The MusicXML Meeting

M I C H A E L G O O D !V I C E P R E S I D E N T O F R E S E A R C H A N D D E V E L O P M E N T !!M A R C H 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 !

Agenda •  Introduction to MusicXML

•  MusicXML community progress in the past year

•  MusicXML and the Standard Music Font Layout (SMuFL) – With Daniel Spreadbury, Steinberg

•  A tool for cleaning MusicXML files from older applications – With Bob Hamblok, neoScores

•  MusicXML and the MIDI Manufacturers Association / Association of Musical Electronics Industry (MMA/AMEI)

•  Interactive discussions throughout

What is MusicXML? •  The standard open format for exchanging digital sheet

music between applications

•  Invented by Michael Good at Recordare in 2000

•  Developed collaboratively by a community of hundreds of musicians and software developers over the past 14 years

•  Available under an open, royalty-free license that is friendly for both open-source and proprietary software

•  Supported by over 170 applications worldwide

MusicXML Is a Notation Format •  Music is represented using the semantic concepts

behind common Western music notation

•  Includes both how a score looks and how it plays back

•  Includes low-level details of the appearance of a particular engraving, or the nuances of a particular performance

– Allows transfer of music between applications with high visual fidelity

– Also allows the visual details to be ignored when appropriate

– The best display for paper is often not the best for an interactive application

MusicXML as an Archival Format •  MusicXML is an XML format, with all its advantages:

– Files can be opened in any computer text editor – Fully internationalized via Unicode – Files are human-readable as well as machine-readable – Can use all the standard XML tools developed by larger

industries than the music industry

•  Backward compatibility: all valid MusicXML 1.0 files are also valid MusicXML 3.0 files

•  MusicXML license allows continued development of the format by anyone, not just MakeMusic

•  Already implemented by over 170 programs

Who Uses MusicXML

Usage map as of March 2014

Publishing Scores in MusicXML •  MusicXML is the way that scores get from desktop

applications like Finale and Sibelius to the new wave of mobile applications

•  No DRM controls built-in, though these have been added in the MusicXML-based Open Score Format

•  For copyrighted music, MusicXML has usually been a Business-to-Business format, not Business-to-Consumer

•  Many sites available with public domain MusicXML scores: see www.musicxml.com/music-in-musicxml

Original Finale file

MusicXML Reflowed in SeeScore

What’s New With MusicXML? •  New and improved application support

•  New MusicXML Forum replacing the MusicXML mailing list

•  New possibilities for MusicXML 4.0 due to SMuFL 1.0 project

New MusicXML Writers •  Reads and Writes MusicXML

– NoteWorthy Composer via MusicXML2NWC and other third party software (formerly beta)

•  Writes MusicXML – Logic Pro X – NotateMe – Cadencii

New MusicXML Readers – Avid Scorch – Blackbinder – EarMaster – Frescobaldi – Mobile Music Trainer – OveScore – Singer’s Mate – Jellynote (beta) – Quantified Artist (protototype)

New MusicXML Forum – Replacing the MusicXML mailing list with a web-based

forum was one of the most popular requests from last year’s meetings

– New forum launched one week ago using phpBB – Brings over entire MusicXML mailing list archive:

•  12 years •  Over 1,400 topics •  Over 5,300 posts

– Now indexed by Google and other search engines – Allows pictures and other media to be included

MusicXML Forum – Index View

MusicXML Forum – Topic View

MusicXML Forum in Google Index

MusicXML Forum Launch – Launch appears to have gone smoothly

•  New topics and replies are being created – Some people had problems associating their

MakeMusic account to the phpBB account with their old posts

•  We’ve updated the web interface to reduce confusion •  If you have a problem with your forum registration,

email me and our IT staff can correct it quickly – We plan to shut down the mailing list later this month

•  New discussions on the mailing list will not be transferred to the forum

•  Mailing list archives will go away as the archives have all been transferred to the forum

MusicXML and Music Fonts •  MusicXML provides a standard interchange format

for music notation semantics, layout, and performance

•  But when translating between MusicXML and a music notation application, fonts complicate things

•  What code point do I use for a particular MusicXML element in a particular music notation font?

