Wildcat Canyon Software

From Jazz Educators Journal, January 1998

Autoscore: A Creative Pitch Recognition Software Application

By Dr. John Kuzmich, Jr.

No question about it, the computer can add serious excitement to your school music curriculum. Sequencing and notation software have brought the challenge of composing well within the grasp of music students. Until recently, few public school educators considered composing music a realistic classroom pursuit. But with computer technology, music composition can be one of your student’s most fundamental and creative learning activities whether in the general music class, vocal, string, or band classroom.

Imagine inputting musical ideas and immediately hearing your creation played back via multitimbral synthesis. That is what sequencing and notation software products can do today. Students won’t have to transpose or write out individual parts, let alone, find musicians to patiently rehearse before hearing their composition played correctly! Editing a computer music composition can be as slick as "cutting and pasting" text in your word processing software.

There are two ways musical ideas can be entered into the computer: step-time or real-time. Step-time involves entering one note at a time, using predefined durations, without reference to a metronome. Real-time involves recording music into the computer in a "live" performance. Naturally, real-time is the fastest way to input but usually requires fluent keyboard skills. Unfortunately, many band, orchestra, vocal or general music students do not have keyboard skills to match their particular performance skills. But here’s the good news, there are a few sequencing programs that allow students to input via their own instrument or voice rather than with the piano MIDI keyboard. These digital/analog software products can convert the acoustical instruments or voices into MIDI sounds through a microphone connected to their computer.

One sequencing program is now available which can do all the above, and also transcribe your singing or instrumental performance directly to notation. It is Autoscore. Autoscore will also work with a number of third-party sequencing and notation software programs that you may already have. Not only does it have the ability to transcribe monophonic audio input into MIDI data, it works as a stand-alone application saving transcribed music as MIDI files through its built-in sequencer which can then be imported into any sequencing or music notation program for further development.

True Pitch Recognition Software: Meet Autoscore Deluxe and Pro Versions (One-of-a Kind Product)

Autoscore is a great entry-level sequencing and notation program will full editing capabilities in two outstanding versions and prices. The Deluxe at $119.00 has everything you need to compose and score music on your computer, including adding and removing notes, transposing, and printing out your musical creation. The Pro has all of the Deluxe features, plus pitch bend tracking, volume tracking, and direct connection to may popular music software programs. What sets Autoscore apart from the competition is that it incorporates pitch recognition technology to convert your music in a Standard Midi file format. It does this in a single-step process: recording music from an acoustical source into Autoscore and instantly displaying the music notation. With Autoscore you merely click on the record button, sing or play a song, click on stop, and there’s the musical notation on screen, ready to play back, print out, or edit. The combination of the quality of the Autoscore technology and the real-time pitch recognition allow for immediate results essential for the classroom.

It is available for both PC and Mac platforms. Autoscore Pro works seamlessly with the following third-party programs: Performer by Mark of the Unicorn, Cubase by Steinberg North America, Cakewalk Pro Audio by Twelve Tone Systems, Metro by OSC, Finale and Finale Allegro by CODA Music, Master Tracks, MusicTime and Encore by Passport Designs, Nightingale by Musicware, Studio Vision by Opcode, Midisoft Recording Session by Midisoft Corporation, and Practica Musica by Ars Nova.

Ease of Use and Operation Features:

Autoscore lets you limit input to specific scales or keys, and adjust parameters to reduce faulty transcription. It can enable or disable pitch bending and look for silence between notes. Note-length and volume threshold can be set so that Autoscore will more accurately interpret sounds picked up by the microphone, which is especially helpful if there is background noise such as a noisy computer fan. Included free with the software program is a good quality Labtec microphone that connects to your soundcard or to your computer’s microphone input. Mac users will welcome this free microphone.

You need to specify your tempo and meter. As you record your performance you must listen to a metronome click provided by the software. This is best done with headphones so as not to interfere with the interpretation of your performance. In order to get an accurate standard pitch conversion, the software has controls for its range and instrumental/vocal quality. You can select male/female vocal quality or violin, cello, guitar, bass guitar, high, medium and low winds. It can also be configured to recognize particular instruments and vocal ranges. To make notation more functional, you can assign Autoscore to force your input into a particular key, or to the chromatic scale. If you’re working with a sequencing program, you can ask it to track your volume glissandi (slides), and vibrato, as well.

You can record track by track and play back the composition with any combination of instruments. Autoscore can add and remove notes, adjust timing, pitch, and durations and more. Review of Autoscore Deluxe and Pro, 2.0, features:

Recognizes any instrument playing a single line, including the human voice

Multi-track sequencer with printing included

Improved recognition algorithm take advantage of today’s sound cards

New TruTrack mode accurately scores and plays back your music

Real-time sound system analyzer with interactive note display

Flexible, easy to use interface

Constrained to key for more accurate results

Step-entry mode for step-time recording

Standard MIDI file compatible

Available for both Mac and PC computer platforms

Autoscore Limitations:

Autoscore works best with instrumental and voice melodic input. It is not designed to recognize chords; nor will it recognize music played from a tape or CD since the program only recognizes single lines of music. However, you could possibly input a recording of a single instrument. I have been successful transcribing recorded single-line parts.

Be sure to run the test microphone in the Autoscore menu to make sure your microphone setup is working properly. The test feature checks to see if you are getting sound into your computer, and ensures your input levels are properly set. This testing process is very graphical and easy to use.

If you plan to use Autoscore Pro with a third-party sequencer or notation program for editing, be sure to check with Wildcat Canyon to see if your product is supported by Autoscore. If not, consider buying one that is. If your third-party program has excellent MIDI transcription capabilities, your results will be better. My favorite third-party sequencing and notation software products used in conjunction with Autoscore for editing purposes are Master Tracks and Encore by Passport Designs.

Summary Comments

Autoscore is a one-of-a-kind software program. Before Autoscore, there were two ways you could use acoustic instruments in a computer music notation program. The first was to record the acoustical instrument through a pitch-to-MIDI converter which is a hardware device that converts an audio voltage signal to digital MIDI information into the computer’s sequencing program. It was never popular because of the time-delay involved. The expense of a separate hardware purchase was another factor why this procedure didn’t really catch on. The second way was to use a professional level sequencing program with digital/analog recording capabilities at a minimum cost of $400 or more and then import the newly created Standard MIDI file into a notation program.

Now with either version of Autoscore, you can do the pitch-to-MIDI conversion and its notation transcription in one easy instant step! The ability to readily compose music through your acoustic instrument or voice without keyboard entry skills is ingenious. Novice computer users will find Autoscore amazingly simple to use. The classroom possibilities are exciting and the sky is the limit according to the editing capabilities of your professional-level third-party program. Considering the educational implications of Autoscore Deluxe at $119 and Autoscore Pro at $249, these list prices represent quite a substantial bargain. Be aware that performance entry skills need to be accurate for Autoscore to work properly. Autoscore cannot improve performance liabilities. But Autoscore in the hands of a creative teacher can generate some rather innovative educational results on a minimal budget. Try it, your students will be pleased with these educational possibilities.

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