Computer Times
August 2000

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SmartScore

SmartScore for Win95/98/NT (Retail $399), from MUSITEK, picks up where MIDISCAN leaves off. It provides fully integrated music scoring, MIDI sequencing and music scanning with advanced recognition technology. Whether you are copying music, composing or importing MIDI files, this is the best product you can use.

While notation programs have, in recent years, enabled musicians to compose with the computer, the prospect of converting published sheet music into electronic form has been severely limited. If you have a computer and a scanner, you're just one step away from resolving this issue. Musitek's SmartScore, available for both Mac and PC/Windows on the same CD, is the answer to the daunting challenge of electronically importing sheet music.

SmartScore's approach is quite intuitive. After placing the sheet music on the scanner, a click of the Scan button lets you preview the file until you satisfactorily position the paper. After scanning, the program first saves the document as a TIFF file, and then immediately interprets the file and saves it again in its own proprietary ENF format.

While working on the file, you view a split screen that shows the scanned image on top and the interpreted file below. As you scroll either window, the corresponding window follows, enabling you to inspect the file in either format and check for errors.

SmartScore has an extensive feature set. The application recognizes and plays back repeats, dynamics and articulations, has automatic recognition and display of contrapuntal voices with direct voice-to-MIDI channel linking, provides automatic instrument assignments according to the number of staves, and offers automatic linking of collapsing and expanding parts to MIDI tracks while maintaining play-back continuity.

 SmartScore enables you to create engraver-quality scores using your mouse, keyboard, MIDI instrument, MIDI file or scanner as the input device. You have complete control over page layout and spacing, along with instant part and voice separation. Additionally, SmartScore imports standard MIDI files to display, transpose or print out. And with Coda's new Finale 2000C, it's now possible to import SmartScore music pages with all page formatting intact.

With its intuitive interface, abundance of professional features, the ability to edit either notation or MIDI data, and a well-written manual, SmartScore is worth its weight in gold.

MS Windows 95/98/NT

Intel 386 or better

Win95 or Win98 or NT OS

16 MB RAM

20 MB HD space available

TWAIN-compatible scanner for direct scanning

PC Soundcard or MPU-401-type MIDI interface for connecting to external MIDI devices

Although SmartScore v.1.0 does not support text, you can scan, recognize and transpose your scores in SmartScore as you normally would and print out the transposed scores. Then photocopy the ORIGINAL music and cut out the areas containing the text you wish to include. Paste (with tape or glue) the copied text into the blank areas of the transposed SmartScore printout... SmartScore will format each page as the original was so the text will fit right in where it belongs. At the time of our review, MUSITEK was planning to incorporate highly accurate text recognition and editing in the next major upgrade of SmartScore.

While SmartScore's recognition can recognize high quality hand-written scores, there is no guarantee you will get the same kind of accuracy you would obtain with printed sheet music. The closer the manuscript resembles printed music, the better the recognition will be.

The greatest variable in recognition accuracy is the quality of the printed music to be scanned. Larger fonts with crisper, more detailed printing will have better accuracy than smaller, faded scores or copies out of multiple generations.

The next greatest variable is the quality of the scanner used. Most flatbed scanners are adequate. Be careful of "page scanners" and some$49 flatbeds... some do better than others. Never use hand scanners if at all possible.

SmartScore will be able to process skewed (or slightly rotated) images, but this will result in some loss of accuracy. The best thing is to leave SmartScore¹s Auto Deskew checked on or open your scans in the Image Editor prior to Recognition and manually straighten the image.

To find great prices on hardware and software we recommend you start with Office Depot. Just click on the Office Depot ad below and you will be connected directly with Office Depot on the Internet.

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