Does anyone use a tablet for sheet music?
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I played with using one of the original iPads for sheet music a while ago. I had issues with it - several issues.
First of all, some of the software I played with required the sheet music to be stored in its own library, and that just became cumbersome, sort of negating the idea.
The small screen made it necessary to use the software in portrait mode, and that meant only one page at a time, which meant...
Page turns are twice as frequent. The easiest way, of course, is to swipe to the right to turn a page, but that's a lot. There are gimmicks out there to ease the problem. One piece of software actually used the iPad's camera and when you'd tilt your head to the left, the page would turn. THere's a gizmo called an "Air Turn" out there as well. It's a pair of bluetooth pedals that you'd use with your left foot to turn pages. I found both of these solutions awkward, at best.
Nevertheless, I'm thinking that using a tablet might become a viable solution if the problems I listed can be easily solved.
ETA: The larger iPad pro has a screen that approximates a printed page but, damn, it's pricey at over $1000. The smaller one is $800. The iPad Air is JUST a bit smaller than the cheaper iPad Pro. The cheapest model (64 gigs) is $600.
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Look at Android, I have a nice Samsung tablet that I just use as a tv on my exercise bike, it works great
I know you aren't an Android guy but a cheap tablet that does the job might be worth it
5 Apps for Android: https://www.codamusictech.com/blogs/news/top-5-paperless-sheet-music-chord-chart-apps-for-android
Samsung 11 inch screen $588
Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet, 10.1" $149
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Look at Android, I have a nice Samsung tablet that I just use as a tv on my exercise bike, it works great
I know you aren't an Android guy but a cheap tablet that does the job might be worth it
5 Apps for Android: https://www.codamusictech.com/blogs/news/top-5-paperless-sheet-music-chord-chart-apps-for-android
Samsung 11 inch screen $588
Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet, 10.1" $149
@Copper the difference between the Samsung and the Apple iPad air is $20 and 0.1 inch screen size.
The 10th generation basic iPad is also a 10.9 inch screen and $150 cheaper. The iPad I have (8th gen) is a 10.2 inch screen.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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I've tried various tablets and hate them all for sheet music duty.
I even bought a dedicated sheetmusic tablet that was Linux based back in the early 2000s.
It was "cool" but it still sucked. I had two foot pedals for turning pages backward and forward. Combined with the 3 (um 2) pedals used for actually playing, the additional movements required to turn a page would always seem to happen at the least opportune moment and interfere with the actual pedaling required to play the piece.
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I've tried various tablets and hate them all for sheet music duty.
I even bought a dedicated sheetmusic tablet that was Linux based back in the early 2000s.
It was "cool" but it still sucked. I had two foot pedals for turning pages backward and forward. Combined with the 3 (um 2) pedals used for actually playing, the additional movements required to turn a page would always seem to happen at the least opportune moment and interfere with the actual pedaling required to play the piece.
@mark said in Does anyone use a tablet for sheet music?:
Combined with the 3 (um 2) pedals used for actually playing, the additional movements required to turn a page would always seem to happen at the least opportune moment and interfere with the actual pedaling required to play the piece.
Exactly the problem I had with the "Air Turn." I'm going to charge it up and see if it's any better now.
@jon-nyc said in Does anyone use a tablet for sheet music?:
They should make an app that detects your head nodding
That exists.
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Here's a free app that uses either a wink or a mouth gesture to change pages. Works pretty well.
I'm not sure, yet, how to add a ton of music to its library, but it looks like it might be pretty good, and more intuitive than using your left foot, like with an AirTurn.
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Here's a free app that uses either a wink or a mouth gesture to change pages. Works pretty well.
I'm not sure, yet, how to add a ton of music to its library, but it looks like it might be pretty good, and more intuitive than using your left foot, like with an AirTurn.
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My thoughts are that being able to keep a library of music on your tablet which you have "under your fingers."
