Klarinet Archive - Posting 000129.txt from 2011/01

From: Simon Aldrich <simonaldrich@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] Music scanning and transcription software?
Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:59:57 -0500

> I've heard that there are music softwares, SmartScore in particular,
> that can be used to scan in the viola, flute etc. part, then export
> it to Sibelius or Finale to transpose it with the click of a mouse
> to "our" B flat.

Smartscore Lite, which is integrated into Finale, is less accurate
than standalone Smartscore Pro, with regards to the amount of
information contained in the conversion of a scanned piece of music.
Most articulations and dynamics are left out of Smartscore Lite
document conversions. This phenomenon was pointed out to me by a
member of this list and when I switched to the pro version of
Smartscore it saved me many hours.
Converting scans (not multi-page PDFs) in Smartscore involves the
conversion of single pages. So scanning, let's say, a four-page viola
part, creates four single scans, then four single scan conversions.
The following is how I create a single clarinet part in Finale from
scanning mutliple page in Smartscore Pro:
After scanning each page of music at at least 300dpi, I create the
empty clarinet part (in concert pitch) in Finale, ready to have the
Smartscore scan conversions imported into it, page by page. In
Smartscore Pro I convert the scans, saving each single-page scan
conversion as an XML file (a format Finale can import). Then in Finale
I import the XML file, which opens in a new Finale document. I then
copy the entirety of the new document (since it is only one page) into
the Finale master file of what will be your final clarinet part.
This seems a long process on paper but once you have scanned the
original part, it takes literally seconds to convert a page in
Smartscore (3 seconds) and import it into Finale (about 10 seconds).
To convert 4 scans in Smartscore and import them into Finale takes
under a minute.
I have found Smartscore's accuracy to be essentially the same as
Neurotron's Photoscore, with the same strengths and weaknesses
described by Keith in his reply.
As quick as the scan conversion and importation is, you will still
need to spend hours correcting notes and altering/adding dynamics and
articulations.
Text OCR may not be 100% yet but the one I use (ReadIris Pro)
produces fantastic results (perhaps due to the basic nature of what it
is doing; recogning simple letters and simple punctuation, as compared
with recognizing music in different typesets). Cleaning up scanned
text involves correcting a letter here and there. Cleaning up scanned
music is infinitely more time-consuming.

Simon

Sent from my iPhone.
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