Finally, its here!

So far I've upgraded the operating system to 3.1.5 via the internet and even managed to create and import in a page of sheet music.

A couple questions for you experts, ok?

1) I had various options as to which graphics format (.tiff, .bmp, etc...) I could use. I used the default, which was the .tiff. The imported file is usable for the chord changes but NOT to be able to read the lyrics of the sheet I used.

-What is the preferred graphics format to use and why?

2) I did not explore any of the resizing options in the scanning process yet. Is this something that I will NEED to do for every scanned sheet I ever do? Is there a basic default setting that should work well most of the time?

Thanks in advance-

Bill in Dayton

TIFF is right, 200dpi. Yep, I have to load s special set of parameters every time I scan a sheet in. Fortunately I've saved that setting and can call it up easily. I guess it depends on the scanner.

The quality will depend on the size of the sheet in the first place. Those small Hal Leonard fakebook leadsheets don't scan well at all, but I get excellent results from my Warner Brothers fakebooks. I also get great results directkly printing to the MPP program via the Freehand driver from Band In A Box.

It might be worth investing in a program like Finale Songwriter if you need to do good leadsheets with lyrics.

Guys-

Tried scanning several more sheets with better results. Its clearly evident that the better quality original you start with, the better the end result. (I know, I know, DUH!!!) Many of the sheets I use are 3rd or 4th generation copies, so I'm probably making it harder for the MPP than I should be.

First impressions of the unit are favorable. I was able to download the most current version of the OS, scan some copies in, even create a playlist.

One thing that has confused me, I scanned in 3 sheets of a songs music. page one, pg. 2, pg. 3. When I copied the pages...in order, mind you...into the Music pad manager...and transferred them to the MPP, they were in the wrong order. I had to use the MOVE SHEET option to correct the numbering.

What's the secret behind saving multiple page songs in the correct order?

I seem to be missing the adapter cable from the unit to the foot pedal...

Misc. questions:

What do I use the small black strap with a tiny loop at the end of it for?

Is there a designated place to store the stylus on the unit itself?

There is a smallish wheel type device at the upper right hand corner of the unit. I do not seem to be able to enage any particular function with this, but haven't been very forceful-What is that used for, if anything?

Off to a gig, cya later!

Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 01-20-2007).]

Congratulations Bill.

Someday I hope to get one of these for myself, but at the moment I’m trying to reorganise my Studio. All going well I will get one later in the year.

Kind Regards.
James.

What's the secret behind saving multiple page songs in the correct order?
For me the best way seems to be by the example below. Take the song Beyond the Sea for instance
The first page I save as Beyond the Sea
2nd page Beyond the SeaB
3rd page Beyond the SeaS
In other words by adding letters down the alphabet the pages get imported in that order A,B,S etc or whatever letter you choose( hope I'm making sense)
When I import to MPP the the title will show up as the name of the last page. In this case Beyond the SeaS. At that point I simply remove the S at the end of Seas, so that the MPP file is named the exact name of the song Beyond The Sea.

What do I use the small black strap with a tiny loop at the end of it for?
I don't remember having that strap.

Is there a designated place to store the stylus on the unit itself?
Upper right hand corner. What looks like a wheel is not, that's the stylus. Just pull up on it and it will slide out.




[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 01-21-2007).]

Bill,

If you have a program such as Adobe Photshop, one with all the editing facilities, scan your aged sheet music into that program. Then you can adjust the brightness, contrast, etc., until you get a great looking graphic page, then save it in the appropriate format. You'll see a big improvement in the results.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Can someone explain to me how to find a new song on music pad pro, when I'm on gig it's got to be fast when I need a new song, is there a nummerich pad so I can eks. type in 21 and the new song will be up at he screen.
I do not follow a playlist when I'm on gig, I jump arround so I need to know how do I get the next song on the screen

Twice-

I'll start by saying up front that I've had the MPP for a little over 24 hours, so I may be way off base with my suggestions...

From what I've read and seen myself, you can find music quickly via the Folder icon. By default, all songs (FILEs)are stored in alphbetical order. However, you can touch the TITLE, COMPOSER, INSTRUMENT, DATE ADDED OR SIZE to speed up the process.

I'm just getting started, but for me, I'll be creating "Playlists" to use when I'm performing. For the special requests/spur of the moment songs I want to pull up, I'll search via the alphabetical list.

If you're trying to avoide having to scroll down long lists of songs, you can also create sub-folders (A-H, I-N, O-Z) so you cut your song file database into smaller pieces. Its probably quicker to open a sub folder than scroll from A-T, I think.

Another way is to create sub folders based on Style of songs. For me, I'd create STANDARDS, COUNTRY, POP, OLDIES, LATIN, SPECIALS, XMAS folders. Let's say I need to pull up "Cherry Pink/Apple Blossom" on the fly, I'd hit the FOLDER ICON to access my songfile database, then select the LATIN folder, then select "Cherry Pink/Apple Blossom" from the available tunes.

Different ways to organize our song files...you'll need to find which method works best for you...

Regards,

Bill in Dayton

If I recall you can store about 100 songs in a playlist. You may want to store potential songs in a playlist of some kind. You could assign an appropirate name for the playlist for example 50s music. Once you open the playlist it's very easy to navigate to the song you want. Have you visited the forum at freehandsystems.com? Usually tech support people from Freehand regularly visit the site and may be able to offer you some helpful information. Unfortunately, Scott Yee no longer visits this site. Scott knows the MPP very well I'm sure he'd have some valuable input in your case. Good luck.



[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 01-21-2007).]

My experience is that there is no improvement in quality by importing high resolution files into MPP. I always scan at high resolution, then edit / clean up the file in photoshop, but finally save it as 90dpi resized to a pixel size of 766 x 1022. That way you have the best possible image with the least possible file size.

I don't know whether it has a noticeable difference in file opening time or page turning, but I would imagine the smaller files help in this regard.

Try it!

Graham

Graham

Graham,

Ditto! Always scan them in at a higher resolution, while allows you to make a much cleaner copy during the editing process. Then save them at a lower resolution to keep the file size small and speed up the loading process. I've done this with the laptop and using MS Word's graphic import feature, importing the scanned sheet music directly into a document file, which does essentially the same thing. It's fast and easy.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy