Current Developments
In the late 20th and into the 21st century, significant interest has developed in representing sheet music in a computer-readable format (see music notation software), as well as downloadable files. Music OCR, software to "read" scanned sheet music so that the results can be manipulated, has been available since 1991. In 1998, virtual sheet music evolved further into what was to be termed digital sheet music, which for the first time allowed publishers to make copyright sheet music available for purchase online. Unlike their hard copy counterparts, these files allowed for manipulation such as instrument changes, transposition and even MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) playback. The popularity of this instant delivery system among musicians appears to be acting as a catalyst of new growth for the industry well into the foreseeable future.
An early computer notation program available for home computers was Music Construction Set, developed in 1984 and released for several different platforms. Introducing concepts largely unknown to the home user of the time, it allowed manipulation of notes and symbols with a pointing device such as a mouse; the user would "grab" a note or symbol from a palette and "drop" it onto the staff in the correct location. The program allowed playback of the produced music through various early sound cards, and could print the musical score on a graphics printer.
Many modern digital audio workstation software products support generation of sheet music from MIDI files or by manual entry. Examples of products with this feature include free, open-source software like Aria Maestosa and MuseScore, as well as commercial programs like Cakewalk SONAR, Pro Tools and Logic Pro.
In 1999, Harry Connick, Jr. invented a system and method for coordinating music display among players in an orchestra. Connick's invention is a device with a screen which is used to show the sheet music for the musicians in an orchestra instead of the more commonly used paper. Connick uses this system when he's touring with his big band, for example.
Of special practical interest for the general public is the Mutopia project, an effort to create a library of public domain sheet music, comparable to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. The IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project) is also attempting to create a virtual library containing all public domain musical scores, as well as scores from composers who are willing to share their music with the world free of charge.
In addition to public domain efforts like Mutopia and IMSLP, many public domain musical works originally scored for piano, violin or voice are finding their way back into commercial circulation, now re-scored for other instruments. One example is WindsMusic, which re-scores public domain musical works from the original editions for various modern wind instruments and publishes arrangements with accompanying Finale, MIDI and mp3 files.
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