, and the same message pops up, "no midi file
> > generated so can't play". Toggling arrange-mode has no effect. I
> > can play the generated midi-file from the command line using vlc
> > just fine.
>
> What variable are you using to change the midi command? It should
> be org-babel-lilypond-commands. You may also have to restart emacs
> after you've made the changes. BTW I'm using timidity and it works
> fine.
>

I use M-x customize, search for lilypond and then get the config panel
for org-babel-lilypond-commands.
Btw I've set up timidity, checked if it works correctly and then
change the value from vlc to timidity, but same result.

Aaah wait, I'm currently looking at ob-lilypond.el, and it's looking
for a file that ends with *.midi, but lilypond on Windows generates
*.mid files.
Ok I'll see if that's it after dinner.

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Michael Maurer]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2021 at 18:18, Michael Maurer <maurer.michael@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Sat, 28 Aug 2021 at 15:09, Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Michael
> >
> > On 28 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:
> >
> > > So out of curiosity I changed the entry for midi-player to
> > > random gibberish, and the same message pops up, "no midi file
> > > generated so can't play". Toggling arrange-mode has no effect. I
> > > can play the generated midi-file from the command line using vlc
> > > just fine.
> >
> > What variable are you using to change the midi command? It should
> > be org-babel-lilypond-commands. You may also have to restart emacs
> > after you've made the changes. BTW I'm using timidity and it works
> > fine.
> >
>
> I use M-x customize, search for lilypond and then get the config panel
> for org-babel-lilypond-commands.
> Btw I've set up timidity, checked if it works correctly and then
> change the value from vlc to timidity, but same result.
>
> Aaah wait, I'm currently looking at ob-lilypond.el, and it's looking
> for a file that ends with *.midi, but lilypond on Windows generates
> *.mid files.
> Ok I'll see if that's it after dinner.

Yep, that's it. Modified ob-lilypond.el and recompiled it. Timidity
works as helper, couldn't get vlc to work. Maybe the file ending
should be modifiable via org-babel-lilypond-commands as well, or make
ob-lilypond.el look for *.mid or *.midi. I'm pretty confident *.mid is
the default setting for lilypond on win, and not my doing.

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Jonathan Gregory]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 488 bytes --]

Hi

On 29 Aug 2021, Michael Maurer wrote:

> Yep, that's it. Modified ob-lilypond.el and recompiled it. 
> Timidity works as helper, couldn't get vlc to work. Maybe the 
> file ending should be modifiable via org-babel-lilypond-commands 
> as well, or make ob-lilypond.el look for *.mid or *.midi. I'm 
> pretty confident *.mid is the default setting for lilypond on 
> win, and not my doing.

I attached a patch to use a different suffix on Windows. Thanks 
for your help.

-- 
Jonathan

[-- Warning: decoded text below may be mangled, UTF-8 assumed --]
[-- Attachment #2: 0001-Set-the-MIDI-file-extension-conditionally.patch --]
[-- Type: text/x-diff, Size: 1310 bytes --]

From 1929b8082b9cff2a4bd99c573b2a2bd50b76b184 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 13:49:48 -0300
Subject: [PATCH] Set the MIDI file extension conditionally

* lisp/ob-lilypond.el (org-babel-lilypond-attempt-to-play-midi): By
default, LilyPond outputs .mid files for Windows and .midi for
everything else.

See: <https://lists.gnu.org/r/emacs-orgmode/2021-08/msg00379.html>

TINYCHANGE
---
 lisp/ob-lilypond.el | 4 +++-
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/lisp/ob-lilypond.el b/lisp/ob-lilypond.el
index eae1779ce..e197ea7a6 100644
--- a/lisp/ob-lilypond.el
+++ b/lisp/ob-lilypond.el
@@ -337,7 +337,9 @@ If TEST is non-nil, the shell command is returned and is not run."
 FILE-NAME is full path to lilypond file.
 If TEST is non-nil, the shell command is returned and is not run."
   (when org-babel-lilypond-play-midi-post-tangle
-    (let ((midi-file (org-babel-lilypond-switch-extension file-name ".midi")))
+    (let* ((ext (if (eq system-type 'windows-nt)
+                    ".mid" ".midi"))
+           (midi-file (org-babel-lilypond-switch-extension file-name ext)))
       (if (file-exists-p midi-file)
           (let ((cmd-string
                  (concat org-babel-lilypond-midi-command " " midi-file)))
-- 
2.25.1

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Ihor Radchenko]

Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> writes:

>> Yep, that's it. Modified ob-lilypond.el and recompiled it. 
>> Timidity works as helper, couldn't get vlc to work. Maybe the 
>> file ending should be modifiable via org-babel-lilypond-commands 
>> as well, or make ob-lilypond.el look for *.mid or *.midi. I'm 
>> pretty confident *.mid is the default setting for lilypond on 
>> win, and not my doing.
>
> I attached a patch to use a different suffix on Windows. Thanks 
> for your help.

Can someone with Windows check if this issue with lilypond using
different extension is still present?

If so, we can merge the patch.

-- 
Ihor Radchenko // yantar92,
Org mode contributor,
Learn more about Org mode at <https://orgmode.org/>.
Support Org development at <https://liberapay.com/org-mode>,
or support my work at <https://liberapay.com/yantar92>

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Jonathan Gregory]

Hi Ihor,

On 01 Nov 2022, Ihor Radchenko wrote:

> Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> writes:
>
>>> Yep, that's it. Modified ob-lilypond.el and recompiled it. 
>>> Timidity works as helper, couldn't get vlc to work. Maybe the 
>>> file ending should be modifiable via 
>>> org-babel-lilypond-commands as well, or make ob-lilypond.el 
>>> look for *.mid or *.midi. I'm pretty confident *.mid is the 
>>> default setting for lilypond on win, and not my doing.
>>
>> I attached a patch to use a different suffix on Windows. Thanks 
>> for your help.
>
> Can someone with Windows check if this issue with lilypond using 
> different extension is still present?
>
> If so, we can merge the patch.

This is done. The patch was merged in e4c0281d2.

-- 
Jonathan

Re: ob-lilypond.el doesn't generate midi files

[Ihor Radchenko]

Jonathan Gregory <jgrg@autistici.org> writes:

>> If so, we can merge the patch.
>
> This is done. The patch was merged in e4c0281d2.

Confirm.
I somehow missed it.

-- 
Ihor Radchenko // yantar92,
Org mode contributor,
Learn more about Org mode at <https://orgmode.org/>.
Support Org development at <https://liberapay.com/org-mode>,
or support my work at <https://liberapay.com/yantar92>