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Tablet Sheet Music apps


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We had this topic in the old LMG, but haven't seen us talk about this in a while

Apps for sheet music on your tablet.

Lot in tablets has changed since I got mine way back.

I'm on the hunt for a new tablet,  I have a 10.1" tablet now, and would love a 12 or 14".

I'm still on very old Android and I'm using MobileSheets on it

I'm able import all my songs into it and create "set lists" which I use a lot (mostly for my church gig)

But finding a Android tablet larger than 10.1 inches is hard.

MobileSheets works well and I have a blue tooth pedals that turn the pages for me.

But will need to update some time

So question for those running Mac and Microsoft Surface devices.

What apps are you using to create "set lists" 

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Doug, I can't help with aany suggestions but I'm glad you started this thread.  My Kindle is getting really "long in the tooth".  Apps are taking forever to load.  I'm going to have to replace it sooner than later.   I've got lots of songs and, of course, lots of L&MG videos stored on it.

So I am looking forward to the suggestions.

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Hi Doug!

We are a Mac family so I have the iPad pro - big enough for me to actually see it on the music stand easily. It is roughly the size of a standard piece of paper. The actual viewable screen size is like 8x10.5 i think.  I have tons of music saved on it and since they are pdf files, they don't take up a lot of memory storage space (I may go for the bigger memory next time if I upgrade - I use my ipad for a lot since I don't have a laptop).

The sheet music program I've used for a few years is ForScore. It allows me to make set lists, and seems pretty versatile. I'm probably only scratching the surface with how I use it, lol! I wish I could remember if it was free, but I'm sure if I did pay for it it couldn't have been too much - I like to save my money for guitars, lol!😂

I also have the Airturn BT-105 bluetooth pedal to turn pages and that works great for me. I really like using that - if I need to actually turn a page manually (on paper or on the iPad) it still throws off my timing and I feel awkward. 

 

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I have a BT-105 as well.

I had to solder/replace the wires from the pedals to the controller now, but a 1/8th mini jack is easy enough to work with, as my forward or backward pedals failed to work unless I wiggled the with.

I was looking at possibly a Mac , but wasn't sure of "giging" apps 

But unless I get refurb at $600 for a 12"", the 14" new is $1500cdn. A bit stiff in price for what I use it for.

I'm going to CES in Vegas in Jan,  I'll check out what tablets are there too.

I'll look at Forescore.

Wonder what else is out there

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22 hours ago, Eracer_Team-DougH said:

...

I'm able import all my songs into it and create "set lists" which I use a lot (mostly for my church gig)

...

What apps are you using to create "set lists" 

There are so many tablets and apps that I was about to just move on as I don't have a wide range of experience.

If your last quoted sentence is a question, Doug, then my answer for the last 8 years has been that I bought an iPad to run OnSong. Jason, who got it going, is a worship leader and so he knows exactly what church gigs (to use your wording) require and at that early stage I was (and still am) happy to support him. The current $30 price tag is not cheap but OnSong has now added many added features, some of which I use, some I don't. I would not say it is better than ForScore or Music Stand but like many programs, so long as it does what you need, why change? That does mean that you are wise to delay your purchase and find out as much as you can so that you will be happy with whichever tablet and app you choose.

Because I play drums, guitar and flute, I prefer lead sheets so I want to have some level of sheet music rather than the more common lyrics with chords above without any indication of timing, I posted a video 8 years ago to YouTube reviewing how OnSong handles sheet music. It happens to be my most popular video by a long mile.

Now, 8 years later, the principles in the video still stand. I have changed from using images to PDFs, which makes file sizes smaller. Last month I moved from playing drums to leading on guitar because our worship leader is taking a break. That prompted me to buy an AirTurn BT200S-6 pedal, which I had dilly-dallied over for some years but now I would not want to be without it.

It is indeed an interesting road to be travelling and I wish you all the very best in finding what suits you. If you have any other questions, do ask. I would also love to know what you do buy when that time arrives.

When you have you new tablet and app I could let you have one of my PDFs so that you can see how I get the most out of having my music on my iPad.

