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-   -   Notation running on Tablets (http://www.notation.com/vb-forum/showthread.php?t=31971)

TappyJohn 01-22-2014 04:46 PM

Notation running on Tablets
 
I would like to know what is the latest situation on using Notation on a small format Tablet. I run a couple of small music groups and use Notation Composer to arrange all our music. I use my laptop during rehearsals and performances to read my music from, but I currently print out the music for other members of the groups. Several have asked whether they could use a Tablet to do similar. I envisage a time when many musicians will be reading from such devices. It would be great to be able to hold all one's music in Notation format on a small Tablet and use it live in concert. One enhancement I would like would be to have some way of turning the page rather than using one's hands, eg. a foot pedal? Any help would be appreciated ... John ...(PS This is my first post and I can't understand why I cant use the 'enter' key to throw a new paragraph!!

dj 01-23-2014 01:35 PM

Re: Notation running on Tablets
 
Hi, John:

I'm not sure about tablet use of Composer, as it's Windows only, BUT:

You could use a pdf printer device, such as PrimoPDF or BullZip PDF Printer, to create .pdf files of your Composer files and distribute them to your tablet users.

I assume the tablets can display pdf format files. Don't have one myself -- I'd just lose it.

Good luck.

David

Sherry C 01-24-2014 01:35 AM

Re: Notation running on Tablets
 
Hi guys,

You can indeed run our products on a tablet that runs Windows and has enough memory and storage.

As David has pointed out, for those who don't have a Windows OS on their tablet, you can use a PDF "printer" (such as CutePDF www.cutepdf.com or PDFCreator ) to "print" (which equals "save") a copy of the part for the user. All the tablets I know of either have or can get a free PDF reader (I have an Android tablet, and have used it occasionally like this.)

As for a foot pedal, the only one I'm familiar with is FooTime (odd name, but it works) but it is attached via a USB cable. I use it with my lap top for turning pages. If there is a BlueTooth version of such, that would be the ticket for a tablet :)

ttfn,
Sherry

dj 01-24-2014 01:46 PM

Re: Notation running on Tablets
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by TappyJohn (Post 64744)
(PS This is my first post and I can't understand why I cant use the 'enter' key to throw a new paragraph!!

Hi, again, John:

You should be able to use Enter to go to a new paragraph.

I just did, in fact. :D

David

TappyJohn 01-28-2014 10:38 AM

Re: Notation running on Tablets
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by dj (Post 64765)
Hi, again, John:

You should be able to use Enter to go to a new paragraph.

I just did, in fact. :D

David

Thanks for the reply ... and here is me trying it again and it still doesn't work. Neither enter keys on my laptop (Win 7) work at all in this forum window. All is fine in Office products and other forums. Very strange, but not a disaster!

TappyJohn 01-28-2014 10:52 AM

Re: Notation running on Tablets
 
Back on subject of using Notation on tablets etc. ... Are you aware of the 'neoScores' launch this Friday? A Belgian product which aims to do what I am talking about. (Allowing personal annotation of parts etc.) I would hope that Notation Composer could still be used to generate the score, but we need something that can be readily used in performance. I have looked at the pdf option, indeed one of my group is still persevering with pdfs for performance. But she looses the ability to annotate her copy easily and to chose which parts she can see. (as second clarinet she likes to see first cl part sometimes, and then be able to get rid of when she wants). I do it with Notation on my laptop, but she has to use pdf on her tablet. The potential for a good 'performance' product is immense! I sing with a large choir and many of us would love to migrate to digital scores rather than the heavy unwieldy books we have to use now.

Sherry C 01-28-2014 12:32 PM

Re: Notation running on Tablets
 
Hi John,

Quote:

Originally Posted by TappyJohn (Post 64812)
Back on subject of using Notation on tablets etc. ... Are you aware of the 'neoScores' launch this Friday? A Belgian product which aims to do what I am talking about. (Allowing personal annotation of parts etc.)

Yes, we are indeed. As a matter of fact I'm signed on as a beta tester :) One caveat (as I understand it) is that it relies on having WiFi at the venue. I don't know about others, but for the big band that I'm in, this isn't always (nor even usually) an option at present. It does also require the initial outlay for the tablets/iPads, which for many groups is not a trivial proposal (again thinking of my own groups).

Quote:

I would hope that Notation Composer could still be used to generate the score, but we need something that can be readily used in performance.
You can do that currently by
  • having a copy of Notation Composer for your arranger/composer to create the master score and
  • at least a copy of Notation Musician for each member (so that they can do their own annotations, although Musician does not allow note editing)
  • on tablets/devices that run Windows.
If your group would like to make a group purchase, we offer generous discounts for such (please see www.notation.com/BuyMultiUnits.php)

You are correct (again as I understand it) that something like Neoscores has the "conductor's changes" propagate to all the members scores, but again it relies on a Wifi setup, which may or may not be an issue for some groups. I'm not sure how it works in the other direction, but it will be interesting to find out how they address that item.

Quote:

I do it with Notation on my laptop, but she has to use pdf on her tablet. The potential for a good 'performance' product is immense!
Yes indeed, the potential is good, but coming up with a versatile enough product without breaking the bank is definitely a challenge :) We would love to broaden the appeal and usage of our software to such users, while keeping the cost reasonable.

Quote:

I sing with a large choir and many of us would love to migrate to digital scores rather than the heavy unwieldy books we have to use now.
I can certainly appreciate that as I myself have migrated what I can of my own music (mostly for church, smaller gig material and personal performance music) to digital, so we're always listening to what our musicians like you are requesting :) For the big band I play in, we consider ourselves amateurs because we mainly play for fun, though we do play well enough that folks actually pay us to do it ;) For that group, though, cost is a factor as well as the lack of WiFi for coordinating changes on the spot. We play a lot of outdoor venues in the summer that have no WiFi. So we still have huge folders of paper sheets....

Just a little brainstorming:

  • How might you envision the "directionality" of edits? In other words, how would it be determined whether or not a change is "public" or "private"?
  • Who has access to what Parts, and how are Parts determined?
  • Is the song file actually downloaded onto each device, or is it viewed from a "source" file?
These are just a few "conversation starter" questions to help us brainstorm some.


Thanks for the stimulus :)
Sherry


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