Recordare Announces MusicXML 2.0 Sheet Music Format
June 20, 2007
Recordare LLC, an Internet
music software and publishing company, has released version 2.0 of its
popular MusicXMLT sheet music file format. MusicXML files are commonly
used today in sheet music preparation and publishing. Version 2.0 adds
consumer-oriented features designed to make MusicXML files the sheet
music equivalent of MP3 files.
MusicXML files have historically been very large. While not a problem
for the format's original role in sheet music interchange, it has been
a barrier to distributing sheet music files online. Version 2.0 of the
MusicXML format adds a compressed format that makes MusicXML files
about 20 times smaller than before, similar in size to the
corresponding MIDI files. The compressed format also allows multimedia
content to be distributed with digital sheet music.
Unlike the MP3 format, the MusicXML format is available for anyone to
use under a royalty-free license. Version 2.0 adds 95 new features to
version 1.1, including the compressed format and enhancements to
capturing the full appearance of a musical score. Version 4 of
Recordare's DoletR for Finale plug-in supports the new MusicXML 2.0
format. Currently in beta test, it is scheduled for release this
summer.
The MusicXML format was originally designed as an interchange format
between different music notation applications running on Windows,
Macintosh, and Linux systems. It is now supported by over 75
applications. These include leading music notation editors (Finale,
Sibelius, and capella), leading music scanning programs (SharpEye
Music Reader and capella-scan), PDF and MIDI music acquisition
programs (PDFtoMusic Pro and Notation Composer), electronic music
stands for organ and piano, and more. This combined support makes
MusicXML far and away the most widely adopted music notation format
since MIDI.
For more information, visit their web site at www.recordare.com.
| 
