And for big band gigs where parts can be 3, 4, 5 pages long (or more), it is SO much better - and NO worrying about wind!
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Choosing a Tablet for Reading Charts
- Thread starter JimmyM
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And for big band gigs where parts can be 3, 4, 5 pages long (or more), it is SO much better - and NO worrying about wind!
My experience is to go with larger iPad, they are much more intuitive to use and the available apps in my experience are more refined. In my day-to-day life I mostly use a PC so its not that I am more oriented towards Apple products. I did have an Android tablet at one point and gave it up, I found it too clunky and confusing to use. Apple iPad on a high-quality holder and foldup music stand works great and looks very stealth on stage.
My last iPad was supported for almost 10 years ! The iPhone 6s is still supported and it’s been 6 years ! I know it seems like more money down but the years you would get out of it is well worth it. My daughter got a new iPad last Christmas ( $299 I think ) from one of her grandparents and like the old tablet will likely last over 8 years. Don’t think android tablets can come even close to this. Also, any issues you just go to a apple store in the mall and you can get help. Hope you get what you are looking for.
Paper is 3:2. 4:3 is like old TVs. Most Windows and Android tablets are 16:9 or 16:10. The Surface is 3:2 which is why it's great for this purpose if that's your inclination.
That is the first I heard there was an age limit on getting lasik. I guess you learn something every day.
Not to side track the thread, there was another thread on we mature players dealing declining visual abilities and solutions just about two weeks ago. If you’ve not seen it you may want to dig it out and review. Lots of good posts on the subject.
Screen size and apps.
Our band uses Google drive for recordings, set lists, song structure notes, lyrics, etc. Google has apps for both apple and android (of course), and also it all accessible via any browser.
I use the Ultimate Guitar app for any tab or chord charts, but that’s also available via a google search in any browser provided you have a network to access, WiFi or cellular. If not, maybe one of your band mates can make a hot spot to join via WiFi.
Not sure what other kinds of apps you might need, but I consider it a draw for app support for the apps I need.
That leaves screen size. I use a regular iPad, the “cheap” one, and it has a 10” screen.
Having said that, I previously owned a Samsung android tablet and found it almost unusable. Incomprehensible also. But if you’re used to an android phone, maybe not so bad. Actually, phone compatibility is another consideration.
I vote carrots - buy one used, and you can resell it for the same price if you hate it, but failing that, I recommend an iPad based on my biased experience with both tablet platforms (biased = I have been using iOS since I was 30something).
Our band uses Google drive for recordings, set lists, song structure notes, lyrics, etc. Google has apps for both apple and android (of course), and also it all accessible via any browser.
I use the Ultimate Guitar app for any tab or chord charts, but that’s also available via a google search in any browser provided you have a network to access, WiFi or cellular. If not, maybe one of your band mates can make a hot spot to join via WiFi.
Not sure what other kinds of apps you might need, but I consider it a draw for app support for the apps I need.
That leaves screen size. I use a regular iPad, the “cheap” one, and it has a 10” screen.
Having said that, I previously owned a Samsung android tablet and found it almost unusable. Incomprehensible also. But if you’re used to an android phone, maybe not so bad. Actually, phone compatibility is another consideration.
I vote carrots - buy one used, and you can resell it for the same price if you hate it, but failing that, I recommend an iPad based on my biased experience with both tablet platforms (biased = I have been using iOS since I was 30something).
And learn how to dim the screen!Oh, if you do get one, remember to turn off the auto screen lock feature when gigging with it or you will be faced with a blank locked screen mid song.
Yep. Disorganized jams are just disorganized jams. There should at least be a way to order a playlist alphabetically on a tablet but if the jam participants can't even do that much, they probably need to be carrying books. For an actual show, we have our sets in order and you can just swipe to the next song or use a foot switch.
I use For Score for importing charts. It’s a good app. I have a regular size iPad. I find it a bit small. I’m going to go for the larger screen when it comes time to replace it.
