Considering the interest my use of an iPad in recent chamber music concerts has generated (especially at Carnegie Hall with Joshua Bell), I thought I'd dedicate my first blog entry to the said gadget, along with it's less visible partner, the Airturn bluetooth foot pedal.
Due to the fact the pedal is largely hidden from view, people are often intrigued as to how the pages appear to be magically turning. As Arthur C. Clarke put it, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Some wonder whether the iPad actually listens to the music in order to know where to turn. Incredible as this idea may seem, an app exists which does exactly that. I don't know a lot about it, but I am told you play the music in order that the frequencies can be plotted. They can then be tracked by the app in performance, irrespective of the tempo you choose.
The system I use has three main elements - the iPad itself, of course, along with the music reading app ForScore, and the Airturn foot pedal. ForScore is by far the best music reading app I have come across. From within the app you can download your scanned scores from the Dropbox, or from online sheet music resources, like IMSLP. The possibilites are then endless. You can re-organise and duplicate pages for repeats; you can zoom in to chop off the margins, making the notes almost as large as on a printed score; you can annotate, adding fingerings, bowings, highlights, handwritten or typed text; there's a metronome, you can link scores to audio files - I could go on. This app is nothing short of a miracle. There is also the physical relief of not having to carry heavy scores around.
Add the other miracle of Airturn's foot pedals and you have exactly what I have been dreaming about for years - a hands-free page-turning system. The pedals are quiet, highly responsive and easy to use. One is for turning forwards, one for turning back. It's impossible to accidentally turn two at once due to a 'de-bounce' feature.
Obviously you have to be 100% sure everything will work smoothly and I have to admit to having been nervous about using it at Carnegie Hall. It had never let me down, though, and it doesn't care how big the venue is, so I decided to go ahead. Here is my pre-concert check list:
1. Everything should be well charged!
2. The iPad should be positioned the right way up on the piano - I once positioned it upside-down and therefore resting on the 'off' button. Half way through a performance a big chord jolted the piano and switched the screen off.
3. Wi-fi should be disabled, unless you want to get emails and Skype calls during a performance.
4. All apps apart from ForScore should be closed.
5. Bluetooth and pedals should be turned on and connection tested.
6. Position devices on stage just before the house opens.
7. Do a quick test turn on stage and off you go!
I will miss my human page turners. I've met some lovely ones over the years, some of whom became good friends. Some gave out such positive vibes, I found myself playing much better. Occasionally, however, a slightly early or late turn can make you uneasy. Pages can rebel and want to turn themselves back. There are the exceptional disaster stories where music fell on the floor; where a pianist's hand got caught up in a page-turner's dangly necklace; where, as once happened to me in rehearsal, the page turner's chair got too close to the edge of the platform and she disappeared! (she was unhurt..)
With the iPad system you are always in complete control with no distractions - it gives you the freedom of a solo recital or concerto where there is no music. It is the way forward - no doubt about it.
Due to the fact the pedal is largely hidden from view, people are often intrigued as to how the pages appear to be magically turning. As Arthur C. Clarke put it, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Some wonder whether the iPad actually listens to the music in order to know where to turn. Incredible as this idea may seem, an app exists which does exactly that. I don't know a lot about it, but I am told you play the music in order that the frequencies can be plotted. They can then be tracked by the app in performance, irrespective of the tempo you choose.
The system I use has three main elements - the iPad itself, of course, along with the music reading app ForScore, and the Airturn foot pedal. ForScore is by far the best music reading app I have come across. From within the app you can download your scanned scores from the Dropbox, or from online sheet music resources, like IMSLP. The possibilites are then endless. You can re-organise and duplicate pages for repeats; you can zoom in to chop off the margins, making the notes almost as large as on a printed score; you can annotate, adding fingerings, bowings, highlights, handwritten or typed text; there's a metronome, you can link scores to audio files - I could go on. This app is nothing short of a miracle. There is also the physical relief of not having to carry heavy scores around.
Add the other miracle of Airturn's foot pedals and you have exactly what I have been dreaming about for years - a hands-free page-turning system. The pedals are quiet, highly responsive and easy to use. One is for turning forwards, one for turning back. It's impossible to accidentally turn two at once due to a 'de-bounce' feature.
Obviously you have to be 100% sure everything will work smoothly and I have to admit to having been nervous about using it at Carnegie Hall. It had never let me down, though, and it doesn't care how big the venue is, so I decided to go ahead. Here is my pre-concert check list:
1. Everything should be well charged!
2. The iPad should be positioned the right way up on the piano - I once positioned it upside-down and therefore resting on the 'off' button. Half way through a performance a big chord jolted the piano and switched the screen off.
3. Wi-fi should be disabled, unless you want to get emails and Skype calls during a performance.
4. All apps apart from ForScore should be closed.
5. Bluetooth and pedals should be turned on and connection tested.
6. Position devices on stage just before the house opens.
7. Do a quick test turn on stage and off you go!
I will miss my human page turners. I've met some lovely ones over the years, some of whom became good friends. Some gave out such positive vibes, I found myself playing much better. Occasionally, however, a slightly early or late turn can make you uneasy. Pages can rebel and want to turn themselves back. There are the exceptional disaster stories where music fell on the floor; where a pianist's hand got caught up in a page-turner's dangly necklace; where, as once happened to me in rehearsal, the page turner's chair got too close to the edge of the platform and she disappeared! (she was unhurt..)
With the iPad system you are always in complete control with no distractions - it gives you the freedom of a solo recital or concerto where there is no music. It is the way forward - no doubt about it.
