Working from home? Switch to the DIGITAL edition of School Band & Orchestra. CLICK HERE to signup now!
It is a strange and trying time for all of us in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We certainly understand times are tough for you, as it is for us. We have been proud to bring School Band & Orchestra for free for more than two decades and we will continue to provide you with free subscriptions during the pandemic. However, we would like your consideration in these difficult times to help support our efforts here at School Band & Orchestra to keep our information flowing and to provide you with a continuous stream of current and vital information when you need it the most.
It is with the utmost sincerity we ask you to consider supporting our efforts here with a small donation which will allow our staff the ability to keep these interesting stories about your chosen career coming to you in a consistent and timely basis. Your consideration is greatly appreciated. We at School Band & Orchestra wish nothing but the best for you, your school, your family and co-workers. We hope you continue to remain healthy during this most strenuous of times.
Time is precious for a music educator. Within the academic school day, rehearsals, concerts, planning, research, teaching, tours, festivals, committees, and extra duties all have to be taken care of. But the right short-cut technology can make all the difference. This article, along with the next three, will present some (hopefully) helpful technological time savers for those feeling the crunch.
When I first got into technology in the early 1980s, I quickly recognized its unlimited potential for instruction and lightening the burden of endless responsibilities that an orchestra or band director deals with on a daily basis. Here are some of my favorite music and business software applications that can make a difference.
Music Scanning Applications
Word processing and music notation software have made a big difference in how we manage our time. But scanners and their related software applications have introduced “warp” speed to the creative process. Scanning recognition for both word-oriented documents and music scores has improved over the years and can save you countless hours of inputting by hand with over 99+% accuracy. In 1992, my first scanner had a list price of $2,200. Today, scanners have significantly higher quality and retail for under $100. Music scanning software has improved with every upgrade for nearly 15 years and is now the fastest way to import a score from scratch into a notation software application for further editing, printing and audio playback. I suggest downloading demos from the manufacturer’s Web sites listed below and trying them with a school scanner before making purchases.
There are two major applications to select from: SmartScore by Musitek (www.smartscore.com) and PhotoScore by Neuratron (www.neuratron.com). Both products are available in several editions for both Mac and PC platforms. Imagine being able to scan a published music score or part and then being able to convert it to a
