Digital parts - how do they work?

[Anders Hedelin]

I'm working on a couple of compositions where in most parts there aren't enough rests for turning paper pages. My client has told me they are going to publish the parts both digitally and on paper. I'm counting on the musicians to use the former format - one reason being the awkward page turns.

So, I'm curious about how these digital music readers (pads?) work. Fx. can you scroll forward half a page if needed? Which size(s) are they usually?

Can anyone tell me, or direct me to info on the web?

[Peter Thomsen]

I have seen that solution at many concerts.
It seems to be common today.

Usually the device is a tablet computer in combination with a pedal.


By The Way:
Generally it is possible to have 3 printed pages next to each other on a music stand.
To squeeze the part into only 3 pages, you could try resizing the pages (experiment with the Resize Tool until you find a solution).

[Anders Hedelin]

Thanks Peter for your tips. In this case though, there aren't enough rests even for triple-page spreads.
My question was about how digital parts on tablets actually work, because I think it'll come to that. So, having some knowledge would be helpful.

[michelp]

To expand on what Peter suggested, on tablet pdf readers (such as ForScore on the iPad), a foot switch allows for instantaneous page turns.

[Anders Hedelin]

Thanks Michel. My question was, can you scroll forward half a page?

[motet]

My last gig I sat next to someone who was playing from a table and she had a way to scroll a half page, yes.

Another thing to be aware of is that players, especially wind players, generally need a break once in a while, both physically and mentally, so I hope there are some rests. If it's just that the rests don't happen to fall in the right place, it is acceptable to put your page turn after only half a page of music. You can either put a lot of space between staves or put an arrow indicating that they should turn. I occasionally put in blank pages (also with an arrow of some sort).

[miker]

On an iPad with ForScore, turning the iPad to horizontal gives you half-page advances. And a larger scale.

[motet]

Landscape mode is going to be smaller for a single page, though, since it's not as tall. The largest iPad is a little smaller than an 8-1/2 x 11 page, though maybe there's some non-Apple higher-end viewers out there.

I can't see fliping the iPad on its side during a performance. My colleague was using ForScore, and occasionally did something like this (portrait mode):

[miker]

The only reason I brought that up was because of Ander's question about half-page viewing. Normally, I use it in portrait, with the full page. But I'm not an instrumentalist, who may need the larger print on a half page from a distance.

[Anders Hedelin]

Thank you all. The tip about ForScore proved to be useful. Actually this is what I was looking for:
"Half-page Turns
See the bottom half of one page and the top half of the next page at the same time for perfect transitions and zero visual interruption. No scrolling, no gimmicks, just an easy fix for an age-old problem."
(From ForScore's site.)

[ebiggs1]

IMHO, writing a score that can only be played successfully by musicians that have an iPad is not a good idea. Perhaps one day but not in 2024. Again, IMHO as usual.

[Anders Hedelin]

Another thing to be aware of is that players, especially wind players, generally need a break once in a while, both physically and mentally, so I hope there are some rests.

The composer seems to have thought about this. At least there are enough part-of-measure rests or more for that. (Not my responsibility, though.)

If it's just that the rests don't happen to fall in the right place, it is acceptable to put your page turn after only half a page of music. You can either put a lot of space between staves or put an arrow indicating that they should turn. I occasionally put in blank pages (also with an arrow of some sort).

I'm familiar with that, motet, but this being a rather tricky job, I was at first led to to think there weren't enough rests at all. Now, having revised the parts, I find there actually are rests allowing paper page-turns, one way or another, in a printed edition. Which the publisher says they are going to offer anyway.

[motet]

That seems wise of them. I'm in the business of renting out orchestra music, and can tell you things are nowhere near universal usage of tablets (quite the opposite--about 1/4 of those I polled said they would want tablet versions alone). The biggest iPad, the iPad Pro 12.9 inch, is only letter size (12.9 is the diagonal measure), and costs over $1,000.