From The Daily Universe, September 1998

Music Software: Easy Does It

By Jill Auger

If you are annoyed with roommates that sing in the shower or play the guitar nonstop, don't complain. With a little bit of work and new computer software, your roommate could be coming up with a new hit song.

Autoscore is a new computer program that records sounds played into a microphone and writes out the notes as sheet music.

The user can then edit the music and print or play back their composition.

Created by Wildcat Canyon software of Berkeley, Calif., Autoscore uses special technology that registers the pitch and duration of notes to display them on the screen.

According to his review, Bob Johnson of Jazz Player Magazine is pleased with the new software. "A hip-hop tune of mine originally had a tenor saxophone solo recorded in a .wav file on my PC." Johnson said. "I used Autoscore to create a MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) copy of the solo and then played back the tune while doubling the acoustic solo on my synthesizer. Even with 10 to 15 percent of the MIDI notes dropped, I could go back and edit most of the discrepancies." Prior to the creation of

Autoscore, the only way to compose music on a computer was to point and click with a mouse, or play each note separately on a MIDI keyboard, said Sam Thorpe, public relations manager for Wildcat Canyon Software.

John Kuzmich Jr., of Jazz Educators, said in a review that editing a composition in Autoscore is as easy as easy as editing text on a word processor.

One feature the program lacks is the ability to recognize music more complex than a single note melody.

Ian Koss of INK-19 said in a review that Autoscore works best with instrumental and voice input. It is not designed to recognize chords, or music from tapes or CDs. But the program can build a composition by harmonizing multiple tracks during playback.

David Vincent, of Maximum PC magazine, said Autoscore can be set for a specific major and minor key and can play reference tones so that an instrument can be tuned to it.

Autoscore also has several settings to record singing or a variety of instruments: strings, percussion, woodwinds or brass.

Kuzmich calls Autoscore a one-of-a-kind program. "The ability to compose music without using a keyboard or having any real musical skill is ingenious," said Kuzmich. He thinks the program will be especially useful in the classroom. Kuzmich said Autoscore allows teachers to edit and critique students' compositions on the spot and visually demonstrate lessons.

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