Hi,

I mostly wanted to know if any of you are using Scan Score. Finale has dropped scanning.

I just downloaded the free version of Sibelius and like all Avid products you can use ILOCK....which I dislike. I have one...think Pro Tools

I downloaded a trial version of Scan Score but it would not let me save a file as midi. That was what I was mostly after.

Thanks,


Billy

Hi,
I'm using ScanSCore. Mostly only melody, sometimes with harmony or even 2 harmony systems.For me, it works good enough. Input is scanner or PDF. I export music xml, then import to EasyABC (an abc notation tool, free, a litte tricky to install). There I do the fine work. It has a good export function (midi, pdf, xml).
I don't remember the last time I exported direct to midi, so I can't really say something to this feature. I'm using Version 2.5.3

maybe this helps a little
Wolfgang

Thanks Wolfgane,

I went ahead and got the program. It is not very expensive and has worked well on PDF's. I will try to scan some sheet music today. I also wonder if it can read handwritten sheet music.



Thanks,

Billy

One of my scanning programs balks at anything that was not professionally published. Another will only read scores produced by the more popular music notation programs. Another reads only PDFs. That’s why I have several.

All of them produce errors. None reads hand-written music (although Presonus Notion 6 will do so on an iPad with Apple Pencil).

Best tip: make sure the paper is precisely aligned in the scanner; place it on the scanner platter yourself and don’t use the sheet feeder.

Thanks Matt,

I guess this is better than transcribing everything by hand and playing everything live...perhaps...lol

Cheers,

Billy

Usually I would say Yes. If you’re working with an old score with crumples and pencil marks, then no.

Another limitation on versions of music scanning software is the number of staves your music is allowed to have. Pay more for more staves.

I've been seeing a lot of YouTube ads recently for Scan Score. I've tried d/l'ing their demo but haven't had any luck running it. On startup it asks for a provided license key, and Scan Score didn't provide one, in an email or anything else I can see. I even contacted them about this, but still no response.

For the past few years I've been using Neuratron Photoscore and NotateMe. It works okay. Even with a clear pdf it will generate transcription errors, so I often spend a good deal of time correcting them in the score itself. But it works, which is why I keep using it. MuseScore is supposed to have this feature, but from what I understand, even though it supposedly has it, it hasn't been fully addressed yet. There's another product out there called SmartScore X, which has a slick interface, but I can't get it to work at all. It reads in the files just fine, but then generates totally unusable garbage. Maybe I have something set wrong, but I've looked and I don't know what it might be.

Hi Michael,

I found their demo worked for me but did not have the functionally I needed.

I bought the software and it has performed as expected. It was pretty cheap, $40.

It makes less mistakes reading notation than I do....lol

Chears,

Billy

Hey Billy, what sort of functionality do you need? Me, I need something that will transcribe symphonic scores. In other words, lots and lots of staves. Will Scan Score do this?

It would also be really nice if the program could read in numbers of measures with rests, so everything stays lined up. In symphonic transcriptions, often you'll find sections of the score that are truncated because some of the instruments are laying out, so they aren't even shown. This plays hell with the transcribing software, though, cuz it gets everything out of alignment. Full scores, where the instruments are fully shown, cost a lot, and aren't that easy to find.

Came across a product called PlayScore.

https://www.playscore.co/

Apparently they have a "light" version that may be cost effective.

LLOYD S

Hi Michael,

My needs are pretty simple. Single instrument transcription too midi.

Scan Score has a Professional version which cost about $200 dollars. It will read multiple staves. How many, I don't know. What other issues you may find with rest and such I also don't know.

It can be used with a smartphone app to photograph scores. It can export both XML and Midi files that notation programs can read.

Here is a link to a site for info about several of the current scanning programs.https://www.musicrepo.com/music-scanning-software/

Cheers,

Billy

Edit: There is something called Photo Score. It says it can read up to 64 staves. I also says it can read hand written music. It cost 400 euros in Germany.

Photo Score? Thanks, that one is news to me.

After looking at some reviews, it looked like a pretty iffie program.

I understand the demo is nothing like the real program and the reviews were based in the demo but....

I have not tried it.

Cheers,

Billy

Scan-Score probably the best software. If you just want your computer to scan the sheet, I use it. I think the light version is free, but I’m sure it’s very limited.

Related, I'll just mention that the best way to get music is to find a Music XML version of it. Second best is a MIDI file of it. Placing behind both of those are the various scanners discussed so far, because you will have to correct errors manually.

As I mentioned above, I have several scanning programs, and I don't really need them; for sixty years I've been transcribing music for those who could not. Made good money from it. But if I had to buy just one program, this week it would be ScanScore Professional.

I use SmartScore light 10 that came with my old (but still fine for my needs) Finale 2014.5. If I prepare the TIFs well, the program sometimes produces surprisingly good results, even with more unusual notation character sets. Not with handwritten notes, though. But I read with it almost exclusively only single staves and all extras, articulations, chord names are almost never recognized correctly.

I concur with Brille. The thing I find most odd is that there are more problems with text in a scan than with notes. The dynamic markings, song title, composer, section rehearsal letters etc. are often unusable. With all the text scanning technology out there for many years, you might think the results for text would be better than for notation.

After I had already written a few lines about my old SmartScore version 10 Lite in this thread here, I have now afforded the current version Smartscore 64, in the version "Guitar". I must say, I am very impressed how well the program reads notes, even those with somewhat more exotic character sets. There are trial versions of Smartscore without the ability to save. I can really recommend to give it a try.

Years ago (probably late 1990s) I used an app to scan music to MIDI. I don't remember what it was called.

I remember it scanning the notes and making a MIDI file that was fairly but not completely accurate.

What I disliked was that it scanned every note with the same velocity (80) and put every note exactly on the grid, which made the output very robotic.

I worked to put expression back into the music by manipulating timing, velocity, and continuous controllers, and that was very time-consuming. Ultimately, I found it less time-consuming to play the notes in using a wind or keyboard MIDI controller.

Have the scan to MIDI apps improved any since then?

If so I have tons of music I could scan.

Insights and incites by Notes

On the timing, since that's not visually apparent (if I'm understanding your question), I would say No. Some will make a guess at Rit. but it usually needs adjustment.

But on the velocity, since they can read and interpret dynamic markings, ff, cresc. etc., I would say Yes. Of course, what that means is often adjustable in the notation program itself. You choose what pp means, what p means, etc. in the notation playback settings once you've imported the scan as Music XML.

Plus, the overall accuracy is much greater = fewer manual corrections needed. As my post way above stated, some read only PDFs, some read only published scores printed by Finale or Sibelius, and some can even read hand-written notation although I rarely try that. Text seems to still be weaker by comparison.

Bob, you should give the demo version of "SmartScore 64 MIDI" a try. There you can change the parameters of all detected notes with the typical handles or on a piano roll with parameter tables.

Thanks, Matt and Brille.

Is the PlayScore App a good one? Anybody used it?

I've never heard of this. Not to say it might not be good. Is that for Mac? Windows? Both? iOS?

I use ScanScore both on my phone and tablet and I like it. The app is simple and easy to use and offers lots of features. And it is perfect for beginners and experienced musicians. I forgot when I wrote the notes down with a pencil for the last time, I use only this tool to make edits and corrections to my scores.