A first look at the MusicReader App for the iPad

[olekike]

I find the screen too small. Too small to read the notes and annotating is impossible. J can't write without overwriting notes or other lines. It becomes a mess! Guys just scip the ipad and tell them to make a larger screen. Demand it! They are there for us. Not the other way around!

[hughsung]

@olekike Did you know that you can use two fingers to pinch and zoom the screen? That makes it much easier to draw annotations. BTW, I do agree that a larger screen would be much more helpful, but given the incredible popularity of the iPad, it may be a while before anything significantly larger comes to market...

[olekike]

@hughsung I think you are right. One can wait for a larger screen or work with the device there is. good idea to pinch and zoom. my frustration was that, there is so much going on in the tablet PC and ereader market and no ones makes an affordable 12 inch screen and satisfy the needs of the digital musician. music pad pro is no more, they couldn't hold there one in the tablet market. so.....i'll look for other ways....second hand tablet pc's for example.

[hughsung]

@olekike I hear you. I've been a Tablet PC user myself ever since the very first models came out, so my heart was always with those devices. I still love my Lenovo X200 Tablet PC! But the iPad's form factor and amazing battery life make for tremendous portability, so I've grown to really enjoy working with my iPad now.

[anjonjp]

Why isn't this app available in the Japanese iTunes Store? I fail to understand what reason there could be for not offering this internationally?

[Bipek1]

I have got one question: iPad screen isn't huge, if we compare normal, printed score (A4, 210x297mm) and iPad's landscape view in MusicReader, what wil we get? Is the printed score larger than digital or just the opposite?

[hughsung]

@Bipek1 In landscape mode, the iPad actually displays the music somewhat larger than A4 printed music, albeit half a page at a time.

[Bipek1]

@hughsung Thanks for the quick answer. :) I'm a low visioned person and I'm searching for a good solution for me to read the music in a relatively comfortable way.

[MissMeowsic]

I noticed when you showed the "Airturn" it looked to have a usb component, but the IPAD has no USB ports - how will that work?

[hughsung]

@MissMeowsic The new AirTurn BT-105 uses Bluetooth technology to connect wirelessly to the iPad and other Bluetooth-equipped Mac and PC computers. Please visit AirTurn (dot) com for more details on the BT-105!

[hughsung]

@MissMeowsic The original AirTurn AT-104 had a USB receiver and 2.4 ghz transmitter. Our new BT-105 is a Bluetooth model designed for computers like the iPad. Please visit AirTurn dot com for more details.

[hughsung]

@MissMeowsic The AirTurn BT-105 hands free page turner connects wirelessly to the iPad via Bluetooth. Please visit our website at AirTurn (dot) com for more details on our latest page turning products.

[lubis1991]

I may be a little greedy here, but what I want from a dedicated sheet music app must include the following features:

Orchestral scores with click-to-view-instrument-score­s feature

Note taking with changes/annotations in a different font colour

Unified font and appearance across all scores from all sources

Scanning of hardcopy scores and interpretation of scores into editable versions again with standardised fonts

With all those features, I honestly wouldn't mind paying higher prices!

[KacelaJ]

Music Reader app looks very good on the iPad. The only thing I have reservations about is the glare... I'd need to find a screen protector that would give the screen more of a matte finish.

[hughsung]

@KacelaJ That's a valid concern. I'm very grateful for the matte finish on my new Lenovo Tablet PC - worked great during a recent Korean TV show taping segment with lots of hot, bright lights, but I could see where this might post a problem with the bright and glossy iPad screen. I'll try to test it under some stage lights at my next concert opportunity and report my findings.