tablets for gigs

[bloke]

I've got friends who use these, and I completely understand the technology. I see what they can do, I understand that they can be written on (as if pencil markings), and that pages can be forwarded and reversed with a foot pedal - and all that stuff.

Of course, a large percentage of the reason that people reject new technology is because they don't want to mess with it and another reason is because they're old and set in their ways, but I thought (seriously) about the tablet thing, and I just don't see a ton of advantage.

- First, I'd have to buy a tablet, and for it to be of any use for this application, it would need to be a pretty big tablet - which would cost even more money. (I see some young people using only moderately-large tablets for this application, and the entire font is smaller than on even 8.5 X 11 sheet music. That's probably fine for anyone who can really see well. Even if there are 12x14 tablets that exist, surely they are pretty darn expensive.)

- Next, I would have to buy one of those special folding music stands that supports a tablet. Something tells me they cost more than twenty bucks.

- After that, I would have to buy one of those foot pedal gadgets, and I bet those cost something as well.

- Once I invested the hours to get past the learning curve, I would need to be scanning music into the thing, and putting the scanned pages of all of the various pieces into different folders, labeling them, and such.

- When on gigs, I'd have to be really careful to overcome my natural clumsiness so as to not knock it over and break it, and I don't see how it would be very wise to take it to outdoor gigs where wind could blow the thing over and break it.

- As things are, I already have all of my music, I have some clips if there's wind. If the wind blows it over, it doesn't break. I have scotch tape, and I have scissors - so as to cut pages horizontally in order to do half page turns to eliminate page turns that are too quick.

New technologies are neat, but it just seems to me that the purpose of a new technology is to make things simpler and less expensive. With this technology, I see money, machinery which is somewhat fragile, additionally toting around a music stand which is considerably larger than my currently owned collapsible stand (plus a foot pedal), and time involved in scanning in materials which already exist in another completely usable media.
I can see that quite a few people really enjoy using this new technology, but I think I'm going to just let them enjoy it and continue to do what I've done for sixty years. I just don't see paper music disappearing in my lifetime. I'm also old enough to remember when it was claimed that the primary purpose of computers is to eliminate paper, but what I've seen and what I'm told is that more paper documents are generated then ever before.

bloke "I'M OK; YOU'RE OK"

[Mary Ann]

The people I know who use tablets have a large income. I could afford one but prefer to spend my money on other things, as long as I'm still able to turn pages. At a recent concert I was holding down valves 1 and 2 with my left hand while turning the page with my right, and playing right on through the page turn. Let's see them do THAT!! Let's also see them continue to function when the silly thing decides to quit in the middle of a concert.

[Nworbekim]

i have tablets/laptops and footpedals... i have used them and have decided that it's just something else to carry around and malfunction. since my life is pretty much ruled by MURPHY'S LAW, it's not a question of if it malfunctions, rather WHEN it WILL. and tha's usually at the exact worst time it could happen. paper's light and i usually have multiple copies

i do really like them in the practice room though. i have most of what i work from scanned into pdf's and on the tablets. a lot of the public domain stuff is on the clarinet society DVD's and can be uploaded in just a few minutes. scanning takes a little longer, but you really don't have to do it all at once, i do a few pages a day and eventually get thru it all. i can't see i'm breaking laws since i'm NOT SELLING or DISTRIBUTING them.

that huge mess of books and music that was always laying around on stands and the floor is now neatly stacked on a shelf out of the way

one of my favorites is the pavilion x360 windows laptop. the display folds completely back against the bottom of the keyboard. it runs the MOBILE SHEETS PRO application perfectly, has a touch screen and the pedals work great. big display. kinda pricey if it gets knocked off the stand and stepped on though.

these are my takes on it after having tried it several years... i have friends that wouldn't go without theirs. tha's ok, we're allowed to be different!

[Three Valves]

I read books too. Real paper books.

[kingrob76]

Scanning is optional. ForScore allows you to take photos of pages and use those instead of PDF files. I can import an entire band concert worth of music in 7-8 minutes. If someone programs something I already scanned, even better. A foot pedal is optional. Tap the right side of the screen, forward page turn. Tap the left side, backwards page turn. Pedals make life easier but aren't necessary. A tablet and a shockproof case are really all you need. Any stand will and has worked for me, but I prefer something more secure.

A case for a tablet that affords drop / rain protection is available for almost everything, if not everything these days. And yes, they do work - from personal experience. It's a must in my opinion.

There are Android tablets out there that are cheaper than iPads and do the same thing, some with quite large screens. The largest iPad right now has a 12.9" screen and it's plenty big for me.

