In a recent lab I had the opportunity to use the Scorio (www.scorio.com) app on the iPad. At first I was impressed with the ability to use a touch keyboard interface to input the music notation. However, upon further experimentation later the computer version of Scorio, I quickly that it has a lot of potential, but just misses the mark in its current form. Much like Noteflight (see my previous review), the idea of Scorio is that users can access notation software on the internet for free and share their creations with anyone they wish. While users can achieve this with Scorio, they will probably find that it is an arduous process, filled with frustrations and a steep learning curve (3/10 in my opinion).
Some of the features are very similar to Noteflight: notate music, share it, browse other users creations, the ability to save and print (registered users only), a user forum for discussion and improvement, etc. There are many of the basic functions of a music notation program, such as inputting notes of various rhythms and pitches, time signature, key, tuplets, endings, text and other various musical symbols. There is the ability to import and export music files (XML), however when trying to import a relatively large and detailed file, the import failed. I do like the look and the layout of the site, and the drop down menus make sense (different from Noteflight's floating menu). Even with all these features, Scorio still falls short because of the difficulty of using the notation features.
I played with Scorio for about half an hour and found some things that make using the site frustrating: after creating a new piano score (grand staff) and creating a few notes of various rhythms in both the treble and bass, I found that the ability to use the keyboard on the computer to input notes does not exist (if you type the letter 'g' on your keyboard, no G will be input into the music). Therefor, you must either click on the staff to create notes, or use the keyboard at the bottom of the screen. When using the on-screen keyboard, further frustrations arise. There is no reference pitch, and no way to tell you what the current or previous note selected is on the keyboard. So, if you or your students are unfamiliar with the keyboard octaves and their placement on the staff, you will be typing in notes blindly and hoping that the right octave is selected. When doing this in the bass clef for instance, the notes automatically are input on the treble staff if they are in that range. Perhaps there is a way to specify the use of ledger lines (I saw another user who had several ledger lines in their bass staff), but it is not obvious to me. When inserting a tuplet, the beaming does not always make sense.
Another thing that makes Scorio frustrating is the inability to use the arrow keys to select and input notes. I also cannot toggle between note selection mode and notation mode. When playing back your work, there is no cursor that follows the music, and the music view does not change on the page as music progresses. These really should be linked together. There are other features that are lacking in Scorio: There is no way to plugin a usb interface, and therefor there is no real-time input of music. I could find no way of plugging in a USB/MIDI interface for use with Scorio. There seems to be no support for larger ensembles in the score creation section, only chamber groups or solo instruments. Chords and text are inserted separately and is awkward. There are no way to input expressive marks (dynamics, instructions, etc.). This is a basic necessity and simply can't find it there.
Perhaps I just don't get it, or perhaps my browser doesn't handle it correctly (Firefox 4 running on a MacBook). I like what Scorio is about, free access to music notation, however the frustrations of using it (even for a experienced Sibelius user), and the lack of certain features (expression marks!) would probably turn more students away from using the program. Developers of Scorio: if you are reading this, please let me know if I am missing something. If I'm not, please consider fixing some of these issues. In its current state, I do not recommend using Scorio with your students. I don't think either Noteflight or Sibelius are a substitution for a regular notation program such as Finale or Sibelius, but they could work in your classroom. Noteflight would be a better choice at this point in time.
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