Please try out my new app for reading sheet music

[sammusic]

Hi Folks, I have developed a webapp that allows me to easily read and play sheet music. It is similar to ForScore, but completely free and lightweight. You can access it at www.beethovenspad.com

Here are its features

🎼 Sheet Music Essentials
- PDF Score Reader with smooth page rendering
- Annotation Tools: Highlight, draw, write with stylus or finger
- Multiple pen colors and eraser support
- Bluetooth/USB Pedal Support for hands-free page turning
- Completely free with no ads or paywall

📂 Organization & Access
- Flexible Score Organization
- Google Drive & Dropbox Sync

Easy cloud backup and access across devices
- Progressive Web App (PWA)
- Works on any browser with no installation
- Cross-platform: desktop, tablet, mobile

⏱️ Practice Tools
- Built-in Metronome
-Visual + audible
- Adjustable tempo, time signatures
- Integrated Tuner
- Useful for string, wind, and brass instruments

🌙 Display Options
-True Dark Mode
-Full sheet inversion for low-light practice
- Reduces eye strain during night sessions

🔄 Sync & Portability
- Automatic Syncing Across Devices
- Continue where you left off
- Offline support for existing files
- No App Store Needed
- Installable via browser as a PWA

[lelle]

How are you planning to monetize this? I assume it's not free to run, and development time and effort (i e cost) cannot have been trivial.

[perfect_pitch]

Frankly I find ForScore really brilliant, and much easier to use than this. I had a quick look at the sample version on your web-site. Your version is quite clunky.

[sammusic]

How are you planning to monetize this? I assume it's not free to run, and development time and effort (i e cost) cannot have been trivial.

To be honest, I don't plan to monetize it. I did spend a lot of time developing it—over two years—but it's something I maintain as a hobby. Hosting costs are minimal since it's purely JavaScript-based. That’s another reason people might adopt it: it loads and runs extremely well, offers complete privacy, and is fast, as it doesn't require any backend interaction (except for Google Drive or Dropbox if you choose to use). You can even try it yourself, once it's loaded, it works with or without an internet connection.

[perfect_pitch]

To be honest, I don't plan to monetize it. I did spend a lot of time developing it—over two years—but it's something I maintain as a hobby. Hosting costs are minimal since it's purely JavaScript-based. That’s another reason people might adopt it: it loads and runs extremely well, offers complete privacy, and is fast, as it doesn't require any backend interaction (except for Google Drive or Dropbox if you choose to use). You can even try it yourself, once it's loaded, it works with or without an internet connection.

Apart from the fact that it's free... I don't really see any difference.

ForScore costs, sure. It also works without internet connection, offers privacy, and it's fast - PLUS you can use your apple pencil and make markings very quickly. You can also export the markings you made as a PDF to send to other people, they can add layers on top of yours and you can select and deselect layers if you want.

Sorry, but for me - I'd never use this.

[sammusic]

Apart from the fact that it's free... I don't really see any difference.

ForScore costs, sure. It also works without internet connection, offers privacy, and it's fast - PLUS you can use your apple pencil and make markings very quickly. You can also export the markings you made as a PDF to send to other people, they can add layers on top of yours and you can select and deselect layers if you want.

Sorry, but for me - I'd never use this.

Yes. I should also highlight that this is for folks who don't have an IPad.

[frodo10]

My story:

In 1991 I bought a Turbo Pascal IDE and compiler.  At the time I was writing Fortran77 software for my employer.  I had 1 computer course in college – Fortran.  I decided to learn Pascal and come up with a project to improve my programming skills.  I decided to write a chess playing program. I came up with how to write this program on my own without doing any research – part of the fun of the project.  I also had to read up on chess rules. I must have spent 1200+ hours over a 2 year period doing this.  I used to have the program loudly beep after making a move because it would sometimes take 10 minutes before it made its move.  Computers were incredibly slow back then.  I sometimes would be working on it at 2:00 AM and the beep would wake me up.  Once possibly in the middle of the night after thinking for 10 minutes, it made its move and beeped.  I saw I had 6 a bunch of kings on the board after the move.  I debugged this with the unbelievable debugging tools Turbo Pascal had – you could step thru the code backwards!  When I finally finished the program, I did my final exam test – see if I could beat “Ed’s chess” – a chess program that was available possibly for free or maybe $3.  I think you only needed to pay for shipping of floppy disk.  I set Ed’s chess so it had the same thinking time as my software did on average – about 2 minutes per move.  Both were played on the same 80286 80386 computer I had. Play a move, export board then read board in ed’s chess, etc. Results:  I lost the first maybe 5 games.  On around the 6th, it offered me a draw.  I accepted it and that was the last time my software was used.  I gave a copy to my brother.  I think he may have tried it once.  I then spent 3 months writing software for a game that my father in law played – I think called something like 7 penney morris.  My wife told me the rules.  I spent 3 months writing this.  When my father in law came to visit a few months later, I asked if he would mind trying to play my computer in a game.  He was a great man, but he said no.  And that was the end of my for fun computer writing hobby.

