MusicXML was one of numerous proposals for representing common Western music notation in an XML format that emerged at this time. MusicXML also followed best practices for XML language design, using elements for musical data and attributes for musical metadata such as formatting and performance information. Soon MusicXML added features for popular music and other areas that went beyond the original MuseData and Humdrum designs. 9 The first versions of MusicXML were basically an XML version of MuseData, with key concepts from Humdrum added in.
The Recordare ® MusicXML ™ format 7 was placed on a strong technical foundation by building on the two leading academic formats for symbolic music: the MuseData format 8 and the Humdrum format. XML attracted widespread interest from the information technology industry, so musicians could now leverage the base technology investments made by much larger industries. 6 XML provided a technology for representing complex data from different applications in a standard, Unicode, text-based format that was readable both by computers and people. 5Īround the turn of the century, many people realized that the XML language provided an excellent opportunity to at last create a standard music notation interchange language. 2 Earlier efforts to create a standard notation format such as NIFF 3 and SMDL 4 were never widely adopted, due to a combination of technology and social issues. The MIDI format 1 was the only interchange format widely supported by commercial music software, but MIDI includes only a small fraction of the information represented in music notation. In the past, it was not possible for people to share music notation effectively between different programs. In the past, other programs like Score and Amadeus were used more frequently, and they still remain in use today.Īll of these programs have their own internal, proprietary data formats for representing music notation.
EXPORT ENCORE TO MUSICXML SOFTWARE
In 2009, the most common notation software products are Finale and Sibelius. In the 21st century, nearly any publication of Western music that uses common Western music notation will be produced using music notation software. The historical production process of plate engraving gave way to computerized engraving. Good 1 Introduction to MusicXML 2.0ĭuring the last part of the 20th century, the creation of sheet music publications became an increasingly computerized process. Originally published in Digital Edition zwischen Experiment und Standardisierung, Peter Stadler and Joachim Veit, eds., Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen, 2009, pp.