This is a post by Katrina Proctor, Content Manager at Midnight Music.
A free trial of PlayScore 2 was provided for this review, but all opinions contained within are entirely honest.
Background
Music scanner apps have been around for a number of years. The premise of these intriguing programs is to give you the ability to take a picture of a musical score or choral octavo, hear it playback instantly, and then be able to export that picture as a MIDI or XML file, thereby magically saving you the time and energy of importing all of that information manually.
So the question is… do these programs actually work and do they do what they say they will?
In this blog, we will look at two popular, low-cost apps for scanning sheet music (PlayScore 2 & Sheet Music Scanner) to determine whether each app accurately recognizes different music and increasingly difficult notation, assess their overall functionality, to understand each music scanner app’s limitations and “quirks”, and to overall decide whether or not they are worth their cost.
Read on to learn more!
How Teachers Can Use Scanning Apps
Before we dig into the apps themselves, it’s important to acknowledge that scanning apps (at least as of this writing in 2022) aren’t going to be perfect. However, teachers can use them very effectively for various purposes including:
- For student use (provides a way to “hear” the music)
- Easily arrange music for a smaller/different group than that originally composed for
- Transpose music into different keys for different instruments
- Create a play-along track to supplement an instrument voice you may not have in your ensemble
- Easily get the majority of a score into a MusicXML file (standard file type for editing in your favorite music notation software such as MuseScore, Noteflight, Sibelius, Flat, etc.)
- Create practice tracks for your students
Copyright
Before we get stuck into the step-by-step process, let’s talk about copyright. It is not legal to scan copyrighted music unless you have the permission of the copyright owner.
You CAN legally go ahead if:
- you do have the permission of the copyright owner
- you composed the music yourself
- the music is in the public domain
- the music has been shared under one of the Creative Commons licences that allows modification to the work
Overview of ‘PlayScore 2’
Device Compatibility
PlayScore 2 is available in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for mobile Android and iPhone/iPad devices. There is currently no Windows or Mac version available.
PlayScore 2: Pricing
PlayScore 2 runs on a subscriptions model with a free plan and two paid subscription plans.
On a Free Plan, you can:
- Test several pre-installed images to play with, export, and edit
- Play 1 or 2 staves/system from your own photo
- Share a single page of a playable score from a photo document with others.
With a “Productivity” subscription (currently $4.99USD/month or $22.49USD/year) you can:
- Photograph and instantly play multi-staff, multi-page scores using the inbuilt player
- Export a playable version to others (also have to download the free version of the app to play)
- Transpose instrumentation
- Export music as a MIDI file
With a “Professional” subscription (currently $5.99USD/month or $26.99USD/year) you can:
- Do everything contained in the “Productivity” subscription
- ALSO export scanned music as an XML file (the universal notation file format)
PlayScore 2: Features
Scan Image Size: Whole Page
Playback: Click to play from anywhere in the song
Scans Multiple Voices: Yes
Multiple-Page Scan: Yes
Pitch Adjustment: Yes
Change Instrument Voicing: Yes for the following – Piano, Harpsichord, Pipe Organ, Guitar, Accordion, Violin, Viola, Cello, String Ensemble, Recorder, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Flute, Tenor Sax, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, French Horn
Transposed Instruments Play Actual Pitch: Yes
Clefs Read: Treble, Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano
Additional Rhythmic Notation Read: Tuplets (triplets, duplets, quintuplets, septuplets), anacruses, ornaments (ex. trills, turns), fermata, repeats, 1st/2nd endings, slurs, ties, key changes
Additional Melodic Notation Read: accidentals (including double accidentals), staff bracketing, dynamics, crescendos/decrescendos, articulations, key changes (including 8va).
Import: All common image types (PNG, TIFF, JPG, JPEG etc…) and PDF or directly from the camera
Export: MIDI (on Professional or Productivity plan), MusicXML (on Professional plan only)
Note*: PlayScore 2 recently released an iOS update 2.8 that includes the following new features: count-in, added recorder instrument voice, increased performance, auto-lock override, and MusicXML export with lyrics, text, and guitar tabs.
