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Hi all.

Recently, I've been exploring using Music XML files in BiaB, and I'm getting some mixed results with the outcomes.

Are there any other users who have used Music XML for import and export within BiaB who could share their experiences, and if everything had worked satisfactorily, if they had success or found any issues?

I'm keen to get any feedback from other users' experiences. What worked, what didn't work as expected, etc.

Thanks in advance.


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Hello AudioTrack!

I'm working on a songbook and use Band-in-a-Box for Windows to generate a MusicXML file. I import a melody into the Melody Track (midi file) and enter the chords (Chords Sheet) and lyrics (Notation Window). By the way, typing the lyrics is so easy and fast, I love the way BB works on lyrics. When I go to File > Save Special > Save Song as MusicXML file, I check only the Melody Track and uncheck the option "Save text events". Thus, when I import the MusicXML to Sibelius, the staff, lyrics and chords are all right!

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Have to admit, this feedback was a bit of a pleasent surprize. Would love to see an example of the eventual output from Sibelius using this workflow. Can you share a picture from you upcoming book?


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Regarding Importing XML to BIAB.
I have two XML files. One is Key of F and in 3/4. When I load this into BIAB it notates in Key of C and 4/4.
Also the second song is Key of E, 12/8 and has lyrics. But when put in BIAB it notates as key of C and 4/4.

Is that all I should expect?

And can someone tell me how I find the lyrics in BIAB? Otherwise, the individual midi channels did get assigned to the Utility tracks properly with one exception. If you have "Chord Track" turned on it will try to put midi content there but it will not overwrite the "chord midi", so that track is lost.

Thanks


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Would you attach a test file to confirm please?


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[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in][Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]
Originally Posted by jpettit
Would you attach a test file to confirm please?

Here is the second example given above - Key of E, 12/8, with lyrics and multiple midi tracks.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mNeQbjkYCnokpgD-ay_A3p36UVse8I9l/view?usp=sharing


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OK, confirmed wrong key and wrong time signature.
The lyrics are on the melody track but don't show in the lyrics window.

It opens fine in MuseScore.


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Here are some results of my testing. All testing was done within BiaB.
Steps:
1: File > New Song, Enter a range of chords
2: Save Song. This is the chord chart:
[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

3: File > Save Special > Save Song as MusicXML File and save as 'MusicXML_Tests1.XML', using these settings:
[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

4: File > New
5: File > Open Special > Open MusicXML File > select the 'MusicXML_Tests1.XML' saved earlier
6: Use these settings, and press OK:
[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

7: Get 3 messages that 20% (or less) of the notes are triplets crazy (None of the notes are triplets as there are no notes in the song at all.)
[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

8: The ending is completely different to the ending of my original song (see step 2):
Note: There are two bars added at the front, which was expected because of the 'BB Song Bar offset' value of 2.
[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

So it seems that BiaB cannot either correctly write or read the XML file it produces itself.

I'm interested to see if the results work correctly with other input files.


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I would have to see the code to see if the errors are from exporting or then importing. Creative idea to import your own exported file.


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Originally Posted by Matt Finley
I would have to see the code to see if the errors are from exporting or then importing. Creative idea to import your own exported file.
The XML file file can be downloaded from this link.

I'm presuming that the problem is caused during the Save As (export) function. Examining the XML shows two bars <measure number="1"> and <measure number="2"> that both do not contain a <root-step> attribute (the current Chord), and the <root-step> values for first four chords C, D, E, F do not begin until <measure number="3">.

At measure 35, there is a C7 which originally appeared at measure 33. BiaB has added the 'end' and C7 chord at measure 38, and this was probably an internal function, as there is no data in the XML file at that point. The XML ends after measure 36.

Interesting to get your appraisal. Thanks!


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Thinking further, it may have saved the space for the two bar count in the first two measures of the XML, even though the count-in should not be in the XML, so those first two measures are definitely an issue.


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I've found importing MusicXML to be quite useful, but there are definitely a few quirks.

An anacrusis will be put into a full bar, left justified.

BIAB often(?) gets confused by cut time, and probably also by other non-4/4 time signatures.

BIAB has a feature to hide rests in the notation, which is presumably intended to make live-played MIDI look clean and sensible, but also gets applied to XML and it can be rather over-aggressive at hiding them. The option is set from the notation view Opt.->Minimize rests. Unfortunately this is either on or off ... there's no minimum/maximum size for hiding/showing rests. I think it should not apply this from XML, but I think it's just how BIAB works.

MusicXML is pretty complex, combining all the oddities of MIDI with a whole load of oddities of notation. As a consequence many programs are imperfect when handling it.


