Start Windows from the DOS prompt: C:\>. Type WIN.
Place the MIDISCAN Version 1.1 disk into the 31/2ö drive of your computer.
Choose Run from the Window Program Manager File menu.
Type: [Drive]:SETUP and click the OK button.
NOTE: If you already have MIDISCAN 1.0 installed, it will be overwritten.
MIDISCAN will be installed automatically after you enter your name at the install prompt. A directory called C:\MIDISCAN will be created and will act as the default directory for your .TIF, .MND and .MID files. Refer to the manual, Using MIDISCAN for Windows, File Management, Section 3.1 on page 23 for information on how to set up unique directories for your scores.
Opening MIDISCAN
Double-click the MIDISCAN icon on the Windows desktop. YouÆre in there...
NOTE: A sample score, SAMPLE.MND, is loaded into C:\MIDISCAN along with its associated .TIF and .MID files. This is the first page of the famous Canon in D by Pachelbel. You may immediately load it by going to File>Open>Sample.[MND]. (See Chapt. 3 of Using MIDISCAN for Windows.)
New Features in Version 1.1
Improvements made to MIDISCAN 1.0 can be found throughout the entire program. Many enhancements were implemented from feedback we received from our customers. We continue to encourage your suggestions. The following is a partial list of features & improvements:
Image Handling
Higher resolutions supported (up to 1400 Kb)
Improved image rotation routine
TIF and MND files may now be moved. Links retained.
Recognition
Improved recognition algorithms
New automatic processing option, completely hands-off
Improved staves localization and structure checking
Automatic handling of music containing irregular number of staves, e.g. vocal/piano scores with 2 going to 3 staves
Automatic handling of music containing staves of varying widths, e.g. piano accompaniments to solo parts
MNOD Editor
Improved user interface
Modes, functions and objects mapped to PC keyboard
Quick editing features such as click-on-object to select
Auto-save
MIDI Conversion
Improved voice line extraction
Pickup and close out measures supported
Working with the Improved Editor
To begin working immediately with recognition of a TIF image in Ver. 1.1, refer to Processing Scanned Images, Section 7 on page 6.
Go to File>Open and select SAMPLE.MND.
The upper half of the screen will display the original scanned image of the Canon in D. The lower half will display the reconstruction of the music after recognition. The reconstruction is in a file format called MNOD (Music Notation Object Description) and is completely editable.
To edit the MNOD reconstruction, click on Edit MNOD along the main menu bar and select MNOD Toolbox.
The Toolbox palette will open along the left-hand side of your screen. It contains all notation objects needed for editing arranged as groups containing associated objects.
Only one staff line can be edited at a time. It will be highlighted in black. The other staves are grayed out.
To scroll up and down a page, click in the scroll bar in the right margin. Arrows scroll the display incrementally in all directions. SHIFT + arrow = Screen (Intermediate) scroll. CNTL + arrow = File (Large) scroll. The ôHomeö key returns you to page one. ôEndö key takes you to the last page.
The MIDISCAN MNOD editor differs from other music notation editors in one big way: MNOD editing begins with lots of objects on-screen where other editors begin with no-thing. It is just as important to change an object as it is to insert it. By using shortcut keys, editing will be quick and easy.
NOTE: Refer to the card, ôMNOD Editor Quick Keys Mapö. It illustrates which edit modes and objects are mapped to the PC keyboard. Use it as a reference when editing an MNOD file.
Edit Modes
Change/Insert Modes
With your left index finger, press the ôCö key several times. This will toggle you between Insert and Change modes. Refer to Insert and Delete MNOD Objects, Section 3.5.2 on page 37 of the user manual.
Delete / Delete Any Modes
With your left middle finger, toggle the ôXö key. Delete removes any object that is selected in the toolbox group. It also will remove an entire chord cluster when clicked.
Delete Any will remove any object that is clicked with the mouse. Use it to remove a single note from a chord cluster.
Single-note / Cluster-note Modes
With your small finger, toggle the ôZö key. With Insert active, Single-note mode will drop a note object anywhere in the MNOD window.
Cluster-note mode is for chord-building. With Insert active, it will add a new note of identical duration above or below any existing note.
NOTE: For the purpose of MIDI conversion, all notes of a single cluster are considered to be one ôvertical eventö. Notes and rests belonging to separate voice lines that occur at the same time must be vertically aligned to qualify as a ôvertical eventö.
Changing Note Pitches
Hold the SHIFT key down and drag any note or rest object with the left mouse button depressed. You will be able to change note pitches this way.
