|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
With all the musical experts here I figure someone will be able to help me out with this.
I have a .pdf file with a transcription in the bass clef.
Can BIAB or another program somehow get that .pdf transcription into the treble clef where I am much more comfortable reading it?
I'm a guitarist and so we have no problem reading lines in the treble clef that actually sound an octave lower when played.
Obviously I'm trying to avoid inputting all of the notes by hand, which would take a mammoth effort on my part.
TIA
BIABguy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,564
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,564 |
I used to have sheet music scanning programs years ago. I don't use them anymore, and haven't kept up with their capabilities, but how about printing your PDF and then scanning it into one of those programs? Once you get the data into MIDI, you can transpose it. EDIT: just took a look at SmartScore, the program I used to use. It reads PDF files. Check out http://www.musitek.com/?gclid=CO_szqzInJoCFQSwFQod-S_e9Q
Last edited by Matt Finley; 05/01/09 07:19 PM.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 28
Enthusiast
|
|
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 28 |
I have used "Finale Print Music" which will read scanned music. It worked well for me. Sorry I didn't get a link for you. Just google "Finale Print Music". As I recall it is fairly inexpensive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333 |
Learning bass clef is easy. Takes a few hours if you can read treble clef.
However another solution involves a ruler a pencil and white out.
You draw a iine below the bottom one. And white out the top one. For me I just imagine the line is there. Optical delusion.
John Conley
Musica est vita
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,439
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,439 |
For reading scanned music check out SharpEye ( http://www.visiv.co.uk/ ) - IIRC this is the engine that Finale uses
--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya  --=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 622
Journeyman
|
|
Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 622 |
Or play an alto sax, and read like it's concert !!
Jan - 12 Core AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
32GB DDR4
Win 10 64-bit
Samsung m.2 SSD Boot drive,other SSD internal and USB drives.
MOTO 2
Ketron SD90
Aerophone AE-30, Yamaha WX-7
Yamaha RX-v381amp
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502 |
Quote:
You draw a iine below the bottom one. And white out the top one. For me I just imagine the line is there. Optical delusion.
Pay attention to John on this one, it is easier than it sounds...
And doesn't cost a cent.
I also suggest a dab of the white-out over the bass clef and draw in a treble clef.
--Mac
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
Quote:
Learning bass clef is easy. Takes a few hours if you can read treble clef.
However another solution involves a ruler a pencil and white out.
You draw a iine below the bottom one. And white out the top one. For me I just imagine the line is there. Optical delusion.
Thanks!
Oh I can read in the bass clef, but ten times slower than the treble clef!
As for drawing a line below the bottom one, no sweat.
Whiting out the top one is a big problem however. Lots of note activity there throughout the solo.
That means big problems where the notes occur on/around the top line.
BIABguy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
Quote:
For reading scanned music check out SharpEye ( http://www.visiv.co.uk/ ) - IIRC this is the engine that Finale uses
Thanks!
Yeah I had a feeling this might be suggested. I guess I'll have a look and see if I can dust off my copy from years ago and get it working again.
I just thought that perhaps there was software around that could take an existing .pdf file, read it into the program, and translate it into midi.
BIABguy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
I'm not sure why, but my old SharpEye 1.0 and 2.0 which used to be extremely accurate in its note recognition is giving extremely poor (unusable) results with this .pdf file that I scanned.
The .pdf printout is excellent quality.
BIABguy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,564
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,564 |
As I mentioned, I don't use the scanner notation-reading software anymore. It used to make too many errors, and I could write it myself faster than finding and fixing errors. However, did you see my edit, in which I gave you a link for software that reads the PDF file directly, without printing anything?
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,439
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,439 |
Quote:
I'm not sure why, but my old SharpEye 1.0 and 2.0 which used to be extremely accurate in its note recognition is giving extremely poor (unusable) results with this .pdf file that I scanned.
The .pdf printout is excellent quality.
Make sure the scan is in monochrome and NOT greyscale or colour. Makes the image file smaller and gives greater contrast making the reading process easier and thus less prone to error.
--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya --=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
Quote:
As I mentioned, I don't use the scanner notation-reading software anymore. It used to make too many errors, and I could write it myself faster than finding and fixing errors. However, did you see my edit, in which I gave you a link for software that reads the PDF file directly, without printing anything?
Yeah thanks Matt, I caught that. This is a one off thing, so I'm not sure it's cost-effective to buy that software.
BIABguy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
Quote:
Quote:
I'm not sure why, but my old SharpEye 1.0 and 2.0 which used to be extremely accurate in its note recognition is giving extremely poor (unusable) results with this .pdf file that I scanned.
The .pdf printout is excellent quality.
Make sure the scan is in monochrome and NOT greyscale or colour. Makes the image file smaller and gives greater contrast making the reading process easier and thus less prone to error.