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If anyone has MuseScore (or any other Music XML reader), could they download the XML file from the link above and see how it appears in that program? Are there two blank measures at the start, etc?


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Yes, there are always the two blank first measures, at least whenever I’ve used it to export. I have the two-measure default count-in so I haven’t tested what would happen if I changed that in Preferences, Count-in/Metronome.


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Quote
I haven’t tested what would happen if I changed that in Preferences, Count-in/Metronome.
I'll try it.
I'll be back...

OK, I'm back.

No, it's not related to the count-in. I disabled the count-in, generated, exported the song as XML, opened the new XML and there are two fake measures before the first chord, just like before. The actual song starts on measure 3. That's just not right... I feel confident that this is not part of the Music XML spec.

Here's the download link to the XML of the song without a count-in.

Last edited by AudioTrack; 03/13/24 05:22 AM.

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Originally Posted by AudioTrack
7: Get 3 messages that 20% (or less) of the notes are triplets crazy (None of the notes are triplets as there are no notes in the song at all.)

.

I opened up your .xml file in Musescore. While the chord names are apparently transferred properly, the actual voicings of the chords are totally missing? As you say, there are no notes at all? Time to read the manual.

OK, not much in the manual. But it appear this BIAB test file does not have any midi at all. So the Chord names are just "labels". There are no notes associated with these.

Last edited by DrDan; 03/13/24 06:55 AM.

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If I set bar offset to 0 and numbers of bars in XML to skip to 2, it seems much better. But I have not checket it in very detail, it just looks ok in the chord sheet.

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Summary (so far) of proven repeatable (by many) import into BIAB issues:
- Wong Key <== root issue BIAB is importing in XML 3.0. All other apps are using 4.0.
- Wrong Time signature <== root issue BIAB is importing in XML 3.0. All other apps are using 4.0.

Still investigating
- What does it do with note-based lyrics
- Why are Maj7 chord spelling missing in some examples
- Rhythm slashes showing as notes

Notes:
Trevor's export from BIAB then import into BIAB test:
- BIAB is using Music XML 3.0 the rest of the world is using Music XML 4.0 <== root issue
- FYI, I did Trevor's test of output then input in BIAB and all but lasts chord was wrong compared to input when using an offset of 0. I also brought it into Musecore and exported it as mxl 4.0 and strangely enough it was close to accurate when importing into BIAB. The only variation was an extra part break at the end of the song.

I recommend people read the Music XML 4.0 spec to understand its purpose:
https://www.w3.org/2021/06/musicxml40/

MusicXML 4.0 was released in June 2021 and all current scoring apps use it, so BIAB is 3 years behind.
I think we know enough now to consider this a feature request to update BIAB to the standard for Music xml for the last three years.


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Originally Posted by jpettit
- Why are Maj7 chord spelling missing in some examples
I noticed when importing from MuseScore that the import didn't like MuseScore's delta symbol for Major chords.


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I just found another, bigger problem, with Music XML
Steps to reproduce:
1: Create a new song, 16 bars, add chords to each bar, I used a style with 140bpm.
2: Use Bar settings to change to number of beats per bar to 3/4 at bar 9, 2/4 at bar 13, and 4/4 at bar 15
3: Use Bar settings to change the tempo to 120 bpm at bar 11
4: Generate and Save the song
5: File > Save Special > Save as Music XML file
6: File > Open Special > Open Music XML file (set the BB Song Bar Offset to zero if necessary)
7: Review the Chord chart for differences to the original song.

Here is the original song:

[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

It has the following bar changes:
**** Band-in-a-Box Report of Changes in the song at any bar ******
Song Title is: MusicXMLTests_b, File Name is E:\bb\AAA_MySongs\Development\MusicXMLTests_b.SGU [Thu, 14 Mar 2024 11:55:00]
Bar 9: TimeSig to 3/4.
Bar 11: All Choruses,Tempo Change = 120
Bar 13: TimeSig to 2/4.
Bar 15: TimeSig to 4/4.

This is the same song after saving as an XML file and then opening the XML file in BiaB:

[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

All of the XML usage is completely internal to BiaB. Definitely more work needed in my opinion.

Last edited by AudioTrack; 03/13/24 05:57 PM.

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Following your instructions I get the same output. I admit it looks strange, but I next opened the test song xml in Musescore and I think it all looked good (see picture). I even added a key change. I made the original song in F and when I changed to xml and opened in BIAB and in Musescore both stayed in F.