Editing Shortcuts
Quick-Select of MNOD Objects for Editing{xe "Note values, Quick-Select"}
To quickly select any object for Insert, Change or Delete, hold the CNTL button down with your small finger and in the MNOD window click on an object equivalent to what you want. That object type becomes selected.
To Insert or Change any beamed note, CNTRL-click on the desired type of beamed note in the active staff line (first, middle or last). Then click on any given note to assign the selected value to it, including a beam direction.
To select an accidental, click on one nearby.
Dot, Tie and Beam Toggles
Hit the ôDö key. This toggles you between ôInsert a dotö and ôDelete a dotö modes.
Hit the ôVö key. This toggles you between ôInsert tieö and ôDelete tieö modes.
With the single note group in the toolbox open, hit the ôAö key. This toggles you between ôRight beamed, Inside beamed and Left beamed note configurations.
Change Stem Directions When Inserting Notes
In Insert mode, the ôSö key toggles default note stem direction. Right-clicking when Inserting a note reverses the selected stem direction.
Delete Many Ties in a Selected Region
To delete all ties in a selected region, hit the ôGö key. Drag the mouse to define a box inside the MNOD window that contains unwanted ties. A right click inside the box will delete all ties inside the region.
Use Number Keys to Select Note Values
To quickly select note values, hit the appropriate keyboard number: 1 = whole note, 2 = 1/2 note, 3 = 1/4 note, etc.
Select Tuplets Key
The ôTö key activates Tuplets group. Triplets are selected as the default. Drag the mouse to box around desired notes to select as a tuplet. Right-click inside the box.
Group Flagged Notes into Beams
To quickly group flagged notes into a beamed sequence, hold the ôBö button down while dragging a box around the flagged notes with the left mouse button. Then right-click inside the box. The flagged notes will group themselves into a beamed sequence. Flagged notes do not have to be of the same value to group into a beam.
Flag / Beam Toggle Key
With Insert active, the ôFö key toggles between ôflagö and ôbeamö attributes for any selected note.
Auto-Save
You may have your open MNOD file automatically saved at a selected interval. Go to File>Auto Save in the Main Menu. Select a time interval for Auto Save.
Zoom In / Zoom Out
In the Main Menu, View>Zoom selects from a range of zooms for viewing and editing: 1:4, 1:3, 1:2, 1:1, 2:1, 4:1.
Processing Scanned Images
MIDISCAN 1.1 process images of musical scores with very high precision. Keep in mind that the better the images you give it, the more accurate MIDISCANÆs output will be. For {xe "Scanning, optimizing"}optimum results, follow these guidelines:
Use a flat-bed scanner if possible. Hand held units usually to a poor job of ôstitchingö staff lines together. Also, since most of them operate at a bandwidth of 8-bits, they are so horribly slow at 300 dpi that errors are usually introduced.
Scan at slightly darker than normal setting. This will ôfatten-upö objects in the image, especially with printing that is ôrazor-sharpö.
Optimize image resolution. MIDISCAN 1.1 can accept image sizes of to 1400 Kb (1.4 Megabytes). Crop the image to encompass the active print area, use image-scaling and/or maximize the resolution within limits. Scanning at 350-400 dpi for A4 sized folio is typical.
Fully Automatic Score Processing
MIDISCAN 1.1 automatically processes multiple-page scores in eyes-off/hands-off mode. It even copes with scores containing irregular numbers of staves in systems, e.g. vocal/piano arrangements where the vocal line begins on line 3, and irregularly-sized staff widths, e.g. ôsolo stavesö with accompaniment.
Go to Recognition in the Main Menu and select Begin Recognition. Automatic processing mode is the default.
Choose the score type, Ensemble or Part. See Score Structure, Section 3.4.2 on page 27 of the user manual for descriptions.
Select the size of the region around each staff line that MIDISCAN will be searching for note objects. See Recognition Region, Section 3.4.3 on page 28 of the user manual.
Press OK. The Files Selection Dialog box will open. C:\MIDISCAN is the default directory. If your image files were saved elsewhere, find the directory and click on the filenames of each ôTIFF-pageö you want processed in the order you want MIDISCAN to process them. Refer to Ensemble Score Selection, Section 3.4.4 on page 28 of the user manual.
All selected pages will be batch-processed by MIDISCAN. Depending on the machine you are using and the density of the objects on the page, processing time will be anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes per page.
Automated processing will be interrupted only if an inconsistency in the structure of the score is detected (usually staves per system). If you encounter such an error message, you will have the choice of correcting staves localization on that page or cancelling the recognition sequence entirely. For a description of Staves Localization see page 30 of the user manual.
