Tablets

[thejackieash]

I’m thinking about scanning my sheet music into a tablet and also purchasing some in digital format. What is a good size tablet to buy? I’ve experimented on my 10.2” iPad and have found it is very tiring on my eyes. Anybody had the same problem? Is it the size or is it concentrating on a screen?

In my photo library, the iPad cuts off the very top of the scan to allow for a bar of icons. Any ideas?

Also, any tips on turning pages? I play on an acoustic grand every Sunday in a restaurant so can’t use something adapted to a digital piano.

Thanks for reading

[j_tour]

As large as possible.  At the moment, I just have a little seven inch tablet, and it's nearly impossible for me to use for anything, because of the various impediments like "screen hogging" applications (like the PDF reader you mentioned) and I find the touch screen to be unwieldy.

I had an iPad I guess 10" or whatever it was, but it died on me.  The size was OK for personal, up-close use, like reading "books" and web-surfing, but it's pretty small for using at a distance, like one would when playing music.  Just imagine if you had a physical book in those dimensions, and add in all the software cruft:  would be OK for just glancing at to refresh your memory, like a jazz chart, but pretty small for detailed work.  I don't think the backlit screen is necessarily better or worse for the eyes, just a matter of getting used to it.  For extended periods of use?  Yeah, I get eye-strain from computer screens, but I wouldn't know how to mitigate that other than using some of the "color temperature" apps to add/reduce some of the "blue" wavelengths out.

Page turning?  At least for the iPad and likely any Android tablet there are some foot pedals one can use.  I don't know any more than that other than that I've seen people use them.

TBH, if I were going to drop a bunch of cash on a new tablet, I'd be inclined to look at a lower-end "convertible" notebook computer.  When I was last looking for a new notebook computer, the prices were almost shockingly reasonable, including even the Microsoft Surface models. 

So, you can have the tablet mode for live performance, but at home you can still use the keyboard/trackpad interface. 

I just bought a cheap music stand (about USD 40) which can be locked into place as a flat surface on which a notebook computer could be placed.  I just use it as a regular music stand, but that's an option if you don't want to balance your computer on the edge of your keyboard/piano.

That's all I know, as I still prefer to print stuff out if I'm going to play it, or use an old-fashioned bound printed matter book.

[victor66]

I’m thinking about scanning my sheet music into a tablet and also purchasing some in digital format. What is a good size tablet to buy?

I occasionally use Lenovo 10e Chromebook tablet. It's a bit smaller than I would want, my 12.5" laptop is much better. I bought it primarily because of the Henle app and yes, it works on 10e. Henle sheet music can be exported to PDF, which I then use on the laptop (or print it), but sometimes I play directly from 10e. Acceptable, but not for long sessions. Anyway at $99 10e is a throw-away-if-you-don't-like-it thing, but apart from Henle I found  it pretty useful for other things too, especially on the move.

[thalbergmad]

I bought an ipad pro 12.9 and it is almost as if it was designed for the purpose of reading sheet music.

Working with Forscore is simple even for a moron like me. Marking fingerings is just like using a pen and paper.

Thal

[jaxcard]

I concur re: 12.9" iPad Pro.

I use an Airturn bluetooth pedal to turn the pages on the iPad.

[lelle]

I use a Lenovo Yoga laptop which can convert into a tablet mode and it as a 14 inch screen. That's big enough to be comfortable for me. There is a windows app called MobileSheets in which I keep all my scores, which is pretty convenient. I still prefer using physical sheet music, though.

[timothy42b]

I concur re: 12.9" iPad Pro.

I use an Airturn bluetooth pedal to turn the pages on the iPad.

Yes.  12.9 iPad is perfect.  Work issued me one, and the screen resolution is great, and the ratio is 3:2 which is very hard to find in other tablets or laptops.  But I couldn't justify the cost.  the 11 inch iPad is reasonable cost but my vision isn't great and I didn't think it would work.

I had a Kindle Fire 10 and I put one of the sheet music apps on it, Mobilesheets which is excellent and about the same as Forscore on the iPad.  It was very convenient but just too small.  I still use it for exercises where I'm working on a small section and don't need a huge screen.  A small microSD will hold a lifetime worth of music. 

I went with an Acer Spin 713 convertible Chromebook at a fraction of the cost.  Most likely anybody with reasonable vision could get by with the Acer flip at even less.  I also bought a two button AirTurn page turner, which links to the Chromebook on Bluetooth. 

The iPad is the best, IMO, but it's pricey, and the cheaper solutions are pretty close. 

[thejackieash]

As large as possible.  At the moment, I just have a little seven inch tablet, and it's nearly impossible for me to use for anything, because of the various impediments like "screen hogging" applications (like the PDF reader you mentioned) and I find the touch screen to be unwieldy.

I had an iPad I guess 10" or whatever it was, but it died on me.  The size was OK for personal, up-close use, like reading "books" and web-surfing, but it's pretty small for using at a distance, like one would when playing music.  Just imagine if you had a physical book in those dimensions, and add in all the software cruft:  would be OK for just glancing at to refresh your memory, like a jazz chart, but pretty small for detailed work.  I don't think the backlit screen is necessarily better or worse for the eyes, just a matter of getting used to it.  For extended periods of use?  Yeah, I get eye-strain from computer screens, but I wouldn't know how to mitigate that other than using some of the "color temperature" apps to add/reduce some of the "blue" wavelengths out.

Page turning?  At least for the iPad and likely any Android tablet there are some foot pedals one can use.  I don't know any more than that other than that I've seen people use them.

TBH, if I were going to drop a bunch of cash on a new tablet, I'd be inclined to look at a lower-end "convertible" notebook computer.  When I was last looking for a new notebook computer, the prices were almost shockingly reasonable, including even the Microsoft Surface models. 

