I forget the name... eStand? Whatever it is you bought. You still like it?

Man, I'd sure like one of those things. Right now, I'm going through lead sheets trying to separate songs into categories. Heck, there are a lot of categories. This is what I just did.

slow
medium
fast
gospel
easy listening
texas country
blues
hell-raiser
contemporary pop/rock

Some of these songs fit into more than one category.

Does your device allow you to... say if I need another fast song, how can I find one with your device? Does it provide for categorizing songs? Can a song reside in more than one 'folder?'

Did a trio gig last weekend and looks like we will do more. I use lead sheets. Playing guitar, singing lead vocal, I stand. Gary is playing guitar/harp and he sits on a stool to my right. John, on fiddle, is to my left on a stool but he doesn't need to see anything. He just floats along and plays whatever strikes his fancy. But Gary, last weekend, he could plainly see my lead sheets and I have the chords written above most lyrics. This helps a lot since we are new together and he can see where I'm going with a song and many of the songs I play, he's never heard or is not that familiar with. Or my particular arrangement.

Your device, we could both see it. I guess. Right? Is there any degradation of the view if you view it on an angle?

Bill, while the device Scott uses would be a great tool, it is quite expensive. If it is out of your budget, an inexpensive laptop would seem to do everything you want. You can get one for $500. or less. Much less if you shop used.
DonM

Hi SemiLive,

The music device I use is called the : MusicPadPro+ from FreehandSystems: http://freehandsystems.com/products.html

You're able to easily name, organize & sort songs in any number of categories (folders) you create, and the same song(s) can appear in different folders as well,if you wish. The MusicPad comes with 32MB internal memory & a 64MB USB memory stick, but also supports multiple USB Flash Pen Drives. I got three 256MB Memory sticks, each of which will hold up to 2,000 songs, so song capacity limitation should NEVER become an issue.

In addition, you can create custom playlists to categorize your songs. I organize my leadsheet song library (600+ songs so far) alpahbetically in folders . This allows me to select any song off the top of my head quickly by tapping the screen with my finger. You could then create 9 custom playlists in the categories you outlined and link associated songs to these. Then all the songs which meet your criteria (mood/temp, etc) will come up to choose from when the playlist is called up.

Since my keyboard (Yamaha Tyros) already includes a terrific song organization tool (MusicFinder) which allows me to categorize, organize, & search my song repetoire library (600+ song record listing of all my songsheets stored on the MusicPad Pro+), I'm able to create similar playlist categories to yours in the MusicFinder, and then quickly call up corresponding leadsheet via alphabetically organized folers on the MusicPad if required. I try to keep my leadsheets limited to one page, to avoid having to turn pages, but it's still very convenient to turn the page with a light tap on the the (right/left) portion of touchscreen (page forward/back) or even hands free via footpedals (2).

I'm finding the viewability (brightness & sharpness) of the screen very good to excellent and (believe it or not) easier to read than paper sheet music now. Because the screen is backlighted, you eliminate the glare of a light shined on top of traditional paper. Indoors and in medium brightness outdoors, the MusicPad Pro's viewability is terrific, but in bright direct sunlight, the viewability is not good. Viewing from a slight angle poses no problem, but as typical of even the best LCD screens, visiability drops the further off angle you are. I would think that if the room (stage) is indoors and your partner is seated in fairly close proximity to the MusicPad (even off angle) that he should be able to see the music fine (if not better) than he could the paper sheets you're using now. Having the music backlight (bright) actually makes it easier to see.

I really enjoy and appreciate the convenience of the MusicPadPro+ but here a few negatives to consider. Song selection via bare finger touch is a little tricky, especially with large fingers. On the plus side, is that a new OS update (downloadable) will include improved finger selection. In addition, the new OS will include more music sheet editing capabilities. In addition to notation editing (already included), it will allow you to add/edit chord symbols, lyrics via keyboard popup entry.