My tablet has seen a LOT of miles and gets used for other things, but, it's primary function is my music library. Music is backlit, never gets creased or wrinkled or folded, edits are editable... And yeah, I spent some money on this. I also buy mouthpieces, have a couple mutes, a couple hard cases, a couple gig bags, etc... But for ME, having backlit music is the key component.

There's nothing wrong with paper music, it's always there as a backup.

[bort2.0]

For me, it's simple -- I've never had paper run out of battery.

[Nworbekim]

I can't bring myself to do it. Someone could knock it over before a performance and crack the screen, the battery could die, not to mention other technology-related issues. Print music can't malfunction (well, one could forget it at home!). I'd rather be safe than fancy - just my opinion.

[Nworbekim]

The people I know who use tablets have a large income. I could afford one but prefer to spend my money on other things, as long as I'm still able to turn pages. At a recent concert I was holding down valves 1 and 2 with my left hand while turning the page with my right, and playing right on through the page turn. Let's see them do THAT!! Let's also see them continue to function when the silly thing decides to quit in the middle of a concert.

i replied before, i can't figure out what happened to it. you CAN get by on the cheap if you want... if you can locate a first generation IPAD, they are found around here for around $25. they're obsolete so newer applications can't be found.

i wanted to try it, so i ran a jailbreak routine on mine and was able install a 3rd party Operating system. it let me upload pdf versions of sheet music and had a pdf viewer. it worked very well. i couldn't get a footpedal to work though, but changing pages was just a swipe of the finger. I didn't trust the security of the 3rd party OS, so i don't ever have it on-line.

for reliability though, i'm still for hard copies. the only thing certain about a computer/tablet is that IT WILL MALFUNCTION and so many times that occurs at EXACTLY the moment you need it to WORK MOST!

[Nworbekim]

Scanning is optional. ForScore allows you to take photos of pages and use those instead of PDF files. I can import an entire band concert worth of music in 7-8 minutes. If someone programs something I already scanned, even better. A foot pedal is optional. Tap the right side of the screen, forward page turn. Tap the left side, backwards page turn. Pedals make life easier but aren't necessary. A tablet and a shockproof case are really all you need. Any stand will and has worked for me, but I prefer something more secure.

A case for a tablet that affords drop / rain protection is available for almost everything, if not everything these days. And yes, they do work - from personal experience. It's a must in my opinion.

There are Android tablets out there that are cheaper than iPads and do the same thing, some with quite large screens. The largest iPad right now has a 12.9" screen and it's plenty big for me.

My tablet has seen a LOT of miles and gets used for other things, but, it's primary function is my music library. Music is backlit, never gets creased or wrinkled or folded, edits are editable... And yeah, I spent some money on this. I also buy mouthpieces, have a couple mutes, a couple hard cases, a couple gig bags, etc... But for ME, having backlit music is the key component.

There's nothing wrong with paper music, it's always there as a backup.

i've never tried that with the MOBILE SHEETS PRO application. the scanner i use on my phone is call VFLAT... i take a picture, it has a grid for alignment, and it then gives me the choice to use the photo as a graphic or a pdf. i've always used pdf. it's pretty slick, takes a few seconds to do it. one of the bands likes to keep the folders there, but asks us to photo the music for home practice. it takes a minute or so after practice ...

[Lch3]

I’ve been using the Apple iPad Pro 12x9 since March 2016. It has never malfunctioned, it has never had a battery failure, it has never blown over, i use a regular (K&M) music stand, I have not needed a stand light since, and I have not missed a page turn. I also write all the notes I want on the music with no grief from the librarian. The music software I use is forScore.

I take care of it and it works for me.

It’s all about what works for you. The iPad works very well for me and I like it.

[bloke]

A really quick glance at the internet showed me a whole bunch of 12-inch ones for over $500 to $1,000 (but I suppose I've always been a bottom feeder, and I'm not going to tell any of you what I paid for some of my instruments). For me, those would be both too small and too expensive. (When desktop printing became the main way to produce sheet music, I was saddened, because the font is small. Things like commas - which indicate grand pauses on symphonies written over a century ago - become tiny little dots when all 14-inch tall pages were shrunk to 12 inches...dots which can easily be overlooked.)

As it's Christmastime, I know there are quite a few people who remember what a horrible mess Morley Calvert's Suite from the Monteregian Hills became when it was reduced from 14" to 12". Finally it had to be re-engraved so it could be read.

I did find one cheap tablet that is 14 inches for a little over a hundred bucks. Who knows how good it is:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32651825598.html

[Mary Ann]

I suspect you may not want to use that vendor.

