What software to convert scanned sheetmusic into MIDI?

[c.j[DOT]w]

Hello,

What software can I use to convert scanned sheetmusic to MIDI? I have a
couple of scores that I would like to print out transposed, and the best
thing to do seems to be to scan them in (entering it all manually takes
too long time), transpose them and print it. I know Sibelius' PhotoCopy
can do this, but what other softwares can I use?

Thanks in advance.

[Harald Schollmeyer]

"c.j[DOT]w" schrieb:
> What software can I use to convert scanned sheetmusic to MIDI? I have a
> couple of scores that I would like to print out transposed, and the best
> thing to do seems to be to scan them in (entering it all manually takes
> too long time), transpose them and print it. I know Sibelius' PhotoCopy
> can do this, but what other softwares can I use?

In fact, most engravers consider it to be exactly the other way round.
Scanning takes more time than entering manually. This is due to error
correction: scanning will produce many small-but-evil errors which to
discover and to correct takes _more_ time than entering the piece
from scratch.
You might have a look at http://www.music-of-note.ch/, click "Publikationen"
and "Warum ich keine Noten scanne...." by Leonard Cecil.
Quote: "It’s not really the scanning that takes time, it's the checking and
editing of computer generated mistakes that takes the time. People who buy
these programs because they believe the promises made by the software
companies will be generally disappointed."

Harald

[Laurence Payne]

>What software can I use to convert scanned sheetmusic to MIDI? I have a
>couple of scores that I would like to print out transposed, and the best
>thing to do seems to be to scan them in (entering it all manually takes
>too long time), transpose them and print it. I know Sibelius' PhotoCopy
>can do this, but what other softwares can I use?

I think you'll find re-entering is quicker than scanning plus the
correcting you'll need to do afterwards.

OCR for text has matured. OCR for music hasn't yet.

CubaseFAQ page www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm

[Randd01]

I use Smartscore available here.
http://www.computersandmusic.com/

[Al Stevens]

"c.j[DOT]w" <"c.j[DOT]w"@telia.com> wrote in message
news:bbbr5p$7hmp1$1@ID-96470.news.dfncis.de...
> Hello,
>
> What software can I use to convert scanned sheetmusic to MIDI?

SharpEye 2 (http://www.visiv.co.uk) does a reasonable job of converting
scanned scores. I just used it to convert 15 six-part scores from Noteworthy
Composer to Finale. Sharpeye can export to MusicXML which Finale can import.
The error rate is reasonable and the kinds of errors are consistent. You do
need to do a visual audit of the converted scores, but unlike the
experiences others have reported, I found this exercise to have saved a
substantial amount of time over manually reentering the notation. I think I
would have made more errors than SharpEye did. SharpEye also exports to NIFF
and MIDI and has a built-in notation editor.

[c.j[DOT]w]

Just want to thank everybody who answered. Your answers were useful.

c.j[DOT]w wrote:
> Hello,
>
> What software can I use to convert scanned sheetmusic to MIDI? I have a
> couple of scores that I would like to print out transposed, and the best
> thing to do seems to be to scan them in (entering it all manually takes
> too long time), transpose them and print it. I know Sibelius' PhotoCopy
> can do this, but what other softwares can I use?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>

[Laurence Payne]

>Just want to thank everybody who answered. Your answers were useful.

What did you decide to do? Did you get usable results from any
program?

CubaseFAQ page www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm

[c.j[DOT]w]

Laurence Payne wrote:
>>Just want to thank everybody who answered. Your answers were useful.
>
>
> What did you decide to do? Did you get usable results from any
> program?

I have tried both SmartScore and SharpEye. They both do a job that is
not too bad, but there still are a number of errors that must be
corrected. If the score is large and complex, and the score of good
quality, I think those programs could save time, but my scores were
rather short and simple so I found it more time-efficient to write the
notes in manually.