<p>I searched the forum and was surprised that I didn't find any discussions of any of the electronic sheet library systems - think of Kindle, but for music.</p>
<p>There are a number of applications out for iPad (forscore, unrealbook, musicreader, etc). Yes, supposedly you can add your own annotations</p>
<p>The iPad is $$$ but DD doesn't need a laptop, and the iPad (music-related) applications may have merit and make it worthwhile....</p>
<p>Any experience with any of these?</p>
<p>No direct experience, but I wonder whether a screen the size of a Kindle or iPad would be large enough. For purposes of reading ahead in the music while playing, it can be awfully nice to have at least two full pages displayed, particularly when looking at a score with more than your own individual line of music. I would think that at least a 15" display and preferably something more like 17" to 20" would be useful for this application.</p>
<p>^Completely second that thought.</p>
<p>Also no experience, per se, but I will predict, perhaps erroneously, that your DD will indeed want a laptop whilst pursuing a music degree.
For starters, IMHO, IPAD is presently a very poor choice for a music student, as it does not run “real” notation apps such as Finale or Sibelius, plus it presently does not have multimedia or midi interactivity to be fully useful in others ways (eg. jacking in practice recordings, etc., exporting out practice video since there’s no HDMI port in Generation 1).
Secondly, the diminutive size might render it impractical for woodwind ensemble work, especially on fast-moving pieces (just a hunch). That said, if your DD’s eyesight is good and she’s tried it out, well then fine.</p>
<p>At the same time, it is true that you can go without a computer at places such as UMich, where there are ample labs and computer rooms in dorm lounges, etc. But in actual practice, doing your musicology or music theory assignments (not to mention essays in the first year writing requirement etc., nor to mention other electives or any of the music technology courses or Digital Music Ensembles that some students elect to pursue in later years as tastes grow experimental) anywhere other than your dorm room is a pain in the butt as I understand it.
That’s because the actual coursework requires listening from the online Ctools area – the type of work best performed in a quiet and controlled environment. Eg. I think my son’s second term of musicology had in excess of 80 recordings to listen to, if I recall, plus the requirement to blog about same weekly, etc. </p>
<p>So while the SOM says you don’t HAVE to have a laptop, I think your DD would find it infinitely more convenient to have one. Further down the road, there will be additional advantages in terms of recording practice sessions, using notation software, etc.</p>
<p>I do love all things apple, but the ipad to my mind has a very limited utility in this particular instance – at least for this generation. Just an opinion, and not necessarily informed. But if you’re choosing either/or – I’ve view the laptop as more essential and useful for the money than the ipad, but if DD wanted digital sheet library system and felt the ipad viable, then I’d consider both, just never the ipad alone.</p>
<p>There are several companies that produces so-called Hand-free Page Turner. It is very useful for pianists, especially accompanists. If you ever watched ‘From the Top’ on PBS, you’ve noticed that Chris O’Reiley uses one.</p>
<p>PS - One more thought. If you haven’t tested the “can she read the music on the ipad” here’s a good test of the way she’ll need to do it next year:
<p>I need to clarify my question: do you have any experience using an ipad’s music applications</p>
<ul>
<li>DD doesn’t need a laptop because she already has a macbook; the ipad would be supplemental</li>
<li>There are many apps available for musicians for the ipad</li>
<li>from looking on the web, the ipad has become quite popular with musicians as a tool</li>
<li>I would not get one without her trying it out first, with the specific music applications.</li>
<li>I have already asked the hs to see if they have one she can try</li>
<li>the local Apple store will not allow her to download anything onto one of their ipads (I already called and asked about that)</li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks for your input, but I’m really looking for 1st hand experience of a student using the ipad’s applications - for theory, keyboard, sheet music etc.</p>
<p>FYI - [Home</a> - AirTurn, Inc.](<a href=“http://www.airturn.com/]Home”>http://www.airturn.com/)</p>
<p>Oh, good, in that case, retract my long and erroneous comment 
(And yes, I suspect the air turn would make it all viable, but I’ll leave that for those using it to comment on!)</p>
