Tablets as Sheet music

[lindydanny]

So, I've got way too many books and loose sheets of music floating around my house now. I'm finally to the point where I either want to make a huge purge, or start putting it all on a computer.

I'm not interested in the systems where the tablet can only be used for sheet music. What I'm looking for is an effective tablet that can do a little bit of this and that and be a good place to store and view sheet music.

Does anyone have a set up for this? Any iPad users have a review?

~DB

[aoskayak]

I use my IPad for pdf and video. I use GoodReader. An inexpensive app that can organize and group your pdfs. I often group any video and pdf's together for easy access. I would recommend the IPad.

[spiral]

RealBook PDF in iPad through iBooks app.

[frogeye]

Originally Posted by lindydanny

What I'm looking for is an effective tablet that can do a little bit of this and that and be a good place to store and view sheet music.

DISCLAIMER: I will get into a little "techie talk" below.... well because I make a living of working in the IT industry.

I'm using a Motion LS800 Slate PC running on Windows XP tablet edition that I bought last year for 200 bucks used on eBay and configured to be my personal mobile computing device. It is basically a very small 1.2GHz Intel Centrino based Windows PC sans keyboard but with 8.9" WACOM screen with 800x600 resolution. Typically comes with 60GB hard drive, 1GB Ram (I upgraded mine to 2GB), built in WiFi, bluetooth, 2 USB ports, 4 programmable buttons, and even a fingerprint reader for password security. The screen can be rotated with a press of one of the buttons and with an extended battery (just bought a new one for 45 bucks as a spare on eBay, battery can be swapped in Hibernate mode) it runs 5+ hours on a single charge. With a standard battery you have about 2.5 hours battery when new.

Check youtube for a basic demo:

YouTube Video

Her is another demo where a graphic designer put out a decent demo on how to use it as a sketchbook and compares it to the iPad solely from a sketching perspective.

YouTube Video

But let's get back to your question

• I put my fake book PDF collection on it and love it. A full page view of a real book page is legible to me as long as I put my reading glasses on. I had seen PD file on the Kindle XL and 7" screen mobile devices and the LS800 beats them hands down in respect to speed and legibility.
• Windows Journal is a little pen based tool that is only available on tablet PC's and it comes with a template for sheet music. Very handy for capturing an idea or taking notes at your next guitar lesson.
• Need to do some hard disk recording? While Sound card isn't top of the line it is good enough to do hard drive recording with it via he built in microphone (mono) or a stereo mic plugged into the 3.5mm jack. I have an older version of guitar tracks on it and did a basic test that worked well. The device only has one 3.5mm audio jack that is configurable via software to alternatively function as a line-in, microphone in, headphone out or speaker out.
• Since it runs regular windows and has built in WiFi you can use your Web Browser, Office software, Skype, iTunes,....

While it by far is not as slick of a device as the iPad is it really does well what I need it to do and it really is low cost due the fact that I bought a refurbished lease return... Pretty amazing if you consider that the device was introduced in 2005. There is a LE1600 model that is very similar and has a larger screen and higher resolution, so better for sight reading. I personally prefer the small form factor of the LS800. I bought a second LS800 for my daughter and installed Windows 7 as it has far superior handwriting recognition compared to Win XP. In school here the students are allowed to use laptops for taking notes and to research on the web with teacher's supervision. Still need to upgrade mine to Win7, just too lazy/busy at the moment.

I would recommend this device as a low cost solution to anyone to consider who is a little handy with PC configuration and who doesn't plan on doing a lot of gaming on the device. Graphic acceleration is sub-par to newer devices and especially when compared to an iPad.

Food for thought....

[frogeye]

Should have mentioned that both video clips show the device with standard battery pack. I am using the extended battery pack that adds some weight but is well worth it. The device still easily fits into the 10.1" netbook type neoprene sleeves that are available inexpensively at online retailers.

[spiral]

Just thought of another solution. I already had an iPad so that made sense for me but the Kindle DX would also be a pretty slick solution: super light, very thin, crazy good battery life, and easy to load PDFs on. eInk is a little meh, but probably fine for RealBook sheets. If you want a tablet computer one of the above solutions is OK, but if you are buying solely for RealBook PDFs, the Kindle DX is probably a bit cheaper.

Amazon.com: Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 9.7" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology: Kindle Store

[frogeye]

The kindle DX used to have problems with opening larger pdf files like a real book would be. When checking out the first generation of large screen Kindles a year ago or so it took me several seconds to page forward to the next page. That may be fixed by now but you may try one out before spending money. Otherwise I agree with Spiral.

