Question 1

What is Dolce?

Accepted Answer

Dolce (悦谱) is a free, open-source editor and typesetter for jianpu — the numbered musical notation widely used in China — and staff notation. You type the score on the left and see it typeset live on the right, or click the score to edit notes directly. It can recognize jianpu images into editable scores, switch between jianpu, staff and mixed views, play the music back, and export PPTX, PDF, PNG, MIDI and MusicXML. It runs in the browser and as a Windows / macOS desktop app, in English or Chinese.

Question 2

What is jianpu (numbered musical notation)?

Accepted Answer

Jianpu writes the scale degrees do re mi fa so la ti as the digits 1–7, with 0 for a rest. Dots above or below a digit change the octave, underlines shorten a note, dashes lengthen it, and a line such as 1=G sets the key. It is the most common notation for songs and hymns in Chinese-speaking communities.

Question 3

Can I turn a photo or screenshot of jianpu into an editable score?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Click “Recognize image” on the start page or drag an image or PDF onto the window. Notes, lyrics, title, key and time signature are recognized into an editable score in seconds to a few dozen seconds. Recognition runs entirely on your device, so nothing is uploaded. You can proofread the result overlaid on the original image (doubtful spots are highlighted in yellow, measures with wrong beat counts are circled) or beside it in the side-by-side view, and rotate, crop or reorder the source images and recognize again. Staff notation (PDFs, scans and photos) is recognized into MusicXML.

Question 4

Which file formats does Dolce support?

Accepted Answer

It opens and edits 123 jianpu, JP-Word .jpwabc, Fanqie text jianpu, Shigeben text jianpu (the “dynamic score” of the Shigeben app) and ABC notation, and opens MusicXML as staff notation or converts it to jianpu for editing. Save As converts between these formats and lists anything the target format can't hold before converting. Export adds PPTX, PDF, PNG, MIDI and MusicXML.

Question 5

What is the 123 jianpu format?

Accepted Answer

123 (.123) is Dolce's main jianpu format, a plain-text jianpu dialect of ABC notation: header fields such as X:, T:, K:, M: and w:, plus repeats, endings, multiple voices and singing order, work as in ABC, while the notes are jianpu digits — 1–7 for the scale degrees, 0 for a rest, ' and , for octaves, _ to halve a note and - to add a beat. It's easy to write by hand, and scores converted from MusicXML, ABC, text jianpu or image recognition fit into it without loss.

Question 6

Can I save a recognition and keep proofreading later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Save it as a recognition project (.dolce): the source images, the recognition result and the score you are editing are stored together, and reopening it takes you straight back to the compare view without recognizing again. Drafts are also autosaved, so unsaved work can be restored after an unexpected close or reload.

Question 7

Can Dolce edit choir scores with several parts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Parts panel adds, removes, reorders and renames parts, sets clefs and transposing instruments, splits a closed score (two voices on one staff) by voice or by chord or merges parts back, copies lyrics between parts and hides parts in the staff and mixed views. For playback you can mute or solo parts (handy for part practice) and set each part's volume.

Question 8

How do I transpose a jianpu score?

Accepted Answer

Use Transpose on the score. Transposing the whole piece changes the key while jianpu digits stay the same (jianpu uses movable do); ABC and MusicXML notes move with it. You can also move just the selected notes up or down by semitones. It can be undone.

Question 9

Can I convert between jianpu and staff notation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Any jianpu score can be viewed and played in the Staff or Mixed (staff with a jianpu layer) view and exported as PDF, PNG or MusicXML. A single-part MusicXML file can be converted to jianpu when you open it; multi-part choir scores open in the Mixed view.

Question 10

How do I make projection slides from a jianpu score?

Accepted Answer

Switch to the Expanded view, where repeats and verses are unrolled one verse per page, then choose Export → PPTX. You get vector slides, one per page, that stay editable in PowerPoint or Keynote.

Question 11

Is Dolce free? Does it work offline?

Accepted Answer

It is free and open source under the MIT license. The browser version needs no installation, and the Windows / macOS desktop apps work offline, including image recognition.

Question 12

macOS says the app is damaged or from an unidentified developer. What should I do?

Accepted Answer

The app isn't signed with an Apple developer certificate, so macOS blocks it the first time. After dragging Dolce.app into Applications, open Terminal and run xattr -cr /Applications/Dolce.app, then open it normally. You can also use the browser version without installing anything.

Bring in a score — edit it, export it