[binlove]

A really quick glance at the internet showed me a whole bunch of 12-inch ones for over $500 to $1,000 (but I suppose I've always been a bottom feeder, and I'm not going to tell any of you what I paid for some of my instruments). For me, those would be both too small and too expensive. (When desktop printing became the main way to produce sheet music, I was saddened, because the font is small. Things like commas - which indicate grand pauses on symphonies written over a century ago - become tiny little dots when all 14-inch tall pages were shrunk to 12 inches...dots which can easily be overlooked.)

As it's Christmastime, I know there are quite a few people who remember what a horrible mess Morley Calvert's Suite from the Monteregian Hills became when it was reduced from 14" to 12". Finally it had to be re-engraved so it could be read.

I did find one cheap tablet that is 14 inches for a little over a hundred bucks. Who knows how good it is:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32651825598.html

It sounds like the big takeaway that you're summarizing is that the benefits of switching to electronic for music are mostly realized in the long term, and even then, will require incremental investment. In the short term, it's always easier and cheaper to deal with paper.
- cost amortizes over time
- markings and cues are acquired through repeated performances
- to get the most benefit you'd want to actually learn the software to use the features (like having markings on different layers, etc)

The time investment to get your first gig music into a tablet is negligible. Curating a library to keep it organized enough to be a force multiplier - that's effort. Thinking through all the other things you would do to optimize the system is even more time, and potentially, money. You could pay some teenager to scan a bunch of music into files. But then you'd still have to label them, organize them, import them into your software, tag them up there, etc… This is easy for me because I've been doing it with my audio collection for 20+ years, and the systems and habits translate well, but I can imagine it would be a lot for someone coming at it fresh.

I've got an electronic music library of thousands of pieces that are all easily accessible at a moment's notice and I've a system for markings and cues that helps me out. These are both on my device and in the cloud – in fact, on all my devices since the app I use syncs automatically. I don't let a piece of tuba sheet music get near me without "scanning" it using a simple phone app. I also have a little button on all of my tubas (google: Flic button) right near the thumb ring that flips pages - way better than a pedal. I did get an iPad attachment for a portable music/microphone stand and put it in the trunk of my car, but I really just use music stands at most gigs. I also got a charger set up in the trunk so I keep my music bag (iPad, a few simple tools, oils and lubes in a waterproof case, earplugs, and metronome/tuner because I'm old fashioned that way) there and plugged in. It charges when the car is on, and doesn't drain the battery when the car is off. Sits in a hatch in the trunk and is invisible to passersby. Generally my ensembles also hand out copies of sheet music and I stick those in a folder and leave them in the car for an emergency. I clean the folder out every so often so it isn't full of junk (and haven't needed it yet).

For me, this is great. I anticipate decades more of gigs and playing all made easier by a friction free system that I took time to sort.

And despite all this (and I'm a huge advocate of this kind of system), I couldn't recommend someone really go down this road unless they are willing to really commit and get those long term benefits that accumulate once you've got a system and library set up.

One last aspect I didn't see on your list is what software you'd be using to manage these music files. This sets you up for how it is organized and this translates into how accessible your music is. It'll determine what you can do with markings, tags, setlists, and other things. As far as I know, by far the best software is ForScore which doesn't have an Android version or even a near equivalent. (Android folks are welcome to educate me here as I'm an Apple guy by preference and career.) This means you'd be in for an iOS device, and you won't get a large format one of those for $100.

Lots to consider, and unless one really wants to do this, I'd recommend sticking with paper.

[Stryk]

Before I started using one at church, I had amassed a 4" notebook of music we played in just one year. After 8 years of using the ipad, it is still the same size it was when I started. I just find it much easier than keeping track of paper.

[bloke]

Others (who pay me to play particular pieces) don't offer to load music into a/my tablet.

They often do send PDFs (which I can read off my "backlit" laptop screen, and (if a couple of pages require more scrutiny - sitting more comfortably in front of my music stand) print one or two pages from the gig-music.

I don't/won't teach, so don't need a portable/veritable/compleat tuba music library. (There's really not much tuba music that I particularly like...at least not written-for-tuba solo music.)
I do understand how people who don't play folk/ethnic/jazz/R&B and other types of non-written music feel more comfortable having their "music" compiled and portable. Several decades ago (when I only played music written down on paper) I nearly always carried a TON of books and sheets of music around with me nearly all the time. IF (??) I still did this, I imagine it might be a zip drive, rather than the skinny (fragile, powered) equivalent of a laptop. Most any venue (church, hall, country club, community center, etc.) has an office with a desktop computer and a really nice printer - if someone were to ask me, "Hey bloke, do you have a leadsheet in three flats for 'Rockin' Chair'?"...but most everyone I work with can play "Rockin' Chair" without a lead sheet, so...
I have quite the stack of etude books and excerpts (more than I could ever possibly read - much less master) in this room - where there is affordable-for-now LED ceiling and stand lighting.

