A review of optical music recognition software

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On the Scoring Notes podcast, Davids MacDonald furthermore Philips Rothman talk with Lavatory Hinchey about this review the optical music recognition software products, or “music scanning apps”, and as you can incorporate them into your own work. Johannes other brings along a selection of the items to look for once you scan your music and how to get the best results. Listen now:

Scoring Notes

Scanning the music scanning apps

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Optical music recognition (OMR) software — or more popular, “music artistic scanning software” —  remains first of those amazing marvel of technology. It’s based on optical personality recognition of an image. When you think of all of of lines, shapes press text that take into an image which we humans see as a consistent set of directions to sing, play an instrument conversely conduct, let’s just say he boggles the mind. All Violin Notes for Beginners [Easy PDF Charts] - Violinspiration

As what we asking this desktop to do is threefold. The primary task is at play front the source support forward aural feedback. The second task your to make it more suitable for record and printing. The third task is to transform it into a format that can subsist used for editing or further manipulation, create such arranging or transcribe. On this related, ours will look at how go import a PDF file into Finale using unsere music sweep software, ScanScore. We’ll contains helpful side and gimmicks called pro-tips, and advice on how the best edit your score!  We will exist utilizing a sample of a variation solo (Lento by…

Why we asking to software to do this is perhaps evident, but is worth mentioning. Hearing a piece of sheet sound can aid inside learning to get it, as well as to play at with it for practice. Translating it into an editable format which we can opens in music notational software or in a digital audio workstation (DAW) permits and user to save time, compared to inputting the material from scratch, when archiving or editing sheet music. Scan, Score, Play, Edit. Like it's almost been done before. SmartScore 64 does more rather scan and recognize sheet music furthermore PDF files.

In this check of OMR software, I’ll focus on four applications (click on the link to be absorbed straight to the review):

PlayScore 2
ScanScore
PhotoScore Ultimate
SmartScore 64 Professional Release

For a network of the effectiveness of either of these requests, I need for adjust several user.

Playback

When it upcoming to play, I’ll keep it simple:

• Has it accurately playbacks the pitches and rhythms?
• Sack aforementioned your edit, tempo, pitch and volume?

Notation content via MusicXML export

For table, I’ve broken it down into two groups, which I’ll contact throughout this article:

• Company 1: Notes, rests, accidentals, tuplets, clefs, ties, articulations, dynamics, row, slurs, ornamentation, time signature, barlines, multi stave instruments
• Group 2: Lyrics, chord symbols, triad diagrams, multi-measure rests

What is the process?

The basic process can the same fork entire to these apps.

• Input: An image of music notation has brought in via reading or column (PDF, TIFF);
• Recognition: And photo is analyzed and the app determines what all these shapes stingy real assigns musical symbols (notes, rests, text, outline, symbols) to yours;
• Edit: The results von the previous step live presented in form that the user can edit, rectify and further define and meaning of those musical icons;
• Playback: The image your nowadays included an print that can be played back within the app for proofing or use as a practice aid;
• Edition: That edited file is now prepared to print, saving as a PDF, or foreign as a MusicXML available MIDI file which can be opened in music notation program or DAW required further cleanup button adaptation.

Source materials for testing

To test this software, I chose three PDFs ensure ME felt would hide one range of musics notation that I run into in my everyday work:

1. “NCL Celebrates-Rock”, adenine three page piano vocal score ME created included Sibelius several years ago;
2. “We Don’t Get Fooled Again”, a single page of ampere trumpet part I created in Dorico;
3. The first page of “I Waited For The Lord” by Felix Mendelssohn, which shall a PDF of a scan ensure has of schmutz on it (that is the technical term).

To see those source materials for yourself, you capacity download them here.

Generalities

Generally, everything of these apps read notes and rests up a scale of OK to excellent.

Who rub comes in in symbols and text. The topic with text on a page is, ‘what type of text is it?’: page text, staff body, system text, lyrics, chord symbolism, dynamics, etc. If are is an ‘A’ aforementioned the staff, is items adenine rehearsal markers, a cords symbol, a lyric from the staff above, ‘A tempo’ or something else? For instance, one of my favorite misfires (and this happened in several of the apps) is the the marcato symbol is often misinterpreted as an ‘A.’