I don't seen the 140 to 120 tempo change. But time signature changes look good. right? Also, BIAB uses some shaded chords in the opened xml, which I am not sure what that is supposed to mean.

I am afraid I would have to spend a lot more time experimenting with this. But for now thats what I get.

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Last edited by DrDan; 03/14/24 12:31 AM.

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Thanks Dan, your confirmation is quite helpful. Yes, Musescore seems to handle the XML much better.

I'm not sure what the small '+' characters above the staves mean in Musescore. They occur only during the 3/4 time signature. At what bar did you introduce the key change?

I looked through all of the Display options for the differently shaded chords, but couldn't find anything that matched. Suffice to say, it doesn't work properly.

Thanks again for your input.


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Originally Posted by AudioTrack
I just found another, bigger problem, with Music XML
That's much as I was alluding to with my "BIAB often(?) gets confused by cut time, and probably also by other non-4/4 time signatures".
I couldn't at the time remember any specific examples and it was with 2023 anyway, which might(!) behave differently, but I think it does much as you show with many non-4/4 things.

It can be tricky to be sure where the problem really lies without going through the MusicXML manually, which is hard work. An XML beautifier would likely help. My patience has worn too thin.


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Thanks Gordon for chipping in. In this case I suspect the problem is processing the incoming XML, as the chart Dan showed from importing the XML into Musescore appears to be quite correct. I think it's over to PGM now to get this sorted.


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It can depend quite a bit on how well, or not, the MusicXML parsing handles errors.

Edit: I ran xmllint on the XML file AudioTrack posted on DropBox and it's reported as properly structured MusicXML 3.0.
I've just rerun that test slightly differently and it reports a failure to load the "partwise.dtd", which may well mean that the first time it did nothing but a generic XML beautify.
Hmm, yes, ... 404 error on: "http://www.musicxml.org/dtds/partwise.dtd"

The tutorial on W3C shows a MusicXML "Hello World" tutorial, which has exactly the same URL to the DTD file. I know not if that's changed and not been updated or it it's simply that www.musicxml.org is broken at the moment. Game Over for now.

Last edited by Gordon Scott; 03/14/24 04:43 AM. Reason: Addendum

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Originally Posted by jpettit
Summary (so far) of proven repeatable (by many) import into BIAB issues:
- Wong Key <== root issue BIAB is importing in XML 3.0. All other apps are using 4.0.
- Wrong Time signature <== root issue BIAB is importing in XML 3.0. All other apps are using 4.0.
I don't believe this is the case - as far as I can tell there were no changes in the MusicXML 3.1 and 4.0 spec regarding key or time signature. These issues are separate, and we are working on them.

Originally Posted by jpettit
I recommend people read the Music XML 4.0 spec to understand its purpose:
https://www.w3.org/2021/06/musicxml40/
From reading that page, it seems like the MusicXML 4.0 spec is mostly about adding new features rather than removing old ones. There are a few deprecated elements from the 3.0 spec, but as far as I can tell we don't use those. Any MusicXML file that doesn't use the new features is still considered v4.0 compliant, provided it also doesn't use the deprecated elements.

Originally Posted by jpettit
I also brought it into Musecore and exported it as mxl 4.0 and strangely enough it was close to accurate when importing into BIAB. The only variation was an extra part break at the end of the song.
The extra part at the end is basically the difference between how BB and MusicXML structure a song, in that BB operates as "choruses" with the 2-bar ending happening outside of that, where MusicXML simply writes a bar at a time. When exporting a MusicXML file from BB, there is no way of flagging a particular bar as the "ending", so when that file is imported into BB it imports everything as the "chorus" - then, if you have automatic 2 bar endings enabled, BB adds that after the imported data.

Since we can't rewrite the MusicXML spec, the only workaround I can think of here is if we added a "song length" field when importing a MusicXML file, similar to the bar offset field. I'll add that as a feature request, but for now this problem is solved by manually changing the song length after importing an XML.


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Why not have the import have an option for not adding the ending?

The time signature may be a related to Peter's dialog on the topic of Swing/triplets beats vs straight feel.

If I recall, some had some chord spelling issues with Maj 7, I think as well.


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Originally Posted by jpettit
Why not have the import have an option for not adding the ending?
That's a good idea. I'll add that to my request.

Originally Posted by jpettit
The time signature may be a related to Peter's dialog on the topic of Swing/triplets beats vs straight feel.
I think there are two things at play here - first, Band-in-a-Box will always display 12/8 as 4/4, and second, there's a big difference between "importing" a MusicXML file and "opening" a MusicXML file. Importing assumes you want to keep whatever's already in your song (key, time sig, notation on other tracks, etc), where opening a MusicXML from the Open Special menu opens it as a fresh song. From the sounds of it, you're importing the MusicXML - try opening it from File > Open Special > Open MusicXML File.

