will companies bother to make an e-ink music stand?

petrucci · 07-15-2011, 11:14 AM

Electronic music stands have been around for awhile. I have hesitated from buying one because of the eye strain associated with using an LCD screen. With advances in e-ink technology I hoped that a company would produce an e-ink stand. Various designs have been shown over the past few years.

http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/02/0...tin-high-tech/

http://continuuminnovation.com/Work/...lio/E-Ink.aspx

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, no company has actually taken the initiative to produce such a product. This surprises be, because I think that there is a market for them. There is a substantial amount of sheet music on the net. However, the cost of printing the music can be substantial. I think that many musicians would realise that the money that you would save by not having to print the music would pay for the stand in a short period of time.

lestatar · 07-15-2011, 11:33 AM

Hey petrucci...kinda appropriate...

Go here:
http://www.licklibrary.com/news/2011...nd_the_drumkit

Watch the first video clip and check out Rudess' keyboard setup. Cannot tell, but maybe you can. Is that some kind of eink music stand? Is that what you are referring to?

petrucci · 07-15-2011, 03:20 PM

I hope that this thread is not considered off topic for this site. I realize that electronic music stands are not your standard e-book, but musicians need to read too.

I think that the stand in the video is a MusicPad Pro by Freehand Systems.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Freehand...90-i1126007.gc

Sadly, the MusicPad has had less than a stellar reception from the musical community. Its proprietary format for scores, and small amount of internal memory have held this unit back. Its original price, which was more than $1,000 USD also hurt its sales.

HomeInMyShoes · 07-15-2011, 04:59 PM

I don't know. I'm constantly writing things on my sheet music. I don't think an e-ink stand would be a very useful thing for me.

Add in the fact that I own more sheet music than I will ever be able to learn and there's little incentive for me to go out any buy anymore.

Graham · 07-15-2011, 05:06 PM

Some form of networked electronic music stand would be a big help professionally. Being able to update the parts and distribute them without having to print out new copies would be a boon in itself. Add to that the ability to transpose instantly if you've got an understudy on who needs the music up or down a tone or so...

Or the way you could have an immense library on tap, on stage...

Or to have the music change page automatically by 'listening' to where you are in the piece...

Or to flash which bar you're at when you get lost... (or is that just me?)

Graham

Hellmark · 07-15-2011, 05:24 PM

eInk mocked one up a while back, but I don't know if they did anything with it past that.

susan_cassidy · 07-15-2011, 05:54 PM

With printed music, you can open it out and see at least 2 pages at once. Not so with a digital one. It would almost have to have a foot control or something to turn pages to be useful.

RainingLemur · 07-15-2011, 06:39 PM

Man, looking back on it... I wish that I had something like an e-ink (or just e-"in-general") music stand when I was still playing trumpet and sax. It would've made managing my various sheets less of a nightmare (I was and still am not a very organized person when it comes to that stuff).

Practice would be fun when starting a song on one sheet, turning to the next page and not realizing it was a completely different song.

Sigh. Now I wish I still had my horns... I has a sad.

Graham · 07-16-2011, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

With printed music, you can open it out and see at least 2 pages at once. Not so with a digital one. It would almost have to have a foot control or something to turn pages to be useful.

There's no reason why a digital music stand couldn't eventually be big enough for two pages, as the technology gets cheaper over time.

If the pages were touch-enabled you could swipe forward and backward more easily than with paper music (we've all knocked the parts off the stand, now, haven't we?).

A foot control would work too, although I tend to tap my foot with certain genres of music...

There are loads of other advantages... you wouldn't need a couple of pegs to hold the music in place when playing outdoors... the conductor or band leader could annotate the score and the annotations could appear on the relevant parts... in rehearsal you could select a difficult passage and get it played for you by the stand itself, slowed down if necessary... the stand could give you a tuning note, or have an inbuilt electronic tuner... the stand could act as a metronome... the music could have a layer that you could toggle that shows fingering, breathing or bow marks...

Graham

07-15-2011, 11:14 AM	#1
petrucci Groupie Posts: 198 Karma: 1647827 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	will companies bother to make an e-ink music stand? Electronic music stands have been around for awhile. I have hesitated from buying one because of the eye strain associated with using an LCD screen. With advances in e-ink technology I hoped that a company would produce an e-ink stand. Various designs have been shown over the past few years. http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/02/0...tin-high-tech/ http://continuuminnovation.com/Work/...lio/E-Ink.aspx Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, no company has actually taken the initiative to produce such a product. This surprises be, because I think that there is a market for them. There is a substantial amount of sheet music on the net. However, the cost of printing the music can be substantial. I think that many musicians would realise that the money that you would save by not having to print the music would pay for the stand in a short period of time.

07-15-2011, 11:33 AM	#2
lestatar LB's lolz Mutt Minion Posts: 2,902 Karma: 5700001 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Hong Kong now but NYC forever Device: Kindle3, GalaxyTab, BB Bold9700, BB 8300, Sony Clie, Palm Vx, Palm III	Hey petrucci...kinda appropriate... Go here: http://www.licklibrary.com/news/2011...nd_the_drumkit Watch the first video clip and check out Rudess' keyboard setup. Cannot tell, but maybe you can. Is that some kind of eink music stand? Is that what you are referring to?

07-15-2011, 03:20 PM	#3
petrucci Groupie Posts: 198 Karma: 1647827 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I hope that this thread is not considered off topic for this site. I realize that electronic music stands are not your standard e-book, but musicians need to read too. I think that the stand in the video is a MusicPad Pro by Freehand Systems. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Freehand...90-i1126007.gc Sadly, the MusicPad has had less than a stellar reception from the musical community. Its proprietary format for scores, and small amount of internal memory have held this unit back. Its original price, which was more than $1,000 USD also hurt its sales.

07-15-2011, 04:59 PM	#4
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	I don't know. I'm constantly writing things on my sheet music. I don't think an e-ink stand would be a very useful thing for me. Add in the fact that I own more sheet music than I will ever be able to learn and there's little incentive for me to go out any buy anymore.

07-15-2011, 05:06 PM	#5
Graham Wizard Posts: 2,743 Karma: 32912427 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: North Yorkshire, UK Device: Kobo H20, Pixel 2, Samsung Chromebook Plus	Some form of networked electronic music stand would be a big help professionally. Being able to update the parts and distribute them without having to print out new copies would be a boon in itself. Add to that the ability to transpose instantly if you've got an understudy on who needs the music up or down a tone or so... Or the way you could have an immense library on tap, on stage... Or to have the music change page automatically by 'listening' to where you are in the piece... Or to flash which bar you're at when you get lost... (or is that just me?) Graham

07-15-2011, 05:24 PM	#6
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,549 Karma: 3799999 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: O'Fallon, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3	eInk mocked one up a while back, but I don't know if they did anything with it past that.

07-15-2011, 05:54 PM	#7
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	With printed music, you can open it out and see at least 2 pages at once. Not so with a digital one. It would almost have to have a foot control or something to turn pages to be useful.

07-15-2011, 06:39 PM	#8
RainingLemur Spork Connoisseur Posts: 2,355 Karma: 16780603 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Color	Man, looking back on it... I wish that I had something like an e-ink (or just e-"in-general") music stand when I was still playing trumpet and sax. It would've made managing my various sheets less of a nightmare (I was and still am not a very organized person when it comes to that stuff). Practice would be fun when starting a song on one sheet, turning to the next page and not realizing it was a completely different song. Sigh. Now I wish I still had my horns... I has a sad.

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