Via The Sheet Music, Using a Tablet

It was about time. I have already been using it for at least a year. The program I use is called Autoflip. It's impressive because it turns the page automatically after synchronizing the piece with a listening session. In fact, it is possible to play even at speeds different from those of performance. Even slowly during the study phase, the program recognizes the point at which to turn. Fantastic... A must-have.

Not to mention the fact that in a device only 7mm thick, 30 centimeters long and 20 wide, it is possible to insert practically millions of scores and have one weighing several tons in just two hundred grams!!

If you think about it, it's mind-blowing. Just 20 years ago, it was pure science fiction!

It must also be said that it can be used in low light conditions without resorting to small lights with their respective power cables.

By zooming in, one can also do without glasses (for those who need them).

Of course, sheet music can also fall, and it will never have dead batteries...

I am seriously tempted to buy a tablet too, also (but not only) for this type of use.

I have been an Apple user for a couple of years....quite convinced too....so, generally speaking, I would be oriented towards

the iPad. I have some doubts regarding the dimensions (my eye is used to the classic A4 sheet). Furthermore,

in the event that (for diopter reasons!!) it becomes necessary to enlarge the sheet music/scores (in PDF format, I imagine),
does the reading program Simone was talking about advance it normally and easily for the player's eye?

or does the same thing happen as in Acrobat Reader when you enlarge a PDF file?

None of this. In my opinion, the iPad does not replace the score, which one must know very well to play it in a concert.

What you see are PDF pages, so the digitized paper score. The dimensions are obviously those of the iPad screen, which causes eye strain. That is why I think it is impossible to play by reading with that contraption without knowing the score well, especially for certain pieces. In my opinion, it serves to provide prompts to overcome memory problems. You don't remember a passage and you can look; it gives you confidence.

Obviously, while playing, nothing is enlarged at all. The first thing for the software I own is to synchronize the PDF with the piece.

In other words, you set up the synchronization and listen to the piece on a CD, YouTube, or wherever you want. You follow it normally on the score on the iPad, and when you turn the page, the turn is recorded at that point in the music. Once you finish listening, you end the synchronization at this point by playing the piece even more slowly—the speed doesn't matter; once you reach the point where you previously turned the page, the software will turn it. Obviously, in case of repetitions, we must also consider those, otherwise the software won't go back. Therefore, in a concert, we must not forget a repetition that we had listened to during the synchronization phase, otherwise we are screwed.

I believe that before long we will arrive at a more manageable and, above all, more reliable solution, but there is still some work to be done to be able to use it to its best. At least for us pianists.

How is the management of "turning pages" while playing? Can you add a pedal or ... how are you equipped?

I will try to explain myself better.

The program I have is called Autoflip. In short, you browse the internet on your tablet and when you find a PDF score from sites like IMSLP, the score opens in the Autoflip program. Once opened for the first time, the score will not be synchronized.

By synchronization, I mean specifically the synchronization of turning the page once a certain point in the piece is reached, namely at the end of the current page.

Obviously, the program does not read music, so you play an mp3 or a YouTube video of that composition to it and synchronize it manually. To do this, we just have to follow the audio with the score in hand. At the end of the page, we must turn it to see the new page. At this moment, the program fixes the page turn at that point in the audio file. Once the entire piece is synchronized, we are ready to have the page turned automatically. How does it happen? Simply put, during the synchronization phase, the software has memorized certain points of the audio track, and when we find ourselves playing through the score again, these points are recalled from memory. In this way, the program knows where we are, and when we reach the turning point, it happens automatically. By taking random points based on harmonies rather than using the recording of the piece itself, we can even play very slowly. In the end, the memorized points will always be recognizable, and the program will turn the page even if the performance speed is much faster or much slower than that used for synchronization.

There are no gimmicks with other phones where you wave your foot in front of the camera to turn the tablet, or pedals, or similar things. The software, if the score is synchronized, listens and turns the page at the moment it needs to be turned.

I thought that the sheet music could be enlarged.

If only!!

But how are they regarding disk space and processing capacity? In short, can I manage with notation and various VSTs?

Marzapane wrote:

But how are they regarding disk space and processing power? In short, can I manage with notation and various VSTs?

But now you are talking about tablets, and no longer about page-turning software but rather types of DAWs on tablets...

For iPad there is GarageBand; if you pair it with the Alesis iO Dock, it becomes a small portable recording studio. GarageBand for iPad works really well.

Fast, easy, intuitive. An excellent product. I also have the iO Dock; when mobile, you can do things that are truly, truly decent. The only downside is the impossibility of recording due to maximum disk capacity. I don't remember if the limit is 10 minutes of recording.... A huge flaw.

Open content (youtube)

I just don't find it ...

I also tried the Kindle. It's nice and all, but it's too small.

And then it's not messy/customizable enough for my tastes.

What do you think about the A4 ebook readers that seem to be coming out soon?

They are certainly better than the other small formats.

But guys... I struggle to read the Ricordi format. Chopin's "Tristezza" n.3 op10, I had to do a "horizontal" A4 enlargement just for the "con bravura", let alone...

....And then I am "blind", that's another problem....

If only I had an A4 tablet! With my iPad, I go blind every time I have to read a passage; that's why I only use it as a reference once I have already scribbled all over my paper pages.

Instead, the possibility of backlighting liquid ink monitors is a very positive feature.