a tablet computer for music? What would it need to be able to do? The main forum had someone asking about PDF music but if you could just open up the PDF on the tablet you could store hundreds of scores on one device. Think of it as a program to be a Kindle for scores. Specifically, I'm thinking about writing PDF/jpg/gif reader/markup software to be used with the upcoming Crunchpad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crunchpad which should come in at less than $300,) so that we can load scores in both PDF and the .gif images from the Indiana database. What would y'all want to see on it? Does anyone else think that this is a moderately good idea?
In order for me to actually replace paper scores with electronic scores...
June 13 2009, 12:33 PM
I would need to be able to do everything I do with a paper score (highlight my part, write in translations and IPA, write in notations from coaches and teachers, as well as staging). I could see value in being able to automatically highlight/translate/IPA an entire score without having to do the legwork yourself, but I would also want the option of doing the legwork, as that's part of my process.
In addition to all the things I do with a paper score, I would want to be able to save versions I've already made notes in to reference, but, in the event that I do the same opera again, I would want to be able to start fresh with a clean version, so I could look at both old and new versions.
I'd also want to be able to get multiple editions. Some people use Schirmer. Some use Baerenreiter. This program wouldn't be of significant value unless I could actually get the scores I needed.
And, I would want it to have some degree of playback. It wouldn't have to be amazing, but something so that I could hear the orchestration on a particular page of music or what have you.
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"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it." - Pablo Picasso
and probably the way things are going. There are already a couple of tablet devices intended for sheet music, but they haven't quite caught on yet.
The most important thing is that the device is absolutely stable and reliable. Any incidences of crashing or sluggish page turns and professionals will not use it. Other features would be nice, but not if they compromise the stability of the machine for use in performance.
-Ler
"The history of the lowered larynx is a long and depressing one..." - Richard Miller, International Schools of Singing
1. I would need to be able to mark up the scores. It's not just that I need the notes and words but I also need to write in notes to myself about breathing, pronunciation, translation. And then of course there are operas where I also need to write in staging. Can I do that on an electronic score? Will I be able to do some of this in color? Can I highlight my part so I don't waste time in coachings looking for my next entrance. (I have also started writing in the next page number where I sing after the last word in a scene. Some scores already have that, but most don't.)
2. Will the editions be any good? Most scores of standard rep operas suck. Will these be the good scores or the ones that can be obtained cheaply? The cheap score will do in a pinch but for serious study and role prep, I would prefer to learn the correct words and notes and rhythms.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
I do not get it - Also, what about printing rights
June 17 2009, 10:19 AM
I do not see any relationship at all between a digital viewing and markup system for music scores and the amplification at opera houses.
It might not be as charming, the way digital libraries are not as charming as book stacks.
But I fail to see any way in which an electronic score with markup would compromise the art form.
If you see a way, can you elaborate on it?
If the scores were top notch quality scores and the markup system was comprehensive enough, then it sounds like a good idea.
I would be curious to know about copyright tho, because one main benefit of this to a singer would be to be able to mark up their score differently for different productions and possibly print it out. If you weren't authorized to print them out with different markings, then I think its usefulness would be limited.
Re: I do not get it - Also, what about printing rights
June 17 2009, 10:55 AM
Well, HT is totally right on the mark with that: "Most scores of standard rep operas suck." A lot of the pre-existing scans that are out there are are awful, with the exception on the ones on the Mozarteum site (http://dme.mozarteum.at ) which are all Baerenreiter's. The ones on the Indidana database are okay visually but not always the most accurate ones. I definately see that as being the larger stumbling block and, unfortunately, not one I can do anything about (whereas the programing to read them and mark them up, is something that I can fix.) Most current PDF readers allow for coloured highlighting and for editing of the PDF. What I'm thinking about doing would be incorporating the touch screen aspect of things to a PDF reader/writer so that you could write in the scores (new notes, staging, etc.), only with a stylus instead of a pencil.
As for the other question: By and large the copyright isn't an issue. Most of scores out there are just re-hashes of scores that have been printed by the companies for dozens of years and have long ago passed into the public domain. Ricordi, for instance, really hasn't changed their scores since the second or third editions leading a 1898 Ricordi Boheme score to look pretty much like a 2009 Ricordi Boheme score. The only place that that doesn't apply would be in the case of translations which have typically been written more recently and might still be covered. For things like the Baerenreiter scores, most of the world outside the US, including Austria, still subscribe to Fair Use principles, allowing you to make copies to use, as long as you don't sell them. The basic license agreement is on the Mozarteum home page.
