SCORE (software)

SCORE began in 1967 as a means of entering music into the MUSIC V sound generating system running on the PDP-10 mainframe computers at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL).[3] The three men involved with the project (Leland Smith, David Poole and John Chowning) subsequently founded the Stanford Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).[4]

As vector graphics terminals became available in the early 1970s, the parametric approach to describing musical information that had been designed for MUSIC V was adapted by Smith into a program called MS (the standard abbreviation for manuscript) for printing musical scores. The graphics plotters used for output were not able to plot curves so MS did not use music fonts as they are understood today, instead using user-editable symbol libraries based on polygons; only page text such as the title and composer were saved as text from a PostScript Type 1 font.[4][5]

The first printing of a complete musical work set entirely by computer was of Smith's Six Bagatelles for Piano which appeared in December 1971,[6][7] and the first book set entirely by computer to be published was his Handbook of Harmonic Analysis in 1979, created on the PDP-10 computer at SAIL using the PUB typesetting program in conjunction with MS. The printing was done at double size on a Varian Data Machines Statos electrostatic plotter and then optically reduced for lithographic printing.[8]

From its creation until 1985, all development of MS was either done on the PDP-10 computers at Stanford or during residencies at IRCAM in the Pompidou Centre, Paris.

SCORE version 4 was installed from a single 3.5" floppy disk, earlier versions shipped on up to four discs

Between 1985 and 1986 MS was ported to the Tandy 2000 running MS-DOS under the new name of SCORE.[4] This was released in 1987 as Version 1 by Passport Designs; and updated to version 2 in August 1988.[9] The German music publisher Schott Music began using SCORE in 1988[5] and their in-house engraving typefaces became the basis for SCORE's symbol library.[4] Passport Designs brought programmer Perry Devine in to help make the program more user-friendly and William Holab to rewrite the manuals, which resulted in version 3.0 in 1990. All versions after this were distributed and sold by Smith's company, San Andreas Press.

The SCORE music publishing system is made up of the main program, SCORE, and several associated utilities. These are:

• SPRINT, which sends typeset pages to PostScript printers or creates an EPS file
• PAGE, which handles page layout for multiple pages of music simultaneously, and part extraction
• DRAW, which draws symbols for inclusion in CODE 9 or CODE 11 libraries
• JUST, which aligns and justifies large scores with more than 32 staves per system[10]

Version 3.10 replaced SPRINT with SCORLAS and SCORDOT which sent output to laser and dot matrix printers, respectively. ESCORT and SCOREINPUT were sold separately and allowed MIDI input from MIDI file and MIDI keyboard, respectively.[10] Version 3.11 was released in 1994 and is considered by some to be the most mature and stable version of SCORE. It was the last increment of version 3 and is still used commercially today.[1]

Version 4.0 (known as SCOR4) was released in 1999,[11] including automatic lute and guitar tablature systems, MIDI playback, allowed the editing of groups of items simultaneously by drawing boxes with the mouse, a conditional editor, and various user interface improvements relating to file access and use of a mouse.[4][12] The last minor update to SCOR4, numbered 4.01, was made on October 16, 2001.[13]

WinScore, the Microsoft Windows version, was released to beta in 2008 as version 5.00. Improvements included increasing the possible number of staves on pages, removing the limits on items and vectors per page, a WYSIWYG interface, use of colour, native MIDI input and playback, extending the number of parameters per item to 36, and integrating all previous SCORE utilities (PAGE, JUST, DRAW, SCORLAS) into the main program.[14] WinScore suffered from memory leaks and other bugs which prevented its adoption by many users, and despite officially being released on December 8, 2012, it was still effectively in beta development at the time of its last update to 5.01 on November 1, 2013, six weeks before Smith's death.[11][15]

The basis of SCORE was written in FORTRAN with all the mouse and graphics routines written in Intel assembly language. WinScore was created using a combination of Visual C++ and 32-bit DEC FORTRAN.[4]

On release in 1987, SCORE version 1 cost $695, version 2 in 1988 was $995,[9] version 3 in 1991 was $795,[16] version 4 in 1999 was $825,[17] and WinScore, in 2013, was $300.[18]

In 1990 it cost $295 to update from an earlier version to version 3.

