Misc electronics Best Tablet/Digital Device for Reading Sheet?

[lydian]

I use an older 12.9” iPad for set lists and for the rare reading gig. Forescore is great for that as well as fake books and practice stuff that comes in pdf form as previously mentioned.

Hate to promote Amazon but this cheap and cheerful holder works pretty well.

https://www.amazon.com/Hola-Music-HM-MTH-Microphone-Smartphone/dp/B00QT1E3K2

Exactly the same one I use. Can also remove the clamp and screw directly into a mic stand. 2 pairs of holders fit everything from a phone to a laptop.

(You can delete everything after E3K2 in your link like I did and it will still work).

 

[Targa]

I use an ipad4 which must be at least 12 years old, doesn’t work for much else any more.

 

[mizmar]

As this thread has bounced up.. I whole heartedly repudiate my posts on Chromebooks above.
As much as the concept appealed to many people; it doesn't work and even Google agree.

I've now got a 12.7'' Lenovo Pad (just to stay in the Android ecosystem) and it's much smoother. Got a stylus, so annotations are easy. Using Mobilesheets Pro (I don't have to sync with anyone) + iReal, Speed changer, TE Tuner and a (middle Eastern) rhythms app.
FWIW it records fine for practice; but the Zoom H2e adds a whole 'nother dimension.

 

[Tonehole]

I go as small and light as possible this stand packs super small. Disappears in my kit. I have been using it steady for 4 years now with no problems. You pay for the quality and compactness but worth it over the years. It has a shock and awe factor when you pull it out and set it up with other musicians. Always have it as some times stands are not suppied at random band gigs I sub. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006076318004.html?src=google&pdp_npi=4@dis!USD!39.90!21.95!!!!!@!12000038353099216!ppc!!!&src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=708-803-3821&isdl=y&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Google_7_shopping&aff_platform=google&aff_short_key=UneMJZVf&gclsrc=aw.ds&albagn=888888&ds_e_adid=&ds_e_matchtype=&ds_e_device=c&ds_e_network=x&ds_e_product_group_id=&ds_e_product_id=en3256805890003252&ds_e_product_merchant_id=107152211&ds_e_product_country=US&ds_e_product_language=en&ds_e_product_channel=online&ds_e_product_store_id=&ds_url_v=2&albcp=19678427463&albag=&isSmbAutoCall=false&needSmbHouyi=false&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19686402437&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyvHLBhDlARIsAHxl6xrpQ7TP0bw5D-R5ecZ4EVVsJrWnMHFi-t3DTAQ687vgMcDL8kJ4JqMaAoAqEALw_wcB&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt

I mount a Mackie Freeplay Live or my EV8 speaker on one of these stands for gigs. I have two very slick. Looks very clean and professional.

2M Heavy-Duty Foldable Light Stand | Wheeled Tripod

Aluminium robuste, supporte 5 kg, compact, hauteur de 2 m et compatibilité universelle. Procurez-vous votre pied d'éclairage AT-05 dès aujourd'hui !

www.ulanzi.com

Camera stuff is very slick, quality materials, well made and over engineered.

I recently bought this large tray off Temu for $1.00 a crazy flash sale. It is plastic light and strong - stiff no flex. Well engineered. Better than my heavy K&M for portability and packing as it is flat. They sell on Amazon I discovered.

Amazon.com

 

[turf3]

It's that scanning bit I don't want to get involved in. Given that most sheet music is larger than standard size, often multiple pages, or three or more sheets taped, you're probably going to have to handle every single page manually more than once; then go back and check it all to make sure it scanned legibly, then fix some, then do all the file management. I like the simplicity and nonvolatile nature of paper, myself. Would, however, like to have iRealPro or whatever's the current equivalent massive fake book; but honestly up till now I've gotten by just looking over someone's shoulder for a chorus or two if I don't know the tune.

 

[lig]

It's that scanning bit I don't want to get involved in. Given that most sheet music is larger than standard size, often multiple pages, or three or more sheets taped, you're probably going to have to handle every single page manually more than once; then go back and check it all to make sure it scanned legibly, then fix some, then do all the file management. I like the simplicity and nonvolatile nature of paper, myself. Would, however, like to have iRealPro or whatever's the current equivalent massive fake book; but honestly up till now I've gotten by just looking over someone's shoulder for a chorus or two if I don't know the tune.

That's one of the things I love about the iPhone. Now in Notes you can take a photo and it'll save directly as a pdf document that you can shoot straight to Forescore. Doesn't matter if it's multiple pages or not - Notes lets you determine how many pages each document contains. You either save as a one pager or continue adding pages.

I don't recall having many problems with regard to sizing.

 

[mizmar]

Indeed. Mobilesheets even has the option of importing from camera (as well as pdf or jpg) and, probably, uses the built-in Android scan capability that Drive (Google Cloud app) uses/provides. The results are as good as a flat bed scanner and faster.

I can understand if someone has a legacy pile of paper, it may well be a faff. But once stuff is in these apps it's a wonder of organisation with collections, playlists, key words, fast search etc.

