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Discussions => General Discussion => Topic started by: tiny on March 19, 2019, 06:40:33 PM

Title: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: tiny on March 19, 2019, 06:40:33 PM
Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the most simple way to transfer music score onto an I pad, and where to store it.

 I don't need to play the music. What I wish to do is to have the score in alphabet order to access easily when needed.

Also does the I pad pencil work on all I pads or just the pro? I have looked it up but its not always easy to follow.

Any help gratefully received.
Lizzy
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: malcolmbebb on March 19, 2019, 07:17:19 PM
If you have a pdf, you can transfer scores etc to the Books app from an email and re-send them using email.

For abcs I use Tunebook, although I have only transferred using iTunes.

My iPad isn't a Pro but I can use the pencil. It's one of the larger sizes, I'm not sure if it works on Minis.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: boxcall on March 20, 2019, 01:03:02 AM
what are you tranfering from?  another mac would be easy using airdrop.
not sure about apps for reading and storing? etc.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Roger Hare on March 20, 2019, 05:29:54 AM
1. If you have a pdf, you can transfer scores etc to the Books app from an email and re-send them using email.

2. For abcs I use Tunebook, although I have only transferred using iTunes.


1. Do you mean iBooks? If so, gae canny!? I used to use iTunes to transfer files from my Windoze PC, but this has
such an ugly interface that I binned it and adopted the approach you outline. This mail-based approach only seems
to work intermittently. Two weeks ago, I successfully transferred several PDFs via email, clicking on the 'Download'
option in the mail program to transfer the attached file, and then using the 'Open In' option to save in iBooks (and
in the Adobe Reader directory). Last Saturday, for no reason that I could see, this simply refused to work - clicking
on the 'Open In' option just had no effect whatsoever. I wish I knew what was going on! (*)

2. I recently asked much the same question on concertina.net, and Tunebook was the 'people's choice',
though I haven't investigated it yet...

Roger

(*) As an alternative approach, I tried uploading the files to my Dropbox store and then downloading from there.
No dice! (other folks may have better luck, which is why I mention it, but the iPad seems to need a separate program to
download and save PDF files like this?
). Basically, the iPad is a piece of over-sophisticated kit - very inflexible. Probably
the worst (and most expensive) purchase I ever made as far as computing goes.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Thrupenny Bit on March 20, 2019, 08:15:58 AM
I do my abc-ing on my pc and transfer the file to iPad using Dropbox. I open Dropbox on ipad and see the abc file. Then open the abc file with the Tunebook app.
The same transfer method is good for pdf's, photos or any file.
You download Dropbox on your pc/iPad.
On pc copy and paste the file onto the Dropbox shortcut on desktop. On ipad open Dropbox and either 'export and select the app ( Books, Pages or whatever) or sometimes 'open file with ' and select the app.

Using Dropbox I transfer files to both iPad and my Android phone. It's a free app. I can share a large file such as a picture, without worrying that it is too big to transfer by email.
It's a good tool.....
Q
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Lester on March 20, 2019, 08:18:42 AM
(*) As an alternative approach, I tried uploading the files to my Dropbox store and then downloading from there.
No dice! (other folks may have better luck, which is why I mention it, but the iPad seems to need a separate program to
download and save PDF files like this?
). Basically, the iPad is a piece of over-sophisticated kit - very inflexible. Probably
the worst (and most expensive) purchase I ever made as far as computing goes.
To get DropBox to work on an iPad or any other portable device you need to install the DropBox app. Once it is installed and you are connected to the internet (probably by WiFi unless your pad has a SIM card) you can view your DropBox and then select which files you want to make available offline which will then be downloaded and can be view with no internet connection.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Thrupenny Bit on March 20, 2019, 08:23:58 AM
Thanks for the clarification Lester.
Forgot that bit!
Q
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Mike Hirst on March 20, 2019, 10:27:29 AM
A few years back I did some work with Amazon Kindle developing apps to work with the third generation (2010) device. This had similar limitations with transferring docs coupled with the limitation of only having a 600x800px display. Working with abcm2ps I wrote a format file to generate svg and pdf output at the correct screen resolution. pdf files could be emailed to the device. svg could be used to make kindle books (mobi), which could also be transferred by email. The most effective solution was to embed svg output in html and deliver content from a web server.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Roger Hare on March 20, 2019, 11:26:27 AM
(*) As an alternative approach, I tried uploading the files to my Dropbox store and then downloading from there.
No dice! (other folks may have better luck, which is why I mention it, but the iPad seems to need a separate program to
download and save PDF files like this?
). Basically, the iPad is a piece of over-sophisticated kit - very inflexible. Probably
the worst (and most expensive) purchase I ever made as far as computing goes.
To get DropBox to work on an iPad or any other portable device you need to install the DropBox app. Once it is installed
and you are connected to the internet (probably by WiFi unless your pad has a SIM card) you can view your DropBox and
then select which files you want to make available offline which will then be downloaded and can be view with no internet
connection
.

