I just wanted to let you know I'm still around, and besides, it was time to update to a spring background. I haven't done any crafty stuff in the last month; for a while I just didn't feel like it, and then I got distracted by my new toy. As an early birthday/ Christmas present (yes, my birthday is in June, what's your point?) my family got me a tablet computer on which to store my sheet music library, using the app MobileSheets. It's a terrific tool, but it is taking some time to get all my music onto it. It only takes a couple minutes per song, but when you have a few hundred songs....
What I really like about it is the ability to organize the music in multiple ways. With paper music, I had long since given up on separating it into different categories, because so many songs would fit into multiple categories. Does Greensleeves go under Folk, or Renaissance, or Christmas? The tune to Be Still My Soul is also the theme from Finlandia, so does it go under Hymns or Classical? You understand the dilemma. So I just had everything alphabetized together, with only the holiday music separate. With this app, I can assign each song to as many different collections as I want, plus everything remains alphabetized together in the main library. I can pull the songs for a particular gig into a setlist, in whatever order I want, and load them all together. I can write all over the music just like I do with paper sheet music (I chose a tablet designed for use with a stylus for exactly that reason). And I also got a foot pedal device that connects to the tablet via Bluetooth to turn the pages-- one pedal for page up and one for page down. I've always wished I could turn the pages with my feet!
The app is designed specifically for sheet music, but I suppose one could use it, or find something similar, to organize tatting patterns. Now that's got me thinking....
Anyway, I'm off to scan some more sheet music. I will be tatting soon, as I have received a commission from my mom.
uuuhh a new toy, they are fun, and there are so many new uses for tablets.
ReplyDeleteI will be in the market for one in the next year, once microsoft stops supporting XP. What brand of tablet did you get? You mentioned a stylus, can you also type? I would want to send and answer emails and write blog posts. As well as reading tatting patterns.
That App sounds like a good way to organize your music. And yes, tatting patterns would need something similar to organize the library.
I got a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Yes, you can also type on it. The stylus is better for sheet music, because I can write in musical notation or make notes in my own handwriting, which I tend to see better. But for everything else, I do type; I wouldn't have even cared about the stylus if I hadn't had such a specific purpose in mind.
DeleteThe one downside to this particular tablet is that you have to have a WiFi connection to go online; it doesn't do 4G. But since most public spaces have WiFi these days, it's not too much of a problem.
I'm not quite ready to replace my laptop with the tablet yet, but I think very soon there will be tablets that really will be as powerful as "real" computers.
As I said to my dad last night, remember when Bill Gates said he envisioned a computer in every home, and everyone said, "What on earth for?" And now we carry them around in our pockets.
WiFi is no problem, we are way out in the country so I already have that in the house, it was the best way we could figure out how to connect 1 printer to 2 computers. and I have my Kindle keyboard, which can connect from anywhere.
DeleteYes, it is amazing what technology has accomplished in the past 20-30 yrs.
Thanks for the info,
I got myself the 7 inch Galaxy to organize recipes and tatting patterns, with a few books. I love it so much I got my hubby the 10 inch for his piano music. He does a lot of arranging. I think if you buy the Galaxy from a wireless provider you can get 4G, otherwise it is wifi. If it is worth it to you, you couldenable "hotspot" on your smsrt ohone ( if you hsve one), and have thecaquivalent of wifi wherever youare.
ReplyDeleteGood point. I was going to look up how to do that and never got around to it. Thanks for reminding me.
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