LilyPond Application Usage: 4.3.2 Invoking musicxml2ly

### 4.3.2 Invoking `musicxml2ly`

MusicXML is an XML dialect for representing music notation.

`musicxml2ly` extracts notes, articulations, score structure and lyrics from ‘part-wise’ MusicXML files then writes them to a ‘`.ly`’ file. It is run from the command-line as follows;

>     musicxml2ly [option]… file.xml

Note that by ‘command-line’, we mean the command line of the operating system. See Converting from other formats, for more information about this.

If ‘`-`’ is used instead of file.xml, `musicxml2ly` reads all input directly from the command line.

The following options are supported by `musicxml2ly`:

`-a, --absolute`

  convert pitches in absolute mode.

`--fb --fretboards`

  converts `<frame>` events to a separate FretBoard voice instead of markups.

`-h, --help`

  print usage and a summary of all the available command line options.

`-l, --language=LANG`

  use LANG for pitch names, e.g. `deutsch` for note names in German.

`--loglevel=LOGLEVEL`

  Sets the output verbosity to LOGLEVEL. Possible values are `NONE`, `ERROR`, `WARNING`, `PROGRESS` (default) and `DEBUG`.

`--lxml`

  use the lxml.etree Python package for XML-parsing; uses less memory and cpu time.

`-m, --midi`

  activate the midi block in the .ly file.

`--nb, --no-beaming`

  do not convert beaming information, use LilyPond’s automatic beaming instead.

`--nd, --no-articulation-directions`

  do not convert directions (`^`, `_` or `-`) for articulations, dynamics, etc.

`--nrp, --no-rest-positions`

  do not convert exact vertical position of rests.

`--nsb, --no-system-breaks`

  ignore system breaks.

`--npl, --no-page-layout`

  do not convert the exact page layout and breaks (shortcut for `--nsb` `--npb` `--npm` options).

`--npb, --no-page-breaks`

  ignore page breaks.

`--npm, --no-page-margins`

  ignore page margins.

`--nsd, --no-stem-directions`

  ignore stem directions from MusicXML, use lilypond’s automatic stemming instead.

`-o, --output=FILE`

  set the output filename to FILE. If file is ‘`-`’, the output will be printed to stdout. If not given, xmlfile.ly will be used instead.

`-r, --relative`

  convert pitches in relative mode (default).

`--transpose=TOPITCH`

  the interval between pitch `c` and TOPITCH to transpose by.

`--sm, --shift-meter=BEATS/BEATTYPE`

  change the length|duration of notes as a function of a given time signature to make the score look faster or slower, (e.g. `4/4` or `2/2`).

`--tc, --tab-clef=TABCLEFNAME`

  switch between two versions of tab clefs (`tab` and `moderntab`).

`--sn --string-numbers=t[rue]/f[alse]`

  deactivate string number stencil with `--string-numbers` `false`. Default is `true`.

`-v, --verbose`

  be verbose.

`--version`

  show version number and exit.

`-z, --compressed`

  input file is a zip-compressed MusicXML file.

#### LilyPond — Usage v2.24.4 (stable-branch).