...with no internet connection...

...which is precisely what I want to do. You have confirmed my suspicion - thank you.

However, by pure luck, I have stumbled across a 'get-around' to download PDF files from Dropbox.
It only seems to work for PDF files though - I couldn't get text-based files (eg: an ABC file) to
download. Mystified...

All the above assumes you have a Dropbox archive in the first place and are prepared to go through
the guddle of uploading files to Dropbox from <whatever> and then downloading them to the iPad.
I still can't get the electronic mail route to work though - this is surely the easiest and most obvious
way to do this - and I still can't get it to work reliably. Maybe it's a flaky network connection...

Maybe it's my iPad which is quite elderly, though the OS is up to date...
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Lester on March 20, 2019, 12:50:27 PM
Roger, I am somewhat confused by your post. I have Dropbox installed on all my various IT boxes (laptop, workshop PC, house iMac, phone, tablet). Dropbox appears as a folder/directory on all the devices and I create subfolders for stuff I want to appear on all the devices ie tunes etc. So when I edit an ABC file on my laptop it appears everywhere. The only complication is for the phone and tablet which I may want to use where there is no Internet, I these cases I mark these files to be available offline and as long as I remember to open the Dropbox app now and again the files are downloaded to such devices.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Robin Tims on March 20, 2019, 02:35:02 PM
If what you need are 'dots on the staves' we use around here (several of us) on iPads the wonderful 'for Score'.   https://forscore.co

This will store, in alphabetical order if you want, masses of music/tunes loaded in pdf format. For that we employ either email sharing or scanning by something like TurboScan (which is easy and brilliant). AirDrop also works well in a group sitting around together !

forScore is dead easy to use even by luddites like me and you can make up sets of tunes in various ways.  It is simple to arrange that the screen does not suddenly die on you in the middle of a piece.  It also goes well with Apple Pencil for alterations and additions.

The new big iPad Pro is obviously the business for A4 size display, but I use just the smaller one which is fine.

Rob

PS Come to think of it I have used forScore to store (and title, and crop, and with colours) text stuff as well, so I guess it would serve equally for abc formats too.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Roger Hare on March 20, 2019, 04:38:02 PM
Roger, I am somewhat confused by your post....

Lester, just between you, me, and the gatepost, I am somewhat confused by my post!!!

According to my understanding, Dropbox should work pretty much as you describe. There's
summat wrong with the way my iPad is set up, and I just can't put my finger on what's going
on...

The main point is, that if it works as it should (and I guess it will for most folks(*)), this is an
alternative way to xfer files to the iPad, over and above the mail-based approach suggested
by MalcolmBebb earlier in the thread. This is really all I wanted to point up, I should have kept
stum about my problem!

Roger

(*) It's actually a low-ish priority for me as I do ~95% of my stuff on Windoze or Android, but
I really must look into it soon...
I have a facility for breaking software; when I worked in the computing game, folks used to send
for me to break their new software - I usually managed it... (:)
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Gena Crisman on March 20, 2019, 05:05:46 PM
the wonderful 'for Score'.   https://forscore.co

This looks awesome but it could be a bit pricey.

I use an ipad for pdf tune books every month for when I go to the local ukulele singalong. On a functional level, I dislike the iOS methodology that apps all have their own copy of any file you want them to work on, or there are strict rules on what can be where & what can access it. On the flip side, your data is more protected and programs can't mess with your stuff without your permission as they're all kept in their own little boxes. You, sadly, need to forget the way you'd think to do it, which is just dump the pdfs in a folder after attaching it via USB & managing the files yourself, and think about it from the perspective of each app passing the file from place to place and hopefully not making their own whole copy of the damn thing as it goes. It's dumb, although there are benefits... that I also think are dumb, but, hey ho.