Using Correction
If during staves localization of a page, an inconsistency in the logical structure between staves and systems is detected, recognition will be suspended. You may choose ôCorrectionö or you may ôCancelö out of recognition entirely. If you select ôCorrect,ö each staff line on the page will be relocated and you may confirm or correct the position of the ôlocator tabsö which drop at the beginning and end of each staff line.
Go to the black locator tab at the beginning of the first staff line. Press Accept if it is located properly, that is, if it encompasses the top and bottom staff lines and the left staff margin.
If the tab is not located properly, you may move it into place by dragging it with your mouse. You may also size it larger or smaller by bringing your mouse to the top or bottom edge and dragging. Once the tab is positioned and sized, press Accept.
NOTE: Only one locator tab is active at a time. Though highlighted, all other tabs are inactive. Occasionally a tab will drop to a staff line below or above the line it actually belongs to. Move it and Accept.
The next locator tab will be dropped. It should drop at the end of the first staff line.
Accept if it is correctly positioned or reposition it as necessary and then Accept. Continue until you accept the position of all locator tabs on the page. Press Done.
Recognition of the remaining score will continue as before.
Irregular Numbers of Staves in Systems
MIDISCAN Ver. 1.1 automatically copes with scores containing irregular numbers of staves in systems, such as vocal/piano accompaniments that go from 2 to 3 staves per system. MIDISCAN assumes that such inconsistencies in the staves-per-system structure occur only on the first page and that the score retains a consistent structure from that point onwards.
NOTE: If your score happens to change its staves-per-system structure after the first page, you will need to process it as two separate scores in MIDISCAN and append the two MIDI files together in your MIDI sequencer or notation software.
MIDISCAN Ver. 1.1 also successfully handles scores containing staff lines of varying widths, such as piano accompaniments that include ôreducedö solo instrument lines.
User Correction Mode
If your score is not consistent in its staves-per-system structure or if you have staff lines that you want ignored, select User Correction mode instead of Automatic mode at Recognition. MIDISCAN assumes that a consistent number of staves per system will be encountered during recognition. The first page is excepted and may be irregular (See Section 7.3 on page 9).
The Score Description Dialog box reports the staves/system found on each page. If the actual score structure differs from what was found, correct the staves/system on the first page according to whether your score is ôRegularö or ôIrregularö.
In User Correction mode, the position of each locator tab (2 per staff line) must be confirmed by pressing Accept in the flying dialog box before the next tab is dropped. Reposition and resize each tab, if necessary, before clicking Accept.
To tell MIDISCAN to ignore a particular staff line after it was localized, press Skip Stave in the flying dialog box. When the recognition sequence reaches the staff line, that staff line will be skipped.
To add an ôextraö (or empty) staff line in order to retain consistency of staves per system, press New Stave in the floating dialog box. A locator tab will drop in the empty space just below the last staff line located. At the end of the page, press Done. The next page will then be processed.
MIDI Conversion
The final step in MIDISCAN is converting your MNOD file to a MIDI file. The following are a few things to keep in mind prior to converting MNOD files to MIDI files.
Time and Key Signatures
MIDI sequencers and notation applications require that imported MIDI files contain a time signature.
Check that the first measure in MNOD has the correct time signature. From the Main Menu, select Edit MNOD>Unify Time Signatures. This will unify all time signatures throughout the score based on whatever time signature is found in the first staff line. If no time signature appears in the first measure, MIDISCAN will arbitrarily insert 4/4 as the signature.
NOTE: If a change-of-key or change-of-time signature is encountered in staff #1 of the score, the change will become effective until another change is found.
To unify key or time signatures throughout the score, select Edit MNOD>Unify Key and Time Signatures.
Voice Lines
MIDISCAN extracts voice lines from MNOD files using certain rules. Points to remember with multiple voices are:
Note and rest events belonging to separate voices that occur at the same moment must be aligned vertically in MNOD, regardless of how they may be horizontally offset relative to one another in the original notation.
Often publishers will allow a ôpartialö voice line inside a multiple-voice measure. You may need to ôfill outö a voice line with rests in order for MIDISCAN to extract the line.
Pickup and Close Out Measures
In MIDI conversion, rests are ôinsertedö at the beginning of a pickup measure. When its associated close out measure is encountered, rests are inserted at the end of the measure.
Musitek Customer Support
If you encounter problems using MIDISCAN you may reach Musitek technical support during the hours listed below. If you are located outside the U.S. or Canada, contact your local Musitek distributor. You may also FAX your questions us. Replies to FAX questions will be replied to within 24 hrs.
(805) 646-5841 - 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM PST
Tech Support FAX line: (805) 646-8099
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