Searching for software...

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:36 am

Hey all,

I am searching for software that can import scanned music into notation, then transpose that music, and re-print it.

Specifically, I have a large body of euphonium parts that are bass-clef only, and would like to have a treble part too, though I am not going to write it out manually.

As I am sure many of you have had experience with notation software--any advice? I don't particularly need any other features--honestly just the program with the most accurate scan-reading would be great!

ubq · Post by **ubq** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:05 am

Sibelius 4 can do it !!

Regards

BVD Press · Post by **BVD Press** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:09 am

Sibelius does the same thing, but like Finale it is not perfect.

A couple of suggestions:

1. You could enter the music into Sibelius, Finale or other programs manually and then press button.
2. You could also hire someone to do it for you.
3. You could contact the publisher and ask for treble parts. If it is a smaller publisher, most will be willing to do it for you. If you happen to have any from Cimarron, contact me off the list and I can get parts out to you.
4. Or you could learn to read the other clef. A pain, but it might save all of the trouble above!

Good luck,

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:35 am

Its not for me. I can read both.

Its for a reading session for the Army Band Tuba-Euph conference.

The books as they stand have very few treble parts in them. As I started on treble clef, and for a time could not read bass, I feel for the few people in the reading sessions that basically have little to do--they have to just sit there for the bass-only pieces.

So, I am looking for a quick solution. I have no problem scanning, transposing, and reprinting--if its that easy. However, for a once-a-year 45 minute event, I will not invest the time to manually transpose 40-some tunes (and 2 or 3 parts each). It only impacts a handful of euphers each year.

I am sure the band's arrangers have Finale or Sibelius, or both, so I'll take a page back there and see what happens.

Thanks!

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:37 am

Another question here--will any of these programs (Finale, Sibelius) accept PDFs and notate those? All of these pieces are already scanned in .pdf format.

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:48 am

I am very proficient with the scanning functions of Sibelius and Photoscore. What you are wanting to do would take me roughly 30 minutes per page (5 to scan, 20 to clean up, 5 to transpose and print). Which is maybe a bit quicker than re-entering it from scratch. I don't think it is cost effective considering the cost of the software, ($500 to $700). Sibelius/Photoscore will import PDF's but even then the scanning fuction is not 100% accurate. The quality of the scan is of prime importance. They must be between 200 and 400 dpi. If you are scanning anything but pristine new parts, forget it. Scanning copied music is futile.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:34 pm

By far, the best scanning software I've ever used isn't the stuff that comes with Finale or Sibelius.

This outfit has a very good product--and it's got a 30-day free trial period:

http://www.visiv.co.uk/

Why not try it out and tell us what you think of it?

ger · Post by **ger** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:25 pm

Smartscore, www.musitek.com.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:58 pm

It seems that just about every vendor has a demo version of their software, so allow me to propose a simple test for accuracy:

http://www.sydex.com/images/Kreisler_VM.tif

Will get you a sample to feed to your favorite music recognition software. The image itself is public domain and is fairly representative of hand-engraved music and is very clean without flyspecks or pencil markings.

How does your recognition software stack up?

Did it get the title right?
Did it pick up all of the slurs and ties?
How about accidentals? Note that the third bar on the second line has a grace note with an accidental, which means that the note following it is a "B" not a "B flat".
How about grace notes?
Bowing markings?
Dynamic markings?
Expression/technique notation, such as "con calore"?
Do all measures have exactly three beats in them?
How about the copyright and publisher's name down at the bottom of the page?

I'm very curious about what folks will discover...

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 5:18 pm

knuxie wrote:The only way Finale will scan PDFs is if you print them out and then scan them. Electronically, no.

Ken F.

Get yourself a copy of Ghostscript with gsview front end:

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/

On the gsview "Files" menu, you'll notice a "Convert" option. Simply select "tiffpack" from the choices and the page(s) you'd like converted and you can change just about any PDF to a TIFF (which is the image type I posted).

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 2:11 pm

Welp, thank you all for the advice!

I have tried some demo versions of the software mentioned, and had NO success of coming up with anything that even looks like the original part.

The finale demo takes one page of music, 35 measures, and condenses that into two measures of rest....

SmartScore demo simply has an error after the music is scanned and I press the button for it to convert the scan to notation. It cannot read the .tif

I will investigate a bit more, and ask our arrangers. As it is, I won't be doing this project unless something quick and easy presents itself.