When I am hired to play, every venue (where sheet music is required) supplies me with sheet music (including those who email pdf's).
The one time someone requested that the musicians print out pages, I (a lie) told them that I neither had a printer nor a tablet, and to please - per custom - supply sheet music at the job site... They did. Actually, they (perhaps thinking again) supplied it for everyone.

Again...
MY choice
(over either printer-generated 8.5 X 11 or slimline computer-screen technology)
is traditional engraved (not printed) 9/10 X 14 (or 11 X 17) sheet music. My aging eyes - for whatever reason - have no problem discerning what appears on actually engraved - regardless of how yellowed - traditionally-sized sheet music.

Other people don't bump into things - causing them to fall and break, don't knock things over, and pay attention to battery charge/life (and - when one walks into their homes, their homes are absolutely spotless), but - alas - I'm not a perfect person. I'll watch my instrument (and others), and the where the corners of my car are, but that's about it.

[Nworbekim]

i've mentioned this software... i like it. i have it for android and windows.

https://www.zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/

[bloke]

The Memphis Symphony quintet has a folder that (due to the number of years the quintet has been active) beginning to resemble a typical "big band" folder.

When they call me to play with them, I set it under my chair, the tunes are numbered (if I receive notice that I'm needed *at least a day early, the principal trumpet has picked out a tune list), I pull those tunes, set them under my chair - in order inside the folder (again: pulled), and then - one-at-a-time - set them on my KM101 stand, and play them.

the best thing: When I'm done, I hand the folder to the principal trombone, and drive away.

Repairing all these horns, selling stuff, cutting firewood, trying to keep the house from falling in on itself, etc... I'm SURE I would forget the blasted tablet when running out the door or (again: carrying too much stuff at once, while in a hurry) drop it and break it.

repeating:
Gadgets like that are for you "careful/impeccable/organized" types of folks...whose houses are always clean, none of your faucets drip, etc., etc...
Before Mrs. bloke went and friggin' BOUGHT me a new phone, (if you recall) I was working out strategies to do without one.
_______________________________________________
*The principal trumpet player is pretty nice...I'm called (a month ahead to hours ahead) to play anything/everything from "background" music to a formal quintet recital. He gives me "veto power" on any tunes, since I'm (supposedly) sight-reading...(Being old, I've played all that mess - from easy to tricky - many times.) I never veto anything... One time, he let me pick ALL of the tunes...(for a sort-of-formal-but-outdoors recital/concert). He said, "We'll play all of those, but we've never played through any of those."

[Tuba1153]

I use a 12.9” iPad with ForScore.

Advantages:
All of my music is one device
Device is backed up to cloud
Can be fully restored to another device
Fits on all of my traditional music stands
can quickly download new music from Dropbox or Google Drive
can slave another IPad for two pages in full size tHat also turn
Can easily scan in new music
Making markups is easy
Generating set lists and modifying them.
Very easy to Airplay music to another player with markups.
Wind will not blow your IPad off the stand.

Disadvantages:
the Sun (washout)
Heat (shutdown)

[MikeMason]

Best for: studio teaching, outdoor gigs, downloading practice scans sent by employers.

[bloke]

I don't want anyone to think that I'm anti-high-tech, or anything like that...

Here's my 1990's Boss drum machine, 1990's Roland amplifier for it, 1990's space heater (to avoid heating up this entire room to 68 degrees for practicing), 1990's Seiko metronome, LED stand light, "emergency" 1990's Dr. Beat metronome (on Manhasset-friendly stand post-mounted holder), Korg tuner, TWO stand extenders, clothes pins (??), styrofoam (invented: 1944) foot rest, several bottles of (modern era: invented in the late 18th C.) lamp oil, and two "tablets" on the floor, as well as "downloads" all over the stand...

...oh yeah: and the chair is modern, too: It's hinged.


(The euphonium is down from it's wall mount (Blaikley System - modern era: invented 1874), because (per previous explanations), there will be (per usual) several Dick Webster hymn settings (100% bass trombone parts) on my stand on xmas eve.
I've seen them all before, but (sure...) I always want to not sound like a "doubler". The reason for building the "basstrombasso" (repairs thread) is so that I can play bass trombone parts on something that actually sounds like a bass trombone.