SmartScore 5 optical character reading software is an excellent asset for any choral director, conductor, school music department, private music teacher, music librarian – or serious music student, of course. It enables the user to scan in a page of music, transpose or manipulate the music onscreen, then play it back or print it out. SmartScore can convert the finished music to MIDI (.MID) files or to formatted pages via MusicXML (.XML) for importing into Finale, Sibelius and many other music notation software packages.

Being able to see the page of music and hear it played at the same time is one of the study requirements for learning arranging, orchestrating, conducting and composing in college music courses. SmartScore 5 makes it possible for a student to obtain a piece of sheet music, scan it into the computer and then follow the onscreen music while it is being played back -- again and again -- of course.

SmartScore 5 is the best program I, Lennon, have encountered for recognizing sheet music, transferring it to a digital format and then allowing the user to work with the digital version for other uses. It uses cutting-edge OCR technology for excellent results – far beyond any other similar program I have used.

SmartScore 5 is useful for both orchestral and choral applications, too. For example, if a choir director wanted to transpose an entire piece of music to a different key or change the clef to make the part more readable, Smart Score 5 is the program to use. S/he could scan the part into the program and convert the piece to a digital file of choice (MIDI, Finale, Sibelius, etc.) and then transpose the digital version and have unlimited editing capabilities, just as if the director had hand-copied the piece and edited it from scratch. Then the newly-edited piece can be printed out and used.
SmartScore 5, along with a moderately-priced scanner, opens up a whole new world of flexible sheet music manipulation to the choral director, music librarian, or orchestral conductor. Musitek bundles SmartScore with a number of scanners. See Musitek’s website.

There are five editions of SmartScore 5 available:

•  Pro Edition, $399
•  Pro Edition, Academic price $299 (Schools and Churches)
•  Songbook Edition, $199
•  Piano Edition, $99
•  MIDI Edition, $99
•  Guitar Edition, $99
Each edition has its own features, with some overlapping, of course. Some allow the composer/arranger to create custom scores with features such as adjustable bar sizing and staff spacing and up to orchestral layouts. It also transposes guitar chords automatically when you transpose the notation! SmartScore 5 also turns text chord names into chord charts automatically!

Screenshot showing features included in the Pro Edition

No matter what level of music you work with, from the involved amateur to the full-on professional, or what styles of music you are involved in, from simply words-and-music lead sheets to full choral works and/or orchestral scores, SmartScore 5 is the all-encompassing program for your notation and editing needs! It will save you time, money and stress! Please visit Musitek’s website for much more information and to order SmartScore 5 for yourself. L.L. & M.L.■