Generally, I use iBooks to open the PDFs. If I was using email:

Here it is in gmail, my email app on the device (because I use gmail)
(http://i.imgur.com/iDjts4Ol.png) (https://imgur.com/iDjts4O)

If I click the attachment, it will open it in the email app for me to view, but won't keep it on the device.
So, then I use this button in the top right:
(http://i.imgur.com/1BdlIXJl.png) (https://imgur.com/1BdlIXJ)

Scroll it over to 'copy to iBooks'
(http://i.imgur.com/kJUzUqKl.png) (https://imgur.com/kJUzUqK)

Click that, and then it opens the file in iBooks, and, I can know with confidence that it's on my device saved in iBooks for offline viewing:
(http://i.imgur.com/F5zfAkOl.png) (https://imgur.com/F5zfAkO)

If, alternatively, I've put the file in my drop box, I don't make it available offline in dropbox, and instead I use 'export' and repeat the procedure above of exporting to iBooks.
(http://i.imgur.com/2dv37J8l.png) (https://imgur.com/2dv37J8)
If I make it available offline, then that will only let me open it via dropbox, and, I don't personally want to use that app for tune book traversal. I imagine it would also let me copy it to other apps after the fact via the above procedure though.

If you have a preferred sheet music app, most likely they could accept PDFs the same way. iBooks generally works better for tune books, rather than single scores, since it will probably be pretty kludgy to find the thing you're looking for, so, might depend on some prior organisation. I also set my iPad's display settings to not turn the screen off for 15 minutes, so that it won't turn off while I'm using it.

Hopefully, any of this is useful to you. I guess this is iOS 11, rather than 12, so idk if anything's changed. If it has, well, bugger, I suppose!
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Thrupenny Bit on March 20, 2019, 05:13:26 PM
Roger, have you an Apple Store close by?
When I'm in stuck for a minute in town I amble into the Apple Store for a browse. Often I notice people are asking advice on 'how to' with their device in hand. They could check it out for you.
As said, using Dropbox for something like this is just what it is good for.
Just a thought...
Cheers
Q
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Robin Tims on March 20, 2019, 05:23:17 PM
Gena said: This looks awesome but it could be a bit pricey.

Not too bad Gena, I remember it was around £10 or less, currently 14.99 US dollars).

Rob
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Martin P on March 20, 2019, 06:58:48 PM
I would 2nd recommendation of forScore. It’s great!!. Can also handle jpeg files, so if you do a photo of a score you happen upon it’s easily saved and catalogued. ForScore allows you to allocated tags and labels and key to each score, so one can easily find say all Em Waltzs in one’s collection. Many many other features. You can also type and draw on saved scores. Full integrated with Dropbox. However, no use for abc notation. I suspect ForScore was developed for classic musicians so dot notation only. You can even co-ordinate several iPads so that they all turn the page at same time, etc etc. I think you can get an Android version but you need to run it on a reasonably sized screen. I have seen it running on professional A4 sized tablets and it looks fab.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: tiny on March 20, 2019, 08:30:17 PM
Thanks to you all for valuable information.

It will take me some time to try things out , at the moment I think I favour dropbox. I'll look into fourscore.  I really like and want to be able to set up so I don't need to rely on the internet, which seems possible from what you all say.

Big thanks

I'll report back.

Lizzy
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Martin P on March 20, 2019, 10:28:37 PM
Small detail if you are searching for program. It’s “forScore” not Fourscore as you mentioned in last post. ForScore is very easy to use and requires no setting up. I have about 750 scores currently on my iPad. It always amazes me just how many folk tunes exist.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: playandteach on March 20, 2019, 10:51:55 PM
I used a file manager (I think it was Document 5) that makes your iPad document storage look more like a pc.
I was getting annoyed that I couldn't manage files in the same way on apple. I haven't used it recently, but did for a while, for this precise purpose - pdfs of scores.
It worked really well for bulk emailing files and organising them in the usual pc drag and drop way.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Roger Hare on March 21, 2019, 05:02:40 AM
...On a functional level, I dislike the iOS methodology that apps all have their own copy of any file...
It's dumb, although there are benefits... that I also think are dumb, but, hey ho....

A clear and concise summary of why I dislike the iPad (after starting out with high hopes for the beast!)...

Roger, have you an Apple Store close by?...Just a thought...

Good thought, I'll check that out.

...at the moment I think I favour dropbox. I'll look into fourscore. I really like and want to be able
to set up, so I don't need to rely on the internet, which seems possible from what you all say.