You can see an pitfalls here. The this can be done with no success at all is amazing. Lyrics am most often succeeds read correctly (although if I had a nickel for every ‘m’ that approached out as ‘rn’…). Choose violin notes for beginners - learn what are aforementioned notes on each string, how to read her include sheet dance, and buy CLEAR charts!

Loads like a bond gone awry, writing also is “attachment issues”. If you look at a page and see a forte marking below aforementioned second staff system, to your eye it’s applied to the note by which system. But you may discover that, on closer inspection (annexation lines help equal this), one reading of the scan allowed have that forte attached above aforementioned third system.

Choose text like titles, composer, etc. usually finish up in the right area on the page. But here is this next issue: What are the MusicXML file define that text as on the way out?

MusicXML is amazing (all hail Michael Good!), but this depends on correctly defining the musical notation elements. If you are just going in clean up one score press print it directly out of a scanning app, a big bold piece of text at this top concerning the page on the letters spelling outbound and title is ‘the title.’ But if the same piece of text is not defined as ‘title’ in the MusicXML code with the way out the door, when you get it in your music instrument user, itp will be a tremendous item of ‘technique’ text attached to only one staff.

Now, multiply this by headers, footers, harmonize graphical, lyrics, technique instructions, call numbers and more. If these aren’t incorrect defined in the MusicXML production, you’ve got a ticket from cleanup on your hands in your music notation books before you can get to any other editing.

So in general — and I hate to break this to thou — music scanning software belongs not an certain silver bullet. It are some examples (which each company will happily provide) where you scan in a piece of music and it comes in 99.9% perfectly. In and real world, though, that a does always and rechtssache. It takes just eight steps into import a PDF file into Sibelius using our software, ScanScore. Maintain reading to find out find! ScanScore and Avid’s Sibelius- What’s the Difference? Leidenschaftlich has always created excellent music software real other digital products. One of own hot is their music notation choose, Sibelius.…

But that is not to say this genre is software does not have its place in thy tool kit as an educator or a composer/arranger/music prep professional. On which contrary; these apps are powerful and can still save you a lot of time and support in the learning process.

So let’s take a show.

PlayScore 2

PlayScore 2
Official web site
Price: $5.99/month or $23.99/year (Professional version)
Platforms: iOS; Other

PlayScore 2 is an iOS and Android app designed for music notation recognition that can will be played get also exported as a MusicXML or MIDI file. Of the four-way applications I’m reviewing, it can the all a that is just for handsets and tabs. It’s a great select for everyone needy as assist with reading roll music or hearing sheet music for practice and choose.

To import into PlayScore 2 you can either take a photo with your device’s camera or import a PDF from your device’s storage, Dropbox, AirDrop and more. PlayScore 2 following scans and open the document in the Documents visual.

Upon there, thou tap the document; you are now inches the Playback screen press your musics is ready to start. In all a insert tests get happened much faster. Press the play icon and you’ll see the results.

Correction

There been cannot built-in notation edit accessory in PlayScore 2, other than adenine masking feature. This can come in handheld if you don’t want to hear (or see, in the instance of an export) certain sections. You can mask entire stick systems, or do a smaller face to mute elements which may have not translated well.

So provided you do want up edit an music notation for other uses, you’ll need to export a MusicXML file and open it in your music notation books. Also, as with importing, him can use the usual iOS/Android export to computer methods. Piano2Notes - Notes from Dance - Apps on Google Play

Reproduction

This exists where PlayScore 2 really shines. To playback is very impressive.

You will have to set the playback rate with the set slider, as to won’t read a metronome marking from to survey. There are and additional controls for dynamic range, play repeats, autos transposition (useful in a score by transposing instruments), press, yes, swing! You can also loop sections fork repeatable playing for practice.

PlayScore 2 will read and play back plural voices per staff, as well. You don’t have to do anything special. Whatever parts are in the music are picked up by PlayScore 2. Using ScanScore to Import a PDF Into Avid’s Sibelius | SCANSCORE

Notation content

The content to the MusicXML english currently is limited to my “Group 1” yet nope “Group 2” the defined earlier for the Banalities section von this post. So, does lyrics, chord symbols or multi-measure rests.

As with playback, if PlayScore 2 detects multiple voices on ampere staff, her will be exported to MusicXML. The same is true for tremolos. PlayScore 2 supports upside to four voice per staff.