Edited by Fretless
I missed a vital word out.
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Btw, all my songs are in PDF.

If I could find a 12-14" Android tablet I'd just continue using my Mobilesheets app.

But I highly doubt I'll find an android tablet that large (or inexpensive if one exists. 

So that leaves me in the Mac and Surface zone of the universe 

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A friend gave me a new surface pro with windows 10. Because i said i was going to get a tablet. So i didn't have to carry my lap top around . Using it was just like carrying my lap top around . so i gave it back.  Cell phone the size of tablets . Tablets the size of lap tops . Lap tops the size of desk tops. where will it end. LOL The morel of the story is Be careful of what you ask for. Pawn shop is a good place to look.

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Like Fretless, I too use an iPad, OnSong and the Airturn 4 pad unit for group practice and performance play. The OnSong is a bargain in my opinion and all of my band members also use it so that we can all easily exchange song charts with each other. Very convenient as we build sets and add songs. Also there are so many features such as transposing keys quickly, modifying charts , highlighting and scrolling, creating your own charts, night lighting etc. I have had the app for years and updates and added features are always free.

Best app I have ever purchased.

Greg

Edited by gotto
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On 11/19/2019 at 8:11 AM, gotto said:

Like Fretless, I too use an iPad, OnSong and the Airturn 4 pad unit for group practice and performance play. The OnSong is a bargain in my opinion and all of my band members also use it so that we can all easily exchange song charts with each other. Very convenient as we build sets and add songs. Also there are so many features such as transposing keys quickly, modifying charts , highlighting and scrolling, creating your own charts, night lighting etc. I have had the app for years and updates and added features are always free.

Best app I have ever purchased.

Greg

I like the idea and advantages of using an iPad with OnSong but my problem is being able to get the font large enough to view while playing. My binder uses a 14 pt. font on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet.

Can the font on the OnSong pages be increased without losing the ability to "see" the song being played?

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@Oldjock  Apparently so. I don't have the app, but I did find this in the online instruction manual. You might want to explore the descriptions of other settings. For optimum readability, it would probably work best on the larger iPad Pro.

Scale

Instead of making all monospaced fonts in tablature a common size, OnSong provides a scale for the font. This allows the size of the tablature to be adjusted along with the chords and lyrics sizes. Options include values between 30% and 130% in 10% increments. Default is 100% of the size of the chord font size.

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On 11/19/2019 at 5:11 AM, gotto said:

Like Fretless, I too use an iPad, OnSong and the Airturn 4 pad unit for group practice and performance play. The OnSong is a bargain in my opinion and all of my band members also use it so that we can all easily exchange song charts with each other. Very convenient as we build sets and add songs. Also there are so many features such as transposing keys quickly, modifying charts , highlighting and scrolling, creating your own charts, night lighting etc. I have had the app for years and updates and added features are always free.

Best app I have ever purchased.

Greg

I have the OnSong app but I have not played around with it much... I can see from the recommendations here that I really should take a closer look!  :)

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Yes the font can be easily enlarged. Chords can be highlighted in varied colors as well as being enlarged. Backing tracks or original songs can be attached to the chart sheet as well to play along with. I have seen solo artists use this feature in performance, primarily the backing track feature  ( drums, bass, keys etc.) as their accompaniment.

Greg

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I can see how having a tablet for reading sheet music would be a real help. Would a less expensive tablet/reader do the job ok? I see some "deals" on off brand models this time of year...

 

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Neil, I came at it from the opposite approach - I looked to find which app would best do the job I wanted it to do and then I checked out which tablets would it run on.

I now use my tablet for a handful of major things and lots of little extras but I still to this day say the reason I have a tablet is the app that serves as my music library and organiser.

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@Fretless That is actually a very intelligent approach... I usually do buy the best I can reasonably afford, once I've identified a real "need" for it. Having said that I do my best to not pay full price UNLESS the item is well worth it. ( I paid full price for a new "65 Princeton RI Tweed amp recently and don't regret it in the least!) 

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