 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2011-09-25 02:22
I know the Music Pad Pro is out there, but our Rock Band and Jazz Band have gravitated to using iPads for their music. It works very well for their purposes. They can connect wirelessly to the internet and download a song they want to work on to hear what it sounds like. They can scan pages or notes they wrote to themselves on the music they're going to play. They can write down the chord changes and then scan them into a PDF and put them on there. It ultimately means having one electronic device on a music stand showing what they need to see for the music.
Anyone here doing something similar? My initial thoughts are that a good amount of clarinet, or ANY classical sheet music is going to have way too much ink on it to be able to display it on a small iPad screen and not strain the eyes trying to read it. But I could see a scanned Realbook or Fakebook going over well. Just wondering if anyone's gone to this sort of technology instead of schlepping around lots of sheet music and wondering if it's going to blow off the stand during an outdoor concert.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: DAVE
Date: 2011-09-25 02:50
I've scanned a bunch of music for my iPad and it works really well. I would put all of it on there but it takes so long to scan. I highly recommend the iPad for music.
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Author: gwie
Date: 2011-09-25 03:59
I use my Kindle to follow along in scores at some chamber music concerts.
Scan them in at high enough resolution and save them as PDF files, and they show up clearly at study score size. Much quieter and easier than bringing three physical scores to a concert.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2011-09-25 06:16
Yes, I've played some gigs using inexpensive notebooks with the "real book" tunes in them. Despite good intentions, the interval between tunes played becomes longer than desired due to a variety of reasons and the pace of the affair is slowed up, in my experience. Of course, this has also happened on gigs where a player uses a drum machine, not appreciated by the paying customers.
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Author: DNBoone
Date: 2011-09-25 06:26
You might send Michael Lowenstern an email. He has a pretty complex computer step-up he uses for recitals. Or at least it looks complicated to me. 0.0
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-09-25 08:40
The current handheld tablet devices (Ipad, Kindle, etc.) are too small in my opinion as they can only show a standard 8.5"x11" sheet at ~56% of actual size (very hard to read).
A friend of mine uses an old Toshiba tablet notebook with a 12.1" 4:3 aspect ratio screen (a Portege M400 I believe) to display sheet music on his piano. It can display a standard sheet at ~85% full size which is very readable. He uses Acrobat Reader and has a wireless mouse set up as a foot switch to change pages. It works pretty well for him and I've though about setting up my music stand with a similar setup.
Post Edited (2011-09-25 08:42)
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Author: greenslater
Date: 2011-09-25 12:14
I use the forscore app for iPad but mainly for practice and teaching purposes - easy way to have a lot of music on hand without carrying my small suitcase of sheet music. Yes large scores are very difficult to read however you can crop out margins for more efficient space use and the brightness of the screen means I can read smaller print than would be possible on paper which may be poorly lit. Depending on the circumstances using the ipad in lanscape view with half page turns ( ie top half changes while you are playing the bottom) may work but would depend on the layout. I don't think I'm yet conifident enough to use the iPad in performance - paper is pretty reliable whereas flat batteries, the occasional app glitch or even just hitting the page turn twice would worry me.
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Author: RJShaw0
Date: 2011-09-25 12:43
I download scores from IMSLP and put them into iBooks on my iPad. I think I would have 100+ scores ranging from orchestral to solo stuff.
I agree, it is quite a small display on the iPad, and for a purpose built sheet music device/tablet were to really take off, I think it would have to be A4, or even A3 sized.
Nevertheless, I still find it great to use if on the off chance I forget my music, or if I want to download something but not waste lots of pages, e.g. for sight-reading etudes/studies and orchestral parts.
A lot of the time I will also just go on the web and find an orchestral part and just sight-read through that while sitting at my desk and playing.
I can also sit and listen and read scores on the bus which makes it handy.
I did see something somewhere where a woodwind quintet was using a Macbook set-up, where they had special stands that they would mount their laptops on an use them instead of sheet music. It was interesting, but no-doubt expensive.
RJS
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Author: dansil
Date: 2011-09-25 15:38
for several years I used an A4 music display device called the Music Pad. It worked quite nicely for concerts and rehearsals and had a great facility called a half-page turn so that when one was playing on the bottom half of a sheet of music one could tap on the foot pedal and the top half of the next page would be displayed. This meant that if the display wasn't really all that fast at moving between pages it didn't matter because one was still playing on the bottom half of the previous page.
However it used quite clunky proprietary software which meant one had to first scan the music as a TIFF and then import it into the device by converting the music into another proprietary format. It wasn't cheap as it cost as much as a laptop! And of course the music wasn't editable. One could annotate the music to add lyrics, dynamics but only using a stylus.
The NiCad battery eventually died and it would only run hooked up to a power brick. As I live in Australia it would have had to be sent back to the States where it's made to have new batteries and other upgrades made so it's gathering dust in a cupboard!
Now I have my iPad 2 and run ForScore. I have several hundred music files on it, all PDF versions of scanned sheet music. It's a great setup and I use either a wired twin pedal for moving forwards or backwards in a multi-page music file or my Bluetooth AirTurn page turner with twin pedals. ForScore is continually improving and it also features half-page turns, a wonderful facility! It allows me to create setlists quite easily for different gigs.
I usually modify my PDFs so that I don't have to go backwards. If I have larger returns I usually duplicate the returns and keep moving forwards as this minimizes the problems caused by hitting the wrong pedal with my clumsy feet!
Sure, the iPad is not a full A4 device but it seems to work well enough for my needs (and eyesight).
I have a small microphone stand on which have attached, via a flexible gooseneck, a clamping device which securely holds the iPad (several different types easily available via the Web) so it can't fall.