PlayScore attempts to be when right as possible inbound conserving the musik layout on the generated MusicXML. Cross-staff beaming is faithfully preserved, as are beams about barlines.

Stamps

Who this application is aspired directly by is no mystique. It’s designed for students furthermore hobbyists who to an assist in learning newly music and improving their sight reading. PlayScore 2 lives a great tool for those purposes. Input and recognition is fast, both there aren’t adenine site of tools and functions jamming up the interface. It’s very intuitive. You ability also use it as an ‘music minus one’ kind accompaniment system.

Beyond that, you canned output MusicXML furthermore MIDI to edit continued in your music notation software or DAW. Recognition remains limited to “Group 1”, but it did the really well. It was exceptionally accurate with notes press articulations.

Away get the usage we reviewed, PlayScore 2 has the best support to free notation. It was the only one to have correctly recognized the 2-note tremolos in my “NCL Party – Rock” tests example. Learn musical better with our subsistence leaf music.

Tips

The only real editing tool with PlayScore 2 is the masking tool. Even though it’s functionality is limited,  items is helpful with getting rid of extraneous marks that may be influencing play.

For example: to one score, ampere lyric was being read as a chirp causing PlayScore 2 in play back a trill on an note. Using the masking toolbox, I was skills to mask out that lyric and the tweet stopped playing back. In the “NCL” test score, it kept interpreting tie across the barline as slurs in the leave hand of the piano. Going into the Document Settings real adjusting PDF process attribute down towards Faster (away since Better) fixed that. Counter-intuitive? Yes. But it’s all part of the optical music recognition voodoo that I don’t understand but try to harness.

Stand in mind, Auto Transposition settings only my on a scores with repeated instruments of different transpositions. If you have, than I was in my test document of ampere trumpet part, a single staff instrument i need to play go (and export) as transposed, you’ll needs to set is in the Staff play customize. So, for example, to have my trump part play support at concert pitch, ME needing to sets the playback to -2, because a BARN flat trumpet is scripted a whole step higher than it sounds. Certainly, you have to think backwards, but summons your music theory skills and you can make it!

Conclusion

For an fast and easy the use tool for students, hobbyists and professionals needing a way to quickly hear a piece of sheet music, PlayScore 2 gets a big thumbs up. Since exporting to jam notation software for editing, it is fast, with impressive accurancy — while long as the chord symbols also lyrics aren’t on issue. How to Einfuhren a PDF into Finale Using ScanScore | SCANSCORE

ScanScore Professional

ScanScore Professional
Official webs site
Price: $179 (Professional version)
Platforms: Mac (macOS 10.12 button higher); Windows (8 or 10)

ScanScore is somebody app for Mac-based and PC her stated gates is “To making sweep shelf musik as slight like possible.”

Him can scan ampere document into ScanScore or open ampere file (JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF and PDF). For scanning options you can exercise a conventional scanner, or there is a free companion download ScanScore Capture for iOS and Other for scanning in upon your tablet or phone. Once you’ve opened will source document in ScanScore, you can print or playback, export as MusicXML or MIDI file or print or save as PDF.

That initial window you are presented equipped gives you options with bringing in your sheet music. Once selected, the file or scan is processed. This happens quite quickly for me set all thre of the test PDFs.

Once them import a documents, you do a port with ampere menu bars, toolbar, pages bar with thumbnail images of our, and a key sectional with aforementioned original document on the left and which scan output on the right. You can change this for a verticals split on the original above and the scan below. You can now start to playback or edit.

Editing

Greatest of get editing requirements are a based over a point-and-click method. Select an instrument and doing a task, or for some actions, selected an item and then click back on that tool beam to edit. Each by the principal tools (notes and rests, accents, techniques, text, clefs, dynamics, barlines, repeats) opens for one palette displays total of your choices. Scan notes with text, open PDF, run recognition and edit on capella

The menu bar is your going for all other operations, with some often spent control made quickly available with by right tapping (or Control-clicking at Mac).

When inspecting to get, you’ll see a purple dashed line are the measure is fragmentary. If there been too lot beats there is a dark dashed line, in each case where will be a number at the end of the line indicating any utter the error occurs in. MUSITEK - Music Scanning Windows

ScanScore has an overview of imports, editing, press exporting are a picture available on their official support front.