However, for learning, I think it's easier to use actual paper, for annotations, etc. I tried to sight-read through some stuff this morning using my iPad, and it was awkward.
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I often use my iPad pro for sheet music. Works pretty well. I don't use any fancy page turning thing
@Klaus which size?
I saw a 1st generation 12.9" on ebay for <$300.
What software to you use, or do you just open PDFs?
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Copper the difference between the Samsung and the Apple iPad air is $20 and 0.1 inch screen size.
The 10th generation basic iPad is also a 10.9 inch screen and $150 cheaper. The iPad I have (8th gen) is a 10.2 inch screen.
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@George-K if you're spoiled by the Retina display, it will be hard to go back to lower resolutions. When comparing Samsung tablets, be sure to consider screen "dots per inch" and resolution. Good luck.
@Axtremus said in Does anyone use a tablet for sheet music?:
@George-K if you're spoiled by the Retina display, it will be hard to go back to lower resolutions.
I'm not. I am using an LG 4K 32" monitor, and it's certainly good enough for me.
When comparing Samsung tablets, be sure to consider screen "dots per inch" and resolution. Good luck.
As I said, I'm more interested in getting a good size that is easier to read. The iPad Pro is the only one that's substantially different from any other tablet, if you go with the 12.9" model.
I'm not sure I want to pull that trigger, however.
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@Klaus which size?
I saw a 1st generation 12.9" on ebay for <$300.
What software to you use, or do you just open PDFs?
@George-K said in Does anyone use a tablet for sheet music?:
@Klaus which size?
I saw a 1st generation 12.9" on ebay for <$300.
What software to you use, or do you just open PDFs?
It's the big one.
I use ForScore.
The tablet is too big for basically everything else. I wouldn't buy it again.
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This looks intriguing
http://www.stefanv.com/computers/musicrack-a-digital-sheet-music-display-system.html
Use something like this monitor,
https://www.amazon.com/Eyoyo-Touchscreen-1920x1080-Compatible-Smartphone/dp/B07RV9FYVG
And a $49 Raspberry Pi or even a cheap mini-pc form factor.
Running Linux, once again. Not only that, it is only available as source code that you have to compile. lol
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She's right - the 10.2" iPad is just too small to be useful, unless....you already know the music and just need a gentle reminder. Annotating fingerings etc is a PITA. The 12.9" approximates a standard 8 ½" X 11" piece of paper. For annotations, a stylus or pencil would be ideal.
I bought a bluetooth pager turner for my iPad years and years ago. I find it distracting because I'm thinking about "when do I push the pedal?" rather than playing the music (badly). It's more natural, for me, at least, to swipe the page and have it turn. It's easier than turning a page, and pretty foolproof.
I have FourScore as well. It's a great piece of software and the organizing features make it really useful. I think it'll download from IMSLP, but I'm not sure. Otherwise, it'll look at dropbox and you can import whatever you want. Tagging sheet music by composer, genre, etc is easy and it makes it searchable. It's really good software.
Here's some photos taken with my phone of my iPad running FourScore and a screenshot or two.
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I got my replacement iPad Pro 12.9 inch this afternoon. Is it big? Yeah, it is. It's also, when mated with a keyboard, heavy. However, I'm really enjoying the size. With speakers on both ends, sound is stereo and the 12.9 screen is great for TV and movies.
I'm going to seek out some wireless apps for turning pages. I think it'll be a good repository for sheet music. Also, it's compatible with a cheapo ($20) pencil for annotating things. So far, I'm please.
Here's some pics to give you an idea of size. I also have an iPad 8 which lives in a keyboard case, so you can get an idea of scale.
First of all, the iPad Pro compared to the old iPad. Here they are in their keyboard cases, closed and open.
By way of comparison, here is the iPad next to Mrs. George's 13 inch MacBook Air.
Finally, here it is on the music desk of my piano. From left to right is the Henle score, the iPad 12.9" and my older iPad 8.
The last photo is probably not representative because the iPad pro is showing a different edition of the music.