Originally Posted by jpettit
If I recall, some had some chord spelling issues with Maj 7, I think as well.
As far as I can tell that's been fixed.


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I'm going to mark this thread as resolved, as we are working on the issues. They're in our database under the tracking numbers 4658, 4659, and 4660.


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Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
I'm going to mark this thread as resolved, as we are working on the issues. They're in our database under the tracking numbers 4658, 4659, and 4660.
Simon, an interesting approach. If I understand correctly, the issues have not yet actually been resolved, but they are marked as "resolved" based on the fact that the company is now aware of them and has given them tracking numbers. I wouldn't really label that as "resolved", certainly not yet anyway.


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Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
Originally Posted by jpettit
If I recall, some had some chord spelling issues with Maj 7, I think as well.
As far as I can tell that's been fixed.
I was opening a MusicXML a day or two ago and BIAB was still dropping the "Major" from chords and falling back to a dominant.
I'd created the MusicXML from Musescore 4 using the delta symbol, which may well be a factor the issue, but the MusicXML definitely identifies the chord as a major-seventh. I'm not sure what the text here is ... there's a Signe on this bar, so it may be that.

Code
   <measure number="1">
      <barline location="left">
        <bar-style>heavy-light</bar-style>
        <repeat direction="forward"/>
        </barline>
      <direction placement="above">
        <direction-type>
          <words font-family="Leland Text"></words>
          </direction-type>
        </direction>
      <harmony print-frame="no">
        <root>
          <root-step>E</root-step>
          <root-alter>-1</root-alter>
          </root>
        <kind use-symbols="yes">major-seventh</kind>
        </harmony>
  


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Originally Posted by AudioTrack
Simon, an interesting approach. If I understand correctly, the issues have not yet actually been resolved, but they are marked as "resolved" based on the fact that the company is now aware of them and has given them tracking numbers. I wouldn't really label that as "resolved", certainly not yet anyway.
With long forum threads, other users are likely to not read the entire thread and instead jump in to try to fix something that they can't fix, which often causes confusion and threads going off topic - I've been asked to mark threads as Resolved to try and prevent that. Unfortunately our forum software doesn't have anything in between Resolved and not resolved.

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
I was opening a MusicXML a day or two ago and BIAB was still dropping the "Major" from chords and falling back to a dominant.
Can you email that file to support@pgmusic.com to my attention? I'll send it to the devs.


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Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
. Unfortunately our forum software doesn't have anything in between Resolved and not resolved.
OK, I follow. So in this case, something like "Under review" would be a nice-to-have.


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Originally Posted by AudioTrack
Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
. Unfortunately our forum software doesn't have anything in between Resolved and not resolved.
OK, I follow. So in this case, something like "Under review" would be a nice-to-have.

I sure wish we were all working on this 3 months ago when the problems were being identified. As it is, I had several issues reported which at this time I can not confirm they have been added to the list. Either way, the status of "resolved" should be applied when the fix is implemented not when it is acknowledged.


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Originally Posted by AudioTrack
OK, I follow. So in this case, something like "Under review" would be a nice-to-have.
Precisely. Our forum software doesn't have anything like that natively, but I'll try to figure something out.

Originally Posted by DrDan
I sure wish we were all working on this 3 months ago when the problems were being identified. As it is, I had several issues reported which at this time I can not confirm they have been added to the list.
I have a new position within the company specifically for this. I'm currently combing through the forums looking for such issues and will be adding them to the list, however if you know what the issues were I can double check. Please post them here if they're MusicXML related, or DM me if it's something else.


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Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
I have a new position within the company specifically for this. I'm currently combing through the forums looking for such issues and will be adding them to the list, however if you know what the issues were I can double check.

Now that is good news. Knowing that issues are being identified and providing feedback to the users has always been critical, but has been largely missing, except for the odd "Thanks". Definitely looking forward to more interaction.

(Additionally there are significant references and explanations in the spreadsheet, but I'm sure you are aware of this wink )


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Simon, thank you for telling us (and this is important) that things are moving in the right direction, nice to see you again!


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Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
Originally Posted by AudioTrack
OK, I follow. So in this case, something like "Under review" would be a nice-to-have.
Precisely. Our forum software doesn't have anything like that natively, but I'll try to figure something out.
This is one of the reasons that a public-facing bug/issue tracker is useful, but I also understand why PGM seem reluctant to do that.


