If you hear the term “forensic musicologist” and conjure up detectives with fingerprint dusters and a magnifying glass, well, metaphorically you’re not far off. The job of a forensic musicologist is to  apply musical knowledge to questions around copyright, explain  musical facts, and put them into context so that a court can arrive at a decision with the best information available. Brian McBrearty is a forensic musicologist, and he joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to discuss real-world cases of music infringement and the multi-dimensional approach that he takes in his analyses. We tackle the question of music notation and how it plays a role in Brian’s process, and talk tech — including the acceleration in artificial intelligence, both as a potential means of forensic analysis, and as a creator of potentially infringing content. More on Scoring Notes: The rights stuff, with Jim Kendrick

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology. This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with John Barron, the international product specialist for Dorico. NAMM offers representatives like John the opportunity to meet with customers from both the notation and audio sides of the music community. We spoke about the new Dorico-powered score editor in Cubase that appeals to a large cross-section of users, and how Dorico fits into the wider world of Steinberg and Yamaha products. We also discussed industry developments and what he’s hearing from Finale users as they explore the officially-endorsed migration path to Dorico. Be sure to check out our other conversations from the NAMM Show from earlier this month. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player. More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes: NAMM 2025: On the scene NAMM 2025: Decondensing Sibelius with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2025: Imbibing transcribing with Oriol López Calle NAMM 2025: Musing on software and design with Martin Keary NAMM 2025: On with the show with Steinberg’s John Barron NAMM 2025: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2025: An interview with Oriol López Calle NAMM 2025: An interview with Martin Keary

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology. This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Martin Keary, the head of software for Muse Group. Martin spoke with me about the conversations he had at NAMM about some of the exciting possibilities for MuseScore collaborations and integrations with other app makers in the future. More practically, we also discussed recent MuseScore development efforts and some of the new features we can expect to see in upcoming releases, as well as the role that industry changes like the end of Finale played in the road map for the software. Come back next week for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player. More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes: NAMM 2025: On the scene NAMM 2025: Decondensing Sibelius with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2025: Imbibing transcribing with Oriol López Calle NAMM 2025: Musing on software and design with Martin Keary NAMM 2025: On with the show with Steinberg’s John Barron NAMM 2025: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2025: An interview with Oriol López Calle

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology. This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Oriol López Calle from My Sheet Music Transcriptions, a service that he founded in 2011 that has since grown to employ dozens of people and serve tens of thousands of customers. Oriol told us about his company’s approach to their work, which includes not only transcribing but a full range of music preparation tasks. We also discussed technological innovations that have already transformed the business and those that we expect to do so in the future. Come back the next couple of weeks for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player. More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes: NAMM 2025: On the scene NAMM 2025: Decondensing Sibelius with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2025: Imbibing transcribing with Oriol López Calle NAMM 2025: Musing on software and design with Martin Keary NAMM 2025: On with the show with Steinberg’s John Barron NAMM 2025: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology. This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Sam Butler, Avid’s director of product management. Sam talked with us about the new decondensing parts feature in Sibelius that Avid previewed at NAMM, and he celebrated the award that his team received for last year’s release of the Android app. He also shared his thoughts on the industry’s developments over the past year, the direction that he anticipates for the future, and what it all means for Sibelius customers. Come back the next few weeks for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player. More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes: NAMM 2025: On the scene NAMM 2025: Decondensing Sibelius with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2025: Imbibing transcribing with Oriol López Calle NAMM 2025: Musing on software and design with Martin Keary NAMM 2025: On with the show with Steinberg’s John Barron