So, you can have the tablet mode for live performance, but at home you can still use the keyboard/trackpad interface. 

I just bought a cheap music stand (about USD 40) which can be locked into place as a flat surface on which a notebook computer could be placed.  I just use it as a regular music stand, but that's an option if you don't want to balance your computer on the edge of your keyboard/piano.

That's all I know, as I still prefer to print stuff out if I'm going to play it, or use an old-fashioned bound printed matter book.

Thanks for all that, that’s very useful. Apparently you can buy stick on blue light screen filters too as the IPad 12.9 doesn’t have a blue light filter.

[thejackieash]

I bought an ipad pro 12.9 and it is almost as if it was designed for the purpose of reading sheet music.

Working with Forscore is simple even for a moron like me. Marking fingerings is just like using a pen and paper.

Thanks. When it goes down in price I’ll definitely consider it.

[thejackieash]

I concur re: 12.9" iPad Pro.

I use an Airturn bluetooth pedal to turn the pages on the iPad.

Thank you! I’ll investigate

[thejackieash]

I use a Lenovo Yoga laptop which can convert into a tablet mode and it as a 14 inch screen. That's big enough to be comfortable for me. There is a windows app called MobileSheets in which I keep all my scores, which is pretty convenient. I still prefer using physical sheet music, though.

Thank you. Sounds good and apparently has a built in blue light filter?

[thejackieash]

Yes.  12.9 iPad is perfect.  Work issued me one, and the screen resolution is great, and the ratio is 3:2 which is very hard to find in other tablets or laptops.  But I couldn't justify the cost.  the 11 inch iPad is reasonable cost but my vision isn't great and I didn't think it would work.

I had a Kindle Fire 10 and I put one of the sheet music apps on it, Mobilesheets which is excellent and about the same as Forscore on the iPad.  It was very convenient but just too small.  I still use it for exercises where I'm working on a small section and don't need a huge screen.  A small microSD will hold a lifetime worth of music. 

I went with an Acer Spin 713 convertible Chromebook at a fraction of the cost.  Most likely anybody with reasonable vision could get by with the Acer flip at even less.  I also bought a two button AirTurn page turner, which links to the Chromebook on Bluetooth. 

The iPad is the best, IMO, but it's pricey, and the cheaper solutions are pretty close.

Many thanks. How big is the Acer flip?

[thejackieash]

Yes! Me too when the price is better

[thejackieash]

Yes, absolutely. Me too. Thanks

[timothy42b]

Many thanks. How big is the Acer flip?

The 713 I bought is 13.5 inches.  But I bought it for the 3:2 display ration and high resolution.  3:2 is really hard to find, you have to decide if it's worth it.  The Samsung Plus was the standard but now they make the Plus V or something like that and most of them are 1920 x 1080.

Cheaper ones in the $200 range are probably different for both.  Then again, vision makes a difference.  Friends of mine with better vision than mine are okay with the 11 inch iPad. 

[bobbys]

I cannot imagine blowing the money necessary on an iPad Pro.  You're displaying a black and white screen!  Tablets are so rarely large that you will pay a huge premium if you pay the Apple tax.  Why not just use an old 17" laptop?  You don't need speed.  You can run XP or Linux.  Its just to load documents.  Undoubtedly you could get a USB foot pedal for page turning.  Maybe a switch of some sort you could activate with your nose by leaning forward?    Page turning is such a pain!  With a book you can use your voice but that won't work here of course with the sounds of the piano drowning you out. 
Another option that is smarter is using a Raspberry PII with a huge LCD monitor so you can display 2 pages side by side.  27" monitors are very cheap now.  About $60-$100 used.  Another option is get two 19" monitors (they're almost free they're so worthless now) and use them in portrait mode.  You'll need a stand where you can rotate them.  They use 1280 x 1024 so the fonts are typically large for easy reading. 

But really, why not just print out the pages?  With a laser printer it will cost you about a penny per page.   The you can write on them.  Very useful for fingering.  I find fingering never totally compatible with my hands. Always something rather perplexing.  Clearly the person writing it had a different shape of hands.  People blindly just do whatever the music states but this is a huge mistake. 

[victor66]

Why not just use an old 17" laptop?
...
Another option is get two 19" monitors

Find a cheap 17" laptop Unless you have it already. Not mentioning heat, noise etc. As for monitors where do you put it on an upright? Or even on a grand? Good stand capable of holding two monitors at my eye level above my grand is not only ugly, it will cost me a half of iPad (probably more, even if it exists). On the other hand it's easy to find a convertible laptop or 2-in-1 with 13" screen, maybe even refurbished, at the cost of one tuning. I still play from paper even though I have 12.5" convertible, but yeah, paper doesn't turn pages. Not sure I want to spend $50 for a pedal.

[timothy42b]

On the other hand it's easy to find a convertible laptop or 2-in-1 with 13" screen, maybe even refurbished, at the cost of one tuning. I still play from paper even though I have 12.5" convertible, but yeah, paper doesn't turn pages. Not sure I want to spend $50 for a pedal.

Yes.  It does have to be a 2-in-1 though, a regular laptop generally won't fit on a music stand or a piano. 

If you have one, try it to see if the screen resolution is good enough.  That depends on your vision.  MobileSheets has a free trial version, limits you to 8 pieces storage but otherwise full featured, so you can see if you like this approach.  A purpose built program is better than reading PDFs.  It lets you add notes, rotate, crop, etc. 
If you're not performing or rehearsing with others you can get by without a page turner pedal. 
I like that I can have all my music in one spot, and can download PD stuff without having to print it. 

[jaxcard]

I concur re: 12.9" iPad Pro.

I use an Airturn bluetooth pedal to turn the pages on the iPad.

Same here. Highly recommend.