PhotoScore from Neuratron is an appealing piece of software. It converts scanned music, or PDFs, of sheet music (printed or handwritten), into digital files. This technology has the potential to save music educators a lot of time, removing the need to input existing music into software note by note. But does it work, is it easy to use, and does it save time in reality?
In my testing, results were generally very good. The vast majority of each piece scanned well, with few errors. I used this software several years ago, and the improvements this time around were striking. In terms of errors, I found grace notes caused problems in a minority of cases, as well as some tied notes. Any problems in the scanning are highlighted for you to edit, and most of the time correcting a few bars here and there is straightforward. (If you are a Sibelius user you will be familiar with the ‘numpad’ style editor provider here).
My biggest problem was with alternative noteheads, such as ghost notes or harmonics. I couldn't easily correct these, and didn't find much help when researching the issue online. Depending on the complexity of your score, this may affect the ‘time-saving’ element.
Most lead sheets, piano accompaniments and single instrument pieces worked really well, so a score for a small group of instruments will be fine. I'm pleased to have scanned a guitar duet I've wanted to learn for a long time – I can now put some of the trickier passages into TAB. Once you have scanned the music, you can play it back straight away, or export for further editing.
PhotoScore integrates well with Sibelius, but you can also export the music as an .xml file, which is readable by most notation software. Time consuming tasks such as changing the key of a piece, or creating arrangements for transposing instruments, are made much easier. Don't expect the results to be perfect every time – this certainly wasn't the case in my testing – but scanning and tweaking music was significantly faster than inputting it entirely by hand.
NotateMe is a supplementary feature that allows you to convert ‘scribbles’ into professionally printed music. So, anything you draw with a trackpad, mouse, or graphics tablet will be instantly converted into digital music. The effectiveness of this will depend on your competency with notation software, and there is also a NotateMe app for android and iOS that uses similar technology.
PhotoScore is unlikely to completely change the way you use notation software. However, it is a valuable addition to your workflow; a time-saving device with multiple functions.
Pricing starts at £199.