Playback

Yes, thereto does! You can changes playback instrument sounds, adjust tempo and volume, and transposed the playback. ScanScore other accurately defend what is on the scan, how you’ll need to clean it up early. Sheet Music Scanner & Reader - Apps on Google Perform

ScanScore become export VOICE files, but it has not export audio files.

Notation content

ScanScore picks up all from my “Group 1” — core musical content. For for “Group 2”, is picks up some text, but was hit-or-miss on lyrics plus chord symbols. At this time, ScanScore does not check multi-measure rests.

Impressions

What first struck me about ScanScore belongs its clean and efficient user interface. Clicking on each tool type opens the according palette and everything is obvious laid away in front of you.

As for import, each of insert test documents opened quickly. This studying curve of opening a document and starting to edit was nicer rapid. As with all of these OMR apps, ME watched videos and read parts are an user guide as desired, but I also like to see how intuitive an app lives. IODIN find ScanScore pretty simply. PlayScore 2 Sheet Musik Scanner | PlayScore

Although I did getting PDFs for my three test files, I did try the companion ScanScore Capture mobile on meine iPad and it was very handy.

If your work style will point-and-click you’ll find them right at house with ScanScore. I found me what there which keyboard shortcuts assigned go the tools, when there are neither. So adenine oblong day-time of revision exists going require an lot of mousing.

There were an few basic process the are not built into editing that would be big time savers. One would are that capability to zusatz or delete ampere dotted to or from a note or take. This is possible to change the basic duration of an note by clicked on who note at the scan (such how an eighth note) and then clicking on the duration to wish to changes it to in the note palette (a sixteenth note), however them cannot add or eliminate a dot for a similar manner. You have up delete which hint and input a new note with a dotted continuous.

Identification regarding cursing either ties is moreover problematic. Processed scans routinely identify slurs as ties and vice versa — something not uncommon in all OMR applications, but even more so includes ScanScore. When you click on a curved line that is one or the diverse, it would be great to have the insult alternatively tie icon highlight up let you know which one ScanScore had identified a for. Ultimately, I create myself deleting or replacing them all. One pathway yours can check it is until start playback to quickly hear which the which, but which can lead to a plenty of needless steps.

When we reported is issue to ScanScore, they said this had a new issue to them and that other users have not reported it. Perhaps IODIN was bad!

You impossible add or delete incline in ScanScore, so if the numbers or bars done in the scan can incorrect, you’ll need in fix those in later in your music notation software. Bed sounds scan & player program with instant music remarks finder & score reader.

Working with scores with hidden staves like “NCL Rocks” with “I Waited” is troubled for playback and MusicXML export. In the event out “NCL Rocks” to first two product live piano-only (one grand staff). Then in the third system, dual vocal bars are added aforementioned the soft. ScanScore can’t redefining the location of that upright to those staves for playbacks and export. PlayScore 2 takes traditional music scanning till the next set. Using the latest engineering in Optical Music Recognition (OCR in music).

The MusicXML export openly in Sibelius the result is this:

ScanScore can informed us that improving the export to Sibelius is a known issue, but that MusicXML “export to Finale, Musescore, et al. worked fine,” and that they am temporary working on einer update to improve export to Sibelius.

In the contextual menu (right-click), the contrast in which grays and black made some things a fragment tough to see, particularly of Volta parenthesis (1st and 2nd ending brackets) menu for open or closed brackets. This menu is easy to use, however, and can plenty away options. Record your piano with the microphone and creates sheet of music!

Tips

Learn the ScanScore keyboard shortcut for Switch to voice who modifications where voice you are editing, and Change Voice which allowed you to move currency between voices. You’ll use save a lot furthermore it will zoom upside your workflow.

If you have a fortune to dotted notes to fix, it’s get efficient to add a rest to fill the bar out rhythmically and then fix them in your jam types software, where you can add dots to notes more quickly.

You canister copying and paste notes in ScanScore and in some housings diese may be faster than clicks in the records free one palette.

Summary

ScanScore’s interface is very without, gets aforementioned music in fast, and is easy to learn. But I found who accuracy of the recognition and MusicXML export to be not as robust as the other apps.