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Gordon, you had specific detailed issues. Are you sure those are all documented with Simon?


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Originally Posted by AudioTrack
Now that is good news. Knowing that issues are being identified and providing feedback to the users has always been critical, but has been largely missing, except for the odd "Thanks". Definitely looking forward to more interaction.
Me too, it's a welcome change!

Originally Posted by AudioTrack
(Additionally there are significant references and explanations in the spreadsheet, but I'm sure you are aware of this wink )
Absolutely laugh

Originally Posted by MoultiPass
Simon, thank you for telling us (and this is important) that things are moving in the right direction, nice to see you again!
Good to see you guys again too!

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
This is one of the reasons that a public-facing bug/issue tracker is useful, but I also understand why PGM seem reluctant to do that.
Yep, that's definitely not gonna happen.

Originally Posted by jpettit
Gordon, you had specific detailed issues. Are you sure those are all documented with Simon?
Gordon has sent me a file to test with notes - I'm checking it out now.


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Originally Posted by jpettit
Gordon, you had specific detailed issues. Are you sure those are all documented with Simon?
I think so; though I may try it again in case I made any mistakes ... I had tried things with a couple of files, but I think the file I sent exhibits all I can presently remember. This was a notable number of problems, but there may well be others I haven't found.

I must also say that opening/importing MusicXML open things up to all sorts of snags in all sorts of places, not necessarily BIAB, though I tried opening it with Sibelius and it seemed very close to the original.

The combination of my very gradually improving depression issues and the frustration do now sometimes make it difficult for me to do these tests.

I'll definitely be interested in Simon's findings.

Gordon.


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The previously mentioned issue with changing time signatures (bug ID 4658) will be fixed in an upcoming build that I'm currently testing.

As well, thanks to Gordon's file, I've identified a number of issues:

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott, via email
With the default two-bar offset BiaB tries to do cut-time in quarter-notes, not half notes. With a more suitable 1-bar offset it does 4/4 (OK) but has the anacrucis left justified.
Reported with bug id 4664 and 4665.

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott, via email
It fails to recognise several Majors.
Will be fixed in an upcoming build (bug id 2916).

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott, via email
It sometimes drops the first chord in bars. (IMHO It fails where there are too many chords per bar, but I guess that's life).
Reported with bug id 4667.

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott, via email
It may not recognise the Signe on bar one. It doesn't recognise first and second ending (maybe that's an expected limitation). It doesn't appear to recognise the D.S. al Coda (ditto). I'm not sure whether it recognises/handles the Coda.
Reported with bug id 4666.

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
I must also say that opening/importing MusicXML open things up to all sorts of snags in all sorts of places, not necessarily BIAB, though I tried opening it with Sibelius and it seemed very close to the original.
That certainly is the case - as much as MusicXML is supposed to be a universal format, every program handles things differently. This makes it incredibly hard to achieve accurate and predictable results (for all software, not just BIAB).

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
The combination of my very gradually improving depression issues and the frustration do now sometimes make it difficult for me to do these tests.
I know the feeling. I hope things improve for you.


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Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
I must also say that opening/importing MusicXML open things up to all sorts of snags in all sorts of places, not necessarily BIAB, though I tried opening it with Sibelius and it seemed very close to the original.
That certainly is the case - as much as MusicXML is supposed to be a universal format, every program handles things differently. This makes it incredibly hard to achieve accurate and predictable results (for all software, not just BIAB).
Indeed ... definitely not just BIAB. The problem with universal formats is they try to do everything for everyone, so they can be fiendishly complex and sometimes the users just handle what they need and ignore the rest.

MIDI files are quite complex enough; wrap that in another standard and it gets tough. It sounds like like a standard format should be easy, but it most certainly is not.

Thanks for confirming those. What's frustrating is that I've reported all but one of them in the past, but heard nothing more and the bugs remain.


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Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
What's frustrating is that I've reported all but one of them in the past, but heard nothing more and the bugs remain.

This is definitely the change that I most want to see occurring.


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Originally Posted by AudioTrack
Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
What's frustrating is that I've reported all but one of them in the past, but heard nothing more and the bugs remain.

This is definitely the change that I most want to see occurring.
Me too, that's why I'm here grin


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Originally Posted by Simon - PG Music
Originally Posted by AudioTrack
Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
What's frustrating is that I've reported all but one of them in the past, but heard nothing more and the bugs remain.

This is definitely the change that I most want to see occurring.
Me too, that's why I'm here grin
It's definitely encouraging that the things I reported have bug numbers. smile


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