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My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
I tried Music Reader - I don't think it's worth $100 - no way. I can get the same functionality using Adobe Reader (except for all the notations, but even that's possible with Adobe). Adobe goes full-screen, unlike Musica Reader (which still keeps a sliver of it's menu in the upper-left hand corner, despite it's promise that is has true full-screen). It requires far less clicks of a mouse to use Adobe, than with Music Reader - having to minimize the menu constantly is annoying, and the library function (while a nice idea) is horribly done, in my opinion. Add to that the fact that you have to wait 10 minutes for the program to convert pdf files, and it's very aggravating.
Personally, I use a simple 23 inch monitor hooked up to a computer running Adobe Reader. It's just a shame that Music Reader is so badly made, or I would consider purchasing it. I really wish the Library worked much better. Oh well, I'm still on the trial of it, but I don't see my mind changing anyime soon unless they release a major update to the software.
Airturn is nice, but again - something that can be done for cheaper with a wireless keyboard or mouse setup with some slight modifications.
As for the I-Pad - it would only display on page comfortably. I prefer a display that will act like a book, not half of a book. All these tablets and e-readers are still on the wrong path, I think, none of them resemble a book - just a stack of paper.
<<get the same functionality using Adobe Reader >>
Isn't one of the key features the way that music reader "Knows" to display whole staves and not split the display over/on a stave (which is why it converts PDFs). I guess with a 23inch monitor this just isn't a problem?
<<get the same functionality using Adobe Reader >>
Isn't one of the key features the way that music reader "Knows" to display whole staves and not split the display over/on a stave (which is why it converts PDFs). I guess with a 23inch monitor this just isn't a problem?
I'm not sure what you mean... My monitor displays music exactly as a book would - 2 pages. Could you be more specific?
<<My monitor displays music exactly as a book would - 2 pages. Could you be more specific?>>
Yep, if using a smaller screen and displaying less than a page MusicReader won't split the display through the middle of a stave/chunk of notation, whereas Adobe will (since it has no "knowledge" of the contents that its displaying). When MusicReader converts PDFs, it 'looks' for these breaks/data.
Clearly, you won't be getting these issues with your 23inch monitor, but they are likely on Tablet PC and iTamps <g>.
For me the ideal music reader would not try to to be just a device for displaying a printed page on a screen. I'd like to see an app that could take music from a notation program (Sibelius or Finale) and display a few lines on the screen in a large font (the user could select the font size).
Instead of jumping to a previous page when you hit a repeat sign it would show the start of the second repeat after the end of the first repeat. The music would scroll vertically so there was never a page jump and there would be a way to speed up or slow down the scrolling speed. It would have a built in metronome for practicing and when the metronome was on a pointer would show you where you were in the music.
<<My monitor displays music exactly as a book would - 2 pages. Could you be more specific?>>
Yep, if using a smaller screen and displaying less than a page MusicReader won't split the display through the middle of a stave/chunk of notation, whereas Adobe will (since it has no "knowledge" of the contents that its displaying). When MusicReader converts PDFs, it 'looks' for these breaks/data.
Clearly, you won't be getting these issues with your 23inch monitor, but they are likely on Tablet PC and iTamps <g>.
Ah okay - I see. Yes, I wouldn't be interested in making my music scores any smaller and more difficult to read than they already are. My view on ebooks is: if it doesn't feel like a book, or look like a book, it's not a good replacement for a book.
I love piano books, the only issues I have with them are turning pages, books that are stubborn and will not stay open, books that are very old and crumble to dust, and available light to see by. I am very bad at memorizing pieces, so I spend a lot of time playing from books. I curse Clara Schumann everytime someone suggests I should memorize a piece - if playing from a score was good enough for Mozart, Beethoven, and all their friends, it's good enough for me.
So basically, my aim is to almost exactly replicate a book, it's size, etc. I would love to find a tablet in a diagonal 22-23 inch size - that would be perfect!!
For me the ideal music reader would not try to to be just a device for displaying a printed page on a screen. I'd like to see an app that could take music from a notation program (Sibelius or Finale) and display a few lines on the screen in a large font (the user could select the font size).