•  What do MusicXML’s positioning attributes mean specifically with regards to any particular music font?

•  Enter the Standard Music Font Layout (SMuFL)

Standard Music Font Layout

MusicXML community meeting 14 March 2014

Daniel Spreadbury

A brief history of music fonts

•  First commercial music font was Sonata from Adobe in 1985, with 176 glyphs, organised mnemonically for a Latin keyboard

•  Became de facto standard for mapping of most music fonts: e.g. Petrucci (Finale, 1988), Opus (Sibelius, 1993)

•  Range of 220 musical symbols was added to Unicode in 1998; to date, no font has completely implemented this Unicode range

Problems to be solved

•  Lack of a real standard makes sharing music fonts between applications difficult

•  Sonata’s 170 glyphs and Unicode’s 220 glyphs are insufficiently broad in scope

•  No agreement on how to expand beyond these initial sets

What is SMuFL?

•  A standard way of mapping musical symbols to the Private Use Area of the Basic Multilingual Plane in Unicode

•  A set of technical guidelines for how music fonts should be designed and built

•  Simple JSON metadata formats to help applications use SMuFL fonts easily

•  Released under MIT license, free to use/modify

What’s included

•  108 discrete sub-ranges of glyphs

•  2554 glyphs… and counting! •  Includes all 220 glyphs from the Unicode

Musical Symbols range

•  Also includes recommendations for ligatures, stylistic alternates/sets, etc.

What’s included

Bravura

Bravura •  The first SMuFL font (OpenType/SVG/WOFF) •  Includes all SMuFL recommended glyphs, and

hundreds of optional glyphs •  Released under the SIL Open Font License

–  Free to use, bundle, embed, create derivative versions, etc.

–  Only licensing restrictions are that the font cannot be sold on its own; derivative versions cannot use the same name; and derivative versions must be released under the same licensing terms

Current status

•  Version 0.85; targeting 1.0 release in 1H 2014

•  After 1.0, existing code points/glyph names won’t change

•  Remaining milestones to 1.0 release – Technical guidelines for SMuFL fonts for text-

based applications – Release of a version of Bravura for text-based

applications

Current status

•  Supported already in LilyPond by way of openLilyLib

•  Support coming in MuseScore 2.0, Steinberg’s in-development scoring app, other as-yet unannounced projects

•  Bravura already shipping with commercial products, e.g. from Rising Software

Font-specific JSON metadata {

""fontName" : "Bravura”,"""fontVersion": "0.8", """engravingDefaults": {"" ""staffLineThickness": 0.1,"" ""stemThickness": 0.1,"" ""beamThickness": 0.5,"" ""beamSpacing": 0.25, ... ""}, """glyphs": {"" ""noteheadBlack": { "" " ""stemDownNW": [ 0.0, -0.184 ], "" " ""stemUpSE": [ 1.328, 0.184 ] "" "}, ... ""}, "

} "

Font-specific JSON metadata

More information

www.smufl.org

Thank you!

d.spreadbury@steinberg.de

MusicXML 4.0 and SMuFL 1.0 •  SMuFL addresses many standardization issues that

have troubled MusicXML developers for years

•  What does it mean for MusicXML to support SMuFL? – Does MusicXML add support for all of SMuFL’s

thousands of glyphs? –  If not, what guidelines to determine which ones? – How about standardization on areas such as font

metadata? – Should documentation reference SMuFL canonical

glyph names to clarify the graphical appearance of different MusicXML elements?

MusicXML 4.0 •  SMuFL provides motivation for a major new

MusicXML release

•  What else besides SMuFL support? – Features and fixes as discussed at last year’s

meetings –  Improved online documentation

A Tool for Sanitizing MusicXML Files •  Bob Hamblok, neoScores

MusicXML - Sanitizer"Open source tool to ‘cleanup / update’ MusicXML files

Bob Hamblok, neoScores"

MusicXML - Sanitizer!

Why?

- Implementation-quality of MusicXML? - Quality progresses, but what to do with the old files / still existing problems?"