<p>I realize this is off-topic from what the OP wants and apologize, but feel this needs saying in regard to the AirTurn which I believe only solves part of the problem. Ideally, what I would want is a two-page display with the ability to keep the page I am currently playing on the left half of the display while the next page is displayed on the right. That would be an improvement over a paper score and all but eliminate surprises that happen across page turns. Bonus points if the device can listen to what I am playing and accurately turn pages an adjustable amount of time or number of bars before reaching the end of the current page without even needing the AirTurn hardware. By the way, it should also run off batteries, not require an external light source to read and must produce absolutely no noise of any kind (no cooling fan or rotating disk drive). It must also allow making arbitrary markings on the music by writing on the screen with a stylus, not by providing some keyboard or mouse driven interface. When something like that comes along at a reasonable price, I will then be interested in going paperless.</p>
<p>From what I’ve read about forscore and unrealbook, I don’t think airturn is necessary (airturn is needed for MusicReader). We need to get our hands on an ipad and try it for real. Aside from using for reading music, there are numerous applications that are related to music studies (but I probably wouldn’t indulge unless she could read and play from the ipad’s screen)</p>
<p>There are many nuances to find out about but I do love the idea of a digitized music library (but then again, I was the first in my business to buy a computer in the early 1980s…)</p>
<p>I tend to be an early adopter of technology myself, and was using computers of all sorts as an electrical design engineer at Bell Labs in the early 80’s. My hesitation on applying what still may be an immature technology for this particular application occurs because sight-reading music well is one of the more intellectually challenging real-time activities that humans have devised for themselves. Musicians have to make dozens and possibly even hundreds of inter-related decisions per second continuously for ten or twenty minutes at a time to accomplish the task. Any change in the user interface that makes that harder will degrade performance.</p>
<p>BassDad, I think we should invent one You know, just daisy chain together two ipads vertically and write a program for them to divvy up the left and right. Then again, if we were in inventing mode, we could just build a bigger one for easier reading and hinged closure…I bet lots of musicians would buy it rather than carting around armfulls of music. Time for that electronic paper sci fi keeps suggesting!</p>
<p>Two iPads, eh? This discussion is starting to remind me of Isaac Asimov’s description (circa 1972) of the “perfect cassette” after hearing a talk about the upcoming revolution in video cassette storage. He made the point that an ideal cassette would have the following properties:</p>
<ul>
<li>No bulky or expensive equipment would be needed to decode it</li>
<li>While some energy would be required in the manufacturing process, using it would not require batteries or that it be plugged in to an energy source</li>
<li>It would be highly portable and entirely self-contained</li>
<li>It would be private in that it is only seen and heard by the user, and not disturb others nearby who did not wish to see or hear it</li>
<li>No external controls would be required. It would start playing when you start paying attention to it and stop when you turn your attention elsewhere. It would play quickly or slowly, forward or backward, and allow skips and repetitions, all controlled instantly and directly by the user’s mind. </li>
</ul>
<p>When asked how far in the future it would be before such an ideal cassette became available, he said that it had already been around for thousands of years. He was, of course, talking about the printed page.</p>
<p>Another of his famous quotes is, “I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.”</p>
<p>I predict we’ll see it within 5 years… something like an ipad XL. Musicstands have already been built with screens built in. There are companies making specific hardware to mount ipads to existing music stands.</p>
<p>Music for Broadway shows is a different animal; it changes prior to Opening Night and there are changes during the run, or for other companies of the show. In the future , orchestrators/copyists will send changes to the musicians electronically. When a new star is performing in a Bway show, and parts need to be altered, it will happen electronically. Musicians will have a password to be able to access their music on their home music stands.</p>
<p>[Reading</a> Music on the iPad - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/reading-music-on-the-ipad/]Reading”>Reading Music on the iPad - The New York Times)</p>
<p>And this interview with Harry Connick (from back in 2002):
[The</a> Harry Connick Jr. Fan Site](<a href=“http://www.connick.com/hcjr/pages/articles/publications/nytimes040302.shtml]The”>The Harry Connick Jr. Fan Site)</p>
<p>[Finale</a>, Harry Connick, Jr., and American Idol](<a href=“http://www.finalemusic.com/blog/post/2010/05/05/Finale-Harry-Connick-Jr-and-American-Idol.aspx]Finale”>http://www.finalemusic.com/blog/post/2010/05/05/Finale-Harry-Connick-Jr-and-American-Idol.aspx)</p>
<p>just a matter of time</p>