<s>
A	O
scorewriter	B-Application
,	O
or	O
music	B-Application
notation	I-Application
program	I-Application
is	O
software	O
for	O
creating	O
,	O
editing	O
and	O
printing	O
sheet	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
scorewriter	B-Application
is	O
to	O
music	O
notation	O
what	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
is	O
to	O
text	O
,	O
in	O
that	O
they	O
typically	O
provide	O
flexible	O
editing	O
and	O
automatic	O
layout	O
,	O
and	O
produce	O
high-quality	O
printed	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
scorewriters	B-Application
,	O
especially	O
those	O
from	O
the	O
2000s	O
,	O
can	O
record	O
notes	O
played	O
on	O
a	O
MIDI	O
keyboard	O
(	O
or	O
other	O
MIDI	O
instruments	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
play	O
music	O
back	O
via	O
MIDI	O
or	O
virtual	B-Application
instruments	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Playback	O
is	O
especially	O
useful	O
for	O
novice	O
composers	B-Application
and	O
music	O
students	O
,	O
and	O
when	O
musicians	B-Application
are	O
not	O
available	O
or	O
affordable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
free	O
programs	O
are	O
widely	O
used	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
MuseScore	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
three	O
main	O
professional-level	O
programs	O
are	O
Finale	B-Application
,	O
Sibelius	B-Device
and	O
Dorico	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multitrack	O
sequencer	O
software	O
and	O
scorewriters	B-Application
typically	O
employ	O
different	O
methods	O
for	O
notation	O
input	O
and	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scorewriters	B-Application
are	O
based	O
on	O
traditional	O
music	O
notation	O
,	O
using	O
staff	O
lines	O
and	O
round	O
note	O
heads	O
,	O
which	O
originates	O
from	O
European	O
classical	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Individual	O
tracks	O
can	O
be	O
edited	O
using	O
graphic	O
notation	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
a	O
"	O
piano	O
roll	O
"	O
-guided	O
input	O
for	O
the	O
control	O
of	O
MIDI-based	O
hardware	O
and	O
software	B-Application
instruments	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
third	O
approach	O
has	O
also	O
emerged	O
that	O
combines	O
the	O
first	O
two	O
input	O
methods	O
into	O
a	O
digital	B-General_Concept
audio	I-General_Concept
workstation	I-General_Concept
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
score	B-Application
parts	O
using	O
traditional	O
notation	O
,	O
the	O
graphic	O
notation	O
of	O
the	O
piano	O
roll	O
,	O
and	O
recording	O
acoustic	O
or	O
electronic	O
instruments	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
alongside	O
the	O
existing	O
scores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
rapid	O
growth	O
of	O
desktop	O
computers	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
saw	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
dozens	O
of	O
early	O
scorewriters	B-Application
(	O
see	O
list	B-Application
of	I-Application
scorewriters	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
were	O
a	O
boon	O
to	O
young	O
composers	B-Application
,	O
music	O
educators	O
and	O
composition	O
students	O
,	O
providing	O
a	O
much	O
less	O
expensive	O
way	O
to	O
create	O
scores	O
and	O
parts	O
for	O
orchestral	O
music	O
and	O
other	O
works	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
exception	O
was	O
SCORE	B-Application
notation	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developed	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
'	O
80s	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
used	O
mostly	O
by	O
commercial	O
publishers	O
,	O
as	O
its	O
price	O
put	O
it	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
reach	O
of	O
most	O
non-professional	O
composers/copyists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
1990s	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
these	O
early	O
programs	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Mosaic	B-Application
notation	I-Application
program	I-Application
,	O
fell	O
into	O
disuse	O
,	O
as	O
newer	O
programs	O
surpassed	O
them	O
in	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
and	O
output	O
quality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finale	B-Application
and	O
Sibelius	B-Device
were	O
released	O
,	O
with	O
high-quality	O
output	O
and	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
sophisticated	O
features	O
that	O
made	O
them	O
suitable	O
for	O
almost	O
all	O
kinds	O
of	O
music	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2000	O
,	O
the	O
market	O
was	O
dominated	O
by	O
Finale	B-Application
(	O
particularly	O
in	O
the	O
US	O
)	O
and	O
Sibelius	B-Device
(	O
which	O
had	O
dominated	O
the	O
UK	O
since	O
1993	O
,	O
and	O
expanded	O
worldwide	O
after	O
its	O
Windows	O
release	O
in	O
1998	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Inexpensive	O
programs	O
such	O
as	O
capella	B-Application
gained	O
a	O
significant	O
share	O
of	O
the	O
market	O
in	O
some	O
countries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sibelius	B-Device
and	O
Finale	B-Application
still	O
dominated	O
the	O
market	O
as	O
of	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
,	O
Sibelius	B-Device
was	O
purchased	O
by	O
Avid	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
2012	O
restructuring	O
,	O
Sibelius	B-Device