Right now my tablet situation is kind of a hodgepodge, due to using old stuff. I've got a Surface Pro that's fine for PDF's, but won't run iReal Pro, so I've got an old Google Nexus tablet for that app. These things are also kind of an experiment to see if I would really benefit from either of them, or both, or neither. I'd rather find that out before spending money, rather than after. 
I've learned some things from the college music students in my family. Pretty much everybody has settled on Apple -- some kind of iPad plus a third party page turning pedal. I can see why the students have switched to tablets -- the amount of material that they go through even just in the space of a week is a huge hassle if it has to be printed, often to be read just once. Printing something means finding a place on campus with a printer, in between classes / rehearsals. They need to be able to annotate PDF's, for which the Apple pen is preferred.
About the issue of what other people think: Showing up for a recital with "different" gear means that if anything goes wrong with it, you're the Goat, especially if it seems like you were trying to save money. Also, you're responsible for the reliability of your gear. And arts people are not necessarily techies. They won't grasp why you chose anything but Apple, which has been the IBM of the arts world for decades. That's not going to change.
So far my best use for the tablet: Scottish Country Dancing gigs, which are 4 hours of music, 100% sight reading, will never be played again. The BL sends me a PDF and I download it to the tablet. There are certain other kinds of gigs such as "backing up the singer from out of town" with the same situation.
For playing jazz standards, I stopped using fake books about 20 years ago and never looked back.
My main band uses printed charts, none of which have been digitized, so it's still pulling charts from the book and bringing a folder to the gig.
The organization of the PDF fake books sucks, and you have to be very quick with your fingers to look up a song without creating "dead air" on the bandstand. That's one reason why I ditched the fake books. I wrote a program that breaks up multi-page fake books into individual PDF files so that an entire library of tunes can be kept in a single folder, and searched using the file explorer. That's a lot easier than flipping through multiple books to find something.
I've learned some things from the college music students in my family. Pretty much everybody has settled on Apple -- some kind of iPad plus a third party page turning pedal. I can see why the students have switched to tablets -- the amount of material that they go through even just in the space of a week is a huge hassle if it has to be printed, often to be read just once. Printing something means finding a place on campus with a printer, in between classes / rehearsals. They need to be able to annotate PDF's, for which the Apple pen is preferred.
About the issue of what other people think: Showing up for a recital with "different" gear means that if anything goes wrong with it, you're the Goat, especially if it seems like you were trying to save money. Also, you're responsible for the reliability of your gear. And arts people are not necessarily techies. They won't grasp why you chose anything but Apple, which has been the IBM of the arts world for decades. That's not going to change.
So far my best use for the tablet: Scottish Country Dancing gigs, which are 4 hours of music, 100% sight reading, will never be played again. The BL sends me a PDF and I download it to the tablet. There are certain other kinds of gigs such as "backing up the singer from out of town" with the same situation.
For playing jazz standards, I stopped using fake books about 20 years ago and never looked back.
My main band uses printed charts, none of which have been digitized, so it's still pulling charts from the book and bringing a folder to the gig.
The organization of the PDF fake books sucks, and you have to be very quick with your fingers to look up a song without creating "dead air" on the bandstand. That's one reason why I ditched the fake books. I wrote a program that breaks up multi-page fake books into individual PDF files so that an entire library of tunes can be kept in a single folder, and searched using the file explorer. That's a lot easier than flipping through multiple books to find something.
Letter paper in the USA/Canada is 8.5" x 11" which is 0.7727 which is closest to 3:4 (0.7500) (An old TV sideways)
I'm not up to date on the latest tablets, but my old 8" Samsung is a 2:3 tablet (0.666)
9:16 (0.5625) or 10:16 (0.625) is a bit too long... or not wide enough, depending on point of view.
Make sure you like the screen shape, because it won't change after purchase!
But we can change how we use it. ie. extra page excerpt on the bottom or top.
If you are giving charts to someone to practice for a show or a rehearsal, it's handy to have a simple way to do it quickly. I could scan and save my paper charts and email them to someone, but that's a little more time consuming, especially if you're talking about several sets worth of material. All the charts on my tablet can be shared with a couple of clicks.
iPad Pro 12.9 and the app ForScore. Complete reliability and ease of use.
