Avi Bortnick

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OverScores

iPhone / iPad / Mac App

OverScores is a sheet music reader focused on the features musicians use most, without the complexity of a large suite of tools. It's designed to help you practice, learn, and memorize music.

Download on the App Store

Read, then memorize

OverScores lets you hide individual measures or staves while reading a piece, so you can gradually rely less on the page. You can hide sections of a piece, work through difficult passages, and test your recall as you practice.

Audio playback includes A/B looping and speed control, making it easy to slow down a passage while learning it. You can also play audio from Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify alongside your music.

Clean up scanned music

OverScores can improve the appearance of poor-quality scans by straightening bowed or curved staves and removing smudges and gray backgrounds.

Measures can be detected automatically, and title, composer, and tempo markings fields can be automatically populated from scans. Large PDF compendiums can also be split into individual pieces.

Practice tools

Bring your existing library

If you already use ForScore or Newzik, you can import your setlists, including their markups, preserving setlist order.

Your music library and annotations can sync between iPad, iPhone, and Mac through iCloud, or be transferred using library export. One purchase works across your devices.

Try everything free for 14 days

OverScores includes a 14-day free trial with access to all features. There is no subscription, automatic billing, or email signup.

After the trial, some premium features are locked, but OverScores continues to work. You keep full access to everything you imported and every markup you made during the trial.

Instructions

Importing pieces, Library and Setlists
Library / SetlistsLibrary contains all your pieces. Setlists are groups of pieces.
ImportYou can import a piece in several ways: from Files (PDFs, .oscore or MusicXML (chords only), ForScore and Newzik setlists), from your Photos library or using the Scan with camera. Scans that have a bowed (warped) appearance are auto-corrected, and imported files that have bowed staves can be straightened in a piece's Clarity menu. OverScores automatically adds the title, composer and tempo indication, when available - but you can change this in the information panel.
SearchSearch the Library by title or composer, and Setlists by setlist name or by the titles and composers inside them.
SortYou can sort the Library by tapping on the column header; you can sort pieces within a setlist via the up/down arrow.
SelectPress select to select and delete pieces from the Library.
Press and hold a rowA long press on a piece brings up a menu for changing a piece's information, adding it to a setlist, Sharing the piece or deleting it.
Piece and setlist countsThe right-hand end of the Library / Setlists bar shows either the total ("29 pieces", or "4 setlists"), or when searching, the number of hits. (Not shown on a narrow screen, since there is no room for it.)
Setlists

A setlist is pieces arranged in playing order. Pieces stay in the library — the same piece can sit in several setlists at once, and taking it out of a setlist never deletes it.

Press and hold a setlist to:

Rename
Color…Gives the setlist a colour tint.
ShareOne PDF of the whole setlist in playing order, flattened — for somebody who does not have OverScores.
Save OverScores fileThe setlist itself: every piece with its markings intact and the running order kept. This is the one for a backup or another device with OverScores.
Duplicate
DeleteAsks first, and offers two answers. Delete Setlist Only removes the program and leaves all its music in the library. Delete Setlist and N Pieces also removes that music — except any piece that is in another setlist, which is always kept, so deleting one program can never shorten another.

Press and hold a piece inside a setlist:

Information
Share
Copy to SetlistPuts the piece in another setlist as well as this one.
Move to SetlistPuts it in another setlist and takes it out of this one.
Remove from SetlistTakes it out of the setlist. The piece stays in the library.

The rest of a setlist's own screen:

Add pieces
SortSorts the running order by title or composer.
FieldsChooses which details are shown under each title.
Edit, then dragSets the playing order by hand.
Making a setlist as you import

Choosing several files at once from Files asks Put these in a setlist? Name it and the setlist is made holding all of the imported pieces, in the order they were imported; answer Not now for the selected pieces to be added to the Library without going into a Setlist. This is only offered when more than one piece is imported at once.

Importing music from other apps

Aside from importing single files one at a time, you can export a whole setlist from another app and import it into OverScores.

From Newzik

Newzik exports a setlist as a zip holding a folder for each piece, and OverScores reads the whole archive in one go: the pieces land in the Library and a setlist named after the zip file is created.