In 1999 it cost $125 to update from 3.11 to 4.0.[17]

In 2013 to update to WinScore from version 3 cost $200, and from version 4, $100.[18]

With Smith's death on December 17, 2013,[19] both SCORE and WinScore are abandonware and the website registrations have lapsed.[20]

Music is usually entered using text codes from a standard ASCII keyboard (though a MIDI keyboard can be used purely for note entry), and several passes are required to enter all the information. After the page has been set up with appropriate staves, information is entered voice by voice as follows:

• Pass 1 defines note names (including accidentals and staff position, but not duration), rests (not duration), clefs, measure lines, key signatures, time signatures
• Pass 2 defines rhythmic values (durations) for notes and rests
• Pass 3 defines marks: articulations, accents, dynamics etc.
• Pass 4 defines the position of rhythmic beams
• Pass 5 defines the end points of slurs and ties[25]

For example, to create these two bars of Bach's Fugue in C minor, BWV 847 from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier:[25]

To create the staff:

The five passes of data entry:

These show the use of the following text codes - note that '/' is a delimiter and ';' marks the end of each pass:

Pass 1

Pass 2

Pass 3

Pass 4

Pass 5

Once the music has been entered using the five-stage input mode described above, the musical data is converted into graphical objects that are stored in memory and in SCORE data files as lists of numbers. Here is the numerical representation of the BWV 847 fugue theme example:

8 1 0 0 0 200
3 1 1.5
17 1 9.416 0 -3
18 1 19.016 0 4 4
2 1 26.516 0 1 0 0.5
1 1 34.835 8 20 0 0.25
9 1 34.835 -3 54 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -5
6 1 34.835 8 7 41.43 22
5 1 34.835 10 10 41.43 1.1093 -1
1 1 41.435 7 23 0 0.25
1 1 47.233 8 10 0 0.5 -1
6 1 47.233 7 5.5 55.55 11
1 1 55.551 5 10 0 0.5 0.5
1 1 64.122 6 20 0 0.5
6 1 64.122 6 7 78.24 21 0 0 11 72.44 78.24
1 1 72.441 8 20 0 0.25 1.33
5 1 72.441 10 10 78.24 1.1092 -1
1 1 78.239 7 20 0 0.25
1 1 84.037 8 20 0 0.5
6 1 84.037 8 9 92.36 21
1 1 92.355 9 20 0 0.5
14 1 100.842 1
1 1 104.174 5 10 0 0.5 3
6 1 104.174 8 8 119.09 11 0 0 11 112.49 119.09
1 1 112.493 8 10 0 0.25
5 1 112.493 6 4 119.09 -1.3092 -1
1 1 119.093 7 13 0 0.25 1
1 1 125.143 8 20 0 0.5
6 1 125.143 8 9 133.46 21
1 1 133.462 9 20 0 0.5
1 1 141.781 4 10 0 0.25
6 1 141.781 4 5 147.58 12
5 1 141.781 2 4 153.38 -1.5185 -1
1 1 147.578 5 10 0 0.25
1 1 153.376 6 10 0 1
1 1 165.476 5 10 0 0.25
6 1 165.476 5 4 171.27 12
5 1 165.476 2 2 171.27 -1.1092 -1
1 1 171.274 4 10 0 0.25
14 1 178.274 1
1 1 181.606 3 10 1 2 0 0 0 14
14 1 200 1 1

Each line represents one graphical object, and the first three numbers on a line typically have the same meaning for every object: the first number is the object type, the second is the staff on which the object belongs, and the third object is the horizontal position of the object along the full width of the paper, with 0.0 representing the left margin, and 200.0 representing the right margin. The fourth number contains the vertical position of the note on the staff (although extra information may be included in the fourth parameter). The bottom line of the staff is vertical position 3, the bottom space of the staff is 4, and so on.