Overview of “Sheet Music Scanner”
Device Compatibility
Sheet Music Scanner is available in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for mobile Android and iPhone/iPad devices.
There is currently no Windows or Mac version available.
Sheet Music Scanner: Pricing
Sheet Music Scanner is currently a one-time purchase price of $4.99USD on the App Store or $4.49USD on the Google Play Store.
Sheet Music Scanner: Features
Scan Image Size: Whole Page
Playback: Click to play from anywhere in the song
Scans Multiple Voices: Yes
Multiple-Page Scan: Yes
Pitch Adjustment: Yes
Tempo Adjustment: Yes (50 – 330BPM)
Change Instrument Voicing: Yes for the following – Accordion, Acoustic Bass, Alto Sax, Bagpipes, Banjo, Bass Guitar, Celeste, Cello, Choir, Clarinet, Double Bass, Flute, French Horn, Guitar – Classical, Clean, Distortion, Glockenspiel, Harp, Mandolin, Marimba, Oboe, Organ (Percussive, Pipe, Reed, Rock, Tonewheel), Piano, Recorder, Tenor Sax, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Vibraphone, Viola, Violin, Xylophone
Transposed Instruments Play Actual Pitch: Yes
Clefs Read: Treble, Bass, and Alto
Additional Rhythmic Notation Read: Ties, Duration Dots, Rests, Triplets/Tuplets, Tied Notes
Additional Melodic Notation Read: Accidentals and Repeat Signs
Import: All common image types (PNG, TIFF, JPG, JPEG etc…) and PDF or directly from camera
Export: MIDI, MusicXML, M4A, AAC, MP3, WAV, PDF
Sheet Music Scanner: Limitations
I personally always appreciate when businesses are up-front about their limitations because it gives clarity to what you’re purchasing. As listed on their website, Sheet Music Scanner has a few limitations including:
- “Reads printed sheet music, not handwritten or mimicking handwriting.
- The following symbols are not currently supported: codas, percussion notation, dynamics, double sharps, double flats, and grace notes. These are on the to-do list and will come in future updates.
- The app currently reads 3 clefs: treble, bass, and alto. Recognition of octave clefs and clef changes in the middle of one staff is on the roadmap – stay tuned!
- Use high-quality printed sheet music and take photos under good enough light, when scanning from your camera, for optimal results.
- Some older prints and unusual fonts may not be recognizable.”
The Importance of Light
Before we continue, I have to point out how important it is to capture a REALLY great picture. Both scanning apps dramatically decrease in effectiveness if there is even a slight shadow on the page.
For this blog, I had access to a ring light. I highly suggest purchasing a ring light or finding a light source that provides bright light if you will be doing a lot of score scanning. Direct sunlight works well (if you’re somewhere near a bright window) but the several table lamps that I tried did not yield satisfactory results.
Interestingly, PlayScore 2 encourages you to scan music vertically (straight up and down such as on a music stand). This makes it more challenging to scan music than Sheet Music Scanner (which reads music well from a tabletop, horizontal position).
Comparing Sheet Music Scanner & PlayScore2
I decided to test each app using the exact same image from three different, increasingly-difficult music pieces from my own personal compositions & public domain.
Those pieces were:
- Piece 1: (SAB choral piece with piano accompaniment)
- Piece 2: (for solo voice with piano). Includes a key/time change in the middle.
- Piece 3: (for flute, and piano accompaniment). This is a more difficult rhythmic piece with multiple time changes and a repeat which moves on in the 3rd ending.
Piece 1
Sheet Music Scanner
Sheet Music Scanner performed very well on this easy song. All notes were displayed correctly and there were zero noticeable errors on playback. When one voice part switched to a 3-voice section, it maintained balance.
I did not score this app on stylistic symbols or dynamics as those were indicated not to be read.
Overall Score: 10/10
PlayScore 2
PlayScore 2 also performed very well on this song. All notes were played correctly and the addition of two voices did not yield any strange errors.
Additionally, it read crescendos, decrescendos and dynamic changes correctly every single time on this piece which I found impressive!