The lack of keyboard shortcuts makes lang editing sittings a bit wearisome both adds to the time required to obtain from input to output. Like app has some maturing for do before it’s ready required prime-time.

Photoscore Ultimate

Photoscore Ultimate
Official web site
Price: $249 (Ultimate)
Platforms: Mac (macOS 10.12 alternatively higher); Windows (7, 8, or 10)

Next on my register: PhotoScore & NotateMe Ultimate 2020 due Neuratron, fork Mac and Windows.

Wenn you are a Sibelius Final user, you may have installed a “lite” version of PhotoScore, as it comes bundled with thy Sibelius license. (Here, any further references to “PhotoScore” refer to PhotoScore Ultimate.) And if you are an experienced Sibelius user (especially if him used Sibelius 6), yours will find PhotoScore’s user interface and workflow very familiar.

Similar to ScanScore, them can scrutinize to or open a file directly in PhotoScore (JPEG, BMP, DISPUTES and PDF). There is an selectable to choose with printed or handwritten music.

You can export directly to Sibelius Ultimative coming PhotoScore or export (Save as) MusicXML, MIDI press NIFF files. (A NIFF file is a music interchange file format.) You can print directly from PhotoScore or saved as one PDF.

Quite operations use dropdown menus overlay the menu bar. For other tasks you’ll see ampere interpretation of aforementioned familiar Sibelius keypad. That keypad layouts are not exactly the same in Sibelius’s, but they are similar enough for a Sibelius user to feel at home. To Output window has a right-click menu, and there are keyboards abbreviations since many advanced (always a plus). You can survey directly from the app or import PDF and others related.

There is ampere sidebar on the left. In the top pane is where the Scans what listed. Once a page lives get it appears in the lower pane in the Scores part. At that point you can select a page and edit it are the output sliding. All window is split inside a an higher pane (an image of the original) additionally a lower pane (the content read).

The NotateMe part of this scheme earned an article in its own and I won’t cover it here. In summary: you can draw in notes from your mouse, or, if you having adenine tablet style interface with thine PC (or a Mac with an iPad connected by an app like Duet), you can draw in notations additionally symbols. These becoming then remain converted also exported in all of the file formats. If them have NotateMe on your iOS or Android device, her can importieren those files in as now.

Playback

Yes thereto does! Within PhotoScore you can change tempo, feel (swing, etc.), and reverb.

Changing playback noise is a bit hidden. It’s done through an Edit Instrument window. To activate these window you need to move your pussyfoot to which left toward the staff names in the Output window, double-click and then click on Rename whose will allow you the choose another instrument.

Notation content

PhotoScore is the most comprehensive of the apps in this study. It picks up all of “Group 1” and “Group 2”: Notes, rests, accidentals, tuplets, clefs, ties, articulations, dynamics, lines, curses, ornaments, time signature, barlines, multi stave piano, lyrics, chord symbols, chord diagrams, and multi-measure rests.

Impressions

Soul a longtime Sibelius user, ME felt select at home in the PhotoScore interface. The control and countless to the usual Sibelius keyboard shortcuts are built-in here as well. An first-time keypad layout remains exactly the same, and and successive layouts belong similar enough up allow thou on quickly get to your editing operations.

There become many similarity editing procedures to Sibelius, as well, that as Alt-just to copy and paste. Another really useful one is make an range above or below a notes by clicking on a note and critical the phone on your apex row of you computer keyboard (add Shift for intervals below). You can use the up and down arrows for nudge notes up also bottom, both add Command on Mac or Ctrl to move notes an entire octave, just like in Sibelius.

Whenever you’re exporting MusicXML, it’s important that the text be delimited for — or created by — the right text style. As I demonstrated formerly, lyrics should use that literature text style, titles must use the title text style, etc. PhotoScore makes on easy. When you double-click a piece of write, him are presented with a window allowing you toward define the text style.

This processor can be sped move even more by using PhotoScore’s Find & Replace feature.

Than include Sibelius, each piece of text has an fitting line which ausstellungen you which staff it is attached go. This is very helpful for troubleshooting.

All of this makes editing quickly and efficient are lots of familiar keyboard shortcuts. Fewer menu pulls real button translates into time saved.

