It’s pretty difficult to get the convenience and reliability of an Apple product without buying an Apple product. You could avoid a lot of the cost by buying a refurbished model that’s warrantied by Apple, or you could buy one second hand. For sheet music storage, you don’t need anything new. Older generations are still great for that kind of thing—I’ve heard people saying it’s better to use an old iPad as an e-reader than to buy a Kindle or similar device. The hierarchical filing system is extremely intuitive and makes organization and storage pretty simple. You can use WiFi to pull up scores on sites like IMSLP that can be read easily on a screen.

A friend uses a full-page sized iPad on a special stand as his music library, complete with internet access for easy reference for unfamiliar material (requests during gigs) and for his premade set lists. It’s a pretty simple and useful setup. It’s also a handy notebook for making quick notes at sessions when new tunes are called.

All the professionals I see using tablets are using iPads on their stands. Orchestral or chamber musicians often have foot pedals that can be paired for easy page turning.

Thanks, Rich. You comment is very helpful. You essentially confirmed the conclusion of my research. I was really hoping for another suggestion that someone is currently using and likes. I have several professional musician friends who use and like the iPad Pro. I guess I need to start busking or playing the lottery or ....

Jeez i hate to see them things at a session

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Originally posted by pete_fiddle

Jeez i hate to see them things at a session

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I do too!! My ring binders are near capacity with tunes in the learning queue. I'm not so much worried about old-time tunes because I can pick those up fairly quickly in a session. It's many of the Celtic tunes that are problematic for me.

FWIW: Seeing some one pull out notes at a session tells me that either they are beginners or that they are not serious about the music. I will admit, though, that, at times, I have been reduced to looking at notes during a session when I couldn't figure out a phrase.

Kirk, I don't know your exact needs, and what I use may be completely unsuitable, but ...
Like you, I'm not fond of overpriced and way overhyped Apple products. I've had two Lenovo tablets, currently a 10" screen, which I'm sure cost far less than an iPad. Funny, I didn't see what I would do with a tablet, so I asked on FHO and Chickenman said "People do things with them." Live and learn!
Anyway, I just use a regular file system and a file manager to store and keep track of music .pdfs. Organized as "Documents - Music - Books/Sheet."
I don't really have too much individual sheet music, mostly historic songs like "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane." I have more collections like "O'Neill's Music of Ireland," "Ryan's Mammoth Collection," "English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians," "Knauff's Virginia Reels" and other old collections. The individual sheet music just appears in the file manager in the usual orders - name, date, etc. I can't search by key, tempo or anything like that, but its all I need.
Most of the fiddle tunes I know are still just stored in my head (hopefully). If I need to refresh my memory there are online sources like Slippery Hill, YouTube, the Henry Reed collection at the LOC, plus I have a lot of actual music stored, like the Emmett Lundy recordings. Plus we have a copy of the "M-K Collection" and other books.
One thing I like about Android devices is that you can use removable micro SD drives, so I have about 200 GB on this tablet. Same with my cheap Motorola phone (which I think is now part of Lenovo - which I dimly recall might have been a spinoff from IBM). In any case these devices have all worked just fine. Coupled with a small JBL Bluetooth speaker, headphones and earbuds, plus a pair of AR outdoor Bluetooth speakers, its a pretty good music system.

I still really like sheet music, but the iPad is undeniably useful. Having played tons of weddings and had to use weights and clothespins to keep music from blowing away in a sudden breeze, the convenience of a single device that won’t blow over easily is hard to deny. It’s also nice not to have to use a stand extender for longer pieces.

Devices are pretty common in jams and sessions nowadays. iPads show up less than phones because it’s just as easy to use a phone to make a recording. I don’t see it as that big of a deal—people have been bringing devices into jams for decades. Some of them are posted on this forum from time to time. I think the irrational fear of devices is not so much about the devices as it is about the idea that sheet music will be used and that its use will somehow ruin the authenticity of the playing. That’s a pretty flimsy argument, especially given how much players typically differ when they play by ear alone.

If it accomplishes the purpose of consolidating music storage and facilitating travel with a good library, that seems like a pretty decent solution.

