How to use an iPad for sheet music?

Mr Farkle

Mr Farkle

Well-known Member
I recently joined a community big band. They have a few hundred songs in pdf format. All of the musicians use a tablet, forScore (or other app) and a Bluetooth foot control page turner. Reading is required, especially when working through sections during rehearsal. I haven’t tried it yet but I imagine it would be difficult and stressful to use my HH foot to turn pages while playing and reading. Maybe it’s possible? There’s usually only one page turn per tune.

There’s an option for a two up view on the iPad but I would need a larger tablet and better glasses. I could print the music and suffer through the iPad when they call an occasional new (to me) song durning practice but ideally I would do what the rest of the band is doing and use a tablet.

So… any tips on how to use a tablet for sheet music as a drummer? Page turning ideas? Tablet mounting, stands etc?
 
Use a digital pad that you can hit with your stick to turn the page. It's better than using your foot. They won't notice a missed cymbal hit.

.
 
Or you can use facial recognition to turn the page. "Yes, it is easy and has been reliable for me. The facial gestures feature of forScore pro uses the iPad pro’s 3D facial recognition to detect movement. You can choose either slight head turn or mouth movement left/right. I like using the mouth movement. You can adjust the sensitivity for your taste. Surprisingly it can detect very slight movements. You enable it and adjust sensitivity by going into the settings and then go into “pro” but you can also quickly turn it on or off by tapping the smiley face in the tool bar."
 
Hollywood Jim said:
Or you can use facial recognition to turn the page. "Yes, it is easy and has been reliable for me. The facial gestures feature of forScore pro uses the iPad pro’s 3D facial recognition to detect movement. You can choose either slight head turn or mouth movement left/right. I like using the mouth movement. You can adjust the sensitivity for your taste. Surprisingly it can detect very slight movements. You enable it and adjust sensitivity by going into the settings and then go into “pro” but you can also quickly turn it on or off by tapping the smiley face in the tool bar."
Click to expand...
That’s good to know too… if I had an iPad Pro. I imagine it will come to all newer devices soon enough. Thanks again. I had no idea any of these things existed.
 
The bassist in my band uses https://forscore.co/

He has a Bluetooth pedal. If you have limber ankles you can easily rotate your foot so when you close the HH you also hit the pedal to turn the page.
 
MrPockets said:
The bassist in my band uses https://forscore.co/

He has a Bluetooth pedal
Click to expand...
We use forScore. I just couldn’t figure out a way to page turn efficiently.

I just now learned that forScore allows other devices to turn the page on my device. So I can, for instance, set my iPad to link to the bass player. When he turns the page my page will turn. I will give that a shot too. Might drive me crazy though. Actually that might link me to the bass score? Anyway it seems like there are quite a few options out there. Hand held remotes also look useful for drummers.
 
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Mr Farkle said:
I just now learned that forScore allows other devices to turn the page on my device. So I can, for instance, set my iPad to link to the bass player. When he turns the page my page will turn. I will give that a shot too. Might drive me crazy though. Actually that might link me to the bass score? Anyway it seems like there are quite a few options out there. Hand held remotes also look useful for drummers.
Click to expand...

I also wouldn't trust linking an iPad for a gig. What happens when the link is lost?


What did the previous drummer do?
 
A blue-tooth foot switch is good to have, the iRig Blue Turn is nice but is $70 (which is better than $149 for the page turner above! Also more portable.) However, if you have an older iPad like I do (original iPad2), it won't work. :(

For my PDF music files, I use FoxIt Reader. Not super elegant but fine for what I need. Any page turns are a finger swipe to the left between snare beats. :) A little coordination, but do-able, and free! Another guy in the band uses ForScore on a larger iPad (with the iRig turner) and is very happy with that.
 
bermuda said:
A blue-tooth foot switch is good to have, the iRig Blue Turn is nice but is $70 (which is better than $149 for the page turner above! Also more portable.) However, if you have an older iPad like I do (original iPad2), it won't work. :(

For my PDF music files, I use FoxIt Reader. Not super elegant but fine for what I need. Any page turns are a finger swipe to the left between snare beats. :) A little coordination, but do-able, and free! Another guy in the band uses ForScore on a larger iPad (with the iRig turner) and is very happy with that.
Click to expand...
$149 is on the high side. Most of the other musicians use the iRig. I think the page turners will work on my iPad.

I like the minimalist idea. Maybe the first thing I should do is get good iPad mount and figure out how to get it within short reach. I could probably swipe a page turn in that case. Currently it’s on a light weight music stand, just waiting to fall off.

