Leave a Review PlayScore 2
Excellent app and customer service
Great app and great customer service. A really interesting technology that Scanscore 2 have seemed to have made easy use of. I tried a few different apps and this one gave the best results. The technology in general is still young, but Scanscore seems to be a leading player in making it a reliable tool for all musicians. Also, I had a small problem in accessing a particular element of the app to which the customer service team responded and resolved my issue immediately, along with a complimentary year’s subscription.Show lessJackMcCombe
It’s great-if you use it properly
This app, currently at revision 2.62, keeps getting better. The most important thing people want out of OMR (Optical Music Recognition) software is accuracy. This app gives it to you in spades if the source material is good. Taking a picture of a book often doesn’t work well. But the same material that has been copied and then scanned (photographed) by your iOS or iPadOS device is amazingly accurate. Even complex piano pieces with crazy rhythms or complex jazz chords work well. If you need to modify or otherwise use the material, you can send the MusicXML to any other package that can import MusicXML, e.g. Finale, Dorico, Sibelius, StaffPad, etc.
It’s not perfect by any means-no software is- but for OMR software, especially for iOS and iPadOS, it’s pretty darn good. Some people are off-put by the subscription pricing- but for professionals that need this functionally, it’s well worth the price.
Be warned that it doesn’t do handwritten or handwritten-like fonts, but other than that, it does a great job.Show lessKSW3
Pretty good!
This app works very well, and when it doesn’t work, it’s usually not the app’s fault. My only concern is that when I first used it, the volume was sooo soft that I could barely hear it, even when all of the volumes and the phone’s volume was on max. Then, on the second day, the volume was just fine. I don’t know if that was a bug, but it didn’t affect the app anymore when I used it afterwards. Anyway, this is a good app!Show lessEmily_27 :)
Massive musical breakthrough.
This App is pretty amazing , I gave up piano playing 10 years ago because it was frustrating not knowing in advance what a musical score sounded like? It took forever trying to work it out myself or waiting for my piano teacher to play it. I scan my music and then transfer it to the App. I love the speed adjustment feature. It doesn’t recognise the music straight off 15% of the time, which then I have to then re-scan. I have tried several pieces of music and have been impressed with the results. Technology has come a long way.Show lessthis app suck
Developer Response
Have you tried just using the device camera? It is often as good as scanning, and it is quicker to snap again if not perfect. Thanks for your review. Support@playscore.coCan’t read music printed in 1953, but great customer service.
I tried to use the app to play a couple of hymns printed in 1953. It couldn’t read them properly and mostly skipped a lot of notes, or played only 1 of the 4 notes of a chord. I emailed the producer from the contact form on their website, and he wrote back in minutes. He asked me to send him my files. When he saw my files, he immediately wrote back and said the app can’t read such an “ancient” style of hymn book! So, zero stars for usefulness but 5 stars for customer service, well, let’s make it 3 stars as a compromise. Meanwhile I don’t have time to learn to read music so I guess I shall give up on hearing these hymn tunes this afternoon!Show lessVery old chap
Developer Response
sorry you were disappointed. This type of 19th century hymn book (even though reprinted in the 1950s) has small pages and poor print quality - just not enough resolution. Please try the free app first (as you did) if you have one of these old hymn books. Thanks support@playscore.coPlays a very limited number of pages at a times
I tried the free version and it seemed to work ok so I bought a year of professional subscription. I wanted to use it to listen to scores so I could work out how my part fitted in. I found professional version I paid for will only process and play about 10 pages at a time. I wanted to load more than this and if I had known the professional version was only capable of this I would not have bought it.
I have received a response and take the recommended steps and the app still does not load any more than about 10 pages of my score. I would like a refund and I’ll look for another app to play my score.Show lessshirlwhril
Developer Response
PlayScore 2 does play more than 10 pages. Try the 36 page Brahms example. Thanks support@playscore.coJust what I needed
Using PDFs of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos to play violin parts I am learning, obtained from the IMSLP Petrucci database. Using the professional version which will read the PDFs. I especially like the feature where you bracket a passage and then it plays it back repeatedly at whatever metronome speed you want. Helps with timing, intonation, speed, sight reading. Very focused practice session. Can try different left had positions (eg 1st vs 5th) on a difficult passage ( for me) and see effect on intonation and speed. There are separate volume controls for 2 tracks. Works great usinh AppleTV to display score on TV. Multiple users could practice together. They are working on a version for the Mac, which I would also like because of the bigger screen. A I studied classical music 30 years ago and played Old Time, Irish, Country, Bluegrass since then. Returning to classical music to play with community chamber music group. The app has really helped me get up to speed! I will share and recommend to other learners in the group.Show lessRCEBirder
Developer Response
Thanks for your review, and thank you for your recommendation. You can adjust staff volumes independently - staff button lower left. That will be reflected in the MIDI export with our next release within a month or so. Support@playscore.coExtraordinary, essential functionality at bargain price :)
I use PlayScore for reading and replaying vocal scores on an iPad, and I cannot imagine being without it. It’s 100% accurate on some complex Bach pieces, drops to 95% where the scan (or errors in the original score?) upsets it but the few occasions when that won’t do I can export to a music editing program to tidy it up.
Support is excellent, I logged a call regarding Family Sharing not working and by 11 am (UK time) next day they provided a solution.
Great app :DShow lessVecchioJohn
Misses too many notes
When it works, it works well but unfortunately it misses too many notes even on simple single stave pieces making it a frustrating experience.Uktoau
Developer Response
thanks for getting back to us. We do not recommend taking a picture of music on a device or computer screen. The screen interferes with the camera and blurs the image. If you import your PDF directly into PlayScore 2 accuracy is at least 99%. Thanks support@playscore.coThis App is Great if You know what You’re Doing
I was hesitant to download the app after all the reviews of the app skipping notes and such. However, I made sure to be extra careful with placing and lighting, and it worked really well! Yes, it did miss a key signature but as long as you know that it missed something, it’s quite nice. As long as you set it up correctly, it works more than adequately. Nice job, developers! :DShow lessEn1gma_
