<s>
Music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
is	O
the	O
art	O
of	O
drawing	O
music	O
notation	O
at	O
high	O
quality	O
for	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
mechanical	O
reproduction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
music	O
copying	O
is	O
almost	O
equivalent	O
—	O
though	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
implies	O
a	O
higher	O
degree	O
of	O
skill	O
and	O
quality	O
,	O
usually	O
for	O
publication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
process	O
originates	O
in	O
plate	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
,	O
a	O
widely	O
used	O
technique	O
dating	O
from	O
the	O
late	O
sixteenth	O
century	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
engraving	B-Application
is	O
now	O
used	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
any	O
high-quality	O
method	O
of	O
drawing	O
music	O
notation	O
,	O
particularly	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
(	O
"	O
computer	O
engraving	B-Application
"	O
or	O
"	O
computer	O
setting	O
"	O
)	O
or	O
by	O
hand	O
(	O
"	O
hand	O
engraving	B-Application
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mechanical	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
began	O
in	O
the	O
middle	O
of	O
the	O
fifteenth	O
century	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
literary	O
printing	O
,	O
which	O
mainly	O
contains	O
printed	O
words	O
,	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
communicates	O
several	O
different	O
types	O
of	O
information	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
be	O
clear	O
to	O
musicians	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
imperative	O
that	O
engraving	B-Application
techniques	O
allow	O
absolute	O
precision	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
logistics	O
of	O
creating	O
such	O
precise	O
copies	O
posed	O
several	O
problems	O
for	O
early	O
music	B-Application
engravers	I-Application
,	O
and	O
have	O
resulted	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
several	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
technologies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
to	O
book	O
printing	O
,	O
music	O
printing	O
began	O
in	O
the	O
fifteenth	O
century	O
with	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
movable	B-Protocol
type	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
central	O
problem	O
posed	O
to	O
early	O
music	B-Application
engravers	I-Application
using	O
moveable	B-Protocol
type	I-Protocol
was	O
the	O
proper	O
integration	O
of	O
notes	O
,	O
staves	O
,	O
and	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
plate	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
had	O
been	O
used	O
since	O
the	O
early	O
fifteenth	O
century	O
for	O
creating	O
visual	O
art	O
and	O
maps	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
applied	O
to	O
music	O
until	O
1581	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metal	O
plates	O
could	O
be	O
stored	O
and	O
reused	O
,	O
which	O
made	O
this	O
method	O
an	O
attractive	O
option	O
for	O
music	B-Application
engravers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
music	B-Application
engravers	I-Application
developed	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
tools	O
to	O
aid	O
in	O
their	O
process	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Plate	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
was	O
the	O
methodology	O
of	O
choice	O
for	O
music	O
printing	O
until	O
the	O
late	O
nineteenth	O
century	O
,	O
at	O
which	O
point	O
its	O
decline	O
was	O
hastened	O
by	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
photographic	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lithography	O
:	O
Similar	O
to	O
metal	O
plate	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
,	O
the	O
music	O
was	O
etched	O
onto	O
limestone	O
and	O
then	O
burned	O
onto	O
the	O
surface	O
with	O
acid	O
to	O
preserve	O
the	O
stone	O
plates	O
for	O
future	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
the	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
since	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
traditional	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
has	O
been	O
in	O
decline	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
can	O
now	O
be	O
accomplished	O
by	O
computer	O
software	O
designed	O
for	O
this	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
various	O
such	O
programs	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
scorewriters	B-Application
,	O
designed	O
for	O
writing	O
,	O
editing	O
,	O
printing	O
and	O
playing	O
back	O
music	O
,	O
though	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
produce	O
results	O
of	O
a	O
quality	O
comparable	O
to	O
high-quality	O
traditional	O
engraving	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scorewriters	B-Application
have	O
many	O
advanced	O
features	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
extract	O
individual	O
parts	O
from	O
an	O
orchestral/band	O
score	O
,	O
to	O
transcribe	O
music	O
played	O
on	O
a	O
MIDI	O
keyboard	O
,	O
and	O
conversely	O
to	O
play	O
back	O
notation	O
via	O
MIDI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beginning	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
software	O
such	O
as	O
Sibelius	B-Device
,	O
Mozart	B-Application
,	O
MuseScore	B-Language
,	O
Finale	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Dorico	B-Application
first	O
let	O
musicians	O
enter	O
complex	O
music	O
notation	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
screen	O
,	O
displaying	O
it	O
just	O
as	O
it	O
will	O
look	O
when	O
eventually	O
printed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
software	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
GNU	B-Application
LilyPond	I-Application
and	O
Philip	B-Device
's	I-Device
Music	I-Device
Writer	I-Device
,	O
reads	O
input	O
from	O
ordinary	O
text	O
files	O
whose	O
contents	O
resemble	O
a	O
computer	O
macro	O
programming	O
language	O
that	O
describes	O
bare	O
musical	O
content	O
with	O
little	O
or	O
no	O
layout	O
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beside	O
ready-made	O
applications	B-Application
there	O
are	O
also	O
some	O
programming	B-Library
libraries	I-Library
for	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
(	O
Javascript	B-Language
library	O
)	O
,	O
(	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
Javascript	B-Language
and	O
Python	B-Language
)	O
,	O
(	O
C++	B-Language
library	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
(	O
.NET	B-Application
libraries	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