's	O
London	O
office	O
was	O
closed	O
and	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
dismissed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2013	O
,	O
Steinberg	O
announced	O
it	O
had	O
hired	O
the	O
former	O
Sibelius	B-Device
team	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
new	O
scorewriter	B-Application
,	O
Dorico	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
October	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
trio	O
of	O
Finale	B-Application
,	O
Sibelius	B-Device
and	O
Dorico	B-Application
are	O
today	O
's	O
leading	O
professional-level	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
scorewriters	B-Application
allow	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
input	O
,	O
edit	O
and	O
print	O
music	O
notation	O
to	O
varying	O
degrees	O
of	O
sophistication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
range	O
from	O
programs	O
which	O
can	O
write	O
a	O
simple	O
song	O
,	O
piano	O
piece	O
or	O
guitar	O
tab	O
,	O
to	O
those	O
that	O
can	O
handle	O
the	O
complexities	O
of	O
orchestral	O
music	O
,	O
specialist	O
notations	O
(	O
from	O
early	O
music	O
to	O
avant-garde	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
high-quality	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
allow	O
input	O
by	O
scanning	O
scores	O
using	O
musical	B-Application
OCR	I-Application
;	O
by	O
playing	O
or	O
singing	O
into	O
a	O
microphone	O
;	O
or	O
by	O
using	O
a	O
touch	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
scorewriters	B-Application
also	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
play	O
the	O
music	O
back	O
,	O
using	O
MIDI	O
or	O
virtual	B-Application
instruments	I-Application
such	O
as	O
VST	B-Application
instruments	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
screen	O
can	O
show	O
at	O
one	O
time	O
both	O
the	O
score	B-Application
and	O
,	O
by	O
changing	O
the	O
colour	O
of	O
keys	O
on	O
a	O
virtual	O
piano	O
's	O
keyboard	O
,	O
the	O
notes	O
being	O
played	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scorewriters	B-Application
can	O
typically	O
write	O
more	O
complex	O
and	O
sophisticated	O
notation	O
than	O
sequencers	O
can	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
scorewriters	B-Application
allow	O
users	O
to	O
customize	O
and	O
fine-tune	O
the	O
printed	O
output	O
to	O
a	O
considerable	O
degree	O
,	O
as	O
is	O
required	O
by	O
publishers	O
to	O
produce	O
high-quality	O
music	B-Application
engraving	I-Application
and	O
to	O
suit	O
their	O
individual	O
house	O
style	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
scorewriters	B-Application
allow	O
users	O
to	O
publish	O
scores	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
)	O
played	O
back	O
,	O
transposed	O
,	O
and	O
printed	O
out	O
,	O
perhaps	O
for	O
a	O
fee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
scorewriters	B-Application
provide	O
other	O
musical	O
functions	O
such	O
as	O
transposing	O
;	O
producing	O
separate	O
instrumental	O
parts	O
from	O
a	O
full	O
score	B-Application
;	O
or	O
applying	O
musical	O
transformations	O
such	O
as	O
retrograde	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
support	O
plug-ins	B-Application
,	O
often	O
developed	O
by	O
users	O
or	O
other	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Almost	O
all	O
scorewriters	B-Application
use	O
their	O
own	O
file	O
formats	O
for	O
saving	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hence	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
move	O
notation	O
between	O
different	O
scorewriters	B-Application
(	O
or	O
to/from	O
other	O
kinds	O
of	O
music	B-Application
software	I-Application
such	O
as	O
sequencers	O
)	O
,	O
most	O
scorewriters	B-Application
can	O
also	O
import	O
or	O
export	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
standard	O
interchange	O
file	O
formats	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Standard	O
MIDI	O
File	O
is	O
supported	O
by	O
almost	O
all	O
scorewriters	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
score	B-Application
is	O
to	O
be	O
presented	O
,	O
a	O
WAV	O
file	O
(	O
rather	O
than	O
MIDI	O
)	O
may	O
be	O
made	O
from	O
the	O
score	B-Application
to	O
give	O
a	O
more	O
natural	O
and	O
accurate	O
rendition	O
of	O
the	O
written	O
score	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
NIFF	O
is	O
a	O
now-obsolete	O
file	O
format	O
that	O
was	O
supported	O
by	O
a	O
few	O
scorewriters	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
Comparison	B-Application
of	I-Application
scorewriters	I-Application
details	O
which	O
score	B-Application
writers	O
can	O
import	O
and	O
export	O
to	O
PDF	B-Application
,	O
text	O
(	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
picture	O
(	O
PNG	O
,	O
SVG	B-Application
,	O
EMF	O
)	O
and	O
sound	O
(	O
Vorbis	B-Algorithm
OGG	I-Algorithm
)	O
file	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
human-readable	O
text-based	O
formats	O
such	O
as	O
ABC	O
notation	O
,	O
LilyPond	B-Application
,	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
tab	O
and	O
NoteWorthy	B-Application
Composer	I-Application
text	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
to	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
can	O
render	O
,	O
and	O
generate	O
an	O
audio	O
preview	O
of	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
two	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