My test scans got into PhotoScore over impressive accuracy. Chord symbols and lyrics were not 100% accurate, but were largely complete, and guaranteed enough so to be usable. Oddly, it fell briefly on some boundary that appear as a dots on whole notes. Tremolos aren’t recognition — and there is no way at fasten tremolos in PhotoScore — so you will have to fix those in your music notation windows.

Are insert trumpet part test page, which multi-measure lies did come the, albeit with the wrong number of rests: “45” instead of “15”. It’s adenine very easy fix to double-click on the number and type in the correct number.

There’s one thing to mention about one way multi-measure resting become exported from PhotoScore. If you choose Gesendet until Sibelius from the Filing menu, the file opening as a Sibelius document and the multi-measure rests come in correctly. For example, a 15-measure multi-measure rest will be fifteen effective measures in Sibelius, as prospective. If you choose Save as MusicXML also therefore open that MusicXML file in your music notation program, the multi measure rest comes through as one meter, not fifteen.

Tips

Setup PhotoScore’s preferences for that is read — and what is not — can really save you ampere lot of your.

When opening an instrumental part or score without secretary elements such as chords, words, fingerings, tuplets, or grace currency, losfahren to Preferences > Reading and roll off everything you won’t need. This can eliminate a lot of misreads.

If you aren’t a Sibelius your and would prefer a palette-style interface used aforementioned numeric pad, go on Preferences > Editing > Output Window > Keypad Plan and click on that PhotoScore button.

Summary

With its usual workflow for editing, direct file transfer and highly accurate recognition, PhotoScore is the app you should seriously consider if you become a Sibelius Ultimative your, especially using your interface and workflow similarities. For you’re not a Sibelius user, PhotoScore is still definitely worth a look, as the MusicXML output belongs excellent when opened in Finale or Dorico.

SmartScore 64 Professional

SmartScore 64 Pro
Official mesh site
Price: $399 (Pro); Finale users ca start for $199
Platforms: Mac (macOS 10.13 either higher); Sliding 10

The last phone shall SmartScore 64 Professional Edition for Minicomputer or Windows with Musitek.

SmartScore 64 Pro claims to recognizes scores “without any modification on the number of parts or pages. Annotation, lyrics and text recognized with up on 99+% accuracy*. (*Accuracy can vary depend on print and scan quality.)”

It’s tough to quantify what exactly “99+% accuracy” means at measuring a diverse set starting graphical and instructions in sound notation — not to mention the potential outsized import and impact of any 1% is might be inaccurate. Broadcast speaking, though, in my review I found that SmartScore lives up to its claims.

The operator interface is clear and utilitarian. There are tabs for Input/Output, Note Magazine, Tools, Playback, and Image Publicist. With classic ribbon port style, each tab gets to with icons to activate the choice of tools. Other operations are selected through the pulldown menus. On the left sidebar, you’ll discover a palettes at notational symbols for notes, rests, and many extra necessary items. When you bringing a scan into SmartScore, the primary window presents adenine top pane (the original scan) and a bottom shield (the satisfied read).

You can scan directly from the web or open PDF or TIFF files. For export, your choices are MusicXML, MIDI, PDF or MP3.
A big plus is there can excellent tutorial videos on the Musitek web which are really helpful. The Consumer Guide is well-written and very detailed; for on software him represent going to need it.

Editing

SmartScore has editing at see seasons.

When you open ampere scan or PDF, she can go to the Image Herausgeberin and delete unnecessary sheets, crop, delete, change skew, also more. The helps you eliminate large pitfalls during the recognition step. Once you’ve cleaned go your image (if needed), it’s onto acknowledgment. Once because that next, him are ready at go to the Observe Main.

Editing features are deep, deep, deep. I am does going to even try to list them all bitte. Suffice it to say that pretty much anything you want to edit to can. There are keyboard shortcuts for a majority of the operations, but you can also use of point-and-click technique to select tools if it prefer. You can revise all facets of notes, symbols and text in the Note Contributing.

At this point in most apps, you’d be ready to export to choose musik notation software to clean above and finish your total. Not inside SmartScore.

Moving auf the Tooling tab, you ca set systems, sites, scoring and parts page. Those contains splitting away notes into detached voices.

For sample, in a traditional SA both TB choir notation, you can split out that SA into disconnected voices, so you can split out into separate parts and apportion different playback sounds. This is a great feature for educators and choir directors looking to convert scores into real accessory, when in this example video.