In NewzikFrom Setlists, press and hold the desired setlist, choose Export to PDF, pick your export options, then Save to Files (or other location of your choosing).
In OverScoresImport from Files…, and choose the .zip Newzik saved.
The running orderThe zip does not record it, so the pieces arrive sorted by name. Open the setlist, tap Edit, and drag them into playing order.
From ForScore
In ForScoreFrom Setlists, press and hold the desired setlist, choose Share, then Include Scores — use the ⋯ to include or exclude annotations — then Save to Files (or another location of your choosing).
In OverScoresImport from Files…, and choose the .4ss setlist file. The imported setlist preserves the ForScore setlist order.
Markings made in another app

Annotations in a ForScore file that enabled Include extras are imported into OverScores as Layer 3 in the markup panel. They show up where you drew them. Turn Layer 3 off to read the music clean, or delete the marking on a page to be rid of it there. What they are not is ink — ForScore flattens them to a picture on the way out, so they can be shown, hidden and removed but not erased a stroke at a time, nor edited. However, the OverScores pen can annotate above the imported annotations.

With Newzik, anything exported as part of the page stays part of the page. An Annotated PDF arrives with its markings printed into the music: you can see them, but OverScores cannot move, recolour or erase them, nore hide them. Its own pen draws on a separate layer, which of course is editable.

Export the plain PDF instead if you would rather start with clean music and mark it up within OverScores.

Markups

To make annotations, first bring up the markup bar by tapping on the top bar area and press the pen icon.

PenWrite or draw on the score. Double tap to change color, line thickness or opacity. The fifth color in the palatte is freely assignable, with 9 color choices available by double tapping.
HighlighterHighlight portions of the score. Double tap to change color, thickness or opacity.
TextPut printed text on the page. Change text color via the five-color picker.
SymbolsPlace a range of standard musical symbols on the page. Change the symbol color via the five-color picker.
ShapesPlace ties, ovals, rectangles, brackets, arrows, and staves on the page. Change color via the five-color picker
JumpOpens the jumps screen, where a jump-from and a jump-to are placed - for going instantly to codas, DS positions, repeats, etc. Tap to place the green oval for the jump-from and tap to place the red circle for the jump-to point.
SnippetTakes a snippet of the page, with markups, bounded by the rectangular shape.
EraserErases markups, symbols, etc.
LayersYou can use up to three different layers for markings and toggle visibility of each.
UndoUndo your last markup. Tap multiple times to undo the last several markups.
Delete markupDelete all markups on a page or in the entire piece.
Previous / Next pageUse the arrows to turn pages while the markup toolbar is active.
The ⋯ menu (top right corner when viewing a score)
Practice…Opens the tray on the Hiding panel — for memorization, playing along with audio and recording yourself. See more below.
Unhide measures / Hide measuresTap to show or re-hide measures that were previously hidden. Greyed out until something is hidden. This is the same switch as the eye beside the practice slider.
Audio…Opens the tray on the Audio screen to play or record audio.
ClarityFor improving the appearance of scores. See below.
PagesFor the crop and straighten and arrange tools described below.
· Crop and straighten…Crop the margins to have the piece appear larger on screen and adjust the appearance so the piece appears straighter on screen.
· Arrange…For rearranging, deleting, copying, and moving the pages of a piece. See below.
Keyboard…Brings a piano up across the foot of the screen — for tuning to, and for trying a passage out. See below.
Setlists…Add the current piece to a set list or multiple setlists.
Information…Modify information about the piece (Title, composer, BPM, star-rating, etc.)
TransposeFor transposing MusicXML chord charts. See below.
Export PDF…You can export pieces as a PDF, with or without markups, measure hiding or crops. Clarity settings (see below) are included in the export.
Save OverScores file…You can save a piece in .oscore format, for opening/editing in OverScores.
Settings…The settings that apply to the whole app rather than to the current piece.
UndoTakes back the last change to the piece — a hidden measure, a bar line, a crop, a rotation. This is different from the Undo on the markup bar, which is for what you have drawn.
The practice tray

The Practice tray has four tabs along the bottom of the reader, reached from Practice in the ⋯ menu.

HidingTap on measures to hide them, or use the slider to progressively hide measures. This is useful for memorization training or isolating a portion of the piece to practice.
Edit bars and systemsOverScores automatically identifies bar lines and systems for easy hiding of measures, but can sometimes misidentify if a score is from a poor scan or if there are long note stems. Use edit bars and systems to manually place and delete bar lines, or place or readjust system rectangle sizes.
AudioYou can import an audio file to practice along with, or record yourself, and you can set loop points with the A-B buttons for repeating a segment.
StreamingPress the Apple Music, YouTube or Spotify icons to automatically search for a version of a piece. You can also use the link icon to automatically find the song or paste in your own streaming links.
Hiding
The Hidden sliderHide measures progressively (from the start or end) or randomly with the hiding slider.
Unhide / Hide measuresTap to reveal or re-hide hidden measures.
Tapping a measureTapping a measure hides it. Tapping it again unhides it.
The order menuWhich measures the slider takes away first. From the end matches how most people memorize — you can already play the opening, so the end is what needs testing. From the start, Interleaved (spread through the piece, so you are never blind for long), Random, and By system (a whole line at a time, which tends to fall on phrases).
ReshuffleOnly on Random. Deals a new set of hidden measures at the same level. Without it, the same level always gives the same page rather than rearranging itself under you.
UndoTakes back a mis-tapped measure without leaving Hiding.

