Jianpu notation, also called Numbered Musical Notation, is a simplified musical notation that uses numbers instead of the 5 stafflines, clefs, noteheads and so on. It originated in China, but is used in many countries in the world, including Japan and the US. It is especially popular and in demand in Asian countries for education, traditional instruments or choral and folk music.
OSMD now has a setting to enable Jianpu mode, in which any MusicXML file is rendered in Jianpu notation instead of classical western notation. This is now available in early access for OSMD sponsors, so please feel free to give us feedback. We have already worked with some Asian partners to improve early versions of our renderer, so we feel like it is already in a very solid state.
Here is an example of a Jianpu score, Muzio Clementi’s Sonatina Op. 36 No. 3:
Here is the classical version/notation:
You can try out the OSMD Jianpu Demo here:
https://opensheetmusicdisplay.org/demos/jianpu-demo/
(Audio playback not included, but is included in the sponsor repository)
You can switch between both versions at the push of a button, basically:
osmd.EngravingRules.JianpuAlwaysUsed = true;
osmd.render();
And as on the main branch of our sponsor repository, this comes with full audio playback functionality, where the cursor moves along with the playback. This works mainly in the browser, though it’s also possible to implement it in mobile apps.
OSMD-Jianpu is available now in early access for sponsors on the feat/jianpu branch in the sponsor repository.
By becoming a monthly sponsor, you get access to the audio player and Jianpu display, and support the development team also for general improvements to OSMD. We could not do it without you 🙂
This is truly a rare and critical feature, and I’m especially excited that you’ve developed it!