Recordare Releases Beta MusicXML Plug-In for FinaleFile format also supported by several commercial and open source applications, making file exchanges easy November 13, 2001
Recordare LLC, an Internet music
software and publishing company, announced the release of the beta
version of MusicXML. MusicXML is a universal translator for common
Western music notation used in printed sheet music. It allows computer
music programs to share data using an XML standard. The beta
release supports file exchange between Finale, SharpEye Music Reader,
and the MuseData format.
"The market for downloadable sheet music has been stunted by its
reliance on proprietary binary formats," stated Michael Good, CEO of
Recordare LLC. "Consumers want the flexibility to use their sheet music
purchase with their favorite PC programs. The MusicXML beta release is a
milestone in this direction."
Recordare's MusicXML Finale Converter runs on Windows as a plug-in for
Finale 2000, 2001, and 2002. Finale 2000 and 2001 users can read files
created with later versions of Finale that have been saved as MusicXML.
Any program that supports MusicXML can now exchange files with Finale.
The MusicXML Finale Converter is available from www.recordare.com.
MusicXML has been well received during its alpha test. Three companies
have announced support for MusicXML in current or future products:
Visiv, Xemus Software, and Middle C Software.
Visiv's SharpEye Music Reader (www.visiv.co.uk) is a leading program for
converting images of sheet music into computerized music notation.
SharpEye now includes beta support for saving MusicXML files as of
version 2.15. Together with the MusicXML Finale Converter, Finale
Windows customers now have an unprecedented choice in music scanning
software.
Project XEMO from Xemus Software LLC (www.xemo.org) is an open source,
modular environment for the notation, analysis and composition of music.
It is written in Java and runs on Windows, Linux, and Macintosh OS X.
Project XEMO modules can be mixed and matched to build an Integrated
Composition Environment (ICE) that will support the MusicXML format.
Middle C Software (www.middlec.co.uk) is developing new music
recognition software for use with digital cameras and scanners. MusicXML
has been chosen as the output format due to its flexibility and
application independence. Licensing of the recognition software as a
fully automatic module is intended to be available to 3rd party software
houses from 2002.
The MusicXML Finale Converter also lets Finale users read and write
MuseData files, a format developed at the Center for Computer Assisted
Research in the Humanities at Stanford University (www.ccarh.org). The
Virtual Score, a new book co-published by CCARH and The MIT Press,
includes an article on MusicXML.
For more information, visit their web site at www.recordare.com. | 
