Avid Scorch App Reviews

I was hoping to use this app for rehearsing choral pieces, but I can’t get it to work with any of my MusicXML (.mxl) files — tried exporting from Finale and MuseScore, and always get an error “There was a problem loading the score. Please try again.”

I am using this as a gigging musician to have quick access to my scores and flexibility with the key. That much is great so far. Is there a metadata menu? I would like to organize the music without the constant dragging and dropping. This would help immensely!

Checked online forum and none of the steps helped. On an iPad Pro. No sound whatsoever.

I downloaded Avid because our music instructor had send us some files for our practice sessions using Sibelius app from his Mac and I wanted to be able to open the app not just on my Mac air but also the iPad. The app opened the music but it won’t play, it shows the score and has the ⏯ but it will not play the piece. I am using the latest version of iOS. Ed

Playback is extremely tinny. A download with a reasonable MIDI driver would be a nice touch.

What exactly are we supposed to do with this program? I wanted to view and edit the compositions I created on my macbook, but there was no way to even see them. When I try to go to the "store" page, it flips over and flips right back. This app is less than useless for composers, and won't make you guys much money as long as it won't even stay on the up-sell page. Useless.

Avid Sibelius is my favourite music software. That's the reason why i bought this app, to support you, and read and edit my files. At this time, it doesn't deserve my 4 stars, but common guys, you can make it better. It's only a read-sheet app, not an edit-sheet app. And its MIDI sound is truly terrible. Waiting so long for new updates, and surely i always believe that you guy will not make me disappointed.

Interface-OK, search-OK, BUT: you can NOT see even one bar preview of what you are buying before to pay?!?!? I bought Brandenburg Concerto No 3 arranged for string quartet-the cello has to play all the time near the bridge?!?!?!!? Ridicules !! Nobody would buy this if has an option to take a look at least one page preview. THE WORST : after you buy you will realize that you can not print your purchase?!?!? WHY???? I PAID FOR IT!!! Who need a string quartet score without option to print it?!?!? Maybe I will use Music stand to play all parts by my self?!?!?! Senseless! One Absurd!!!!!

Others have mentioned the stability problems with this app particularly surrounding playback. One glaring missing feature is the ability to create set lists from within your score library. I'm a gigging musician and I have lead sheets for several hundred songs. I'd love to use this app to access my entire library but without the ability to create a set list where I can flow seamlessly from one song to the next, this app is pretty useless to me. Most of the building blocks are there to make this app great including basic editing features like transpose. Fix the stability problems and add a fluid set list feature and this would be golden. Until then, it doesn't serve my needs.

The Avid Score Store is garbage. There is only a handful of tunes available and they are $4 a pop. This app seems almost useless without a sufficient content library or an easier (and cheaper) way to grow that library. If you have Sibelius, you are better off writing, printing, and practicing from there. It is much easier. I'm pretty disappointed considering the potential of this app.

I’m a choir director and I use this app a ton! It’s especially great around solo ensemble time for students to be able to practice on their own. They get the visual progression of the music and have the ability to mute their own part or turn down another. It really is a great tool. I can either plug in the iPad to iTunes and drag and drop the .sib file or I can put it onto google drive and the students can pull whatever piece they need (using the “open in” option). Is it perfect? No. You can’t really index or organize your files. And even though it used to advertise that you can use xml files they just crash the app. If you have the devices I would highly recommend using this app in your classroom. I had always been a finale user so switching to Sibelius was tough. Actually I have finale on my personal computer so I create the initial file export it to xml. Pull it into Sibelius on my work computer and export it for Avid Scorch (which helps with sizing). I know it seems like a lot of work but it’s really not. Plus I’m not really interested in learning how to use a whole new program like Sibelius.

I have tried to use Avid Scorch since I purcashed the app. I even am trying Sibelius First on a 30 day trial. I followed the directions given in the Scorch knowledge area that came with the app. It did not work. I can not figure out how to get my scanned music in to Photoscore Ultimate, then the Sibelius First (trial) then to Scorch. There is no tech support except to send an email and because they are in the UK I get emails in the middle of the night and then I can not carry on a conversation to try to correct issue. I did get one song in and it only showed it, but would not play or any oher features. I was going to buy Sibelius First, but not now. I will only buy something where I can speak with a real person. Paula, from Minnesota

Would be nice if you could have more than two verses of lyrics. Title doesn't work right and needs to have directories for your songs. Would make it very useful.

