Possible music display device? (Dell XPS-18)

Hi - a friend of mine, the one with the Yamaha CVP-609 piano, just bought a new Dell XPS-18 tablet, and when I saw it I thought, "this is the iPad that I wished Appled would have made"! I might have to get one. It's an 18" tablet, basically like a huge iPad. He's running MusicReader on it. I put my iPad next to it and took this picture (I am running unrealBook app). Two pages of music side-by-side ... I wonder if this is the 'ultimate' table for musicians? I only wish it ran iOS (since my favoriate music reader app, unrealBook, is on iOS). I hope this picture comes thru; not sure how to 'attach' a photo.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/jimlaing/XPS-18-and-iPad-on-Piano.jpg

That's really quite nice, and if it never left the house it might be better than an iPad for music display. The thought of transporting it to/from gigs makes me paranoid though.

To display music sheet, reading books, listening music and watching pictures or movies the tablet with the best price/performance ratio right now is the new Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 sold by Amazon.
I am waiting till the Christmas frenzy will be over and then will most likely buy one.
The only clear advantage of the iPad is the number of apps it can run, but for basic tasks like reading music or books this to me is a more sensible choice.

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9

But that's kind of the whole point, isn't it? If you are blowing $500 or so, shouldn't you go with something that can do more than reading books and displaying music?

An iPad can be a book reader or sheet music display, sure, but it can also be a complete recording studio, or even a full Fairlight synthesizer, a vocal harmonizer, and a myriad other things.

Losing out on all this just to save a bit under $200 seems a bit short sighted. It IS a 'clear advantage'..!

The iPad is simply too small for me to use for sheet music. My vision is too bad to read the tiny dots! The Dell XPS-18 is an excellent idea but I am still waiting for something around 13 inches. Hopefully someone will produce something about that size. I don't see a way to use the XPS-18 on a music rest while connected to external power. Looks like battery operation is the only option in that configuration. I still use the MusicPad Pro and it does the job I need for now. I have no need nor do I want to carry around a tablet for Internet use.

Bob have you ever worked on memorizing songs in your repertoire that will make it much easier also.

FYI, the XPS-18 can be powered while on a music rack. The power input is a small connector on the left side; no problem for the tablet to be flat against a music rack, with power running to it ...

Yeah, a ~13" iPad would be great!

Re: memorizing ... I have almost 1100 songs in my repertoire now; I can play maybe ~200 of these from memory, but there's no way my brain could "assimilate" all 1100 into memory! :-) Alot of times, I'm not so much "sight-reading" as using the display as a "reminder" of an arrangement, or the chords/notes to parts of songs that I only partially have 'in memory' ... I'd love to be able to do all 1100 from memory but I don't think my brain (or my free time to work on such a memorizing task) would allow! :-)

Jim

Donny, there are many songs that I play from memory and some seem to just happen without thought. But, like Jim, I often need a lead sheet "refresher" if I have not played a song for a while. I play hundreds of songs and at my age recall doesn't always come easy.

Thanks for the info on external power, Jim.

So it has come to this: we pay less than $1000 for the keyboard, and OVER $1000 for a device to read the lyrics from ?!?!?

For music, lyric sheets and lead sheets, I wish they would make a E-ink unit that was built for the musician and not for the book reading community. Hal Leonard should do something with a direct link so you could even buy the music at the gig.

This is close...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002GYWHSQ/ref=fs_dx

Only 9.? inches... 13" would be primo!

OR... a display for the musician and a wireless, bigger display for sing alongs or to advertise who you are in a high tech way. Once OLED tech gets better and cheaper it may be possible to do what I want. 10 - 15 years down the road... maybe?!?

[quote=Dreamer]To display music sheet, reading books, listening music and watching pictures or movies the tablet with the best price/performance ratio right now is the new Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 sold by Amazon.

What Music Display App is available for the Kindle? ?

Thanks

All my music sheet are in pdf format and thus can be read by Adobe Acrobat, whose Reader version is free and extremely common in the Windows world; I am no Kindle expert, but Amazon is the greatest world seller of e-books (available also in PDF format), so their own tablet has to have an app for reading them already installed.
I intend to buy a Fire HDX 8.9 after Xmas, taking advantage of the first special offer by Amazon (they will no doubt make one, once the initial buying frenzy is over) and in the meantime will read the initial impressions by the first actual users.
I am in no hurry since I already own two Dell: a desktop with a 27" HD monitor and a 17" laptop, where I run applications like sequencers, editors for my keyboards, etc... all things I would have problems using on a tiny 8.9" screen, so the tablet would be actually a luxury and I would use it just for quickly finding a particular music sheet.

For a list of apps for the Kindle Fire you can check these links:

The 30 Best Kindle Fire Apps

Apps & Games for Kindle Fire

Kindle Fire Forum

How does the Kindle fire stack up against the iPad?

Here is a list of music specific apps (note how most of them are free):

Music Apps for Kindle Fire

Here are a few comparisons:


Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" vs Apple iPad

Best tablets

Best tablets 2014

Here is another link:

Apple iPad alternatives

Are any of these devices capable of running software that outputs the notes as MIDI, in a "follow the bouncing ball" kind of way? Or failing that, can either of them display MIDI notes generated by a sequencer sync'd in real time sync to the master clock?

IMO the Clavinova and the Tyros already have an excellent system for displaying music for "play-along." I'm not good at sight reading and sometimes I have trouble "reading ahead." Turning the page by hand is a guaranteed mistake or late note. So yes, I'm very interested in a system like this!

Ted,
please use the above link about the Music apps for Kindle Fire: on the Amazon site there are 53 pages, each with 48 apps; that makes a total of about 2500 apps, just for music.
I am sure that at least one of them will do what you need.
.

Yes I know there are several, frankly too many to conduct an exhaustive survey. I posted because I was hoping that you, or someone else on the Forum could recommend a specific app or device from experience, that does what I'm asking for. That is to say, one that does the same thing the Tyros score viewer does, but with a larger screen, in a stand-alone device.
Thanks again,
Ted

Thanks for all the info, you've definately done your research

Ted,
check this one
Pianist
or this one
Piano Melody Free
(both free)

These are the Music Apps rated four stars or more; there are 176 of them, so it should be easier to find the one you are looking for. Again, the vast majority are free.

Highest Rated Music Apps for Kindle Fire

This one looks interesting:



Act Piano

Common FM Synthesizer (free)

Equalizer FX (free)

Pitch perfect (free):

Guitar Pro (4.89 GBP)

Chordbot Pro (3.18 GBP)

Mixtkl 5 (3.10 GBP)

Fakebook - The Real Book (1.99 GBP)

G Stomper Beat Studio (4.89 GBP)

FrequenSee HD - Spectrum Analyzer ( 0.69 GBP)

Some of my users are using the DELL XPS18 with vArranger, and they love it.

To put this in arranger-player's context - Another photo ... my friend's Dell XPS-18 on my music stand with my Tyros3.
I'm going to use it for a classical-oriented gig I'll be playing tonight ... (instead of my iPad with unrealBook)
Jim
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/jimlaing/XPS-18-and-iPad-on-Tyros.jpg

Jim ... from that photo it looks like you will be looking up at the screen ... will that be tough on your neck in the long run?

Yes, I need to lower that music rack. This is my home rig; my gigging keyboard stand is different (music rack is lower). Good suggestion ... thanks!
Jim

Looks great, being able to display 2 full sheets of music on the screen is a definite plus foe me. Something I'd be very interested in. Thanks for posting.