This episode was written by Andrew Anderson. We’re very pleased to bring you this episode, and more to come in the future, thanks to our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast that tells the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds. The history of recorded sound stretches back over a hundred and fifty years, starting with a device that could “record” a voice on a piece of paper. Today, we can enjoy lossless streaming anywhere we go… but getting here wasn’t easy. In this episode, our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz worked with Qobuz, the high quality music platform, to chart the history of audio mediums, from cylinders made of tin foil and wax, to vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CDs, and mp3s. Along the way, they explore the innovations and quirks of each format, with memories sent in from their listeners and the 20K team. Featuring Adam Tovell from the British Library Sound Archive. Then, stay tuned afterwards as David MacDonald and Philip Rothman tie all of this “related technology” back to the “music notation” portion of the Scoring Notes mission, and explore how music notation and recorded sound are complementary sides of what makes a song a song. Further reading: What Is a Song?, by Ben Sisario from The New York Times, about the copyright questions raised in the lawsuit involving Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” and Ed Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud”. Further listening: The [COMPRESSED] history of mastering Music featured in this episode: Original music by Wesley Slover Steppin Intro by Sound of Picture Paraphrase on Sleeping Beauty by Paul Pabst Greylock by Skittle Lonely Summertime by The Rockin’ Berries Ding Dong by Niklas Gabrielsson Bebop Blues by Vendla Living Memories by Golden Age Radio Gin Boheme by Vermouth Forever in Love With a Ghost by PÄR You Oughta Know by Rockin’ For Decades Back in Time by They Fall Pink Gloves by J.F. Gloss Dreamweavers by Sven Lindvall & Daniel Fridell No One Knows But Me by Torii Wolf Tour 505 by Epocha Blipper by Sound of Picture October by UTAH Do You by KENA Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, and hosted by Dallas Taylor. Art by Divya Tak.

Music scanning technology, or optical music recognition (OMR) if you like, has been around for decades, and yet in many ways is still barely out of infancy. But that could soon change as classic algorithm-based desktop programs converge with newer mobile apps and web-based machine learning tools. Steve Morell joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to discuss his review of six of those products that run the gamut of those technologies: Newzik, Soundslice, PlayScore 2, Sheet Music Scanner, SmartScore 64 Pro 64 NE, and ScanScore Professional. He takes on through his process of testing each of them from the common perspective of a user wanting to get a quick and accurate scan for exporting via MusicXML to other software such as Sibelius, Dorico, or MuseScore. However, those applications have many other use cases. We explore those as well, and how each of the products may be suited to one particular use or another in their own way. We also envision where the industry is headed and how these technologies could potentially evolve in the future. Read the full Scoring Notes review: Scanning the current OMR landscape

‘Tis the season to be thankful for all of the products and services in the world of music notation software and related technology, and for the Scoring Notes audience who tunes in to hear us opine on them! We show our appreciation by bearing good tidings in the form of a summary of all of the updates to MuseScore, Dorico, and Sibelius over the past year. Then, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald do a little shopping to find some Black Friday deals and make a few recommendations for fun and productivity. Black Friday 2024 deals for music notation software and related tech Show notes: Scoring Notes Product Guide, with links to posts about MuseScore, Dorico, and Sibelius updates from the past year Black Friday products and deals we mention: MakeMusic discounted crossgrade to Dorico Steinberg Cyber Deals Avid Black Friday Savings PDF Expert Black Friday deals Acon Digital Black Friday sale Muse Hub StaffPad on iPad and Windows Notation Central, Notation Express, Scoring Express, NorFonts Bambu Lab Black Friday Sale Studio Neat Mark pens Sidekick Notepad from Cortex Matthew Maslanka’s Beam Slants Reference Poster Henle engraving plate Samsung T7 SSD, T7 Shield SSD, T9 SSD Xkey 25 MIDI controller Nektar SE25 and Se49 MIDI controllers Logitech MX Keys S – Windows and MX Keys Mini – Windows Logitech MX Keys S – Mac and Logitech MX Keys Mini – Mac

Music education isn’t just learning how to read alto clef and knowing your intervals anymore. The evolution of music technology education, the changing attitudes of students towards music production, and the importance of teaching foundational skills alongside technology have made the collegiate experience in music more diverse than ever. In this episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald engage with guest Ben Fuhrman, a composer and music tech professor at Montana State University. They explore the preparation and skills students bring to music tech programs, focusing on music notation software, DAWs like FL Studio, Pro Tools, and Ableton Live, and the influence of high-profile artists on student choices. Skills that may seem trivial like file management are actually very important, complementing the understanding of concepts in preparing students for diverse careers in music technology. We also touch upon the evolving nature of music careers, the necessity for students to have both technical and traditional musical knowledge, and the impact of collaborative learning environments in fostering empathy and curiosity in the rapidly changing landscape of music technology. More from Scoring Notes: Sample rate, bit depth, bit rate, and you(r ears) Katie Wardrobe on music tech in education [encore]

