6 ms·

I'm really excited about the iPad app. Imagine sitting down at a piano, putting a iPad where you would normally put sheet music, and playing away with your app

I'm really excited about the iPad app. Imagine sitting down at a piano, putting a iPad where you would normally put sheet music, and playing away with your app auto-scrolling so the musician never has to deal with a page turn. Anyone who has ever played piano knows how amazing it would be to have that eliminated. What a great learning device that would be! Kudos and I eagerly await the iPad version!

mrtron 17y ago
This app really does look like it is a match for the iPad. I would consider doing this: A) Make the iphone app free or 1$, get as many users as possible B) Approach whoever owns rights to sheet music, music lessons, etc C) Allow them to sell premium content through your app and you take 50% of the profits
- pistoriusp 17y ago
  iPad users could just double scale the iPhone app.
  - squidbot 17y ago
    Except that the app scrolls the music along one staff. You'd still just get one staff, and it would be gigantic. An iPad version that could show a whole page would be much more useful.
  - mrtron 17y ago
    I would personally pay 20$ not to do that for this particular app.
- aaronbrethorst 17y ago
  I disagree wholeheartedly. Make money now. Don't leave it on the table. Sell 50,000 (or 100k! or 200k!) copies at $3 or $5, and then approach sheet music copyright holders. Copy the business model that Tapulous uses for Tap Tap Revenge: I should be able to download a Ben Folds-branded copy of Etude, and then a separate Beethoven app, and then a separate Liszt app. Each one should cost five bucks. And then user should be able to buy EVEN MORE CONTENT via in-app purchases. Showing content owners that you've already made a million dollars (or whatever) is much more compelling than vague hand-waving about market share and potential of an installed user base. I get really frustrated with this notion that newly released software should be free, or that monetization potential is always increased by giving something away. Who knows what might happen tomorrow? Perhaps an app significantly better than Etude will soon be released. Maybe Dan Grover will get bored of working on Etude. It's possible that sheet music copyright holders could even be dumber than music labels, and they'll be unwilling to cut a deal. There's money to be made, and the best way to make it in the short term is to sell the app.
  - dangrover 17y ago
    Incidentally, the very last company I worked at (before realizing I should do my own thing) was Tapulous :)
    - aaronbrethorst 17y ago
      So you must know Kyle Kinkade, then? He and I have been drinking buddies since we met at MSFT in early '07
      - dangrover 17y ago
        I do know Kyle! Cool guy! Luckily, he managed to escape too (and with more tact than I)
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
- albemuth 17y ago
  Apple only keeps 30%
- wheels 17y ago
  That was the model tried by Noteheads back in the day. It failed miserably: http://noteheads.com/ http://noteheads.com/
noonespecial 17y ago
That's one of the first thing I though of when I heard about the ipad. I had figured an app for the iphone that used its mic to follow a piano piece along and "turn" the pages would have been cool but for the tiny screen. Then ipad came along. How hard would it be to use the mic input to estimate progress through a piece and turn the pages? Of course just using timing to scroll at the right speed would be ok, but having it listen would be much cooler.
- cj 17y ago
  Using timing to scroll eliminates the ability for the player to add any speed variations in a piece, which most experienced players would. It's a fun app for the common folk, but useless to experienced players.
  - DrJokepu 17y ago
    Some really basic audio recognition should enable the software to figure out the current position on the sheet, hence making it useful for experienced players as well.
    - Frazzydee 17y ago
      Do this. Would also be useful for beginners who make mistakes and often need to repeat portions.
    - reiddraper 17y ago
      really basic? score following is hard.
      - DrJokepu 17y ago
        The audio recognition bit is indeed basic - all you need to figure out is the note and possibly the length of the note. The following part hard is a bit harder, but not impossible - compare what you have recognized with what you was expecting. If it's not what you expected, look around the last known position and see if you can find the pattern you recognized (while taking repeat signs etc. into consideration).
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
illumin8 17y ago
Sheet music is truly one killer app for the iPad. I had never thought of it before seeing this app, but even if it's something as simple as scanned .PDFs of your sheet music, imagine not having to carry around backpacks full of books. I have a lot of jazz fake books that are literally monstrous to carry around.
- Daemmerung 17y ago
  The iPad's the right size (ever balanced a laptop on its side on a piano's music desk?), and a touchscreen would certainly be convenient for turning pages and annotating scores. Personally, I'd rather see that app on the Kindle DX, or a device with a similar screen. My eyes suffer enough already from all their computer time. (If the app were on an Android device such as the Nook, I'd turn the pages with voice commands.)
Pistos2 17y ago
Devices have already been made and sold that accomplish this -- presumably because the idea is so obvious. http://www.google.com/search?q=electronic+sheet+music+reader http://www.google.com/search?q=electronic+sheet+music+reader My keyboardist/drummer friend has one such device.