Example:
I've joined a new Choire group. The director provides (mostly) pdf of words, of dots, a pile of mp3s for each voice and maybe an original performance. And, maybe, gives a hand annotated hand-out. I stuff it all into a song; have buttons to play stuff, can loop, bring up a tuner, add annotations, other recordings etc. All in one place. And can print with annotations. With collections/playlists of the book, the current book etc. Nothing gets lost. And it's all backed up regularly

 

[mizmar]

importing from camera (as well as pdf or jpg)

Oh, and, ABC or chordpro

 

[MikeMorrell]

My refurbed £299 one from 3 years ago is still going strong too. Used daily.

Delighted to hear it, Nick! Good shared experience for anyone wanting to buy a 'music tablet' on a budget.

FWIW, I bought a tablet for music^* about 2 years years ago without too many budget restrictions. Initially, I also had the idea of 'the bigger the better' and had my eye on a 14.6 inch Samsung tablet. But when I got one in my hands, it just looked, felt and weighed huge and cumbersome. And it was expensive. So I quickly decided that my eyesight didn't require such a large, heavy and cumbersome Tablet that wouldn't easily fit in my 'rehearsal bag' or be stable on any 'Tablet stand' I'd looked at. So I quickly 'downsized' to a 12.6 inch Tablet which felt much more 'comfortable; and with which I've been happy with ever since.

^*I initially bought my Tablet so that I could play along with a 'Blues/Rock/Pop band' who shared lyrics, chords and annotations (solos) via digital files. So in this band, I didn't need to play sheet music from the Tablet. But I needed to be able to make my own 'digital annotations' w.r.t. what to play and when.
But in the 2 series of (10) 'jazz improvisation workshops' that I've been part of since then (both on bass and sax), I've exclusively read 'sheet music' via my Tablet (with a foot pedal). I had no problems

I still use 'printed' sheet music in my Big Band. Mainly because of 'the chore' of digitalising all my 'parts' (including handwritten annotations). And because I'm just lazy. But fellow members who prefer Tablets, use them at (approximately) 12.6 inches. I see - as yet - no inclination by my fellow members - to 'scale up' their Tablets to 14,6 or 15 inch. For the moment, it seems to me as if 12.5 to 13 inch Tablets are the 'sweet spot' for most (amateur) musicians.

 

[MikeMorrell]

Delighted to hear it, Nick! Good shared experience for anyone wanting to buy a 'music tablet' on a budget.

FWIW, I bought a tablet for music^* about 2 years years ago without too many budget restrictions. Initially, I also had the idea of 'the bigger the better' and had my eye on a 14.6 inch Samsung tablet. But when I got one in my hands, it just looked, felt and weighed huge and cumbersome. And it was expensive. So I quickly decided that my eyesight didn't require such a large, heavy and cumbersome Tablet that wouldn't easily fit in my 'rehearsal bag' or be stable on any 'Tablet stand' I'd looked at. So I quickly 'downsized' to a 12.6 inch Tablet which felt much more 'comfortable; and with which I've been happy with ever since.

^*I initially bought my Tablet so that I could play along with a 'Blues/Rock/Pop band' who shared lyrics, chords and annotations (solos) via digital files. So in this band, I didn't need to play sheet music from the Tablet. But I needed to be able to make my own 'digital annotations' w.r.t. what to play and when.
But in the 2 series of (10) 'jazz improvisation workshops' that I've been part of since then (both on bass and sax), I've exclusively read 'sheet music' via my Tablet (with a foot pedal). I had no problems

I still use 'printed' sheet music in my Big Band. Mainly because of 'the chore' of digitalising all my 'parts' (including handwritten annotations). And because I'm just lazy. But fellow members who prefer Tablets, use them at (approximately) 12.6 inches. I see - as yet - no inclination by my fellow members - to 'scale up' their Tablets to 14,6 or 15 inch. For the moment, it seems to me as if 12.5 to 13 inch Tablets are the 'sweet spot' for most (amateur) musicians.

One more thing ..., the 'screen resolution'(= number of 'dots') of Tablets, smartphones, TV's etc. increases year by year Unless you really want to view movies, videos and games in the current 'highest visual quality, just go an older, cheaper (refurbished?) model that still has plenty 'screen resolution' to display 'sheet music'.

IMHO, the main risk in buying an 'older' Tablet (or any other device) is that the 'support' for older devices will end sooner than for 'newer' devices.

 

[mizmar]

to 'scale up' their Tablets to 14,6 or 15 inch

As I see it, 14''ish in landscape is two sides of A4 next to each other, give or take margins. On the one hand big, heavy and expensive. On the other hand, once you get used to auto scroll/pedal/swiping two sides of paper isn't a great baseline.
I don't know about the bandstand; but in the practice room 12''ish is more then enough in portrait, and usable in landscape either for two sides or one side, split screen with another app like iReal or such.

 

[Taragot]

As many, I use a 12.9 iPad with forescore. I had a brief try with a ultracheap laptop with touchscreen, but the resolution wasn't good enough.
With forescore, importing and updating pdfs is easy.
I have iGigBook on another device, and for fakebooks it's superior, once you have imported them with the right page numbers (easy switch between various transpositions). But setting it up is a pita.
I counted 9 ensembles/bands I have on my iPad - and really like the convenience of taking always my iPad to rehearsal.