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STEPHEN BLOCH Edited
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I was scanning a piece of 15th-century polyphony (from an early-20th-century print edition) so I could generate parts, put things in different clefs, etc.  Since Finale no longer does scanning, on MakeMusic's suggestion I had downloaded SmartScore, and it seems to have been working pretty well.

But several strange things happened today.  One part of the music starts "G, E, D (rest) C D Bb A G" (screenshot from PDF):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbfag495x4i8yo5/Screenshot%202020-05-02%2022.02.09.png?dl=0

Strange thing 1: After applying SmartScore to this and importing into Finale (25.5.0.259, on a Mac running OS 10.15.4), the notes were transposed down a third to "E, C, B (rest) A B G F E" (screenshot from Finale):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rn8m825isz6d186/Screenshot%202020-05-02%2022.33.52.png?dl=0

Not surprisingly, the time signature was wrong (4/4 rather than 4/2), so I corrected that in Finale so I could see things better:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/47mod9xjmfwg95k/Screenshot%202020-05-02%2022.05.57.png?dl=0

But the notes were still transposed down a third.  I wasn't sure whether to blame SmartScore or Finale, so I opened the MusicXML file with a text editor: the relevant section says

<part id="P7">
<measure number="1" width="248">
<print>
<page-layout>
<page-height>2000.06</page-height>
<page-width>1413.39</page-width>
<page-margins>
<left-margin>50.74</left-margin>
<right-margin>50.17</right-margin>
<top-margin>127.00</top-margin>
<bottom-margin>59.87</bottom-margin>
</page-margins>
</page-layout>
<system-layout>
<system-margins>
<left-margin>250</left-margin>
<right-margin>2</right-margin>
</system-margins>
<top-system-distance>63</top-system-distance>
</system-layout>
<staff-layout number="1">
<staff-distance>47</staff-distance>
</staff-layout>
</print>
<attributes>
<divisions>20</divisions>
<key>
<fifths>0</fifths>
</key>
<time symbol="common">
<beats>4</beats>
<beat-type>4</beat-type>
</time>
<clef>
<sign>C</sign>
<line>2</line>
</clef>
<staff-details number="1" print-object="yes">
<staff-size>102</staff-size>
</staff-details>
</attributes>
<attributes></attributes>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>G</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>80</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>whole</type>
<stem>none</stem>
</note>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>E</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>80</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>whole</type>
<stem>none</stem>
</note>
<backup>
<duration>80</duration>
</backup>
</measure><!--
===========================================================
-->

<measure number="2" width="159">
<print new-system="no"></print>
<attributes></attributes>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>D</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>80</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>whole</type>
<stem>none</stem>
<notations></notations>
</note>
<note>
<rest/>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
</note>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>C</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
<stem>up</stem>
</note>
<backup>
<duration>80</duration>
</backup>
</measure><!--
===========================================================
-->

<measure number="3" width="155">
<print new-system="no"></print>
<attributes></attributes>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>D</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
<stem>up</stem>
</note>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>B</step>
<octave>3</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
<stem>up</stem>
</note>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>A</step>
<octave>3</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>80</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>whole</type>
<stem>none</stem>
<notations>
<slur type="start" number="1"></slur>
</notations>
</note>
<backup>
<duration>80</duration>
</backup>
</measure><!--
===========================================================
-->

<measure number="4" width="145">
<print new-system="no"></print>
<attributes></attributes>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>G</step>
<octave>3</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>80</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>whole</type>
<stem>none</stem>
<notations>
<slur type="stop" number="1"></slur>
</notations>
</note>
<note>
<rest/>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
</note>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>F</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
<stem>down</stem>
</note>
<backup>
<duration>80</duration>
</backup>
</measure><!--
===========================================================
-->

<measure number="5" width="153">
<print new-system="no"></print>
<attributes></attributes>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>G</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
<stem>down</stem>
</note>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>B</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>40</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>half</type>
<stem>down</stem>
</note>
<note>
<pitch>
<step>A</step>
<octave>4</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>80</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>whole</type>
<stem>none</stem>
</note>
<backup>
<duration>80</duration>
</backup>
</measure><!--
===========================================================
-->

Note that SmartScore has correctly recognized the C2 clef and interpreted the notes correctly. (It didn't catch the superscript flat sign, but I didn't expect it to.)  So it must be a problem with Finale's import-from-XML function.

