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Joined: Aug 2010
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Since I don't play piano all that well, I'm thinking of investing in some music scanning software to convert some sheet music to MIDI files. It looks like there are a few packages out there, including Neuratron PhotoScore (Mac and Win), Smartscore Pro (Mac and Win), and SharpEye (Win only, I think.) Anybody tried any of these packages? Are any better than the others? Worth the money?
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Have you tried googling the song to see if there is a midi file that already exist. they may not be the best, but from what i have heard scanning is difficult as well. Most of the time that type of twain based software makes a lot of mistakes.
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I used to have Smartscore and it scanned the music with "ok" results. I had to edit each page in several places and it is tedious work. I used the software on out-of-print, or hard to find sheet music which I could not find a compatible midi file for.
It will save a scanned a piece and let you save as a midi file. If you know how to read music, you will have better results reading, setting up repeats etc . . . In the end, I was saving the lead or melody notes only and importing them into a Biab created backing midi file. Took alot of work.
I find it is much easier to use the Biab notation editor to enter a lead, riff or specific solo part I can't figure out how to record live. It also helps if there is a Biab style suited for the specific song I am trying to make.
I don't use any scanning software now. I found that I can enter the parts quicker using Biab's notation editor.
Trax
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Never had any luck with that software. That said I gleaned over 20,000 'standard' songs in band in a box format. Then you can get files from Notes Norton, check out his stuff.
In order for the software to work you need a pristine copy, flat, no freckles and not to much extra notation. (Like the Mantooth standards with dual chords.)
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Hi
I have used Smartscore from the start,if you have the right scanner,if the sheetmusic is new and well printed,if the music is quite straight forward it does a excellent job but if like me i wanted to make midi files out of older ragtime sheetmusic i have given up,i have not used up all the ragtime midi files you find on the internet
regards Dave
Last edited by jazzband; 08/12/10 12:20 AM.
I always play the right notes but not always in the right order
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Joined: Oct 2008
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I guess I'm always looking for shortcuts. I've tried a couple of different music scanning programs. It took me so much time to edit the scans that I now just enter the stuff myself. I've used both Sibelius and BIAB notation. Right now each one takes me about the same amount of time. With Sibelius, I use copy and paste to save a lot of time. With BIAB, I use the qwerty keyboard and enter the notes in the correct rhythm and then move them to their correct places on the staff.
If you find scanning software that works well for you, good deal. One problem I've had is that some of the music does not fit on the scanning bed. Good luck!
Stan
Cornet Curmudgeon
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Quote:
One problem I've had is that some of the music does not fit on the scanning bed.
Stan
No kidding -- I wonder if music publishers settled on that slightly-larger size for virtually all sheet music and books, in part to discourage copying. It's particularly a pain if you're trying to scan music (sheet music you purchased, of course!) into a program like SmartScore -- which I bought but don't use that often, since even with clean source material, manually fixing any notes, rests, etc. that confused SmartScore is still a time-consuming business. Worth it only if for some reason you really want to hear (or start with) the tune played exactly as written and don't have the skills yourself, or a pianist friend who could just play the sheet music for capture into a sequencer or music notation program. It seems strange that publishers don't make this easier: right now I can go to one of several sellers of sheet music online, hear the audio of the sheet music being played (through the Sibelius Scorch plug in), then pay my money and download the music to my printer. But I don't think there is anyway that I can simply download the tune -- the music Sibelius/Scorch just played for me -- as midi. Seems a shame.
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I have had fairly good luck in finding midi files on the web and then modifying them to suit my needs. I have downloaded the sheet music just as you have, but I don't like then taking the time to enter it my hand. Sometimes though, it's the only solution. We have bought many fake books since they give the best value. We have bought Norton's fake book disks when available. Sure has saved us a lot of time even though we may have to enter the melody manually.
Stan
Cornet Curmudgeon
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I have a few of Norton's Fake Disks for Biab and they work great. Most songs in his Fake Disks use his custom styles he sells, but you can replace them with a Biab style. There are no melodies in the songs on his Fake Disks for Biab.
You can do a web search for Norton's Music and it should immediately pop up. You can browse his collection along with his free Biab fake disk songs. He usually adds a couple of free songs on his fake book song list on the right hand side of the page.
Good luck,
Trax
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Not all the styles that Norton uses are his own, at least from my experience. Allanah has also been a nice source for some songs that are not in the fake books we have. We just got Norton's Ultimate Broadway Fake Book disk and the book also. It has over 820 songs. Of course we will never use them all, but it's a great resource for us.
Stan
Cornet Curmudgeon
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I know this post is old, but wanted to see if anyone had updated suggestions. I've heard about Scanscore, and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on it (or any other software?)
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Just a suggestion: Once you get a hit on one of your posts, be sure to make a note in the others where you posted the same question that the thread is continuing in only one place. Otherwise, it will get confusing fast. Thanks.
I don't have much more information than I did several years ago, sorry. I have mentioned in the recent past a program called PDF to Music Pro, but it's quite expensive and only works on printed published scores (if that).
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