SCORE breaks down musical information into the following objects: Notes, Rests, Clefs, Lines, Slurs, Beams, Trills, Staves, Symbols, Numbers, User Symbols, Guitar Grid, Barlines, Graphics, Text, Key Signatures, Time Signatures

Here are selected objects and their associated parameters:

Unlike most music typesetting editors, understanding and manipulation of these numerical parameters are expected of SCORE users. The conditional editor added in version 4 also allows automation of manipulation of these numeric values, and external processing of the variables can be performed. To access the numeric parameters of objects within SCORE, a user clicks on a graphical element, and a list of the parameters is displayed at the top of the editor as shown in the screenshot, where a slur is selected.

SCORE was creative in packing as much information as possible into each numeric parameter. For example, Parameter 5 of CODE 1 is described as 'stem direction/accidental' but uses each place value to encode a different piece of information:[26]

Here are selected examples of objects from the numeric parameter data:

The key signature:

The time signature:

The dynamic marking ('mp'):

The rest in the first bar:

The first B natural in the first bar:

The second slur in the first bar:

The first barline:

The last note (half note, or minim):

With version 4, conditional editing was included in the main program. This allowed users to write conditional statements in a language similar to BASIC.[12] For example,

IF P3>100 THEN P3=P3-20 will move all items on all staves which are beyond position 100 (P3>100), 20 steps to the left (P3-20).

IF (P1=1 AND P2<4) OR (P1=2 AND P2>=6) THEN DEL will delete all notes (P1=1) on staves lower than 4 (P2<4) and all rests (P1=2) on staves greater than or equal to 6 (P2>=6).

IF (P1=1 AND P2>3 AND MOD(P9,10)<>0) OR (P1=1 AND P2=1 AND P3>100) THEN P11=5, P6=6 If notes (P1=1) are on a staff above 3 (P2>3) and have tails (the result of P9 MOD 10 is not 0), or notes (P1=1) are on staff 1 (P2=1) and to the right of position 100 (P3>100), then the notes will be given an accent (P11=5) and an X-shaped notehead (P6=6).

Some functionality was limited in the implementation, such as nested parentheses being unsupported (except for use with MOD()), being unable to edit text, being unable to cross-compare and edit different items simultaneously, and being unable to read macros in sequence from a source file. To remedy this, two third party utilities were developed to take full advantage of the possibilities of conditional editing: ScorEdit from Ararat Software,[27] and EDITSCOR from Brodhead Music Typography.[28]

WinScore allowed macros to be read in sequence from source files, but did not add any more functions.[25]

Example output of the SCORE Music Publishing System (EPS converted to PDF and then JPG)

Music notation data is saved in a proprietary but open format:

The files are saved in binary format where the first word is the word count for the entire file. The word count is normally a 16-bit integer; however, if the word count exceeds about 31000, then a 32-bit integer is used. Saved files with less than 31000 words can be read back into the earlier versions of SCORE, except, of course, any new features of WinScore will be ignored. Files with greater than 31000 words cannot be read by the earlier versions of SCORE. The files are concluded with a 6-word trailer. The last word is -9999. The next word back is the count of the preceding trailer words (currently 5). The next word back is the measurement code (0 = inches, 1 = metric). The next back is the program version number. The next is the program serial number (a converted integer). The first word of the trailer is currently undefined. After the initial integer word count, the rest of the file consists entirely of 4-byte (32-bit) floating-point words. Each item is defined by a parameter count followed by its given parameters.[25]

Files usually have the extensions ".mus" or ".pag", though any extension is permitted[26] (Finale also uses the extension ".mus" though the file format is different).

SCORE creates PostScript graphics that can either be sent to a PostScript printer or saved as an Encapsulated PostScript file. For creating publications the EPS graphics can be imported into a desktop publishing program.[26]

There are a number of third party utilities which take advantage of the open file format to extend the programs' functionalities and share data with other notation programs.[29][30][27]

The MS-DOS versions of SCORE can still be run on modern operating systems through the use of virtual machines, though accommodations need to be made for their age.[31][20][29] The most common MS-DOS emulators for SCORE are DOSBox in Windows, or Boxer[32] in macOS.