Strange Thing 2: Before I looked at the XML, I noticed the error and transposed that whole part up a third diatonically, then went on with checking for other transcription errors.  One quick way of catching transcription errors is to play the part through the computer speakers, so I did that -- and it sounded worse than I expected.  This part was sounding a full step below where it's notated (relative to either a tuner or the same written note in other parts). I checked the transposition in Score Manager, and it said “None” (for this part and all the others). On a whim, I added a flat to one of the notes in Speedy Entry, and suddenly it was triple-flatted! Sharping it made it double-flat. Apparently the import had double-flatted every note in the whole part, invisibly!  If I replaced the note E (sounding as D) with another E, the new note sounded correctly as E, despite looking exactly the same as the old note, so the invisible double-flatting is a property of individual notes rather than of the whole staff.

BTW, the sounding-a-step-flat and invisible-double-flat behavior was already true immediately after import to Finale, before I had changed time signature or transposed or anything like that.  (That is, it sounds a step below the already-a-third-too-low written note, and adding a flat makes the note appear triple-flatted.)

Has anybody else run into either of these two problems: either a MusicXML import being transposed, or notes being invisibly double-flatted on import?

5 comments

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MIKE HALLORAN Posted
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About that....

 

The version you downloaded from SmartScore is X2 Pro 10.5.8, right? Although it still works (sorta' kinda'—not well in Mojave and not at all in Catalina), that update was released July 24, 2015. I'd have to look it up but I'm recalling that the version 10.0 release was 2011 or 2012. Both Finale and MusicXML have had updates in the last five years (both are now owned by MakeMusic, by the way).

 

There is talk of a new SmartScore 64 bit release for over a year now but I've not seen any kind of announcement as to when—rumors, yes, but no announcements. They said 'Soon' on their Facebook page over a year ago. The web site says, Avid users of SmartScore should avoid installing Catalina until Musitek releases its next version, SmartScore 64 due in early 2020. Although, I don't think that May qualifies as early, there is hope. I have my upgrade money budgeted if Soon ever becomes Real. 

 

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MIKE ROSEN Edited
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 Mike, trust me, it’s coming. Soon. I don’t know any more than that, though.


Stephen,

Yes, I have experienced the same. It’s a real pain, and I can’t figure out why it happens, either. You can use one of Jari’s plugins to respell those hidden double accidental notes. Sometimes, I just switch to the repitch tool and key the line in by hand. I’m really looking forward to the 64 bit version, as well.

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MIKE HALLORAN Posted
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Hey, Mike,

 

It's funny, I don't use SmartScore much—never did though I've owned it for a decade.

 

My issue is that I have a lot of old lead sheets and church music done in Encore with lots of lyrics. Encore's still 32 bit with MusicXML from the stone age (lyrics? expressions? are you kidding?) like SSLite and SS Pro before X2.

 

The issue is that I never expected to get a church gig after becoming disabled by a stroke in 2009. In the past year, I've picked up two: choir director at one and praise band director at another (where I was choir director 47 years ago — is this the Twilight Zone?).

 

And now I'm on Mojave and Catalina without ever having scanned in all that old work when I could. I need Musitek to hurry up. If the next version works well, I sure don't need Encore anymore. OTOH, if Encore does go 64 bit and can open old files and has good .xml export, I'll upgrade that, too, but it's down on the priority list for me.

 

Stay safe!

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STEPHEN BLOCH Posted
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My copy of SmartScore says version 1.01, created December 10, 2016, modified December 31, 2019.

But however old my copy of SmartScore may be, that isn't the problem here, because the XML is (mostly) correct; it says the first note is G, and after Finale import, the first note is Ebb.

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J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Posted
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If you have not already, you might want to raise this issue on the XML Forum, where users may be specifically attuned to situations like this.

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