Talk about a session breaking, anti-craic sterile "Device". i say Ban Them, and all who sail in them!!!... Imagine the scene...Folk sat down staring at screens playing the correct version . while other droids record them on their devices and regurgitate them back into the digital soup.

Every fool on a stool in Nashville has a phone clamped to their mike stand. I asked what the best app was? They say Ultimate-guitar.com. Basically for requests. Way quicker than working out the chords.

Personally, I have a Samsung Tab S7. I get in the studio about every other day. I will record upto a dozen videos each session. When my hard drive gets full, I offload them to a thumbdrive. I can also use it for stuff from Ultimate-guitar chords. Sheet music. I can also print from it. I still print out chord sheets for piano. Maybe for rehearsal. I use it instead of a laptop. Period.

I have a Samsung tablet, biggest size, thats all I know about it. There's a program/app that neatly stores music into various categories, thats all I use it for, except for a few kindle books. I have some of those books Doug mentioned , a stack of classical pieces and a ton of folk music. Nearly everyday I'm downloading the dots for tunes I hear on the internet, especially from facebook. I can learn a dozen tunes at the same time without the plethora of books/folders/loose sheets cluttering up the music stand, and its all at my finger tips without leaving my seat for hours.
I've had it for some time now, but I never take it to gig or a session. It is my goal to present at least 6 new, memorized tunes at every session of the local monthly jam. It's not a fiddle-tune jam so I usually play solo/unaccompanied.

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Originally posted by pete_fiddle

Talk about a session breaking, anti-craic sterile "Device". i say Ban Them, and all who sail in them!!!... Imagine the scene...Folk sat down staring at screens playing the correct version . while other droids record them on their devices and regurgitate them back into the digital soup.

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What's so different about using a tablet to read music or a phone to record it from using actual sheet music and recording with a tape recorder?

I've seen a number of videos taken at Clifftop where a few players are jamming and they're surrounded by a gaggle of enthusiasts sticking various recording devices in their faces. Should that be banned as well?

Playing from a page isn't what makes playing sterile; it's the inability to interpret what's on the page that makes it so. And playing by ear is no guarantee against sterile playing.

Yea they are good for learning, practicing recording...etc....At home.

As for sticking them in somebody's face while they are out playing. i think you should at least ask if is ok first, thank them after, and maybe even offer to buy them a drink. I think that's probably what folk like Alan Lomax etc did?

Amazon has refurbished / used / renewed iPad pros…
an older model would be fine, since music pdfs are not space-consuming and don’t require much processing power…

My flute friend keeps tunes on her laptop…it can be folded up in half and put on a music stand if she needs to do that (sorry, forgot the name!) but it seems like a handy dual use for her.

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Originally posted by pete_fiddle

Yea they are good for learning, practicing recording...etc....At home.

As for sticking them in somebody's face while they are out playing. i think you should at least ask if is ok first, thank them after, and maybe even offer to buy them a drink. I think that's probably what folk like Alan Lomax etc did?

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Or offer the players a copy, or at least a link. Pet peeve: Play all night basically with everybody pointing their phones at you. Then the next day, do you think you can find copy or a link? Just a screenshot for me scrapbook would be nice. But nothing. 

quote:

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Originally posted by pete_fiddle

Yea they are good for learning, practicing recording...etc....At home.

As for sticking them in somebody's face while they are out playing. i think you should at least ask if is ok first, thank them after, and maybe even offer to buy them a drink. I think that's probably what folk like Alan Lomax etc did?

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This is one of the reasons fiddle festivals don't appeal to me very much. The amount of unsolicited recording and hovering is downright creepy. At least at the jams and sessions in my area, those who want to record just set their devices down beside them rather than holding them right up to your face and breathing down your shoulder while you're playing.

If you're in a public space, you have to accept that people can record you, but it gets very uncomfortable when someone  starts recording point blank. 

First, thanks for the great suggestions! I'm researching the various options, but I will likely wait a bit before pulling the trigger. I need to get to a "pain point" first and a strong justification for the device.

Second, like most of you, seeing music (or tablets) out a session is not a huge problem for me. Because I have been playing nearly 50 years and not entirely in the old-time genre, I occasionally need help remembering the tunes. One reason why I say "I store my tunes in other peoples' heads.