Finale, the legendary music notation software program, has been discontinued 36 years after its groundbreaking release in 1988 from Coda Music Technologies. MakeMusic, the company that now owns Finale, has partnered with Steinberg to sell its Dorico application at a specially discounted price directly to Finale users. Jason Loffredo joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald in a comprehensive discussion about the facts, the business analysis, and the way forward for customers. More on Scoring Notes: MakeMusic ends development and availability of Finale; partners with Steinberg to sell Dorico directly [updated] Finale version 27 review: SMuFL and MusicXML 4.0 support Finale v27 and the SMuFL shuffle Finale version 27.1: SMuFL burrows deeper Finale version 27.2 adds new jazz template, native Apple silicon support Finale version 27.3 adds eight powerful JW tools, fixes some linked part issues Finale version 27.4 supports macOS Sonoma, true black printing, other fixes Jason Loffredo’s “Conquering Finale” video tutorial series

The 2024 conference of MOLA: An Association of Performance Librarians recently concluded in Cleveland, Ohio, and by all accounts it was a rocking success. The conference began with the second annual Tech Fair, a gathering of librarians, product specialists, and vendors, with demonstrations and exhibits bookended by panel discussions about technology as it relates to the performance librarian. The remainder of the four-day long conference featured plenary sessions, breakout groups, and lots of excellent spontaneous sharing of knowledge and experience about a crucial role in the music-making process. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald recap the conference with a podcast episode recorded in person from Cleveland, with a summary of the tech fair and the rest of the event: from the intricacies of percussion setup to licensing, copyright, and commissioning agreements, and much more. And, if you like your podcasts in video format, we have a special treat for you: A video of this podcast episode, recorded live. More from Scoring Notes: MOLA 2024: Cleveland rocked MOLA morsels: Conversations from the 2024 conference Videos from the MOLA 2024 Conference: MOLA 2024: Welcome! MOLA 2024: Putting Technology Into Practice in the Music Library MOLA 2024: Notion’s Chris Swaffer MOLA 2024: Avid’s Justin Tokke, product designer for Sibelius MOLA 2024: Steinberg’s John Barron, product specialist for Dorico MOLA 2024: The Cleveland Orchestra’s Michael Ferraguto MOLA 2024: Alastair McKean, MOLA President 2023-2024 MOLA 2024: Conference and Tech Fair Wrap-up

Printing music is something that takes skill and attention to detail — both by the music preparer and the printer. When everything’s communicated well, it leads to print shop nirvana and the ideal result for everyone involved. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk through a specific project and illustrate the various steps along the way to set it up for success. No detail is too small, from the page size, to the number of copies, to the shipping methods desired. Philip relays his tips and best practices from the perspective of a professional music printing service. Then, David gives advice for how to ensure good results if you need to take your project to a more general-service copy shop, or even if you are printing yourself, like some inventive ways to format the page size and convey the instructions to minimize the risk of errors that can be introduced and avoid miscommunication in what is one of the last, most critical steps in preparing a piece of music. Also: A preview of the 2024 MOLA Conference and Tech Fair. More on Scoring Notes and elsewhere: Chronology of a perfect music printing job Creating PDFs from Sibelius 7 Export File Names Dialog in Dorico Name Mangler and Moom productivity apps On the margins: Headers, footers, and footnotes in Sibelius Smarter title pages for parts in Sibelius Smarter title pages for parts in Finale Working with master pages in Dorico, part 2 How to fix a common page numbering problem in Sibelius PDF-MusicBinder and PDF-BatchStitch utilities for music printing

With music notation work often intersecting in some capacity with music production and scoring to video, it’s important to know when your software of choice is the best option for a particular need within a project, and when it’s not. When it comes to fine-tuned formatting and engraving decisions, we can’t move from one notation software product to another without losing that important detail work. However, with the underlying composition itself, the information can be moved quite effectively with MusicXML or MIDI to and from to other software when a particular tool is needed elsewhere. Steve Morell joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to take a look at how video, tempo, and time are handled with the four most popular desktop music notation software options — Dorico, Finale, MuseScore, and Sibelius — and how they compare to the unique notation/DAW hybrid approach from the tablet app StaffPad, as well as other solutions available. More from Scoring Notes: Video, tempo, and time (oh my!)