Just installed Avid Scorch 1.1 onto IPad 3. Launched one of samples and seemed okay until put in music stand mode, then there was no apparently way to get out of the mode and no controls available. Forced it shut, then loaded a song I had created in Sibelius and it immediately and continually crashed. This version was apparently released in late 2011, about a year and a half ago, and I'm sorry I bought it.

Thanks.

Low quality sound , any chance to edit notation , 💔

This problem continued long times ago!

It plays songs that you're trying to learn and change up the key and all kinds of stuff. It's been very useful!

This app has a lot of future as long as the developer adds the loop play option which it's a must when learning a new song. The song library it is really nice, but the absence of the loop play it is very discouraging. PLEASE !!! ADD THE LOOP PLAY OPTION.

I use Sibelius and this app plays back my .sib files perfectly. I use this app to teach the members of my acapella group new music. I have a few complaints and suggestions. I wish the pages loaded faster. Sometimes when there's a page turn, I miss the notes because it takes a second for the new page to load. Also trying to transpose the score usually freezes the app for a long time. I also wish there was a way to bring up the progress bar/jumping around bar without having to play the track. An additional feature that would be nice is the ability to export files in my library as .sib or .pdf to send them via email. All and all this app has amazing potential for five stars if it didn't freeze and crash so frequently.

I wanted this app to play Sibelius notations from my drum teacher without paying for First or the full version. This definitely lets me do that, so in that regards I’m happy. The problem is the speed slider. I took the speed down to about 50%, and literally spent several minutes trying to get the slider back to 100%. A text box or something in addition to the slider would be awesome, that’s why I took off the star.

I just got my copy of Scorch on a new iPAD 2. I'm an avid Sibelius user and a professional musician. I like the idea of being able to perform from these scores from my iPad to my piano. However, the program crashes everytime I load a file. It ran when first installed, but not now.

Don't get this, the sound on iPad 2 doesn't play. Maybe it is just me, but it is a waste of money. Wait for the update.

Finally i found the great app ever. As a music director this app very helpful now i can open all my scores on my new iPad and very simple to use and sync all my files from my Mac. GREAT JOB..!!!!...

The antiquated method of adding files by having to connect to iTunes on your computer then drag and drop files is annoying. It requires pre-planning what you need to open. The app should be able to open files stored in Dropbox, Box or Google Drive. Otherwise I have to go home to my desktop computer to get what I need.

I don't like it. It's not very good. I had better for free.

I put my Sibelius files in Dropbox and opened them from there & it works perfect!!! Changing keys is a breeze. The mention is made in other comments about playback being less than stellar, but I am so impressed with the ability to have music available at my finger tips that playback is not a big deal because that is not my focus. Thanks- Keep up the good work!

제가 작업한 악보들을 패드에서 보기 위해 PDF로 변환해서 볼려고 생각했는데 뜻밖에 이 앱을 발견하고는 흥분해서 잠을 못잔다는... 진짜 대만족입니다.

When I transfer a .sib file using iTunes to Scorch on my iPad Air 2, rests within the staff lines move below the staff and overlap low voice notes at the same beat. This is a serious bug that needs correcting.

I purchased a few scores successfully, then could not download some purchases, even though I was charged for them. Although the company responded promptly, they could not constructively help me and closed my case without resolving the problem. This happened several times. I'm very disappointed that I can no longer purchase music from the store.

Fix the glitches

Sorry, but I have to give this App 1 star - I tried to buy a score twice and got errors both times. No sheet delivered to my device, yet I was charged $3.99!! Avid Customer Support completely unresponsive. I had to contact Apple Support for some resolution. If that fails, I will dispute with my CC company. No way am I giving away $3.99 for nothing, just on principle. Avid, please QC your app and step up CS.

I like the idea of this app, but you have a long way to go before you should be charging any money for it. It crashes almost every time I try and change a setting, the playback doesn't work at all, when I open the jazz example and try and view just the alto part, my only options are those for a string quartet. There isn't usually a Violin 2 part in a big band. I'm sure there are probably more issues as well, but those are the ones I found in the first 30 seconds of playing with it. Back to the drawing board, folks.