Certainly is! This is exactly what I do (and why). Just remember to keep your Dropbox copies up to date, if
and when you update your documents (I'm always forgetting to do this when I add new tunes to my tunebook!)

Roger
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Thrupenny Bit on March 21, 2019, 08:07:35 AM
Roger, the other option is their on-line help.
I once couldn't sync. my iPod so tried their Helpline. They were excellent and talked me through and resolved my problem, which wasn't an easy thing to resolve. That is another viable alternative.
Good luck!
Q
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Tone Dumb Greg on March 21, 2019, 08:31:23 AM
I used a file manager (I think it was Document 5) that makes your iPad document storage look more like a pc. ...

Is there an android equivalent, anyone know?
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Anahata on March 21, 2019, 10:56:48 AM
My Android phone presents itself as a USB storage device (i.e. like another disk drive or pendrive) when I connect it to my computer's USB port. I didn't have to install an app for that.

Some phones have a setup option where you can choose how it appears on USB (other options might be as a wireless networking connection, music player or camera, I suppose)
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: tiny on April 04, 2019, 01:43:58 PM
 Thanks for the information .... I have made a start with 'for Score'. I have to say I'm not exactly whizzing along with it but I find pdf files are simple to send using airdrop.

Does anyone know if it is possible to take a photo of a music score and put it into 'for Score' without making a pdf file.

Lizzy



Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Robin Tims on April 04, 2019, 06:10:55 PM
Lizzy I use the Turboscan app (not expensive) which lets you 'photograph' (ie scan) the music, frame it (ie crop), add a title, then transfer it seamlessly as a pdf straight into forScore. You can also adjust the exposure intensity when you 'frame' it and choose colour or monochrome.

It is dead easy, even for me, and quick to use under almost any lighting circumstances copying any size dots from bits of paper, books, magazines etc no problem (except obviously copyright ?)

Rob
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Howard Jones on April 04, 2019, 07:32:03 PM
On Android I use the Mobile Sheets app. As well as filing pdfs alphabetically you can tag and filter by a number of characteristics, link to a sound file, arrange into collections and setlists.  YOu can even attach a footpedal to turn pages. There's also a PC app which will help you manage it.

If I could just understand what the dots mean it would be even more useful.
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Martin P on April 04, 2019, 08:09:04 PM
Thanks for the information .... I have made a start with 'for Score'. I have to say I'm not exactly whizzing along with it but I find pdf files are simple to send using airdrop.

Does anyone know if it is possible to take a photo of a music score and put it into 'for Score' without making a pdf file.

Lizzy

Yes. Go to Darkroom option on right hand icon that looks like a cooking pot. You can then import jpg from camera or files.

Martin
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Bill Young on April 05, 2019, 03:44:13 PM
Not having looked at the forum for a few days, it’s very interesting to find discussion about forScore here. I’ve been using forScore for over 6 years; it was one of the reasons for buying an iPad in the first place. It was a good app back then, and has had continuous development and improvement, taking advantage of every update in iOS . I think it originally cost £4.99. Today’s price of £14.99 is a small one to pay for the best iPad music score storage, organising and display app on the planet.

Our small group of 6 accordion players have been using iPads and forScore (and Airturn foot pedals) since 2013. The iPads range from an elderly iPad 2 16GB to iPad Pro 10.5” 256GB. All run the current version of forScore, though the older iPads can’t take advantage of features introduced in iOS 11 and 12. All have oodles of room to store scores; my 2300 scores (including a number of fakebooks) takes up only 1.28GB.

forScore is very well supported with instructional material – user guide, searchable knowledge base and an archive of “features of the week”. These can be reached from within the app – top right icon (Toolbox) > Support.
There is also a fairly active forScore Users Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551026391866545/?ref=share
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: Roger Howard on April 05, 2019, 05:33:10 PM
Piascore is pretty good, too. Easy to use, downloads from Dropbox, lets you take images of score and converts to pdf, turns pages etc. Works well on iPad. I don’t recall paying anything for it... but have been using it quite a long time.

Roger
Title: Re: Transferring and storing music score onto an I pad
Post by: tiny on April 08, 2019, 12:21:32 PM
Yes. Go to Darkroom option on right hand icon that looks like a cooking pot. You can then import jpg from camera or files.

Thank you Martin. I have been successful  (:)  another small step forward.

Lizzy.

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