Due to the discussion about Igor I got reminded again of something that I'd like to initiate, though I cannot do it on my own.
Recently there was a kind of competition between different computer engravers using different software. The competition was originally done as a promotion for Sibelius, as far as I remember, and the results were quickly withdrawn when they weren't so favourable for Sibelius. However, even though Finale did come out really well, I personally have severe doubts as to the rules of the competition. I would like to suggest a new competition - one that shows more of the qualities of the programs and engravers. Here is what I propose, and I hope more people will jump in and make suggestions on how such could look like. 1) I think there should be several parts of the competition, a) immitation of existing publications of high quality (these need to be carefully picked) b) free part: set pieces can be engraved freely for the best possible look on page, the only thing that should be set is the total number of measures on the page. The source for this should be a manuscript, not a published score. 2) The set pieces should be chosen from 18th to early 20th century, I have my doubts that including contemporary or experimental notation will say anything about the software, such music is always likely to favour certain software, while another set piece could have changed the results in favour of another. So let's stay with traditional notation, but include as much as possible in terms of notation problems (eg Bach's unaccompanied violin sonatas and partitas are a good test piece for any software). I think one needs about 4 pieces for the immitation part and 2 pieces for the free engraving part. 3) I don't think it is practical to judge on timings, since they are very hard to check anyway, and usually tell more about the engraver than about the software. 4) There should be a jury, but there should also be a public voting system. The results should be kept separate. This competition should only be about quality, not about user friendliness of the software. However, if there were enough applicants one could separate the competition for professional engravers and hobbyists and judge them separately. In addition there could be a kind of problemlist for any participant to fill in. What do others think about such a plan? Johannes -- http://www.musikmanufaktur.com http://www.camerata-berolinensis.de _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