This could could be a great app if they would fix the overall buginess. When the scores do open they look better than PDF and the play, parts, and transposition features are nice, when they work. Like most people, I have been forced to PDF my scores and use a reader app to get any practical use for gigs. Hopefully we will see some updates soon.

I am not sure what the problem is for the others here; for me everything is working just great (on my new iPad). I was able to open my Sibelius files from Evernote without any problems. This app works great!!! Just buy it, if you are a musician. Need ability to print... and all the new features that are just on its way via updates!!! Looking forward to the feature updates,

Unfortunately this app crashes continuously. I can't even get to the Scorch Store to add content. This app could be wonderful. It could completely replace all printed sheet music and allow lots of functionality that sheet music never cold. Instead, it's pure garbage.

If there were a way to download my scores from my website as needed, instead of dealing with the cumbersome iTunes file transfer mechanism, this would open up the app. As it is the app is sort of missing the power of mobile.

I use this app to learn my choral pieces for my acapella chamber group. It is a huge help! The first time I used it, I had to use the iTunes file transfer to add a score to my library, but now I am able to add/download a score when it is emailed to me. I click on the link in my email and it asks if I want to open it in Avid Scorch. Once I do that, it's in my library...fantastic!

It's an awesome app. Now I can carry my scores around on my iPad but when I played the song.... I heard the sounds lol. They are absolutely terrible. I was sitting here listening and hearing it cracked me up. It sorta sounds like they sampled kids in a middle school band playing like random instruments, but when they put them in the app they got flute mixed with pan pipe. And marimba mixed with xylophone and stuff. That was very disappointing but other than that GREAT APP I would rate 5 if that gets fixed

Wanted to read sib files and convert into PDF. It can't do that - renders this app pretty much useless to me

I emailed my SIBELIUS files to my Ipad2 and when I try to open in Avid Scorch I'm told 'there is a problem opening the files' The file appears in Scorch but when I click to open it either doesn't open or opens but no play arrow appears to play it!

If the developer wants Scorch all over the web (digital downloads, score previews, educator materials), it would seem logical to give iPad users the ability to open files in Safari, wouldn't it? So, rather than a useful tool, we have a storefront that WE paid for!

Tried the mixer, settings...can't play audio from my new ipad. This is a shame because I this app worked great on my older ipad. Got the app to work. Had to hard restart my iPad, then audio started playback. Avid needs to start adding more songs to the collection

Without a way to organize files other than the default of dumping everything into one file the app is not ready for prime time. I use a lot of files in my work, as any average professional does, and I cannot imagine having to locate them quickly in one massive file. Add that capacity and I would give it three stars. Five stars if it didn't crash so much. Crashing is unacceptable in a professional capacity.

Waste of money. Can't open scorch files from web pages on iPad.

Audio refused to work, controls were a pain and impossible to navigate easily. Find a different app.

Para mi es la mejor y es la única que hace esto ,de esta forma con su propia tienda de aplicación extremadamente completa se me merece como 20 estrella

I really like every feature of Scorch, but it is missing the most important feature of all; the ability to print. Without that, Scorch is a mere novelty item with no real value. Even scorch for browsers is way behind the curve being usable in only Firefox while running in 32 bit mode. It could only have been written by non-musicians. Musicians need and appreciate stuff that has practical applications. Sadly, scorn remains more like a game than a real functional music product . Maybe one day it will grow up.

I need to be able to export some of my Sibelius files as XML for some of my friends via this very convenient app.

Needs to be updated!

I have purchased this app and it does not play. Just no sound at all. Waste of money!

Crashes always. I see im not the only one with this issue. What a pity.

As it is today, it has limitations for practical pro use. It does not offer the ability to create files and sub-files and the more scores that are added, the more difficult it becomes to manage. It does offer a Search option, but it is a poor alternative to a properly organized score library.

I wish It was clear that the only way to access your files is by adding them through iTunes. This is 2005 technology. Not very useful when my files are all on cloud servers. I guess I’m only out $2.00 it could be worse.