Instead of jumping to a previous page when you hit a repeat sign it would show the start of the second repeat after the end of the first repeat. The music would scroll vertically so there was never a page jump and there would be a way to speed up or slow down the scrolling speed. It would have a built in metronome for practicing and when the metronome was on a pointer would show you where you were in the music.
What about a program that is able to monitor you, if you're using a midi-enabled piano? That would be very nice... set the program to turn the page during the last measure. Music-Reader claims to do something simiilar, but I don't think it works by monitoring the actual notes - that would be the ideal solution, I think.
I don't understand the need for the display of a whole page at a time. No one reads more than a measure or two to a line at a time. Like Chris said, you could set the magnification and scrolling speed to your liking.
Also page turning could be easily done with tap to anywhere on the screen...easier than grabbing paper. So I could see the use of the iPad for this and more so for lead-sheets.
I don't understand the need for the display of a whole page at a time. No one reads more than a measure or two to a line at a time. Like Chris said, you could set the magnification and scrolling speed to your liking.
Also page turning could be easily done with tap to anywhere on the screen...easier than grabbing paper. So I could see the use of the iPad for this and more so for lead-sheets.
Old habits die hard - I prefer a 2-page book because that's how I learned, it's how I've been playing for years. We tend to associate books, lines with parts of the music, eyes go more quickly to where we know we are. It can be quite confusing focusing on a single line, that is constantly changing every 5 measures.
That's just how I feel about it - if I have to give up that because a new piece of technology can't deal with it, I'm not interested in that technology at all. Technology should accomodate itself to humans, not the other way around - and far too often companies rely on humans accomodating themselves to technology, rather than making improvements or going that extra mile.
I don't understand the need for the display of a whole page at a time. No one reads more than a measure or two to a line at a time. Like Chris said, you could set the magnification and scrolling speed to your liking.
Also page turning could be easily done with tap to anywhere on the screen...easier than grabbing paper. So I could see the use of the iPad for this and more so for lead-sheets.
That would be extremely hard to get used to....I'd much prefer my eye do the movement rather than the medium.
I could see myself knocking the damn thing off the music desk by doing that.
Ultimately, I think the iPad is too small to be a good music reader. It may be just right for holding and reading, but not IMHO for reading music on the piano. Don't get me wrong, I like the latest gadgets as much as the next geek, but there are some things that all the technology in the world cannot replace.
Last edited by Horowitzian; 04/05/1002:35 PM.
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.
I don't understand the need for the display of a whole page at a time. No one reads more than a measure or two to a line at a time. Like Chris said, you could set the magnification and scrolling speed to your liking. [...]
And what happens if you've set the display to show a few measures at a time, so it's large enough to read comfortably, and you come to a long accellerando or ritardando or a pausa lunga?
Or, even worse, what do you do if there is a tempo change in the score? Here I am, barreling merrily along through the first movement of Beethoven's Op 31, No 2 and there it is; at measure 93 there are 6 measures of Largo before the Allegro begins again. It gets even more complex at measure 143 : 6 measures of Largo, three measures of Allegro, one measure of Adagio, 6 measures of Largo, then the Allegro begins again.
Surely, you don't want to have to stop and adjust the scroll speed to the change in tempo.
If I was that interested in reading music from a computer screen (which I am not), the smallest thing I would want to read from would be my Apple Cinema display...that would fit nicely on my piano desk
I am old school. Books don't break. They don't require an electric plugin, and they don't become obsolete making it necessary for you to buy all your music *again* in a few years.
Adult Amateur Pianist
My only domestic quality is that I live in a house.
I understand the love affair with traditional printed music. But I prefer reading music from a screen for several reasons: 1) The music is larger and easier to read. 2) I can turn pages by stepping on a mouse with my left foot, allowing for continuous playing. 3) I have instant access to thousands of pieces of music (tens of thousands of pages) without having to get up from the piano. This leads for more eclectic playing, trying pieces and composers I might never think of otherwise and going deeper into a favorite composer's literature. 4) I don't have to fight the hard copy pages, which too often refuse to lay flat or, worse, come out of the binding.
I fear that the iPad is not large enough to provide readable classical music. But I'm interested in getting one because I think it might be OK for jazz fakebook charts. That would allow me to bring it on a gig and be able to play just about any request (I've got a DVD with thousands of songs on it).