Thanks Lawrie. I did have it in monochrome but the results as I mentioned were very poor.
I remember using the software a few years ago with some piano music and the results were excellent.
BIABguy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
Quote:
Learning bass clef is easy. Takes a few hours if you can read treble clef.
However another solution involves a ruler a pencil and white out.
You draw a iine below the bottom one. And white out the top one. For me I just imagine the line is there. Optical delusion.
Well I've taken a stab at John's suggestion, a variation of it.
I used a scan (.bmp) of the first page and brought it into Paint.Net software.
From there I followed your advice about deleting the top line and adding a line to the bottom.
A bit time-consuming but the result is pretty decent-looking. Still faster than re-writing everything by hand.
The only weird thing is that the resulting image is slightly smaller than the original.
When my printing options pop up before the page is printed, I'm shown 'photo settings' because Paint.Net is a photo editing software. But I still don't see why the image size is reduced.
BIABguy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333 |
It might be due to the fact no Ontario hockey teams are going to win the Stanley cup. Don Cherry will tell you it's due to Russians all getting the nod for the Hart.
At the end of the day, Band in a Box is not a note scanning piece of software.
What song do you want, 10's of thousands are already somewhere, ready to go.
The ones missing might be tonight's show with Elvis Costello, Elton John, and Diana Krall where she sits at the piano and plays a hot version of OP's rendition on Night Train, and used some chords I don't remember OP using. And it was cool to hear her talk about going to his house and playing with him.
So give us the song and let's see who comes up with what solution. Lots of musical talent kick around the board here, use it.
John Conley
Musica est vita
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673
Journeyman
|
|
OP
Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 673 |
Quote:
It might be due to the fact no Ontario hockey teams are going to win the Stanley cup. Don Cherry will tell you it's due to Russians all getting the nod for the Hart.
At the end of the day, Band in a Box is not a note scanning piece of software.
What song do you want, 10's of thousands are already somewhere, ready to go....
So give us the song and let's see who comes up with what solution. Lots of musical talent kick around the board here, use it.
Love your sense of humour John! 
(That's humour with two u's, everybody notice!)
Unfortunately I'm one of those weirdos like Krall et al.
The piece I'm working on is Lennie Tristano's 'Line Up'.
The .pdf that I picked up yesterday, was from this site:
http://chnani.club.fr/ejma/lineup.pdf
If anyone here can get _that transcription (which is pretty accurate)
bumped into the treble clef, I'd be very grateful! 
That's bumped up to treble and then an octave higher (so it would fit for the guitar).
So the first note would be C, above B in the middle of the clef.
Last edited by BIABguy; 05/02/09 10:29 PM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,259
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,259 |
Entering notes can be a royal pain but is sometimes faster than trying to scan something in and correct the errors. I've learned to watch for repeating phrases and then copy and paste. I'm not familiar with much of the notation software, but I have no trouble with transposing with Sibelius. When I do a song in BIAB, in treble clef, I just transpose to whatever key I need, click on leadsheet view and print. I did buy a "pro" version of the scanning software used by Sibelius but, to me. it's faster to enter the stuff manually. It's lots easier to just play it in if you can. There's a tutorial for entering notes into biab using the computer keyboard for the rhythm and tempo and then manually move the notes to the correct spaces and lines. I've never tried it though. Seems there are lot's of ways to skin the same cat.
Stan
Cornet Curmudgeon
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
|
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 66
Enthusiast
|
|
Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 66 |
I have SmartScore. If the PDF is decent quality, send it on over and I'll have a go.
Stephanie
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until May 15, 2026. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Holiday Weekend Hours
As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:
April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
April 4 (Saturday): Closed
April 5 (Easter Sunday): Closed
April 6 (Easter Monday): Open regular hours
Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!
If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® users: Build 1237 is now available!
Already a Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows user? Stay up to date and download the build 1237 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
PowerTracks Pro 2026 for Windows is Here!
PowerTracks 2026 is here—bringing powerful new enhancements designed to make your production workflow faster, smoother, and more intuitive than ever.
The enhanced Mixer now shows Track Type and Instrument icons for instant track recognition, while a new grid option simplifies editing views. Non-floating windows adopt a modern title bar style, replacing the legacy blue bar.
The Master Volume is now applied at the end of the audio chain for consistent levels and full-signal master effects.
Tablature now includes a “Save bends when saving XML” option for improved compatibility with PG Music tools. Plus, you can instantly match all track heights with a simple Ctrl-release after resizing, and Add2 chords from MGU/SGU files are now fully supported... and more!
Get started today—first-time packages start at just $49.
Already using PowerTracks Pro Audio? Upgrade for as little as $29 and enjoy the latest improvements!
Order now!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums57
Topics86,174
Posts801,582
Members40,061
| |
Most Online64,515
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean