Scan → MusicXML · MusicXML → engraved score
Upload a PDF or photo of a score. StaveWave reads it, drafts editable MusicXML, then walks you through the uncertain bars — spotlighting the exact ink on your page — until the score is clean enough to trust. When it is, one more click engraves it into a print-ready score.
Online — nothing to install · No signup · No credit card
The score check, resolving a real concert-band scan. Drive it yourself →
Two services, one pipeline
AI-powered optical music recognition drafts the notation and ranks likely problem areas for review. Music-aware checks and your review — not AI confidence alone — determine what to trust. Upload a PDF or photo, review the flagged bars against the original ink, and export editable MusicXML, MXL, or MIDI — with an audit log of every finding.
Publisher-quality engraving from any MusicXML file — upload one from your notation app, or continue from a StaveWave conversion. Every job delivers a print-ready engraved PDF, compressed MusicXML, and MIDI.
The score check
Every converter produces a draft. StaveWave is built for the ten minutes after — when you decide whether to trust it. The score check turns that review from squinting at two windows into a guided loop.
Every flagged bar spotlights the exact measure on your original page — part, measure, and system — so you never hunt for what the warning means.
Warnings arrive grouped by cause — “41 bars overfull”, “12 tie mismatches” — with one plain-language card per pattern and verified fixes you can apply across the lot.
Edit notes right on the notation with the scan strip pinned alongside. A beat ruler turns green the moment the bar sums — no counting on your fingers.
Play any bar and rhythm errors land on the ear before the eye — the extra half-beat is an audible clunk. Solo the flagged part, follow the playhead.
End to end
Four stages between your upload and a MusicXML file you can open in Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore, or Finale. The full story →
Clean PDF, flat scan, or phone photo — the pipeline profiles your upload first and prepares only what that source needs.
Independent recognizers read every page. Where they agree, confidence; where they disagree, a flag — no single engine silently decides your score.
Rhythm math, structure, and a render-vs-scan comparison grade each measure red, yellow, or green before you ever see the result.
The score check walks you through only the bars that need a human, then exports MusicXML with an audit log of everything that was found and fixed — or hands straight off to the engraver for a print-ready score.
Honest by design
Bars the recognizers weren't sure about are flagged, never silently smoothed over. You always know which measures were machine-certain and which you confirmed yourself.
Scores and colors decide what's worth your attention first. They are not a promise the export is right; the evidence on your page is.
What the engines read, what validation caught, what was fixed and by whom — attached to the job, exported with the score.
Questions
StaveWave is built for musicians and copyists who need editable MusicXML, visible warnings, and a clear explanation of how the conversion was judged.
During the public beta, conversions run without a paid plan, signup, or credit card. Paid plans for higher-volume and professional use are coming.
No. StaveWave is an online service that runs entirely in the browser — nothing to install, no plugins. It works on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPad, and Chromebook.
You can upload PDF, PNG, JPG, WEBP, or TIFF files up to 100 MB and 50 pages.
You get draft MusicXML plus a bar-by-bar score check that spotlights uncertain measures on your original page, explains each finding in plain language, and offers verified one-tap fixes. Verified scores can also export as compressed MXL and MIDI, or continue into the engraving service.
Yes. StaveWave exports standard MusicXML for notation apps that can import MusicXML, including Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore, Finale, and similar score editors.
Yes. Upload a .musicxml, .xml, or .mxl file to the engraving service and get a print-ready engraved PDF, compressed MusicXML, and MIDI. It works on MusicXML from a StaveWave conversion or from any notation app.
No. The score check keeps uncertain measures, warnings, and suggested fixes visible — pointing at the exact ink on your page — so you can review the score before using the export.
Ready to convert
No signup · No credit card · Engraving one click away