In addition to old time tunes, I play tunes in the New England contra dance repertoire, Celtic tunes and tunes for English Country dances.

I am not classically trained musician which is a good thing. Those folks must be highly disciplined to play exactly what is on the page. I see the transcriptions as "suggestions", and not something to rigidly adhere to. I hear phrases in the English Country dance repertoire that I might slip into an old-time tune. Or something that I play in old-time might creep into a Celtic tune.

I know that purists dislike this practice and I have often been the target of the dreaded "stink eye" - especially at Celtic sessions. But I see the music as living -organic. It was never meant to be played exactly as Jerimiah Hogslop did in the 19th Century. We interject our own interpretations and our own music senses. I have little patience for these folks.

Finally, recording in a public space. It can certainly be annoying! Back in the late 80s/early 90s there was an elderly man from Wisconsin who work his way into the middle of the jam circle with his Panasonic tape recorded and a microphone. He would hold right up to your instrument - nevermind that he was in the way. If he couldn't get into the middle of the jam circle, he would hover around the edge. I would see his microphone appear over my shoulder like a predator hunting prey. He did this to others. It was disconcerting at times. I had a conversation with him one year and learned that he was alone in life after his wife had passed and the music that he recorded brought his comfort and joy when he got home. He even sent me copies of his tapes that year. I was more tolerant after that.

Making a recording at a session is no issue for me. I do it, but I ask for permission with the understanding that the files will not be published. They are to assist me in learning tunes. Same with videos.

At a festival, I will set my recording near me where it is unobstrusive, turn it on and let it go. Yes, I get some real tools who will stomp their feet, play out of tune or out of rhythm, or have a loud conversation with someone across the circle. Yes, this really annoying!!! Fortunately, it only one or two who do this and they tend to self-selection to not be a part of the circle. (I have wondered if this a way to keep people from "stealing" their tunes and force them to by their CD or tune book.)

So, I give most folks some grace in public spaces. Many may not be aware that they are intrusive. A gentle reminder can help.

I play out about 25 gigs a year. Myself, and my duo partner both use iPads. I use forScore to store my pdf tunes and a foot page turner. Just too many lyrics to remember. Although after you sing a tune 15-20 times you have it down.

I’m surprised no audience member has asked about the iPads. But other performers have.

Would not take my iPad to a jam. I have plenty of jam tunes memorized.

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Originally posted by Gallaher

I’m surprised no audience member has asked about the iPads. But other performers have.

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I've also never seen an audience complain about a device or a music stand on stage. In fact, at gigs, people tend to enjoy it when they can ask for something unfamiliar to a player and the player can figure the tune or song out on the spot by looking it up. It's mostly players who don't read music who seem to have a problem with it. There are more of these players at jams and sessions, so there's more bullying of players not to use music.

I think I mentioned it before, but I played at a session next to an Irish flute player who confessed to me that she had been using sheet music at sessions for years because she struggled to pick tunes up by ear and hated to have to sit out for long stretches. She would carefully select a spot where she could sit so that other people wouldn't be able to see over her shoulder and she'd secretly pull up the sheet music for the tunes in a set if she had enough time. She was able to fool people by making it seem that the phone was just being used to record tunes and she was just typing tune names in when she was saving her recordings. She did all this because she saw how nasty some players were toward anyone who used sheet music. She was a good player and reader, so she had gone years without even the more seasoned players being able to tell that she was reading "dots." So much for the theory that sheet music readers stick out like a sore thumb sound-wise!

I purchased the iPad Pro 12.9 inch back in 2016 or so and although the battery isn’t good for a long time I just keep it plugged in and I have it set on my music stand in my practice room and so I can access my PDFs through iBook and I am able to look at websites with a large screen. I have way too many books to try to scan them all, but I accumulate them.

I gave a cursory look on eBay and found several older iPad Pros 12.9 on sale for varying prices, but below $200. I know a lot of folks who use Android tablets around Michigan in the Hammered Dulcimer club I play with, and they seem happy with them, and the batteries seem to last.

I had watched the Grateful Dead farewell concerts, and noticed that they were using iPads in their performance.