mrtron 17y ago

This app really does look like it is a match for the iPad. I would consider doing this: A) Make the iphone app free or 1$, get as many users as possible B) Approach whoever owns rights to sheet music, music lessons, etc C) Allow them to sell premium content through your app and you take 50% of the profits

pistoriusp 17y ago
iPad users could just double scale the iPhone app.
- squidbot 17y ago
  Except that the app scrolls the music along one staff. You'd still just get one staff, and it would be gigantic. An iPad version that could show a whole page would be much more useful.
- mrtron 17y ago
  I would personally pay 20$ not to do that for this particular app.
aaronbrethorst 17y ago
I disagree wholeheartedly. Make money now. Don't leave it on the table. Sell 50,000 (or 100k! or 200k!) copies at $3 or $5, and then approach sheet music copyright holders. Copy the business model that Tapulous uses for Tap Tap Revenge: I should be able to download a Ben Folds-branded copy of Etude, and then a separate Beethoven app, and then a separate Liszt app. Each one should cost five bucks. And then user should be able to buy EVEN MORE CONTENT via in-app purchases. Showing content owners that you've already made a million dollars (or whatever) is much more compelling than vague hand-waving about market share and potential of an installed user base. I get really frustrated with this notion that newly released software should be free, or that monetization potential is always increased by giving something away. Who knows what might happen tomorrow? Perhaps an app significantly better than Etude will soon be released. Maybe Dan Grover will get bored of working on Etude. It's possible that sheet music copyright holders could even be dumber than music labels, and they'll be unwilling to cut a deal. There's money to be made, and the best way to make it in the short term is to sell the app.
- dangrover 17y ago
  Incidentally, the very last company I worked at (before realizing I should do my own thing) was Tapulous :)
  - aaronbrethorst 17y ago
    So you must know Kyle Kinkade, then? He and I have been drinking buddies since we met at MSFT in early '07
    - dangrover 17y ago
      I do know Kyle! Cool guy! Luckily, he managed to escape too (and with more tact than I)
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
albemuth 17y ago
Apple only keeps 30%
wheels 17y ago
That was the model tried by Noteheads back in the day. It failed miserably: http://noteheads.com/ http://noteheads.com/

noonespecial 17y ago

That's one of the first thing I though of when I heard about the ipad. I had figured an app for the iphone that used its mic to follow a piano piece along and "turn" the pages would have been cool but for the tiny screen. Then ipad came along. How hard would it be to use the mic input to estimate progress through a piece and turn the pages? Of course just using timing to scroll at the right speed would be ok, but having it listen would be much cooler.

cj 17y ago
Using timing to scroll eliminates the ability for the player to add any speed variations in a piece, which most experienced players would. It's a fun app for the common folk, but useless to experienced players.
- DrJokepu 17y ago
  Some really basic audio recognition should enable the software to figure out the current position on the sheet, hence making it useful for experienced players as well.
  - Frazzydee 17y ago
    Do this. Would also be useful for beginners who make mistakes and often need to repeat portions.
  - reiddraper 17y ago
    really basic? score following is hard.
    - DrJokepu 17y ago
      The audio recognition bit is indeed basic - all you need to figure out is the note and possibly the length of the note. The following part hard is a bit harder, but not impossible - compare what you have recognized with what you was expecting. If it's not what you expected, look around the last known position and see if you can find the pattern you recognized (while taking repeat signs etc. into consideration).

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

illumin8 17y ago

Sheet music is truly one killer app for the iPad. I had never thought of it before seeing this app, but even if it's something as simple as scanned .PDFs of your sheet music, imagine not having to carry around backpacks full of books. I have a lot of jazz fake books that are literally monstrous to carry around.

Daemmerung 17y ago
The iPad's the right size (ever balanced a laptop on its side on a piano's music desk?), and a touchscreen would certainly be convenient for turning pages and annotating scores. Personally, I'd rather see that app on the Kindle DX, or a device with a similar screen. My eyes suffer enough already from all their computer time. (If the app were on an Android device such as the Nook, I'd turn the pages with voice commands.)

Pistos2 17y ago

Devices have already been made and sold that accomplish this -- presumably because the idea is so obvious. http://www.google.com/search?q=electronic+sheet+music+reader http://www.google.com/search?q=electronic+sheet+music+reader My keyboardist/drummer friend has one such device.