You'll never need a page turner again:
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4 comments:
Thanks so much for posting news about the AirTurn! You can see a video that probably better illustrates how the AirTurn can turn digital music pages wirelessly and hands-free here:
AirTurn Wireless Page Turner
Electronic music display is just not ready for prime time. The premise at the beginning of the video is flawed: you hardly ever have to carry around 30 music books, usually just two or three.
The kind of computer that's convenient to carry around is a laptop, and such screens aren't really big enough, and aren't convenient to put on a music stand or piano music rack. Turning pages will be the least of your worries. Carrying around your iMac isn't that convenient, either. There are some dedicated devices for this, but they're way too expensive.
After you come out of the practice room and go to the cafeteria, you could put your music books in a cubby to pick up afterwards. Not so an expensive, stealable computer.
The page turning peripheral looks great, but it's an accessory to a concept which isn't really practical as yet.
Hi Allen! Thanks so much for raising some very valid points concerning the feasibility of computers as music readers. I'm pretty sure you represent the vast majority of musicians with very similar reservations to the ones you thoughtfully illustrated. If i may take a moment to address them, i'd really appreciate your feedback:
1. The Need to Carry Scores - i guess this really depends on your level of musical activity. I have around 6000 scores in my computer; having my entire library with me at all times has been an invaluable resource as a performer, touring musician and teacher. For repetiteurs who have to work on several vocal scores (operas, lieder, church music, etc.) simultaneously, it really offers a great alternative to carrying around bulky scores or 3-ring binders!
We're just about to start audition season at a lot of music schools, and at the Curtis Institute of Music where i work as a collaborative pianist, i used to have to carry boxes and boxes of scores for each set of instrumental auditions - a real nightmare hunting down this concerto or that sonata, particularly, when you suddenly realize one or more pieces are missing! This no longer happens, since my entire library comes with me at all times now!
2. Screen Size - I'd like to invite you to take a look at a video review of a program called MusicReader here: http://airturn.com/products-mrsp.html
My favorite aspect of this program is its ability to zoom in and show half a page at a time, allowing for magnified views and easy page turns in landscape mode. I would argue that particularly for folks who suffer from poor eyesight, a computer can actually offer a BETTER reading experience than paper!
3. Expense - again, i think this is a relative issue. Just about every musician i know owns at least one laptop. The AirTurn is compatible with virtually all Mac and Windows computers with USB ports, so a musician could get started with reading digital music with very little initial investment.
Another thing to consider is the relative cost of music scores available either as CD's, online purchases or from free web resources. I have the entire works of Chopin in my computer, thanks to CD Sheet Music, all for only $20 on a single CD. If i were to try to purchase all those scores individually, the paper expense itself would probably more than cover the cost of a new computer!
4. Possibility of Theft - this is a very valid concern, and one reason why i keep multiple copies of my digital library on external hard drives and other computers as backup resources. I would pose that more likely than theft (at least in my case, probably due to my forgetful nature) is the possibility of plain old "loss". One time, before i started using digital music scores, i was on tour in another city, and to my horror i discovered that i had accidentally forgot to pack a vital piece of music!! I had to phone my wife out of desperation to try and find a Staples office store to send over the score by fax, and she proceeded to get very lost on the highway - and very, very upset!! Needless to say it was a very unnerving experience, and just the memory of that still makes me shudder! Ever since i've converted my library to digital formats, i simply carry everything with me at all times, so i just don't "forget" this piece of music or that!
I could go on and on with other aspects of computers as music readers - advanced editing techniques, digital ink to be able to annotate non-destructively, the ability to virtually "clip" portions of music to seamlessly create practice journals, having the ability to use audio to either record or playback accompaniment tracks, etc...again, I think you've raised some terrific points, and i'd love to address them and any other concerns you may have!
Cheers!
I forgot to address your comment about the convenience of putting a computer on a music stand or piano music rack. For my laptop, i just put the piano music rack down and read straight off of the computer, a zoomed half-page at a time (as mentioned above with MusicReader). My Tablet PC happens to be a slate model, which comes without a keyboard, so it's actually very small and light and fits nicely on any music stand. If you want more stability, you can check out laptop tripods and/or a specialized music stand for computers made by Bili - i'll get the URL to that posted when i get a chance!
On a more musical note, i'd love to invite you to enjoy this video of a performance i gave with Soprano Jacquelyn Familant this past summer, singing two songs by Rachmaninoff - and with me using my AirTurn to read the score off of my computer sitting on the piano music rack ;) I hope you can see how unobtrusive the computer becomes to the performance - no human page turner sitting next to me ready to leap up and drop the music all over the keyboard! :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WNy0CLzkjc
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