We last visited with Steinberg’s product marketing manager Daniel Spreadbury on the podcast upon the release of Dorico 4 in January 2022, and more recently last summer in Berlin at the MOLA conference in a panel discussion with his colleagues and competitors in the music notation software industry. Although Dorico didn’t have much of a presence at the 2024 NAMM Show, we welcome the opportunity to visit with Daniel here in a similar manner that we did with many of those colleagues and competitors at NAMM. We start not by focusing on the latest Dorico features, although we do discuss those. Instead, we speak with Daniel about how the Dorico community influences product development, to what extent Steinberg prioritizes customer requests and specific features, and how they balance those with some of the more long-term vision that they may have for the product. He gives us a sense of Dorico’s role within these companies, from a strategic, philosophical, and technical perspective. We explore how much of what they’re doing is done with the other products and services in mind, how those decisions are made, and how Dorico users benefit. We also talk about industry changes and how those philosophies end up shaping what customers see on their screens and even what kind of music they create. If you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, and interviews with NAMM CEO John Mlynczak, Avid’s Sam Butler, MakeMusic’s Jason Wick, and Muse Group’s Jack Sutton, check those out in the Scoring Notes podcast feed. More from Scoring Notes: Dorico 5 review: Moving the music forward Dorico 5.1: Filling the gaps Dorico 5.1.10 update is available Dorico 5.1.21 update is available NAMM 2024: An interview with Muse Group’s Jack Sutton NAMM 2024: An interview with MakeMusic’s Jason Wick NAMM 2024: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2024: Wrap-up and interview with CEO John Mlynczak NAMM 2024: John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO NAMM 2024: Muse Group’s Jack Sutton on Hal Leonard, MuseScore development and more NAMM 2024: MakeMusic’s Jason Wick on MakeMusic Cloud, Finale, and more NAMM 2024: Avid’s Sam Butler on upcoming Sibelius features, Android app, and more NAMM 2024: Exhibition mission

At the 2024 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology. Today’s podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Jack Sutton, Muse Group’s head of communications. Jack’s first visit to NAMM coincided with the company’s first official presence at the show as the parent company of Hal Leonard, which they recently acquired. We spoke about some early fruits of that deal and the longer-term plans that they have for the future of their combined business, which brings together cutting-edge digital products with a vast library of published content. We also discussed MuseScore and the latest developments with their flagship notation product, and specifically the improvements they’ve made, and plan to make, in the areas of guitar and percussion music, as well as the overall quality of output that they hope to achieve with MuseScore in the future. If you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, and interviews with NAMM CEO John Mlynczak, Avid’s Sam Butler, and MakeMusic’s Jason Wick, check those out in the Scoring Notes podcast feed. More from Scoring Notes: NAMM 2024: An interview with MakeMusic’s Jason Wick NAMM 2024: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2024: Wrap-up and interview with CEO John Mlynczak NAMM 2024: John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO NAMM 2024: Muse Group’s Jack Sutton on Hal Leonard, MuseScore development and more NAMM 2024: MakeMusic’s Jason Wick on MakeMusic Cloud, Finale, and more NAMM 2024: Avid’s Sam Butler on upcoming Sibelius features, Android app, and more NAMM 2024: Exhibition mission

At the 2024 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology. Today’s podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Jason Wick, MakeMusic’s director of product development. Jason talked with me about their MakeMusic Cloud product, including their Practice tool, Sight Reading Studio, a free online composing application, and their classroom suite. We also discussed MakeMusic’s tight integration with the Alfred Publishing side of their company, the future of Finale, and more broadly considered the company’s values and strategies in today’s landscape of industry consolidation. Come back next week for another great conversation from the NAMM Show. And if you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, and interviews with NAMM CEO John Mlynczak and Avid’s Sam Butler, check those out in the Scoring Notes podcast feed. More from Scoring Notes: NAMM 2024: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler NAMM 2024: Wrap-up and interview with CEO John Mlynczak NAMM 2024: John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO NAMM 2024: Muse Group’s Jack Sutton on Hal Leonard, MuseScore development and more NAMM 2024: MakeMusic’s Jason Wick on MakeMusic Cloud, Finale, and more NAMM 2024: Avid’s Sam Butler on upcoming Sibelius features, Android app, and more NAMM 2024: Exhibition mission

At the 2024 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology. Today’s podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Sam Butler, Avid’s director of product management. Sam talked with us about the new Sibelius features that Avid previewed at NAMM, the new Android application, and Sibelius Cloud publishing improvements. Come back the next couple of weeks for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And if you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, check that out in the podcast feed — David MacDonald and Philip Rothman review all the industry news and analyze what it means for you. More from Scoring Notes: NAMM 2024: Wrap-up and interview with CEO John Mlynczak NAMM 2024: John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO NAMM 2024: Muse Group’s Jack Sutton on Hal Leonard, MuseScore development and more NAMM 2024: MakeMusic’s Jason Wick on MakeMusic Cloud, Finale, and more NAMM 2024: Avid’s Sam Butler on upcoming Sibelius features, Android app, and more NAMM 2024: Exhibition mission

The 2024 NAMM Show was full of exciting news, products — and, most of all, the interesting people that create the news and products. Especially as it pertains to the Scoring Notes beat of music notation software and related technology, there was a lot to cover, and many miles were logged in service of bringing as much of the experience back to our audience. David MacDonald and Philip Rothman review each of the major interviews that took place for Scoring Notes during the show with representatives from Avid, MakeMusic, and Muse Group. We also more generally analyze the experience, the information, and what it means for the year ahead in the field. Concluding this episode is a special interview with John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO of NAMM in which we discuss his roots in the music notation field and its importance to the philosophy of the organization. Stay tuned all this month to the Scoring Notes podcast feed, where each week we will bring special bonus coverage of interviews with Avid’s Sam Butler, MakeMusic’s Jason Wick, and Muse Group’s Jack Sutton, as they each talk about their respective products and companies, and discuss their strategies and approaches to their business. More on Scoring Notes: NAMM 2024: John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO NAMM 2024: Muse Group’s Jack Sutton on Hal Leonard, MuseScore development and more NAMM 2024: MakeMusic’s Jason Wick on MakeMusic Cloud, Finale, and more NAMM 2024: Avid’s Sam Butler on upcoming Sibelius features, Android app, and more NAMM 2024: Exhibition mission

It’s easier than ever to publish your own music — but that doesn’t mean it’s a simple proposition. Even though a lot of music is made available digitally, there is still a significant demand for printed material. The logistics of printing physical copies and shipping them to customers can be tricky to navigate. It’s important to not be “toner-deaf” to the challenges that come along with the opportunities you “drum” up by making your music available. In this conversation with Garrett Breeze of the Selling Sheet Music podcast, Philip Rothman and Garrett first discuss the ways in which you can work with services that will handle the printing and fulfillment for you. We also talk about what’s needed if you want to actually set up your own operation, and finally review some tools that can help you prepare your music for both specialty print services and conventional copy shops, so that you can find a smooth path towards getting the material out and avoid any paper jams along the way. More from Scoring Notes: Muse Group acquires Hal Leonard Chronology of a perfect music printing job Print perfect Name Mangler and Moom productivity apps On the margins: Headers, footers, and footnotes in Sibelius Smarter title pages for parts in Sibelius Smarter title pages for parts in Finale Working with master pages in Dorico, part 2 How to fix a common page numbering problem in Sibelius PDF-MusicBinder and PDF-BatchStitch utilities for music printing Quickly scale many PDFs with PDF-BatchScale Make booklets and 2-ups with PDF-BatchBooklet File renaming and PDF batch utilities

With the Muse Group acquisition of Hal Leonard, and Dorico, MuseScore, Sibelius, and Finale all freshly updated, 2023 is going out with a bang. We gather round the fire and discuss all the news, as we get ready for the year ahead in music notation software and related technology. More on Scoring Notes: Muse Group acquires Hal Leonard Dorico 5.1: Filling the gaps MuseScore 4.2 adds more guitar features and improves scores with parts Sibelius 2023.11: Sonoma support, more system object positions, better Keypad Finale version 27.4 supports macOS Sonoma, true black printing, other fixes