Ok, hope this provides answers to your questions. If you're a musician with a large repetoire (or one with cash to burn, it's $1,200 ), and have always dreamed of having ALL your music stored & available in ONE place (from studio rehearsal to stage) then the MusicPad Pro+ is well worth your time and investment. I like to markup my music , so for a specific song, I might possibly even add additional pages (alternate chord voicings, different renditions, keys, etc) to the song record file, keeping everything organized & stored together. Of course there is the initial conversion work from paper to digital (.fh) format work to consider, but now that I finally have my core song library converted, I feel it was well worth the time & effort of never having to deal with xeroxing leadsheets, marking up, erasing,having then become wrinkled and torn, and getting lost again. It's cool to have my entire song library taking up less than 50Mb of memory, and all backed up on CD. My music has finally entered the digital age.

Scott

Don, I had seriously considered the laptop alternative, but (though considerably cheaper), it's not the same thing. It doesn't provide the unique advantages specifically tailored for sheet music organizing & viewing that the MusicPad Pro+ provides, and via finger touch screen selection or even hands free, which (to me) is essential (to me) when performing. The screen size & dimensions of a tradition laptop don't match the portrait dimensions of a standard lead sheet either, and laptop placement * viewability (with attached keyboard) is an issue as well. We all here seem willing to spend hundreds (& even thousands) of dollars on upgrading our keyboards, but when it comes to spending money for the music itself (media), we suddenly get sqeamish. Yes, $1,200 (or $1,099 in my case) is a considerable chunk of change, but I feel the MusicPadPro well worth the investment, even it means passing up on a keyboard upgrade for another year.

Scott

Scott, I agree that you should spend the money on what helps you most. I don't use sheet music at all anymore, just lyrics with chord changes, so it wouldn't be as important to me.
Still, I'll have to check it out sometime.
DonM

I've been eyeing this Music PadPro vs a cheap laptop.

Music PadPro looks great for all the good reasons that ScottY so clearly mentions. Of course, the price. Geez. Maybe the Chinese will come out with a $400 version before long.

Otherwise, the idea of a cheap laptop really appeals to me. I think the problem of the screens dimensions etc, could be solved by setting the laptop on it's side. That way one could easily see an entire page of music.

But, I don't know enough about computer's to have figured out how to turn pages using my above idea.

Does anyone have any answer's to this?

When I do use music it is for the notes and chords, as I don't sing. So the lyrics and chords alone wouldn't do me much good on say a tune like "Theme from The Summer of '42". A simpler melody I could probably get through, but the ones with a lot of unusual chords and melody, I would need the music unless I played it a lot.

Scott Langholff

Otherwise, the idea of a cheap laptop really appeals to me. I think the problem of the screens dimensions etc, could be solved by setting the laptop on it's side. That way one could easily see an entire page of music.

But, I don't know enough about computer's to have figured out how to turn pages using my above idea. --Scott's Langhoff post

Scott, I use Encore for my music notation.
1-I go to file/page set-up.
2-Put in the correct percentage to fill the screen properly.
3-In 95% of the songs I am able to display the complete song without scrolling. Most music has 3 to 4 measures on one line, I can put 5 to 7 measures depending on the song.

My method.
1-Open a master page that has the all my songs listed.
2-Click on any song, then press and hold the first letter of the song I am looking for on my keyboard.
3-If I wish to play more then one song that have the same feel (related) I write it as a second page in the encore program. Even a third page or a forth -- as many as you wish.
4-After playing the first song I just click the #2 on the open page for my next song. A set of songs all brought up at the same time when the first song is selected. The song titles are all written on the first page, or each page.

5-To go to another song on the master list, close the present page (song you were playing)Click anywhere on the master song list, press and hold the first letter of the new song and open it.

Close old page-Master list remains open--select your song--open it.

All done without placing my laptop on it's side --ha ha ha.

Because of my aging eyes I would like a bigger screen. 15.1 Looks great, mine is smaller. I thought of adding a 17" screen--and placing my latop beside me. Hmmmm!


Life is still good, I'm holding on, JOhn C.

Guys and gals,

There are daylight viewable LCD displays availanble to 21 inches, some of which get brighter when in direct sunlight. They're not cheap, but the prices are currently half what they were just 2 years ago. Additionally, I've been hearing rumors that one or more of the computer manufacturers will be coming out with a sunlight viewable laptop in the next few months, one that retails for less the $1,000. Hopefully, keyboard manufacturs will follow suit and begin producing keyboard's with similar LCD sunlight viewable displays. I turned down several outdoor jobs this summer because of this problem.

Cheers,

Gary