[msr13]

Originally Posted by aoskayak

I use my IPad for pdf and video. I use GoodReader. An inexpensive app that can organize and group your pdfs. I often group any video and pdf's together for easy access. I would recommend the IPad.

My exact setup. I have all the versions of the Realbook in PDF. Goodreader makes navigation quite easy. I also use the iRealbook app for charts. Quite a good tool. And, it will play nice backing tracks (similar tonally to BIAB).

[frogeye]

Originally Posted by msr13

My exact setup. I have all the versions of the Realbook in PDF. Goodreader makes navigation quite easy. I also use the iRealbook app for charts. Quite a good tool. And, it will play nice backing tracks (similar tonally to BIAB).

The iRealbook app is something that I'd like to have for my Motion LS800. Well, I guess I could always install BIAB.

[spiral]

Curious why people prefer GoodReader (i own it) over iBooks. (sorry to hijack)

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by spiral

Curious why people prefer GoodReader (i own it) over iBooks. (sorry to hijack)

I have it but I use iAnnotate PDF service with my iPad --you can highlight, bookmark, annotate, take notes. amazing app Now my iPad is a mini recording studio, too, 8 tracks with amp modeling. I also highly recommend the iRealbook app too.

[JorisFun]

Hi,

I want to use my iPad for reading Realbooks. The problem I have is to quickly finding a desired page. I'm swiping like mad and it takes ages before I arrive at the song that is called for. I have iBooks (not bad with the small icons below) FileApp (useless: can't handle 'large files') PDF reader (swiping nightmare). Has anyone found an app that lets you find pages/songs quickly?

Cheers, Joris

[jazzboob]

I have an IPad 2 amd a Kindle DX for my music files. The Kindle DX has and insane memory life and I can use it outside in the sun. My IPad is great indoors, but fades out in the sun. I have been doing my TAB in MS Excel for years and simply eliminated white space and made them into a book with Acrobat Pro. I've always done all my lyrics and chords on sheets and simply scanned, cropped and converted them into a PDF book. They are quite ledgeable, even for an old relic like myself. I currently have 305 TABs and 193 songs on my tablets and couldn't be happier with my setup.

John

[Abaddon2005]

if you just dump the pdf realbooks on the iPad in in iBooks it works just fine. I sometimes wish the pages would appear slightly bigger but it's workable.

[Jazzman301]

Not jazz related but I taught a top 10 DCI drum corps(the Denver Blue Knights) this Summer and just about everyone on staff was using either their smartphone or tablet to reference both music and drill formations. It was so much easier to carrier a tablet or even a smart phone around the field than a ringed binder with over 100 drill pages and 80-90 pages of music.

I know I love the iRealb app.

'Mike

[BenThayer]

Originally Posted by JorisFun

Hi,

I want to use my iPad for reading Realbooks. The problem I have is to quickly finding a desired page. I'm swiping like mad and it takes ages before I arrive at the song that is called for. I have iBooks (not bad with the small icons below) FileApp (useless: can't handle 'large files') PDF reader (swiping nightmare). Has anyone found an app that lets you find pages/songs quickly?

Cheers, Joris

I am a huge fan of "unreal Book" on my ipad. There is a default list called "Songs" which lists them all alphabetically so, to call up "Have You Met Miss Jones?" there are three or four steps:

1. Tap "Songs"
2. Tap "H"
3. Scroll to the song
4. Tap "Have You Met..."

What's more you can add many, many setlists. Organize them any way you like. Great for playing w/ different ensembles or venues. Then there's as little as one tap between songs - to the next song! It's the reason I bought my ipad.

You can also edit and highlight, etc, in different colors. To go forward or backward page by page you simply tap the right or left side of the screen. Or use a Boss foot pedal with an interface (I've forgetten whose, but Google hasn't).

Cheers,

Ben

[Marcis]

I often play tunes directly from iRealB which is on my i-phone - so - I can transpose any of these tunes in 3 seconds - only problem is screen size

[M-ster]

Interesting discussion, thanks, gentlemen. Frogeye, thanks for taking the time to share your information on the LS800.

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by lindydanny

So, I've got way too many books and loose sheets of music floating around my house now. I'm finally to the point where I either want to make a huge purge, or start putting it all on a computer.

I'm not interested in the systems where the tablet can only be used for sheet music. What I'm looking for is an effective tablet that can do a little bit of this and that and be a good place to store and view sheet music.

Does anyone have a set up for this? Any iPad users have a review?

~DB

If you have an Amazon account and have ever bought Kindle books you can upload up to 5GB of personal documents that can be read on a Kindle or an iPad.