Klarinet Archive - Posting 000607.txt from 2010/09

From: Simon Aldrich <simonaldrich@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] Converting IMSLP files to midi format
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:28:45 -0400

Tom wrote: "Maybe if I would hookup my electric keyboard I could
speed the process up dramatically."

Note input via piano keyboard is indeed dramatically quicker than via
computer keyboard.

"But the whole notion of being able to scan an existing piece of
music, upload it, change the key signature, and making then only
needing to some minor alterations would be a dream come true."

That dream is frustratingly close!
I recently scanned the horn part of Franz Schrecker's Der Wind into
Finale, to transpose it for viola. The note recognition was very
accurate. Very few notes needed to be changed. Transposing the whole
thing and changing the clef took two clicks of the mouse. However the
last stage; entering all the dynamics, articulations, tempo markings
etc. took a long time. That last stage is what is holding the dream in
abeyance.

Joseph added, " Bear in mind the complexity of what you are asking for
here."

One would think the complex task for the computer is recognizing the
notes and converting them into an editable file. It does that quite
well. How is it then, that it cannot recognize a simple p or an mp or
a Langsam? Does it need a supplementary text-OCR component as well? I
have a text-only OCR program called ReadIris which converts scanned
text with an *incredible* accuracy, in languages other than English as
well. If a letter is smudged or illegible, ReadIris extrapolates from
the surrounding letters what the word must be. Text-OCR is clearly
advanced. So why can music OCR programs like Smartscore (and others)
recognize notes (seemingly the hard part) but not letters (seemingly
the easy part)? If music OCR could perform the second task
(recognizing very simple and basic text) as well as it performs the
first task (note recognition), we would be within reach of what we are
waiting for; the ability to transpose/arrange parts without an undue
amount of time required to add all the non-note information at the end.

Simon

Sent from my iPhone.
_______________________________________________
Klarinet mailing list
Klarinet@-----.com
To do darn near anything to your subscription, go to:
http://klarinet-list.serve-music.com