A regular discussion with the interesting individuals who create music with notation software, as well as the talented people who create the tools themselves.
Part one of our listener Q&A follows the mailbag into AI: scanning, audio transcription, proofreading, language-model bridges, and the “Gould test” — all leading to larger questions about expertise, judgment, and responsibility.
It's time to send us your questions for the Scoring Notes podcast — deadline July 22. Plus, a mid-year catch-up on Dorico, Sibelius, and MuseScore updates, Cantai, and a first look at the reimagined 2027 MOLA Tech Fair in San Francisco.
Score preparation and production, revisited. Six years after the checklist that launched this podcast, we work through it section by section — what the software has solved, what it hasn't, and what wasn't even on the original list.
What happens when your notation software can sing? Richard deCosta, founder of Cantai and the Turing Opera Workshop, discusses bringing expressive vocal synthesis directly to Dorico, Sibelius, and MuseScore.
A delightfully nerdy take on new Notation Express updates for Dorico and a major overhaul to the PDF Batch Utilities. Plus, the notation software tools hiding in plain sight, and where they could go next.
From NAMM 2026: Avid’s Sam Butler and Joe Plazak on Sibelius’s development philosophy, how user feedback shapes priorities, where users should feel progress since last year, plus automation/AI, cross-platform realities, and Avid’s long-term commitment.
From NAMM 2026: Fender’s Chris Swaffer on Notion, what the Fender name signals, refinement and cross-platform consistency, under-the-radar improvements, accessibility, Studio Pro interoperability, and intelligent assistance in service of musicians.
From NAMM 2026: Sebastian Murgul of klang.io on why AI transcription is finally practical, where the hardest musical problems remain, how accuracy earns musicians’ trust, plus MusicXML/MIDI interoperability and real-world use cases.
From NAMM 2026: Steinberg’s John Barron on Dorico’s current development phase, guiding design principles, where users should feel progress since last year, under-the-radar features, playback realism, workflow interoperability, and automation in service of notation.
People with perfect or "absolute" pitch hear every single sound as precise musical notes. Is this extraordinary talent a blessing or a curse? In this episode, our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz dive into the neuroscience, pluses and pitfalls of absolute pitch.
