Concert pitch PDF file conversion to Bb?

[Todd S. Malicoate]

[Schedonnardus]

Muse Score is free. I don't believe it has OCR, but i have used it to manually type a part in and then transpose, change key, etc.

http://musescore.org/

[PMeuph]

Actually, both Finale and Sibelius are over $600 these days. (Just piling on like Todd. We are good for that, as you probably know.)

And Sibelius' OCR software, Photoscore Ultimate, is an extra $250.

($300 is the educational pricing (for both students and faculty))

________
The times I have had to write out jazz standards, I have taken a stack of paper, divided all staves in 4 and worked with a pencil. With that method, a chart can be done pretty quickly. Using a pencil also makes it real easy to write in any chords and not have to fuss for some of the more complex symbols.

[imperialbari]

Actually, I think there is a watered down version called Sibelius First that could do it for @ $100.
Just so you know I COULD do it....

Maybe Sibelius Second would do. It has its own thread on the main board right now.

[Dan Schultz]

If you want scanning capabilities combined with a descent notation program... I use Finale 'Print Music'. It's the 'middle-of-the-road' version of Finale. It comes with a workable but limited scanning program that's capable of reading a single part OK. The 'twist' is that you'll also need a descent scanner... one that DOES NOT use 'dithering'. You can scan in a part but need to be prepared to make edits, especially a part that has many meter and key changes. Once you have the part imported into 'Print Music', it's a simply matter to move it to any key and/or octave you want.

That being said... I've often found it easier to just key in the part from scratch exactly like it's written and then do the transpositions.

I understand that the professional-level versions of notation software can do the job better... but they are expensive and the learning curve is hardly worth the effort for doing just an occasional part transposition.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Actually, I was quite serious. Lead sheets are quite easy to simply "write-out" in the new key as PM said earlier. Staff paper is available to print from the internet for free, and pencils are cheap.

As for a program that can input a pdf, recognize it as music, then change the key and output a pdf in the new key...no way, Jose. Finale and Sibelius won't do that, either. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure from your OP that you're not interested in buying either a sophisticated notation program or a scanner.

Todd S. "not sure how we got from pdf to scanning in a document" Malicoate

[Dan Schultz]

..... As for a program that can input a pdf, recognize it as music, then change the key and output a pdf in the new key...no way, Jose. Finale and Sibelius won't do that, either. ....

SmartScore Pro WILL import a .pdf.

And... it's on sale for $199. Of course... you'll have to buy a compatible version of Finale, too!

Still... not worth the investment if you only need to transpose a few lead sheets.

[MikeW]

If you are dealing with a sheet that has been scanned and stored in a pdf file, then all you have is a picture of the sheet, and you have to use OCR.

If you are looking at a PDF file exported by a score editor, it will probably be a text file, written using a music font. For this kind of file you could try PDFtoMusic from Myriad software ($49, or $199 for the pro version that also supports MusicXML format).

This stuff is crazy cheap : $49 for the PDFtoMusic ( $199 for the pro version that also handles Music XML formt), and $25 for the Melody Assistant score editor (or $85 for Harmony assistant if you want all the bloat-ware for fuzz, echo, wah-wah etc.) If your pdf files are the scanned sort, you might get some mileage out of Omer ($25 OCR) subject to the usual reservations about clean, printed copies (not hand written). I think you have to print a hard copy, then scan it back in.

Take a look at the link, and try the free trials (which can't save your work - bummer)

http://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/index.htm

[Todd S. Malicoate]

..... As for a program that can input a pdf, recognize it as music, then change the key and output a pdf in the new key...no way, Jose. Finale and Sibelius won't do that, either. ....

SmartScore Pro WILL import a .pdf.

And... it's on sale for $199. Of course... you'll have to buy a compatible version of Finale, too!

Still... not worth the investment if you only need to transpose a few lead sheets.

*sigh*

Ok, sorry. I should have specified that there's not a FREE program that can input a pdf, recognize it as music, then change the key and output a pdf in the new key. That's what the OP asked for, and somehow we got to expensive programs and scanners.

If you are dealing with a sheet that has been scanned and stored in a pdf file, then all you have is a picture of the sheet, and you have to use OCR.

If you are looking at a PDF file exported by a score editor, it will probably be a text file, written using a music font. For this kind of file you could try PDFtoMusic from Myriad software ($49, or $199 for the pro version that also supports MusicXML format).

In this particular instance, the OP definitely has the former.

[MaryAnn]

Another answer you won't like....tuba players will know at least two sets of fingerings (C,F or BBb,Eb) and many will know more than that. Horn players transpose all over the place all the time. People with perfect pitch often end up being able to read a moveable clef, because they play by pitch and not by fingering.
Tell your trumpet player to get off his arse and just learn to do it; it won't be the last time he encounters this, and the work will pay off in the future.
MA

[David Richoux]

I have seen a system of chord notation that uses a series of boxes to represent each measure. The box can be divided into sections with the chord symbol written in each quadrant, if different. If the chord is held a dot is used. There is more to it than what I just wrote, but here are a few examples.

[tbn.al]

[/quote] Wade said, I keep testing my scanning software when it is updated. When it becomes something useful I will trumpet it from the rooftops. Until then I still do it all in Simple Entry (the slowest method, but I am quite fast at it after nearly two decades of only working this way).
[/quote]

Time spent is the denominator. I do a lot of changing/adjusting scores to meet our instrumentation requirements and the choir director likes to have a finished full score incorporating the changes when he conducts. This requires hours and hours to input. It also requires hours and hours to correct the scanned in score. I use a high quality scanner, Sibelius pro with photoscore($600), and the latest version of acrobat for .pdfs. For a typical church anthem with choir, piano and full orchestra I will spend 1 hour scanning, 10 hours correcting errors and a couple of hours reorchestrating. Usually this cuts my entry time in half for a good quality score. If I have a poor score or an engraved one, you can double or triple the time involved. It's a good thing I don't make a living doing this.

By the way Wade, spent 2 hours with my quintet out of your Christmas book last night. Good stuff! Really good stuff! Thanks a million. We're at the mall Saturday.