Paperless IMSLP hardware

[WilliamBunting]

Hello fellow users:

How do you manage to play from IMSLP scores on a laptop screen? What about scrolling and page turns? What ideas do pianists and string and wind players have?

Regards,

WilliamBunting

[Philidor]

I'll be fascinated to see answers to those (excellent) questions.

[Generoso]

Here is one possible solution.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/07/ ... ge-turner/

It is called the AirTurn Bluetooth BT-10 Page Turner.

It looks promising.

[panda]

have a look at this -

http://www.borromeoquartet.org/artist.p ... s&nid=1431

[choul]

Another one: http://virtmus.com/ (software based)

Een programmable footswitch is for example the VEC Infinity USB footpedal connected to your laptop, together with the free available software http://www.nch.com.au/footpedal/index.html and/or http://www.autohotkey.com/.

[sigma]

When I play music from IMSLP using my laptop as the music stand (I am a flutist), I just have the mouse on the "next" button on the PDF. It admittedly doesn't work very well, especially as I often press the next button twice on my ridiculous laptop mouse.

I have thought of building a DIY USB foot pedal like this one: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/ ... computing/ Cheap and gets the job done. Unfortunately I'm not really a hardware person, so this hasn't gotten done.

[andrewski]

Apple iPad + ForScore.

Could be considered expensive if you buy an iPad just for this, but it's an easy purchase if you already have one. I don't use anything to handle page turns, but I could.

[choul]

Maybe this one will work too: http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/software/ ... /index.htm. It's based on the Adobe Acrobat Reader and made by a yamaha keyboard player.

[WilliamBunting]

Thank you for the links.
Did anyone see an article in The Strad a few months ago about this?

It's good to see the bluetooth salesman using the expression "foot switch". Has anyone seen a pedal which wasn't operated by your foot? "Foot pedal" is here to stay, but it's pretty poor English in my opinion.

Regards WB

[choul]

Never heard of the Strad, but maybe that's because I live in Europe.

I've found an article where musicians use a footswitch too together with the scores from IMSLP.
Here it is: http://www.squidoo.com/footime-page-turner

[Philidor]

Never heard of the Strad, but maybe that's because I live in Europe.

I've found an article where musicians use a footswitch too together with the scores from IMSLP.
Here it is: http://www.squidoo.com/footime-page-turner

That's great. But you only get one page at a time. Maybe musicians will get used to that but it means it's only half as good as having a two page paper score on a music stand. Plus having to turn pages, via the pedal, twice as often. Then there's annotations. With a paper score the player just leans forward and writes on the page with a pencil. That sort of ease is impossible with an electronic score.

I bet those problems will be solved before too long... The technology's almost there....

[Mazin]

I used to have a Tablet PC (Windows XP Tablet edition / Vista-compatible) for reading scores but using it was just awful. I'm now using an iPad with GoodReader. If you have an iPad, you're $5 is better spent on GoodReader, an all-purpose document reader, than most of these apps specifically for score. Goodreader lets you make annotations, sync with outside servers/cloud storage, etc.

[Mazin]

Never heard of the Strad, but maybe that's because I live in Europe.

I've found an article where musicians use a footswitch too together with the scores from IMSLP.
Here it is: http://www.squidoo.com/footime-page-turner

That's great. But you only get one page at a time. Maybe musicians will get used to that but it means it's only half as good as having a two page paper score on a music stand. Plus having to turn pages, via the pedal, twice as often. Then there's annotations. With a paper score the player just leans forward and writes on the page with a pencil. That sort of ease is impossible with an electronic score.

I bet those problems will be solved before too long... The technology's almost there....

Two iPads side-by-side? You can make annotations with a stylus too if that's your cup of tea, and there are pros and cons to both pencil and electronic markings.

[VictorEijkhout]

Search for Airturn. I'm not using it yet, but it looks like the best & affordable solution. Looks great for the iPad.

Victor.

[coulonnus]

I'll be fascinated to see answers to those (excellent) questions.

As a pianist I would be more productive if I could select the piece I want to play in a computer menu instead of scanning my dusty heaps of scores!

As a violist, I often cause my stand to fall on the floor, and I doubt a LCD screen would still work thereafter