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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I am trying to decide whether to upgrade from BIAB 2013 to BIAB 2016, which has MUSX functionality. Will importing an MUSX Finale file into BIAB 2016 preserve the MUSX file's key signature, notes, lyrics and chords, allowing me to edit such file constituents in BIAB? If so, please indicate whether this file import and conversion process will be simple, as I can imagine possible hurdles one might encounter. For example, could I just import the MUSX file into BIAB, click on a leadsheet or fakebook icon to open up the imported file, and then get straight down to editing the sucker? Or would the process be more complex, and if so, potentially how much more complex?
TIA for any guidance anyone might offer here. Sorry if this query, is too open-ended, but I am unsure how to frame it more clearly. Best regards.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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easy2001, thanks for the post.
When you mention MUSX are you referring to Music-XML?
Support for this was added in 2016.
BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Assuming this is about Music XML, as Videotrack said, this is rather new. I and a few others did some experiments transferring files with mixed results, highly dependent on the particular software chosen.
As you must know, Music XML is capable of transferring key signatures, notes and chord symbols. I have not tried lyrics. I also have not tried Finale in recent years.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Easy2001 -
If you post a sample Finale file with the elements you are interested in somewhere, I'd be happy to give it a try. I have Finale 2014.5 (haven't upgraded to the new 64-bit version yet). I can then display the results on the forum.
Keep in mind, however, that BIAB won't import a bass track from Finale into the bass track of BIAB, nor any of the other accompaniment tracks, because those are generated by the selected style. You can import any of the 16 MIDI channels in your file to the melody or soloist track, however, and you can pare it down from there.
But yes, if you post a sample file, we can show you what the results would be. Or just send it to me at: sus4chord-at-gmail-dot-com (with the obvious substitutions).
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks for your responses. By MUSX files, I do indeed mean music XML files, which have the extension .musx. Thus, just as one might call a file with the .wav extension a WAV file, I used a similar shorthand. Sorry for the confusion here.
One point tthat surprised me on the BIAB forum was the positive reference to Finale in one post. A glance at the Amazon reviews for the full-featured version of Finale shows a reviewer average of two stars out of five for the software, with the far right column (of recent reviews) headed by one-star reviews.
While I myself bought the better reviewed, cheaper (Printmusic) version of Finale, when I tried to play a .musx file with it, I learned that Printmusic would have to modify the file in order to play it. Not what I had in mind. To add needed features to Printmusic, e.g., Garritan VST sounds, I would have to spend more money.
As someone new to Finale, I do not have the seeming contempt for the company that long-time Finale clients display, but I can only say that if BIAB users want a Finale clone, they might be careful what they wish for. That said, however, full .musx functionality for BIAB (at some time in the future?) would have the advantage of allowing access to both Finale- and Sibelius-generated .musx files.
BTW .musx is not the only option of this sort. One alternative is the .not files used in programs such as Notation Composer, a German product that strikes me as pretty good. The key point is that, with Sibelius orphaned, there is a lot to be said for going with .musx.
In any event, for now it seems that I have two ways to use my .musx files. Either buy Garritan VST software or manually reenter those files into some alternative software platform.
In any case, thanks again for your responses.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I may and probably am, missing something.
What do you hope to do with this file inside Biab?
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Reply to John:
Thanks for your kind offer to look over one of my .musx files. I shall have to think over possible ramifications here. My main problem is that I dislike it when one person treats another as if the latter's time has a marginal utility of zero, and I want to be sure that I would not be treating you this way.
Specifically, I want to be confident that even if your effort were successful, it would meet the objectives I have for my material. The key here might be for me to email you regarding those objectives, but as I say, I've gotta do some thinking here.
That said, thanks again for your kind offer.
Best regards.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Easy2001 -
Offer still stands; I just wanted to give you an idea of what BIAB2016 could do for you. It might help you make up your mind. It would only take me a few minutes to load the file (Finale can read PrintMusic files), convert to XML, and then load that XML into BIAB.
BTW, Sibelius isn't really orphaned, it just has a new development team; however, it is now sold under a subscription model (but many apps seem to be going that way). I've got Sibelius 7, but chose not to upgrade.
I've got PrintMusic also, but it's an older version (2011 or 2012, I think). I stopped upgrading PrintMusic when I went for the full Finale.
You might also want to try looking at PreSonus Notion (they just released version 6). It's not free, but it does support XML and you can assign VSTi's to different staffs (staves?) within Notion (it comes with a number of its own sounds, but you can use your own VSTi's to use external sounds).
You could also try MuseScore (it's free and supports MusicXML).
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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We should definitely try to find the exact combination of software to test. My experiments showed some problems introduced by the transfer.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks for your responses. By MUSX files, I do indeed mean music XML files, which have the extension .musx. Thus, just as one might call a file with the .wav extension a WAV file, I used a similar shorthand. Sorry for the confusion here.
Be aware that BiaB by default will try to look for a file with the .XML extension, and not .musx. You can change that though, and even use wildcards by setting a name of * or *.* in the Open File search filter.
BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi,
I googled "musx", and it appears to be the default file format for Finale 2014, not an XML file. Exporting the project from Finale as XML will likely be necessary before trying to open it in BIAB.
Thanks
Kent
PG Music
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Apologies for my original post are in order. My post asked what might be called a trick / stupid question about converting Finale musx files to BIAB xml files. In the movie, "My Cousin Vinny," there's a trick question about a car that never existed. My own question about musx Finale files was a stupid / trick question in a related sense. As explained on the Finale / MakeMusic forum: "musx is the file extension for Finale 2014. Not compatible with any other Finale product." In other words, no one (BIAB staff included) can be expected to convert Finale files in ways that even Finale itself cannot achieve. This point is discussed in the thread at: http://forum.makemusic.com/default.aspx?f=5&m=425101The bottom line is that PG Music cannot be expected to be compatible with any specific Finale software. So my question was stupid. As for alternative notation programs, see: http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/notational-alternatives-beyond-finale-and-sibelius/As regards more technical notation-software extension details, see: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/file-formats-0Researching this stuff, including downloading and playing with notation software in Linux, I learned more about such matters than I ever wanted to know. Sorry to have wasted others' time as well with an ultimately stupid question.
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Reply to jford and others regarding Finale / PrintMusic notation files:
Thanks for your many suggestions and offers of help. Please see my reply to Kent for an explanation of why my efforts here have in a way been stupid / misguided.
So far as I can tell, one Finale strategy for converting notation files from one format to another is to use SmartScore to create tif files, then convert the latter into Finale notation files. Another strategy is also discussed on the Finale users forum, so it is not as if I claim to have found some defect in Finale functionality here. But these are matters for the Finale, not the BIAB forum.
Just wanted to say thanks here for your forthcoming responses to my original question.
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I would not use a scanned TIF file for this purpose when I could go direct. SmartScore will introduce some errors. I would use exported MIDI if I didn't need the chord info, or exported Music XML if I did.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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Easy2001, the overwhelming majority of members on this forum would not consider any genuine question to be 'stupid'. Your question was absolutely reasonable, and as things progressed, the answers became clearer.
The inquiry was certainly not stupid by any stretch of the imagination.
Cheers
Trevor
BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
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