Ok guys, after a LONG hard two year deliberation, I finally took the $ PLUNGE and ordered a MusicPad Pro 'Plus' PC tablet style 'sheet & fakebook music viewer-reader': http://www.freehandsystems.com/products.html

Picture: MusicPad Pro: front view

Picture: Music Pad Pro: attached to portable mic stand

I've long been searching for not only a digital paper-less backup of my immense sheet music & fakebook music library, but an all in one portable sheet music viewing device (which could HOLD my entire repetoire + all potential gig song requests) in ONE portable place for use both in the studio and onstage. I had the opportunity to get a personal demonstration (2 years ago) of an early generation version of the Music Pad Pro (MPP) and was impressed by many of its features. The MPP allows you to store thousands of pages of sheet music, custom organize them by category & call them up quickly . You can activate page turning or the 'next song' in an optional playlist via footpedal or finger tap on the screen itself. In addition, you can make minor edits/additions to specific notes, chords, or lyrics by simply writing directly on the screen itself onto a 'separate' layer, which doesn't affect the original. I find this to be a particularly useful feature as I frequently like to notate note/chord sub-stitutions. I also like the ability to markup the music with 'arranger' keyboard 'registration transition' instructions etc. The MusicPad Pro gives
you the opportunity to do this without affecting the original music. In addition, the Music Pad Pro includes USB ports which allow you to attach a removeable USB pen drive for multiple up to ONE gigybyte each, swappable storage.

My past reservations about purchasing the MusicPad Pro was that I would have had to spend countless hours scanning & converting thousands of pages of leadsheets into digital format, but recent availalibity of most all of my sheet music & fakebooks in PDF format now, have eliminated much of that painstaking task. The MusicPad Pro is able to recognize and IMPORT (via USB) most all standard graphic format files (from pdf, gif, tiff, to jpeg) as well as Microsoft Word Documents or any file which is able to be PRINTED out on your computer.

I've also seriously considered purchasing a laptop PC for viewing music & lyrics on stage, but currently no Windows or Mac programs offer the specific sheet music viewing/editing capabilities of the MusicPad Pro. A laptop of course offers more flexibility (including Midi/audio file playback) and power in OTHER areas as well, but as far as a dedicated sheet music display & markup music editing go, and with the size and dimensions of a standard music book (along with no keyboard obstruction) the Music Pad Pro appears to be the best (albeit more costly than I'd like) solution for me.

I realize that digital sheet music viewers are still in their infancy and that there will surely be more features added in the future, including midi editing & playback of the music. Because the MusicPad Pro includes a user downloadable OS and ALREADY includes a midi playback speaker, it's already setup for midi
implementation if/when that feature is added in a future OS software update.

The GOOD thing is that the Music Pad Pro includes a full 30 day money back guarantee if forever reason it doesn't meet my expectations. I'll give a full evaluation of this unit once I've had the opportunity to use it at home and on the job. I hope to receive it (by mail) by the end of the week (or next Monday). I can't WAIT to test drive this baby.

Scott

I've drooled over that thing for over two years. But it's SO expensive and a laptop would do so much more, so I didn't go for it. Of course, if somebody would give me one, that would be great.

Good for you, Scott. Keep us posted on how it works out.

Glenn

Semilive, I felt exactly the same way before, but the fact is that: a PC laptop (I have one) with Windows/Mac software DOESN'T offer the IMPORTANT sheet music viewing, editing, & performance capabilities of the MusicPad Pro:

1) large 'portrait format' bright screen
2) 'hands-free' page turning
3) ability to create unlimited custom playlists
4) Song page markup & annotation
5) lightweight slim design with no keyboard to fold down & obstruct

It's only because of the now recently available music (including entire fakebooks) in digital format, that I've finally decided to take this plunge. I'll keep you posted AFTER I've finally had the chance to give this device a REAL test. I guess I'll be living on red beans and rice for a while now. Scott

Scott,

You can get it at amazon.com for $100 less. Make sure you get their price: $1099. I think you told me that they were going to give you a discount.

It looks incredible. Just too expensive for me. I would snatch it at $500.

Beakybird

Beaky, yep, in addition to the $100 discount from Amazon, I also had a $100 Xmas Gift Certificate pending with them as well, bringing the cost down to $999. Still high, but hey . . . a new year's diet of red beans and rice (southern style) will not only save me $ but be healthy too, right? - Scott

Where do you find available music (including entire fakebooks) in digital format?
Are you talking free or pay? Not that it matters if it is something I'm looking for.

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qqqwq@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 01-04-2005).]

Mike, here are just a FEW sources:

http://www.musicnotes.com/

http://www.freesheetmusic.net/

http://sunhawk.com/

http://www.laurasmidiheaven.com/SheetMusic.shtml

http://www.theguitarguy.com/songs.htm


Scott

Wow! Thanks for taking the plunge for us Scott! I have been seriously considering on of these for months, but I decided to wait until after NAMM to see if anything comparable came out. There's nothing else like the Music Pad Pro that I know of right now, and I agree that a laptop isn't really comparable. The only other thing I thought might be an option for electronic sheet music would be if you used Scorch XF midi files, particularly with the Tyros, PSR3000 or other Scorch-compatible instrument... but you guys don't rely on SMF's enough to do that I think. I still think your going to wind up doing some scanning even with the downloadble music... what will you do when you have to transpose or rearrange actual sheet music? Well, BIAB and Acrobat will create pdf sheet music as one option... I'm sure there's many more.

Anyway, I will be very interested to hear your experiences with your new device... good luck. And thanks for the music links. I may be a Music Pad Pro user soon too.

Scottyee, thanks for the links!

Nice think that MusicPad Pro! I'm sure I'd love to have one too, but right now I'm still "recovering" from my purchase of the SXA360s.

Thanks in advance!

Luis Santos

[This message has been edited by Luis.Santos (edited 01-05-2005).]