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Double Bass Which iPad for Music?
- Thread starter Steve Freides
- Start date
A Pro with 256 GB sounds to me like a huge amount of overkill if all you want the iPad for is storing and reading notated music. I keep all my charts on my 16 GB regular iPad (with forScore) with no problems. If I had a ton more charts and wanted to use my pad for lots of other things that required more storage space I might be tempted to move to a 32 GB but more than that would be totally unnecessary for my needs.
I have the first gen 12.9 iPad Pro with a pencil. I also have forScore and iReal Pro. I have some other music apps but those two are the main ones. It's so much better than carrying several big books around.
The pencil with forScore is essential for quickly marking up charts - can be done on the bandstand like with paper and pencil.
Also, a good sturdy case is important. something that ideally holds the pencil securely. I sometimes play gigs on concrete and one flip off the music stand will ruin the iPad.
The pencil with forScore is essential for quickly marking up charts - can be done on the bandstand like with paper and pencil.
Also, a good sturdy case is important. something that ideally holds the pencil securely. I sometimes play gigs on concrete and one flip off the music stand will ruin the iPad.
Supadope
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The big iPad pro is definitely your best bet. Apple is expensive, but they have excellent quality and will last many years.
I use an iPad Air when I gig, but I am not reading sheet music. I just run PowerPoint with the set list; each slide containing chord progressions, notes about the songs, and sometimes lyrics. It's definitely a useful tool.
I agree with @bass12. Unless you are taking video on your iPad, you really don't need a lot of storage. I just upgraded from a six year old 32gb Air 2 that had no storage issues.
I use an iPad Air when I gig, but I am not reading sheet music. I just run PowerPoint with the set list; each slide containing chord progressions, notes about the songs, and sometimes lyrics. It's definitely a useful tool.
I agree with @bass12. Unless you are taking video on your iPad, you really don't need a lot of storage. I just upgraded from a six year old 32gb Air 2 that had no storage issues.
I have a 9” pro which is perfect for portability and iReal jazz cheat sheets. Print music comes out pretty small so I’d go 12” if I was dealing with a lot of scores or notation.
Yeah, my 9.7” Pro is usable if I stretch the PDF in forScore to fill the screen. Fortunately my eyesight is still good enough to see it an arm’s length away. I’d get the 12.9” model.
The cheapest model they sold in 2017 has way more than enough memory for all the scores I’ll ever need to store. (32GB)
I’ve been making do with the smaller screen and marking charts using my finger. Next time around I will probably splurge on the 13” screen and the Apple Pencil.
Even as is, I am never going back to paper!
I’ve been making do with the smaller screen and marking charts using my finger. Next time around I will probably splurge on the 13” screen and the Apple Pencil.
Even as is, I am never going back to paper!
I use the smaller iPad Air and it’s pretty good but I would like to get the Pro for bigger screen and pencil. I think the larger screen has got to be easier to see and I’m getting older so every little bit helps.
I use a second unit that runs the PA and IEM exclusively but I can get by with just one really.
I use a second unit that runs the PA and IEM exclusively but I can get by with just one really.
The main issue is screen size and iOS limit. Also RAM size and screen size and resolution.
I won‘t use an iPad mini since the size is too small for sheet music.
I also won‘t use a version 1 iPad because of the limitation to iOS 5, the iPad 2 can get a bit slow and the screen resolution could be better, but it works and I have two of them.
The iPad 3 has a better screen but for larger scores the RAM can limit the use (about 25 pages per title, iPad 2 was about 40). At least with the current version of Calypso. But for lead sheets, fake books it works. But they are limited to iOS 9 and that can be a problem for some apps, now or rather soon.
On the other hand they can be very cheap used.
It depends on the size of your music library, but I prefer 64 GB (or larger) and won‘t get lower than 32 GB. Also to keep some free space (about 3-4 GB) or the iPad can get slow. Also limit the number of apps on this iPad. Some can slow it down.
For conductors and maybe also musicians that need to play from longer parts or scores a double page view might be more pleasant to use, but then you are quickly at the largest iPad you can get.
A page turner is a need, either a commercially available one or building one from a cheap (Bluetooth) keyboard. There are nice examples on YouTube. But not every app can select the keys for page turning.
Try to get a silently switching one. Simple stomp box switches are loud!
So, that‘s from the cheap side of digital music reading.
I won‘t use an iPad mini since the size is too small for sheet music.
I also won‘t use a version 1 iPad because of the limitation to iOS 5, the iPad 2 can get a bit slow and the screen resolution could be better, but it works and I have two of them.
The iPad 3 has a better screen but for larger scores the RAM can limit the use (about 25 pages per title, iPad 2 was about 40). At least with the current version of Calypso. But for lead sheets, fake books it works. But they are limited to iOS 9 and that can be a problem for some apps, now or rather soon.
On the other hand they can be very cheap used.
It depends on the size of your music library, but I prefer 64 GB (or larger) and won‘t get lower than 32 GB. Also to keep some free space (about 3-4 GB) or the iPad can get slow. Also limit the number of apps on this iPad. Some can slow it down.
For conductors and maybe also musicians that need to play from longer parts or scores a double page view might be more pleasant to use, but then you are quickly at the largest iPad you can get.
A page turner is a need, either a commercially available one or building one from a cheap (Bluetooth) keyboard. There are nice examples on YouTube. But not every app can select the keys for page turning.
Try to get a silently switching one. Simple stomp box switches are loud!
So, that‘s from the cheap side of digital music reading.