Also in the ⋯ menu as Unhide measures, so it can be reached without opening the tray.

Edit bars and systems
Bar lines / Systems (the Tool picker)OverScores automatically identifies bar lines and systems for easy hiding of measures, but can sometimes misidentify if a score is from a poor scan or if there are long note stems. Use edit bars and systems to manually place and delete bar lines, or place or readjust system rectangle sizes.
Tapping the pageTap on the page to add a bar line. Tap on an existing bar line to delete it.
Dragging a handleWhen in edit Systems, you can tap on the page to add a rectangular system identifier, or adjust the size of system identification rectangles with the corner handles.
Refresh downbeatsPress this button to restore measure starts as OverScores originally identified them. Useful if you've done bar identification edits you don't like.
Reset all barsPress this button to restore all bar lines as OverScores originally identified them. Useful if you've done bar identification edits you don't like.
Delete systemIf you want to delete a system rectangle, tap on it to select, then press the delete button.
UndoUndoes your last system rectangle edit.
Audio
RecordingsYou can import audio files (like an MP3) to play along with.
RecordYou can record yourself. Press the Recordings button to delete or switch recordings.
Play / PausePlays or pauses the audio file or recording.
Back to the startReturns to the start of the audio file or recording.
Playback speedYou can change the playback speed of a recording by touching the 1× and slowing down playback without changing its pitch, down to half speed.
The scrubberUse to jump to a place in a recording.
The A and B loop markersYou can loop a recording - press A for the loop start point and B for the loop end point
Import a recording…Import an audio file (like an MP3) to play along with.
RenameChange the name of an audio recording.
DeleteDelete an audio recording.
Streaming
Apple Music / YouTube / SpotifySelecting a streaming service finds a best-fit link to the piece based on title and composer. If you have previously saved a link to a particular version (via the links button), pressing on one of the streaming buttons opens the recording you saved for that service.
Edit linksOpens Listen, where the three streaming links can be saved with a piece — one saved recording per service, stored with the piece.
Paste a linkPaste the address of a particular recording, so that button opens that recording rather than a search.
Find the song for meLooks the piece up from its title and composer and saves the recording it matches. Note: only Apple Music can be filled in by the search function.
Save / Cancel
Clarity

You can improve the appearance of a piece of music with the Clarity options. (This is display only; the file is not altered).

NoneOriginal appearance
Black and whiteColor is removed and piece is cleaned up.
Keep colourColor is maintained and piece is cleaned up.
Bow correctionTakes out the curved appearance of staves and notes from a scan of a non-flat piece of music, as can happen with bound books. Greyed out unless a curve was found on a piece.
Sepia paperWarms the page like old paper. Sepia is a general preference rather than part of the piece, so it follows you across the whole library and every setlist.
Clarity upon exportClarity is included in an exported PDF, though sepia tint is not.
Crop and straighten
The edge handlesDrag the handles in from the edges of the page to trim the margins, so the music fills more of the screen.
The page arrowsCropping and straightening apply to the page you are on as the default. The arrows at the left and right of the page step through the piece without leaving the editor.
The options buttonNamed for where Apply to stands, so you can see it without opening the menu. Holds Apply to and the two resets. Choosing All pages, Odd pages or Even pages sends the trim and angle on this page to those pages, so a page trimmed on its own can be spread to the rest afterwards. It happens when you press Done or step to another page, so Cancel still discards it.
The sliderYou can straighten a piece that is slanted diagonally.
Double-tap the sliderResets the straightening view back to neutral.
Double-tap the numberType a desired straightening angle in the degree (°) field.
StraightenPuts the angle back to zero, which is what double-tapping the slider does.
Reset this page / Reset all pagesIn the same menu. Takes the crop and the angle off the page you are on, or off every page in the piece.
What you seeThe page as the reader shows it, with your writing and anything you have placed on it drawn in, so you can see what a trim is about to cut off. Covered measures are left out.
What it changesOnly what you see and what you export. The imported PDF is untouched, and measure detection still reads the whole page.
Arrange

For rearranging, deleting, copying, and moving the pages of a piece. In the ⋯ menu under Pages.

