A couple of weeks ago I was on tour with an Elvis impersonator named Ben Portsmouth (check him out on the David Letterman show - LINK HERE). We were performing at an outdoor concert and Ben likes to change the set-list often. I was reading a lot of notes on the charts because it was the first gig of the tour. I had a plastic screen over my charts to stop them blowing away. At one point Ben wanted to jump back a few charts so I had to scramble through the pile. Just as I was doing this a big gust of wind came through and blew the page to the side of the stage. Unfortunate for me I was supposed to start this tune. It was at that moment that I decided to buy an iPad for my charts.
I have had the iPad for a little over a week. Here are some good and bad points to consider:
Good Points:
1. The iPad has a built in light!
2. You can store literally thousands of charts in a small package.
3. It is very easy to find and catalogue charts.
4. Set-lists are easily made, changed and recalled.
5. No more taping charts together!
6. Using forScore it is very easy to share charts with others - simply email.
7. Backing up is easy: make a copy and leave that in your dropbox folder (*Make sure you do this!).
8. The iPad is extremely light-weight. Carrying charts for long distances can be a major problem. The Rodger Fox Big Band pack has about 300+ charts. That is a lot of paper to carry and you will have a dead arm by the time you get to the gig if parking is bad and you have to walk a long way.
9. Wind is no longer a problem. I have had many charts blow off the music stand over the years. Pegs and plastic sheets help but you still have to remove these to change charts.
10. You can use the iPad for other functions too e.g Drum machines, synths, controlling equipment and much more.
Negatives:
1. I can no longer leave my charts on stage during set breaks and before the gig etc, as someone might try to steal the iPad.
2. iPads screens can be broken. This means you need to watch carefully when people walk past you. They only have to be careless and bump the iPad off the stand and disaster could strike.
3. The iPad is a computer and can crash and freeze up etc. This is less of problem these days, as iPads are super grunty and charts are really small files requiring very little processing power but worth considering.
4. I have found that while the rest of the band is sorting out their charts I have nothing to do. This means I have an extra 10-20 minutes to kill before the gig. Usually that just means I practise or play games on the iPad!
5. Turning pages is a real hassle. There are pedal turners (e.g. AirTurn), but this is still not the easiest or most reliable system yet.
6. The screen size is slightly smaller than an A4 page. This is not a problem for me, but for someone with poor eye sight it could be a problem when reading from a distance. However, if you crop the sides of the chart, the notes end up being almost the same size as on an A4 page. I recently did a rehearsal with classical pianist Michael Houstoun and he used an iPad for the rehearsal. He used it landscape to make the notes bigger. He also used an AirTurn. Also, rumours are there is a new iPad on the way - rumour is it will be called an iPad pro and have a bigger screen.
7. The iPad won't work for all musicians. e.g drummers... who can not change the page with their foot or hand while playing. Or harp players; they need the charts far enough away so they can play their instrument and that would mean the charts are too far away to read.
I do not think the iPad will totally replace paper charts, just the same as computers have not negated the use of paper. I work with orchestras often and they will have printed charts for me to read at the rehearsals and gigs. Also, there is many times where PDF's just wont be available and it might be more hassle than it is worth to put the charts in the iPad.I can see the iPad being a big improvement and won't be going back to paper anytime soon when its practical to use. Imagine it like sending letters, who does that these days? Everyone emails, right?
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