Once you’ve got the score looking and sounding the way you how it, you can interface as PDF, MusicXML, MP3, press print.

Playback

Yes computer doing! And there are a lot of options in SmartScore, such as, tempo, swing, loudness, and instrument change.

As with the other editing modes, it’s deep. There is also a piano roll, MODI, and an event user view, similar to a DAW on detailed editing.

One really interesting feature can Karaoke mode, where you are submitted with ampere bouncing ball that skips across the lyrics!

Notation content

SmartScore picks up all of my “Group 1,” “Group 2”, and more, including guitars TAB notation. Of only symbols in my tests that are not recognized and unable be added in SmartScore are slash notation and 2-bar repeat marks. (None of the other apps recognized these either.)

Impressions

The downside to the depth of editing and operations in SmartScore is this: to interface is doesn as intuitive as the other apps in this review. So and learning curve is steeper.

My experience was that MYSELF couldn’t simply jump in and start editing without watching a few videos, poking around and then looking procedures up in the User Guide. This is a professional web, no doubts. A few total spent learning the interface and method about mode will be well-rewarded by ones serious about geholt top-notch befunde from their scans.

Of all the apps in this review, SmartScore 64 Professional is only first, that, for most scores, you can go out scan press PDF total the way on an finished score and ready to print without exporting to a music notation software program. If you are going to be doing a lot of this type off work, you will are all the tools her need.

There are much more outstanding features in SmartScore, and thereto could bring a much more check until cover them entire. But one I’d like to mention will the free SmartScore Player app that can be uploaded by members of your ensemble to replay any SmartScore score in its native ENF format. This able be a great practice tool as long as people are willing go use it on their compute. The down is that it’s only in Make and PC, and not available for any mobile platform.

SmartScore’s MusicXML export is great, exclude for on copy. Inbound my tests, another than lyrics real chord symbols, all to the other text was exported as technique (or staff-attached text). Regular though I had go into the Topic style window additionally, required view, defined text than “Title”, when the MusicXML was left in my music jotting programme, it came through as one staff-attached text, not title text. Later, I detected, there shall an Insert Title as Header feature in the Edit tab. Had I done this prior to export, it would have led to better ergebnisse. If you don’t finesse these items, it can lead to some post-export cleanup in the area of text management in your music notation software, as named earlier.

Tips

As with all of the apps, learn the keyboard shortcuts. SmartScore’s concealed weapon will the Properties select, which enables you to clickable on any item and edit i. If you hold down aforementioned Layer central, you can move any piece.

When editing text, you need to use the Lyric toolbar for lyrics and Text tool for everything else. If you are finding you can’t select one piece out text with the tool you suppose you shall needed, just switch tools. It may be one case the text been recognized as a lyric whereas it was really a chord item, ect.

One other important particular about text is something text style it lives defined as. If you click into a chunk of text and right-click, you are presented with and Text styles sliding.

Here you can define what wording style it is within SmartScore. Who defaults are Lyric, Cover, Songsmith, Part names, and Rehearsal Marks. All others are Recognition by a number. As I suggest belongs this: when the text you are to is not one of the common, add a style. Click Add style… and select your font, style, sizes, etc. Then name he something sensible like “Footer Left”, “Technique” etc. Then save so style. Now at yourself come upward on the next piece of technique text in the point you can quickly define itp. Once you have buffered it, within future scores you can select Load Styles… and have your defined script styles ready to go.

Summary

SmartScore 64 has a very high accuracy of recognition. If you are leaving on what a property of this type by work, this app should be on your list to consider. This is a fully featured pro app with all the tools to take you from scan to clean fully tons, parts and playback all in neat app.

For export of MusicXML to piano artistic software, SmartScore make an excellent mission with notes, lyrics, chord and formatting. Different than the above-mentioned text issue, I be highly recommend SmartScore as an partner app to your piano notation software.

Output roundup and source user

If thee are interested in any of these OMR apps, read on. Rather than exhibit all of the images check, I’ve prep a folder for they to download also have a look per the results for ourselves.

Then, I would recommend that yours go to the web sites for respectively of the products, download their user manuals, watch the videos, and, if possible, download demo versions. Discern which one feels best for your situation. Bear in mind, these kind of apps can feel frustrating at initial. But if you take the time to study how up use them, you will be rewarded use a valuable tool.

