ScaleShift - Music notation conversion software

[Miguel Arana-Catania]

Hi everyone,

My name is Miguel Arana-Catania. I am a Senior Research Software Engineer in AI/NLP at the University of Oxford.

I am writing to the group to share a new project that I hope you will like: https://scaleshift.app 

ScaleShift is a web platform that allows you to transform music scores written in traditional notation into various alternative notations.

The website supports both MusicXML and PDF files as input.

At the moment, there are 4 notations implemented: Clairnote, Chromatic Lyre, TwinNote, and Muto. Two of them are implementations made by their authors, and two are experimental (with errors, so consider the latter as placeholders for now!).

However, the system can easily include any new notation. All it needs is the corresponding .ly file to be added.

The .ly files currently in use are shared here: https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts

I invite you to try out the site, submit new notation implementations, correct the current ones, and share any feedback on the project.

Enjoy!

Miguel Arana-Catania

[John Keller]

I would love Express Stave Pianoforte Notation to be included in this!

John Keller

[Miguel Arana-Catania]

Hi John,

That would be great! The more notations, the better.

The system uses LilyPond files to convert between notations. The current files used can be accessed here: https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts

To be more precise:

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/clairnote.ly

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/twinnote.ly

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/muto.ly

Https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/chromaticlyre.ly 

To add Express Stave Pianoforte Notation, I would need a similar .ly file for the notation.

Best wishes,

Miguel

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From: musicn...@googlegroups.com <musicn...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John Keller <expres...@gmail.com>
Sent: 30 August 2025 04:27
To: musicn...@googlegroups.com <musicn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [MNP] ScaleShift - Music notation conversion software

 

I would love Express Stave Pianoforte Notation to be included in this!

John Keller

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[John Keller]

Who can I get to make the code?

How much will it cost?

John Keller

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/musicnotation/LO3P265MB1898CAAE05C2734BC8EE8CFBD205A%40LO3P265MB1898.GBRP265.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

[Miguel Arana-Catania]

Two of the implementations used here have been created by the notation authors: Paul Morris and Jan Braunstein (full links on the main page of https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts ). They may be a good first point of contact.

Best,

Miguel

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From: musicn...@googlegroups.com <musicn...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John Keller <expres...@gmail.com>

Sent: 30 August 2025 09:10

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/musicnotation/AC31315A-AF1C-448A-B1D1-99A737882982%40gmail.com.

[John Keller]

Hi Miguel,

So can i input a TN PDF file like this and get an output in any of these 4 notations with the same page layout? 

I signed up and when I uploaded this PDF there seemed to be no options to do anything with it. How is the ScaleShift app site supposed to work?

And I dont understand any of the Github stuff. I need a tutor!

I am supposedly a committee member of musicnotation but Paul Morris is the only one who can access the site and he doesnt seem to want to teach anyone else how to manage it.

So I just convert files to ES for my students and myself using Finale 06.

Are there any other communities actively using any of the alternative notations?

Thanks for trying to get something going.

[Miguel Arana-Catania]

Hi John,

That's right. You can upload the PDF or a MusicXML file, and the web will allow you to convert it into any of the 4 notations currently implemented.

After you sign up to the site, you can click on the "Convert" menu, or the button "Upload Score" and upload your file. After it has been uploaded, a menu will show where you can choose any of the notations and then proceed with the conversions.

The PDF conversion is much more difficult, because first the site converts the file to a MusicXML file, and then converts it to the alternative notation (it also takes longer; about 1 minute per PDF file/conversion, compared with 10 seconds for MusicXML files). Thus, it doesn't always work for all files. Sadly, this is the case with the file you shared.

I will investigate this particular file to see if anything can be done to make it work. But in the meantime, I invite you to try other files, especially MusicXML files when possible.