So far I like forScore. Some of these pdfs are 15+ pages with the drum music on the last few pages. In forScore I can create links that jump to the drum part whenever the pdf is opened. I also like the annotation and set list features. It’s not free but it’s only $20.
 
you could just have one of the church goers to sit next to you and turn pages like in whiplash
 
I've used an app called PiaScore for years. It does have the gesture page turning, but my iPad is too old to support it. I use the auto-scrolling feature where you can set the speed that it scrolls to kinda match the tempo of the song but it's not always exact and if the sheet music has repeats or sections marked to go back to previous sections, it flat out doesn't work well. I've often thought of getting a bluetooth turning device but just didn't want to spend the money for that or a newer iPad since I would need to buy the pro model to get a big enough screen that I can see. I just play at home for fun so mistakes and going back via finger aren't a big deal.

I really need to figure out how to memorize songs....
 
I searched for this after years of reaching over and doing the iPad page turns by just tapping the screen, I think there must be a better way for drummers.

- A drum pad, SPD would work but are too big, who wants to carry something like that for something as simple as turning a page forward + backward. Hollywood Jim's link to a page turner that can be hit with a stick looks almost perfect. I'd be willing to pay for that as it would solve an issue, but it's too big. I like to take public transport to gigs wherever possible and my cases are usually already full. Something like this that was just a small bar, hit right for forward or left for backward, would be ideal.
- the ForScore facial recognition sounds worth a try. Does this ever get confused just by general movements when playing? Any chance of playing a solo and when you next look it has skipped 10 pages?!
- the irig blueturn mentioned by Bermuda is good, I use it for page turning for gigs on bass. However, I've had to learn to anticipate page turns and press it with my foot quite precisely, because it's quite small and weightless the whole thing can turn over. I wouldn't use this for drums with 3 other limbs already doing stuff, the level of coordination to delicately press it without moving it or turning it over sounds like something for a Thomas Lang DVD. You also can't feel any kind of 'click' when you've successfully turned the page. The Donner ones also get used quite a lot and I was thinking of picking one of these up, because it's a bit more sturdy on the ground and you can feel the 'click' when turning pages. But for drums something you can hit with a stick would be best.

I'd love it if someone invented a little sturdy bluetooth bar for page turning drummers!

Caroline
 
bermuda said:
A blue-tooth foot switch is good to have, the iRig Blue Turn is nice but is $70 (which is better than $149 for the page turner above! Also more portable.) However, if you have an older iPad like I do (original iPad2), it won't work. :(

For my PDF music files, I use FoxIt Reader. Not super elegant but fine for what I need. Any page turns are a finger swipe to the left between snare beats. :) A little coordination, but do-able, and free! Another guy in the band uses ForScore on a larger iPad (with the iRig turner) and is very happy with that.
Click to expand...

Older iPads can be relatively cheap these days. I picked up an iPad in the UK with the required bluetooth in a 2nd hand shop for only £70, with extra memory and a good battery. I spent a fair bit of time looking at the irig website for the level of bluetooth required, then got the oldest iPad that works with that. I later upgraded as use it quite a lot, but my other half uses that one now for gigs with no problems.
 
@Caz Since my original post I bought a foot stomper switch and tried it in various places around the kit… on the floor next to my bass drum pedal (nope), mounted on the snare (not bad but it’s hard to find a spot where it’s out of my way) and mounted on the bass drum (too far away). Eventually I settled into mounting it under the hi hat as you see below. It’s not perfect, but it’s compact for transport, mostly works and mostly doesn’t involve my ride hand. I’m playing in a big band so I can usually free up my non-ride hand momentarily to press a switch. I do need to come off the ride to sub a snare hit at times when my left hand is turning pages, mostly during a back beat. Too many pages forward still happens at times because hey this is challenging coordination! (Flipping back a page and finding myself looking at the bass chart is even worse.) I reach for the pad itself to navigate the set list in ForScore.

If you find something better than this I would love to hear about it. My iPad doesn’t have facial recognition. Maybe I need to upgrade it.

IMG_4459.jpeg
 
I take my iPad and a stand to hold it with an iKlip attachment on freelance gigs, or if I'm playing tunes I'm not 100% sure of. I type the sets out, make notes in red on certain songs, then photograph the sets on the iPad itself so I have them right there.

I don't bother with special software or page turners. Don't need them. The iPad is set up right next to my hats. It's very simple, and it works well for me.
 

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