A text-based format for exchanging sheet music
MusicXML is a digital sheet music interchange and distribution format. The goal is to create a universal format for common Western music notation, similar to the role that the MP3 format serves for recorded music. The musical information is designed to be usable by notation programs, sequencers and other performance programs, music education programs, and music databases. 2
Many programs use this data format to import or export music data, like Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore.
In a nutshell MusicXML is closer to notation on lead sheet, while MIDI is more a recording of actions performed on an instrument, like a series of keypress and filter tuning activities or manipulation of other internal blocks of said electronic instrument on a synth.
Where to find more
- History, some programs supporting this data format and example on Wikipedia
- MusicXML - tutorial by W3C Community Group providing a tutorial, references and file listings
- an overview of programs which seem to use MusicXML
- MIDI Vs MusicXML (what's the difference?)
- Stimulus: thesis (GER) "Automatisiertes Motivsuchen in Musikwerken im MusicXML Format" (automation of finding motives in music from MusicXML data format)