EXAMPLE 1, words vs credits"

<work> <work-title>Toccata</work-title></work>...<direction> <direction-type> <words default-y="167" valign="middle" font-family="Times" font-style="normal" font-size="25" font-weight="bold">Toccata</words> </direction-type> <voice>1</voice> <staff>1</staff> </direction>...

MusicXML - Sanitizer

...<measure number="67" width="131"> <direction> <direction-type> <words font-family="Times New Roman">mp</words> </direction-type> </direction> ...</measure>...

EXAMPLE 2, words vs dynamics

MusicXML - Sanitizer

...<note default-x="89.83" default-y="5.00"> … <notations> <technical> <fingering>ARIA</fingering> </technical> </notations></note>...

EXAMPLE 3, fingerings vs credits

MusicXML - Sanitizer

...<note default-x="16"> ... <duration>768</duration> <type>half</type> ...</note><note default-x="16"> <chord /> <duration>512</duration> <type>half</type> ...</note>...

EXAMPLE 4, chord notes duration

MusicXML - Sanitizer

...<note default-x="200"> <notations> <slur number="1" placement="below" type="start"> <slur number="1" type="stop"> </notations></note>...

EXAMPLE 4, slurs starting AND stopping on the same note

MusicXML - Sanitizer

... <attributes> <key> <fifths>-1</fifths> <mode>minor</mode> </key> </attributes>… <note> <pitch> <step>B</step> <octave>4</octave> </pitch> </note>...

EXAMPLE 5, missing accidentals

MusicXML - Sanitizer

- note duration in time modifications - lyric – extender lines without end - brackets used as barline, glissandos, tenuto, extender line - measure numbering - recalculate divisions to smallest possible entity - tieds without stop, laissez vibrer? - broken cross-system slurs - consequent default-x of a direction in the first measure of a new system - missing stems / flags / beams - incorrect number of beams"

- missing elisions - missing/wrong voicing within a chord - arpeggiate - words used as a lyric hyphen - accidental-mark used as accidental -  missing composer, search in credits and

match against database -  whole notes with stem -  single eighth note with beam instead of flag - part-group without stop - changing stem direction under one beam (should be possible in some situations) - ...

MusicXML - Sanitizer

EXAMPLE 6

How? (proposal)

- JavaScript/HTML 5

- Make use of MusicJSON https://github.com/saebekassebil/musicjson

- Selection list of modules (plug-ins)

- 2 modes:

- auto-fix ambiguous problems

- user chooses how to fix ambiguous problems. Do we need a UI for this?

- Batch?"

MusicXML - Sanitizer

Conclusion - Nothing is decided - Open questions:

* upgrade files to MusicXML last version?

* Which license to use?"

MusicXML - Sanitizer

MusicXML and MMA / AMEI •  The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) and

Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) are the home of MIDI and its related standards.

•  Industry association that is open to MIDI hardware and software manufacturers

•  Affordable for independent software developers

•  Can move quickly on new standards when someone is driving and there is consensus

•  Moves slowly when there is industry division

•  Leader in musical interoperability across generations of equipment

AMEI E-Score Proposal •  New idea from AMEI to create more business:

–  IEC interested in eBook Standards – W3C interested in web music notation standards – AMEI suggests MusicXML might be a good solution – Other solutions may also be needed

•  This proposal was introduced at the MMA Annual General Meeting held at NAMM last January

Possible Standards Homes •  MMA / AMEI

•  W3C

•  ISO / IEC – already has unused e-score standard

•  MPEG – already has unused e-score standard

•  IEEE – already has unused e-score standard

•  MMA and AMEI are the only standards bodies with experts in symbolic music representation

Thoughts for MusicXML Home •  Always planned that MusicXML would move to a

standards body when mature, like PDF

•  Requires a standards body that is interested and capable, respecting compatibility with existing MusicXML implementations

•  AMEI / MMA proposal is first indication of interest

•  What are thoughts on: – Organizations? – Timing?

Staying in Touch •  MusicXML forum: http://forums.makemusic.com

•  Shows: Musikmesse, NAMM, SF MusicTech

•  Twitter: @MusicXML

•  Facebook: www.facebook.com/MusicXML