Thank you very much,

Miguel

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From: musicn...@googlegroups.com <musicn...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John Keller <expres...@gmail.com>

Sent: 30 August 2025 13:40

To: musicn...@googlegroups.com <musicn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [MNP] ScaleShift - Music notation conversion software

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John Keller

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[Bob Stuckey]

Hi Miguel,

 Heres a notation that puts initials in place of noteheads. With the empry noteheads of whole notes and half notes the initial is bracketed.The white notes  in this example are close to the conventions of the Mediteranean solfege but could be changed to ABC... or the Germanic AHC... with a menu choice .   The black notes are using the names devised by psychacouatician Richard Parncutt and myself - Va Wu    Xe Yu Ze-  extending the beautiful contrasts of white note solfege. Xe can be pronouned as in Greek, like the ch of the Scottish Loch, and Ze can be pronounced as in  Spain giving us they .You may reognise this magical piece by a Northern Europen composer. Though we sing Do  the old solfege name Ut is used as a stand-in  so that there is no confusion with Transatlantic  note name D, You will also notice that the Mediterranean note name Si has been fused with the Transatlantic Ti (the drink with jam and bread). The combination TSi gives each white note a distinctive initial.

 

Don't recognise it? Go to the imagined menu and ask for ABC white notes as her below.The Transatlantics might feel more at home.

On the menu it might useful to offer the option to retain all the key signatures and accidentals, despite their being made redundant by using initials as noteheads, or to leave them out. People could then adjust the look to suit their needs at a particular time.

 Upper case letters represent fixed notes while lower case notes represent scale members with ut (sung as doh) as the major tonic and la the minor tonic.Their roles are shown in these examples of introductory verses of songs from musical theatre that have become jazz standards. These may be useful as singers are always searching for their ideal key. After the verses the harmonies of the chorus are shown in the shorthand  typically  used by jazz musicians on the brilliant app iReal Pro which carries the chords seequences of thousands of tunes. When solfa is used for both melody and harmony the upward arrow head ^ is used to show that the note is not actually part of a melody but the root of a major chord. To illustrate, here are the typical primary triads in the major key   u^ f^ s^ u^,  and in the minor l- r- m^ l-.  You will notice that tied notes carry no initials, as in bar 2.

And here's an example in the minor key. A coloured or slightly greyed stave can help the imitials stand out.

 How great if this notation could be systematised so that it could easily convert piano music, chord symbols and lead sheets (to transposable fixed notes or lower case harmonic analysis). Possible? It cannot replace traditional notation but can coexist as a dialect for late starters and those foxed by the grammar of clefs, key signatures and accidentals. Sharps and flats are real experiences but we can leave them to the listener.

Bob

bobstuckey.com

[Thomas Nguyen]

Hi Miguel Arana-Catania,

My name is Thomas Nguyen, creator of 3JCN Music Notation (http://3jcn.us).Thank you for sharing ScaleShift—it looks like an excellent project and a valuable resource for exploring alternative notations. I’d like to ask if you would consider adding my 3JCN Music Notation as a new supported alternative notation within ScaleShift, or perhaps collaborate with me on a new project aimed at transferring current Western music notation into 3JCN Music Notation.

Best regards,
Thomas Nguyen

[Miguel Arana-Catania]

Dear Thomas,

Thanks for sharing your notation. I would be very happy to add as many new notations as possible to ScaleShift. 3JCN Music Notation is very welcome!

The current system works by converting MusicXML files into the new notations. This is done using Lilypond scripts:

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/clairnote.ly

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/twinnote.ly

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/muto.ly

https://github.com/scaleshift-scores/scaleshift_conversion_scripts/blob/main/chromaticlyre.ly

If you could provide a similar script, I will add it to the platform.

Best wishes,

Miguel

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From: musicn...@googlegroups.com <musicn...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Thomas Nguyen <3jcn...@gmail.com>
Sent: 02 September 2025 06:13

To: musicn...@googlegroups.com <musicn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [MNP] ScaleShift - Music notation conversion software

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[Thomas Nguyen]

Dear Miguel,

Thank you very much for welcoming 3JCN Music Notation to ScaleShift. I’ll work on preparing a Lilypond script similar to the examples you shared and will send it over once it’s ready. I’m excited about the possibility of seeing my notation supported on your platform.

Best wishes,
Thomas

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/musicnotation/LO3P265MB1898F381542178C89A66187CD206A%40LO3P265MB1898.GBRP265.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.