End of story

Edit: Oh I forgot - 1 last project I did after that.  Transcribed Bach's prelude no 21 (Bb-major) from WTC1  for computer.  It beeped out 1 tone at a time.  For the chords, I arpeggiated them so only 1 beep was played at a time.  I love that piece!  Also transcribed this for guitar back in the late 1970's.

 

[frodo10]

Just double checking my memory.

AI says: Turbo Pascal allowed for reverse execution, enabling a form of "backwards debugging," with the release of the Borland Turbo Debugger version 3.0 in 1992.

I remember now. I started Fall 1991 on mapping out the logic used to generate a chess playing program.  Done on hard copy sheets of paper.  Not sure if we had a text editor then.  It was in early 1992 I believe that I bought Borland Turbo Debugger version 3.0.  My daughter was about 3 months old when I started in Fall 1991.

Checking with AI again: Some sources indicate the Borland Turbo Debugger 3.0 User's Guide for Windows was published on January 1, 1991. The software may have been released closer to this date, rather than 1992.

OP – Sorry.  I wish you luck with your software!  Please don’t get discouraged!

[lostinidlewonder]

Good one. You should allow a zoom function so one can annotate with more accuracy. Are you leveraging AI to help build more function? Well worth it compared to doing everything manually.

[frodo10]

I never used any software like this.  I spent 5 minutes using your software and did not have luck.  See attached screen shots - 2 pages.  I highlited some music on a fugue I wrote and tried to put text in a box.  I then clicked on download and save form.  I was told that the music would be saved with changes.  It downloaded my edited file except it did not have any of my edits. 

Stupid questions: How do I save my work?  How do I get text to be centered in box that I drew?  Are there any instructions on how to use software?

I'm going to spend 5 more minutes to see if I can figure these out for myself.

[frodo10]

I looked again for 2 minutes.  Sorry I lost my patience.  I guess I'm locked into 1990's tech at my old age.

Couple thoughts.  My mother in law had health issues at the time.  I completely understood my father in law not wanting to try my program.  He was a great man and I miss him.  My brother was in healthcare profession for 10 years.  He was never interested in computer programming until I wrote my chess program.  2 months after I gave him my chess.exe, he started studying to become Microsoft certified programmer.  He retired a few months ago as a successful programmer for about 24 years. 

[frodo10]

OK I found instructions. My bad.  I didn't scroll down far enough on opening page.

Opening/Saving local PDF file
Use the Open local PDF [  ] button to open PDF scores from your local drive.
To save annotations, notes, page ranges and metronome settings to locally opened PDF, you'll need to download a new copy of the PDF using the Download PDF [  ] button.
To avoid creating duplicate files, you can choose to override your existing file on local drive while downloading a copy with the new changes.
The next time when you open the PDF, please open the newly downloaded PDF copy instead of the original PDF file which will ensure that all your changes are correctly applied

I thought I did these things. Where did I go wrong?

[frodo10]

OK - I figured this out.

When I saved my work and then looked at my saved work with a PDF reader - it shows NO CHANGES.

But when I read this edited PDF using your software, the edits are there.

Maybe you can explain this to users.  Or better yet, is there any way you can have these edits saved so they are visible in any PDF reader?  The edits appear to only be visible in your software.

Anyway - I have no use for this software but I'm sure many will.  Again - good luck with this.

[frodo10]

Per AI:

Visual edits made to a PDF using forScore, like annotations and markings, are generally visible in other PDF readers as well. forScore saves these edits as part of the PDF file itself, which is a standard format designed for consistent display across different applications. However, the way these edits are rendered might vary slightly depending on the specific PDF reader used.

Remember - the fun is in the programming!  Have fun!

Please correct me if you feel your program already has this feature.  Thank you.

[sammusic]

Per AI:

Visual edits made to a PDF using forScore, like annotations and markings, are generally visible in other PDF readers as well. forScore saves these edits as part of the PDF file itself, which is a standard format designed for consistent display across different applications. However, the way these edits are rendered might vary slightly depending on the specific PDF reader used.

Remember - the fun is in the programming!  Have fun!

Please correct me if you feel your program already has this feature.  Thank you.

You are right. It doesn't save to the PDF in a way that could be seen by other PDF viewers. I think I can fix this behvior in future releases.