MusicXML 3.1 Beta Test Begins

The first beta version of the MusicXML 3.1 format is now available for developer testing. To get a copy, go the MusicXML GitHub repository at https://github.com/w3c/musicxml and click the “Clone or download” button. You can then either download a zip file or clone the Git repository on your local machine.

MusicXML 3.1’s main new feature is greatly enhanced SMuFL support. Many more SMuFL symbols are now represented directly by MusicXML elements, such as the <flip/> element for the brass techniques character located at U+E5E1. Other symbols can be specified by their SMuFL canonical glyph name in the MusicXML extension elements, using the “smufl” attribute. For example, there is no separate MusicXML 3.1 element for a brass valve trill, but it can be specified using the other-technical element:

<other-technical smufl=”brassValveTrill”/>

In addition to enhanced SMuFL support, MusicXML 3.1 has several other new features to improve interchange between music notation applications. These include:

• A new “id” attribute is available on over 40 elements to allow specification of unique identifiers.
• Musical symbols may be arbitrarily interspersed with text using the new <symbol> and <credit-symbol> elements.
• Grace cue notes are now supported.
• The measure element has a new “text” attribute to allow specification of non-unique measure numbers within a part. One case where this is helpful is when multiple movements are combined in a single MusicXML file, with each new movement starting at measure 1.
• Ties are now allowed within metronome marks.
• Images can now specify their height and width for scaling.
• A new “time-only” attribute for the <lyric> element allows precise specification of which lyric is associated with which time through a repeated section of music.
• A new “let-ring” type value for the <tied> element makes it easier to represent “let ring” or “laissez-vibrer” ties.
• Additional polygonal enclosure shapes are allowed.
• There is direct support for highest / lowest notes that are displayed without ledger lines.
• MusicXML now has a recommended Uniform Type Identifier for macOS and iOS applications.
• Compressed MusicXML files now have a recommended mimetype file to make it easier for applications to detect what type of zip file they are working with. This is similar to what is used in EPUB and other zip-based file formats.
• The recommended file extension for uncompressed MusicXML 3.1 files is now “.musicxml” rather than “.xml”.
• Many parts of the documentation have been clarified.

We look forward to hearing about your experience in implementing these new MusicXML 3.1 features. If you run into bugs or other issues with MusicXML 3.1, please create a new issue in the MusicXML GitHub repository.