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  #1  
Old 08-05-2020, 11:45 AM
dhalbert dhalbert is offline
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Default Convert MuseScore file and use with an easier app?

My wife has been given some home-transcribed music in MuseScore format (.mscz). She's participating in a remote chorus that's having everyone record their parts separately. She reads the score in MuseScore, has MuseScore play it back, and sings along to practice. When she's ready to record, she'll play back the rhythm track through headphones, so she can sing along while she records her own voice. She hasn't needed to edit the score except to change the MIDI instruments for each track.

We're using MuseScore on a Windows touchscreen laptop. The program is frustrating to use for her purposes: there is no "read-only" mode that I can find, so every click or touch may change or add a note. In addition, there seem to be numerous program bugs: instrument changes don't take effect properly, the audio goes off, etc.

I'd like to find an easier program for her to play the score and (possibly) change the MIDI instruments. There are MuseScore playback-only apps for iOS and Android, but they seem to have recently gone to some kind of subscription model. Simply playing your own score without a recurring charge appears to be impossible.

MuseScore can export to MusicXML, which seems like the right interchange format. Could anyone suggest an app (preferably iPad) that can import MusicXML, display the score, and play selected tracks, possibly with instrument changes? It doesn't have to be free, it just has to be reasonably priced. Thanks.
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Old 08-05-2020, 07:58 PM
mc1 mc1 is offline
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I can't really help, as I don't know of a free app on the ipad to import/play MusicXML files.

I use MuseScore a bit, and like it. I do wish they had a 'lock score' or read only mode. I don't use a touch screen, but it's easy enough to move notes when trying to move around the score with one's mouse.

I tried marking the file as read only on my windows computer, but it is still editable, just not savable.

One thought I had was to use MuseScore to export the score as both audio, either mp3 or midi, and the score, as pdf or png. These could then be used to view/play along, either on your Windows computer or iPad. The midi file may let you change instruments depending, or you could save a couple of alternate versions of the mp3 version.

Not too slick, but it's all I could think of.
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Old 08-06-2020, 07:27 AM
JCook1 JCook1 is offline
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I don't think there is such a thing as an "easy" music notation program. They are all complicated. MuseScore is pretty well fully featured, and being free is really amazing. I use it a lot, and I play MIDI files in it.

I play in a mandolin orchestra and the director sends us out sheet music in PDF form, but also includes a MIDI file so we can hear what the piece should sound like. I open the MIDI in MuseScore and it opens showing all the parts in notation. I change the instruments so that all of them are plucked instruments (mandos, guitar, etc.) except for my part, which I change to a flute or accordion, or something different so I can hear it better. When the MIDI opens it usually opens a panel at the bottom where you can change the instruments.If the panel doesn't open there should be a button that says "Show MIDI import panel." Click it and the panel opens. I use a Mac but I would think this would be the same on Windows.

jack
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Old 08-06-2020, 08:19 PM
dhalbert dhalbert is offline
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Thanks for your comments. I was more systematic in my search, and I found two free "score readers" for iPad that can import .musicxml and can also play the music: capella score reader App (also available in a slightly different form for Windows and Mac), and Forte Reader. Both are junior partners of sophisticated music editing software. Either is going to work for our purposes.

There are also a number of other score readers, which take other formats, mainly .pdf, and therefore do not have the ability to play the underlying music, though they have other virtues.
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