Thanks all for the feedback so far, in particularly again the issue about the various scores/score quality which I'd not though of ahead of time.
1. realize that a these would be pictures and not just text, the file sizes would be large, especially if the scans are high resolution (and not like the ones on the IU site).
2. Who wants the English transation unless they are performing it? I wish I could erase that from 90% of my scores. (I tend to buy the scores that are original language only where that is an option. I need the room to write in translation and pronunciation notes for myself.)
3. About editions, this is a real problem. Also, something we have not mentioned already, in addition to the markings we all like to make, more often than not productions involve cuts in the score which we have to be able to write in while we are working. So we really would need too editing capability (preferably in a different color than the original) that is erasable (for when the director changes his mind).
4. This could be a great thing for music publishers. They could just sell us the files rather than the printed scores. Once they do the original set-up (which does involve some cost) and the website set up, the rest is all profit. Printing costs and so does shipping (although we tend to pay for that). Also, publishers have to pay taxes on inventory. Basically anything they ever published would always be in print and available instantly. This could be good for us. (It might suck for Glendower unless he takes over for out of print and small publishers who can't/won't/don't get on board.)
But this is a lot of ifs that I don't see happening yet.
And for accompanists...one page at a time would suck for page turns and as I have yet to deal with anything electronic that doesn't suddenly stall or freeze, this could be a disaster in live performance.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
A lot of them have it so worked into the fingers to be looking at and playing from a certain edition... that even using a different edition can freak them out.
Imagine if they were playing from a reprint that had cuts incorporated and changed all the pagination..... they might really, really hate that.
and this is just me thinking out loud...there might be a way to do this and eliminate the whole page turn thing altogether. I think everyone would be in favor of that.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
A 9x12 screen that weighs about what one of these new e-readers (of various sorts) weighs would be preferable to lugging around four opera scores and a couple of anthologies.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
When I first started looking at this, I saw the Music Pad Pro as the current "standard" for this but at $900 it wasn't really economical. You could put a $20-30 program on a $300 tablet and be way ahead. In searching today, it looks like someone's already done this, albeit for $100, called "musicreader" ahttp://musicreader.net and they've covered most of the issues that we've talked about.
Anybody tried this? I'm downloading the free trial now.
Oh well, back to the drawing board. At least I can buy it, likely for a lot less work (in $/hour) than writing the code myself. Bring on the cheap tablets!
I meeting with a designer with an idea for an audition and gig tracking program when I got an email announcing YapTracker. They did a better job than I might have so what can you do?
I have now discovered a situation in which one of these might be useful if...
June 17 2009, 5:03 PM
Today, I was rehearsing Vivaldi's solo cantata "Cessate, omai, cessate" with a small baroque ensemble, and the way the piece is constructed makes very unweildy page turns inevitable for the string players - esp. the violinists. What they've ended up having to do is tape pages of the score together, folding them this way and that so they can flip them back and forth for the various dal segno and da capo repeats. So there's music hanging off either side of their music stands, and they're all having to use width extenders on the stands, and it's frankly just a mess. Life isn't much easier for the harpsichordist, who is working from pages of the full score. But at least she can have a page turner.
The first violinist mentioned having heard about these Kindle-like devices on which the digitised score could be stored and displayed, and instead of turning pages, the player would only have to tap the "turn page" button (or something like).
So here's one situation in which I think it would be a bonus to have that device IF:
1) I can scan and digitise my own hardcopy scores into the device - this would eliminate the concern over "which edition?" - I would scan whatever edition I wanted to work with. A lot of scanning for a big work, yes - but if the publisher isn't going to digitise the work for the device, at least I'd have the option.
2) The ability to "write on the score" is essential! If it needs a stylus to do this, so be it. Just make sure those styluses are cheap and easy to replace because you KNOW they're going to get lost.
In the meantime, I'm thinking of hiring four short musicians who can read upside down to stand over each string player's music stand and flip pages as they play.
