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Managing sweet sounds.


Staging an opera or performing a symphony that demands a full orchestra is a complicated business. Musical scores can run to hundreds of pages, distributed among dozens of performers. During rehearsals, a conductor may rearrange re·ar·range  
tr.v. re·ar·ranged, re·ar·rang·ing, re·ar·rang·es
To change the arrangement of.



re
 or delete sections of music and change which instruments play which parts. Individual musicians may scribble scribble - To modify a data structure in a random and unintentionally destructive way. "Bletch! Somebody's disk-compactor program went berserk and scribbled on the i-node table." "It was working fine until one of the allocation routines scribbled on low core.  reminders on their pages to indicate how loudly or softly to play certain passages.

Making and tracking such modifications to the score can add up to a massive information-management headache. Now, software engineers have climbed onto the podium podium

In architecture, a pedestal on a large scale. It may be any of various elements that form the base of a structure, such as the platform forming the floor and substructure of a Classical temple, a low wall supporting columns, or the structurally or decoratively
. Paolo Nesi and his coworkers at the University of Florence History
The University of Florence evolved from the Studium Generale, which was established by the Florentine Republic in 1321. The Studium was recognized by Pope Clement VI in 1349, and authorised to grant regular degrees.
 have developed a computer-based system for creating, updating, and storing annotated scores. The researchers describe their project in the September COMPUTER.

In the Music Object-Oriented Distributed System See distributed computing.

distributed system - A collection of (probably heterogeneous) automata whose distribution is transparent to the user so that the system appears as one local machine.
 (MOODS), a network of electronic lecterns replaces an orchestra's traditional printed music scores and metal stands. Musicians and the conductor read from screens that scroll To continuously move forward, backward or sideways through the text and images on screen or within a window. Scrolling implies continuous and smooth movement, a line, character or pixel at a time, as if the data were on a paper scroll being rolled behind the screen. See auto scroll.  the music in time with the performance, eliminating the shuffling of pages. In addition, each musician's lectern allows editing of an individual part, and the conductor's lectern allows modifications of the main score. An archivist's workstation monitors major changes, distributing updated music to all the lecterns.

During rehearsals, "several musicians may work simultaneously on the same music score, on the same part, and on the same measure, changing and adding music notation notation: see arithmetic and musical notation.


How a system of numbers, phrases, words or quantities is written or expressed. Positional notation is the location and value of digits in a numbering system, such as the decimal or binary system.
 symbols and sharing the results of the manipulation in real time with the other musicians," the researchers note.

Nesi and his colleagues demonstrated their prototype system at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, in a concert featuring nine musicians performing music by Mozart, Vivaldi, and Verdi. Developed further, this technology could prove immensely useful for musicians, conductors, and even music publishers, who could distribute customized electronic versions of specific performances, Nesi remarks.
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No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1999, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:University of Florida software engineers have developed an electronic system that permits musicians to scroll through their music and to add any editing notes
Author:I.P.
Publication:Science News
Article Type:Brief Article
Date:Sep 25, 1999
Words:296
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