![]() I love being able to search for a particular tune and see all the versions in all the books I have available to me so I can compare. One “fake book” of charts can be as many as 600 pages, but with this iPad app I can have dozens of these books with me, all indexed and searchable, with a tiny portion of the weight burden. In addition to including these popular indexes, you can also import your own PDF books and build your own searchable indexes. These PDFs are not entirely legal, but are easily tracked down in the jazz community. iGigbook is basically an interactive indexing and viewing app for PDFs of fake books. One of the first apps I bought for my iPad was iGigbook, and for many musicians the convenience of this app is enough to justify the whole purchase. ![]() I’m going to cover three topics: finding charts, storing your original charts, and performing with an iPad, and then discuss some common concerns about making the digital switch. I’ve already started saving for one to replace my 4th generation iPad, and I think it’ll be a great upgrade. For the first time an iPad is available with a screen that is larger than your average printer paper and is compatible with a new stylus from Apple that makes marking up charts feel more natural. I also wanted to write an iPad article because the iPad Pro was released recently, and despite it’s high price tag, it is the perfect tool for professional musicians. I am not sure I am entirely paperless, but for what it’s worth I don’t own a printer and haven’t had a desire for one. The iPad was too slow to handle big PDFs, and even with small PDFs my page turns would take 3-4 seconds, an eternity when you are on-stage. Over the last four years not only has the technology gotten better, but I’ve gotten some things figured out and have systems in place that make my life as a musician much easier. True, it's pitched in an easy key and all, but still.During my sophomore year of college in 2011, I set out with my 1st generation iPad to become a completely paperless musician with very little success. My son, who played the horn back in high school BIH (before ice hockey) hadn't touched one for five years, but when he picked mine up when it was left out during one of his visits, he immediately ripped out the last movement of the Mozart concerto from memory, and with minimal fumble fingering. Ironically, I forget my bassoon skills quickly after putting it away. That Bassoon "app" is a nifty piece of work indeed, but I imagine that there was quite a bit of work done just to get everything just so. It's the learning curve and the time that's the problem. The iPhone SDK is free (although there is a charge for registering your programmer identification code). You don't use it (assembler and RPG were my two main "work" programming languages), you quickly lose it. Other than Hypercard/Supercard, I've pretty much given up the programming ghost, which is odd since that was my major during my college years. I used to program for the Newton system, and it was all that I could do to keep the uses of the various () symbols in line with that. But, unless you get your programming act together and get on the "app" bandwagon, I'd place the chances at slim to none that you're going to see one. I could use one for the top register of the bass clarinet.
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