Individual pagesPress the ⋯ on a page for:
Rotate right / Rotate leftRotate in 90-degree increments
DuplicateDuplicate a page
Insert pagesFrom a file, from a scan with the camera, or blank staves — single or piano.
DeleteDelete the page
SelectTurns on multiple selection, and with it the four rows below.
Move toSends the chosen pages to another piece and removes them from the current piece.
Copy toCopies the chosen pages to another piece, but leaves them in the current piece.
Make a new pieceSends the chosen pages to a piece of their own.
UndoUndoes the last page change.
DoneNothing is written to the piece until Done is pressed. Cancel leaves it as it was.
Metronome
The bubbleTap on the lower right corner to bring up the metronome and turn it on or off. Double-tap on the metronome to adjust the tempo and meter.
BeatHow many beats to the bar, with the first beat accented. Set to 1 for unaccented.
TempoDisplays the beats per minute. Use the +/- buttons to increment up or down.
Start / StopStops and starts the metronome.
TAPTap a few times to set the tempo.
When it stopsThe metronome sound carries on across page turns within a piece, and stops when you leave the piece.
Hiding the metronomeTap anywhere outside the panel.
The keyboard

The included piano can be played on screen or via an external MIDI keyboard connected to your device.

Sustain (*Ped.*)Tap once to hold the pedal down and again to lift it.
OctaveMoves the keyboard an octave lower or higher.
Key sizeNarrower keys show more of the instrument at once; wider keys are easier to hit.
ClosePuts the keyboard away and stops anything still sounding.
Playing itUse it with an external MIDI keyboard or on-screen. The keyboard responds to dynamics when used with an external keyboard.
Making it tallerDrag the grey bar at the top of the keyboard up or down.
Moving the musicWith the keyboard up, drag the page up or down to choose which part of it you can see.
What it remembersKey size, key height and which octaves are showing, from one piece to the next.
The soundA Kawai upright, recorded by the FreePats project and placed in the public domain.
Practice time

OverScores keeps a record of when you opened a piece of music. There is no stop or start — it counts while the music is open for longer than one minute. (Note: the microphone is not listening to whether you are actually playing a piece.) Practice time is shown in two places: as a Practice section at the bottom of a piece's Information, and as a Last practiced column you can sort the Library by.

SessionsHow many times a piece has been opened. Closing the piece, the screen timing out, or leaving the app altogether ends the session.
TotalThe total time spent with the piece open.
Last sessionHow long the most recent practice session lasted.
Chord charts from MusicXML

When importing a MusicXML file (.musicxml, .xml or .mxl), OverScores can identify chord names on a piece and create a chord chart with measures. An imported MusicXML chord chart can be transposed; a scanned PDF cannot.

Importing oneTo import a MusicXML file into your library, select it from the Import from Files… menu.
A file with a tune in itOverScores can identify the chord names on a piece and create a chord chart with measures. Notation is not imported. This MusicXML chord chart can be transposed; a scanned PDF cannot.
Transpose

Chord chart pieces that were imported from a MusicXML file can be transposed.

Up a semitoneTransposes the chords up in 1/2 step increments.
Down a semitoneTransposes the chords down in 1/2 step increments.
Respell in sharps / flatsFor enharmonic spelling of chords with a sharp or flat (like A# to Bb)
Back to the written keyReturns the chart to the key it was imported in.
Backing Up
Back up to iCloud dailyBackups to iCloud include sheet music, markings and setlists, but never audio recordings (to save drive space).
Back up now / Restore from iCloudBack up and Restore work whether or not the daily switch is on. Only the last five backups are kept between them. Restore always references the newest.
Back up libraryBacking up a Library can include recordings, and allows you to back up to wherever you like (Google Drive, etc.).
What is free, and what OverScores Pro adds

After the trial expiration, the free version will continue to have whatever is in your library, along with all markups, etc. Of course, if you buy OverScores, the same libary you started will continue with everything intact.

A free library can increase in size by 25 more pieces and 10 more setlists than it had when the trial ended. So if you brought 100 pieces into OverScores during your trial, you keep all one hundred pieces and can add twenty-five more. Deleting something makes room again. You also retain markups, though limited to black pencil and yellow highlighter. All Settings options remain in the app too.

The Pro features are all indicated by a small padlock icon. Tapping on any of them gives you the option to purchase the full Pro version.