Musescore Online (Like Google Docs but for Writing Music)

• Feb 2, 2018 - 21:39

Okay best idea ever. It is like Google Docs where multiple people can be working on a file at the same time. except for musescore. This would come in handy as my band all lives far apart so we would be able to work on music together more frequently

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• Feb 2, 2018 - 22:01

This is an incredibly intelligent idea. It would be so convenient. I am shocked that this has not been implemented yet. I cannot stress enough how good of an idea this is. Thank you, genius, for coming up with this feature that really should be incorporated. This would revolutionize the practice of writing music. A true masterpiece of an idea.

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• Feb 2, 2018 - 22:20

One question needs to be answered before this can be implemented. What if 2 or 3 people change the same measure at the same time. What would be the end result? I change it expecting it is now correct, then someone else changes it while I'm still editing it. Someone else is editing it while I'm saving it then that someone else saves it. What happens to the score?

I'm not saying this is impossible, just some thought needs to be put into place as far as situations like this.

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• Feb 2, 2018 - 22:30

It's obviously a great idea that would be wonderful to see implemented. The reason it hasn't happened yet is simply that it is a huge undertaking. If you and a dozen or so other programmers are volunteering to work full-time on this the next year or two, maybe it will happen yet :-)

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• Feb 3, 2018 - 01:37

Ironically, I had a similar idea to this for a long time called ‘MuseScore Web.’ Being a JavaScript developer and all, I came up with a whole JavaScript map for stuff such as loading and stuff.

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• Jan 1, 2019 - 16:15

Simultaneous online collaboration appears to be possible in Flat.io. It’s a music notation program designed mainly for the educational market it seems, but ought to work for far-flung bandmates and collaborators.
I’m about to try simultaneously editing a score with a collaborator in another state who otherwise uses MuseScore. An alternative would be taking turns screen-sharing while we talk on Facetime. But that would still let just one person work at a time, and require constant saving and reopening a file from the cloud, as another commenter suggested.
Can anyone who has used Flat for simultaneous editing comment on the results?
And specifically how well does it import/export to and from MuseScore (which would still be far more full-featured for editing and playback)?

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• Jan 1, 2019 - 17:30

The new internal layout of MuseScore and the Score difference feature could be used by an ingenious programmer to make this a reality. I think if I were writing this, I would assign a user as Score Master who would make the final decision as to which changes were incorporated, especially in the instance of several people changing the same measure for the same instrument at the same time.

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• Jan 1, 2019 - 23:24

Update:
- Imported MusicXML file for my big band composition into Flat.io for live editing with my collaborator.
- So far only issue I have seen is that for correct playback I would need to reassign a few of the 19 instruments from default piano to the actual instrument (sax, electric bass, etc.) Easily done in a moment or ignored if all you want to do is confirm the harmonies. Other instruments imported correctly.
- Confirmed with Flat customer support that the collaborate feature works even if my collaborator remains on their free plan (15 scores, limited features). Meanwhile I’m on a 30-day trial for the full plan, otherwise $49 a year.
- They also confirmed that it’s like Google Docs — colored cursors, both parties see each others’ changes live on their screens. Now to try it with my collaborator. I’ll post another update once done and imported back into MuseScore.

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