Overall Score: 10/10
Piece 2
Sheet Music Scanner
Sheet Music Scanner did reasonably well on this song. Notes themselves were correct on playback, but I did notice a couple of places where a tie across two notes replayed the second note. My impression in that this is due to the tie being written close to a staff line as when ties were not over the staff (such as on middle C), the tie performed correctly. Key change was observed as written.
Overall Score: 9/10
PlayScore 2
Playscore 2 had no issues with this song. All notes were played correctly. There were no second notes played across a tie. It observed a key change correctly and playback correctly followed dynamics. I did find that notation such as “rall.” and “cresc.” aren’t usually followed the way a BPM marking or a crescendo marking (<) would be. Not a huge error by any means, but something to be aware of.
Overall Score: 9/10
Piece 3
Sheet Music Scanner
Sheet Music Scanner did not struggle as much as I thought it would on this third and most-difficult piece. It was able to catch two different time-signature changes as well as correctly moved on in the 3rd ending of a repeat (this completely blew my mind)!
Even though different instruments were notated, all voices were played in a piano voice (which is personally fine for my use).
Overall Score: 9.5/10
PlayScore 2
Playscore 2 was able to get a little bit pickier with the performance markings. I was able to observe it reading a ‘molto rit.’ as well as an ‘a tempo’ marking (impressive!).
PlayScore 2 struggled to handle the repeat correctly. It would either get stuck in the repeat section or ignore the repeat entirely. This can easily be corrected by exporting the XML file to notation software but makes it a little cumbersome since it cannot be edited in the app.
I did verify that I had checked the “Play Repeats” setting turned ON, but even after multiple attempts, I could not achieve a correctly played repeat with a move on the third ending.
Overall Score: 8/10
What About After the Scan?
For the purposes of this comparison, I did not export either the PlayScore2 or the Sheet Music Scanner scans to an external notation software program because I wanted to stay limited in my scope of usability within the app themselves.
If you want to edit your scanned scores further – and take advantage of more extensive notation editing features, you can export your scanned score as a Music XML file and then import it into notation software such as Sibelius, Finale, Dorico, Musescore, Noteflight, Flat or one of the other available programs.
More “How To Scan Sheet Music” Resources Available from Midnight Music
Katie Argyle has created an entire course called, “How to Scan Sheet Music” centered around scanning music for notation software using PhotoScore (as well as what to do with the XML file after it is scanned using an app). She walks you through importing a scanned XML file, how to transpose a file, as well as fixing scanning mistakes, and even showcases more advanced arranging methods and ideas for making the most out of your scan.
If you’re a member of the MMC, click here to access the course. If you’re not a member of the Midnight Music Community (MMC), click here to learn about joining or preview the content currently available inside an MMC membership.
For even more help with scanning sheet music, check out Episode 5 of the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, “How to Scan Sheet Music.”
Final Thoughts
I cannot fully explain how incredible it is to have two great scanning apps which are both very good at what they do! At times in this review, I felt like I was “splitting hairs” and trying to find flaws where both, honestly, functioned very well!
Is there always work to be done? Absolutely. But overall, odds are that both of these apps will accomplish far more than you’d think- especially in the context of in-classroom learning. If you’re willing to accept that a perfect score isn’t achievable without minor editing in a notation program, you’ll set yourself up to not be disappointed.
For what they claim to do, both apps perform very well! The fact that you can take a picture with your phone and have the music playback with upwards of 90%+ accuracy is incredible! I’m happy to recommend both apps and encourage you to play around with both- especially as both are always being updated and improved.
What scanning apps have you used? Have you tried either of these apps? What was your experience? Leave a comment below!
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About the Author
Katrina Proctor is the Content Manager at Midnight Music and is also a music teacher from Colorado, USA. She has taught middle school music (5th-8th grade chorus, advanced-level chorus, class piano, and general music) for nearly 10 years in northern Colorado where her passion is low-income students in Title 1 schools.
She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education & Master’s Degree in Music Education-Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado at Boulder. You can connect with Katrina on Facebook, Instagram, or via her website, She The Teacher.
Looking for More Resources for Music Teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