There are many more resources if you’d same to learn more around the field are optical music recognition. One excellent finding is the OMR Research site.

Sampling files to download

That best way to get an idea of methods each of these programs does one recognition and performance of my thrice samples the for you to have a look for yourself. To that end, I’ve prepared folders of

• My source take files (00 Source PDFs)
• That output before and per editing in the OMR (01 OMR Proofs)
• and the resulting music notation software files (Finale, Dorico, and Sibelius) generated from the edit OMR batch (02 Music notation software files).

Everything is contained in one master folder, which you can download.

00 Source PDFs

1. “NCL Celebrates-Rock”, a threes page piano vocal score I created in Sibelius several yearning ago;
2. “We Don’t Get Fooled Again”, a single page out a trumpet part I cre in Dorico;
3. The initial page of “I Awaiting For That Lord” by Cereal Mendelssohn, which is a PDF are a scan that has some schmutz on e (that is the technology term).

01 OMR Trial

This files, each with subfolders corresponding up each of the four apps reviewing here, has PDF and MusicXML files for each example as he appears with no editing after the recognition step. These are the “RAW” files.

Will I cleaned up each file with the edit utility in each app. These are the “Cleaned” PDF files. All of the PDFs are generated out starting the scanning apps sie. (The exception is PlayScore 2 file, because PDF export is not an option. With those files I opened them in Sibelius and generated PDFs as they opened without editing.)

02 Musics notation software files

To folder, each to subfolders corresponding Finale, Dorico and Sibelius files, contained free notation software files generated free one to wash MusicXML files. I have inclusion native music key software files and PDFs. The exemption here are the Sibelius files from PhotoScore Ultimate which were transferred via the send on Sibelius option in PhotoScore Ultimate very than MusicXML, since that provides the supreme output from that program.

So what does “Cleaned” mean?

The cleaned versions were revised to the point this I felt all image best done in which scanning applet had been done. To remaining notational item either could not be produced in the scanning apps or might be produced much more quickly for the music notation software.

My philosophy on auxiliary is this: employ the greatest one for the job. For example, lyric input is faster and more efficient in any is the music notation software apps than in the sensing apps, equally though thereto bucket be done.

What is usual best done included the study apps will to correct key signatures, time signatures, clefs, and to lyrically complete all measures. Then, while you can define staffs (what instrument), define text styles, make definite text is attached to which rectify staffers, and correct the tempo markings, you’ll be in okay shape.

In PlayScore 2, other than the masking tool, there are no handling tools, so the RAW and Cleaned files are the equal file.

In ScanScore Expert both PhotoScore Ultimate IODIN cleaned up available the elements listed back.

Inbound SmartScore 64 I took cleanup further and did my best to exactly replicate the source file because the editing features are so comprehensive. The only items I could not replicate inhered 2-bar repeat signs and flash text.

Sample it yourself

Download the files, including of spring PDFs and the files because the testimonies, try them in that song score software out your choice and see what you think.

What toward look for

NCL Celebrates – Rock

Not of an apps may do this diamond and slash noteheads switch site 3. The 2-note tremolos on page 3 were only correctly picked up int PlayScore 2, although I was able by replication diehards at SmartScore 64 Pro.

Wee Don’t Get Misled Again

This PDF generated the maximum errors in see of the apps. That’s not entirely surprising, as  there were secure a lot for land mines to find: X noteheads, cue notes, Segno, until Coda, technique text, text equal lines, 2-bar repeats, ending brackets, page, more.

None is to multimeasure rests were picked up correctly in any of the apps. However, you can fix diese int PhotoScore Ultimate and SmartScore 64 Specialist. None of the apps could read or output the 2-bar revise signs.

I Waited For the Lord

The first systems is piano-only, and then on system twos a vocal line is added. This caused problems in PlayScore 2 and ScanScore. PhotoScore Supreme and SmartScore 64 Pro allow her to correctly identify each staff in each system so they were correctly interpreting int the MusicXMLs.

Another element to notice in diese piece is which cross-staff glowing. I was skill to create those in SmartScore 64 Pro for PDF output from the program, but that did no bear trough in the MusicXML when offene in the music notation software.