I no longer worry about page turns and I can carry ALL my music which would be impossible with ordinary hard-copy sheet music! The only hassle is the need to scan the music to PDFs and then transfer the scanned music to my iPad via iTunes file sharing. However it's now easy to buy music directly off the web in the PDF format. It's much much cheaper to do this than to buy paper-based sheet music, and one gets the music IMMEDIATELY via a download after you've paid for it. And this can be done any time of the day or night. One can then also print off hard copies should it be necessary.
Overall I heartily recommend this setup for those not scared of change and new technology.
Cheers, Danny
a family doctor in Castlemaine, rural Victoria, Australia for the past 30+ years, also a plucked string musician (mandolin, classical guitar) for far too long before discovering the clarinet - what a missed opportunity!
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2011-09-25 22:12
This is REALLY encouraging. I think I'll borrow a friend's ipad and load some music onto it and see how it works out. The footpedal looks like a GREAT idea, and this may very well be my next purchase and I will probably use it for rehearsals and practice at least, and depending on how things go, maybe put in a purchase request for my band to get them for our smaller chamber ensemble groups.
SIDE-TOPIC: Do any of the apps for the aforementioned iPad allow music notating (for instance, circling notes, writing in dynamics, etc. etc.)?
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2011-09-26 01:29
I am, but I still prefer the "Feel," of paper music. So I'm actually using both. I guess it's sometimes easier to make notes about the piece. Sometimes I will print it out, if the music site allows it.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2011-09-26 04:27)
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Author: gwie
Date: 2011-09-26 08:03
I just bought my wife an iPad 2 and I have to add, some of the apps we've purchased are now finding use in all the lessons that we teach:
Subdivide - $4.99 for a Dr. Beat metronome equivalent...superb and useful in every way.
Miso Tuner - A 99 cent strobe-like tuner that actually WORKS!
Circle Theory - An interactive Circle of Fifths, a bit pricey at $4.99 for what it does, but it is extremely useful and the kids interact with it much better than just writing it out!
WavePad - A free waveform recorder and editor. Perfect for taping small segments and playing them back to students for instant feedback and analysis.
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Author: Dingo
Date: 2011-09-26 08:43
Sfalexi wrote:
Quote:
SIDE-TOPIC: Do any of the apps for the aforementioned iPad allow music notating (for instance, circling notes, writing in dynamics, etc. etc.)?
Yes, like Greenslater said, I think the “forScore” app for ipad is very good for sheet music.
You can make annotations with different drawing styles: Black pen, red pen, blue pen, highlighter, stamps (sharps, flats, expression signs…) …
You can organize your sheet music by title, composer, genre… or create setlists.
You can associate an audio file to a sheetmusic and listen it while you read a sheetmusic.
You can put links to jump to any particular page. This is vey useful with repetitions, D.C., Codas…
The app has an useful metronome and a pitch pipe.
And, yes, the pedal is almost an essential device. I have the Hugh Sung's AirTurn BT-105 (bluetooth page turner) that David Blumberg mentioned and it's fantastic, althought sometimes it's a little slow.
-Sorry for my poor english-
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2011-09-26 09:31
I use my iPad for score reading and occasionally playing off, great tool especially since IMSLP now have an app
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2011-09-26 09:34
This thread has basically sold me on the idea of buying an iPad. To carry around EVERY piece of music or exercise would be amazing, not just for myself but for teaching as well. It would fit nicely into my double case and I wouldn't necessarily need my tuner or metronome either.
And anywhere there's a music stand you could just stand the iPad up, so no need for extra equipment!
Plus all the young-ing have iPads these days!
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Author: sdr
Date: 2011-09-27 14:03
The Boromeo String Quartet does all their concerts with Mac powerbooks. There is plenty on the web if you want to read about their approach. BY using a footpedal to scroll the sheet music they eliminate page turning. Therefore they can "afford" to display the entire score on each screen, not just their own part. They have said that this greatly facilitates their chamber playing.
-sdr
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Author: dansil
Date: 2011-09-28 14:54
Hi Morrigan
it's a bit risky putting an iPad on a music stand as a knock on the stand may send the iPad tumbling to it's death! It's more sensible to invest in a device which securely clamps the iPad and itself screws onto a stand such as a microphone stand. There are now quite a number of these accessories available and allow one to use an iPad as a sheet music display quite securely.
Hi sfalexi
don't forget that you'll need to get your friend to download the app which will display your music. If you're unaware of what this involves you need to know that you can't just borrow a friend's iPad and hook it up to your computer and add software and music files onto it. The iPad links to and synchronizes apps and files using iTunes. One buy's apps via the iTunes App Store (unless you've got a "jailbroken" (aka hacked) iPad so one needs to have an account with the App Store.
Mind you apps are only a few dollars so your friend could buy ForScore on your behalf for a trivial amount of money and then you could give him your scanned music (in PDF format) for him to upload both ForScore and the music files using his own computer and iTunes.
=======
This new music display technology is the way of the future! No more carting round heaps of music, no more pages blowing away or backwards during outdoor performances, no more page turns - just a tap on a foot pedal and you seen the top half of the next page while the bottom half of the page you're finishing is still on view, easy annotations with apps such as Forscore, easily created setlists. Other apps for the iPad provide accurate tuners, metronomes, fingering guides, and more!
I guess the next thing for developers to create is a way for the software to listen to your playing and scroll the music as you go which would then eliminate the need to tap on a foot pedal. I'm sure that somebody's already working on that technology!
The major issue with this technology is the continuing inability to actually edit the music on the iPad ie move notes around, change them, transpose for transposing instruments or create new music. These things must be done on a standard computer as thus far there aren't any useful music notation apps for the iPad - sigh! I'm sure it will eventually come.
Danny
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The Clarinet Pages
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