Mobilesheets vs fakebooks, connecting to registrations, ease of use, scale-able

[jcm2016]

Hello,

My PSR SX900 is my first arranger keyboard and I'm starting to get my arms around registrations and playlists.  Thank you to everyone here for the posts and the Lessons section.

I have several paper fake books and am just starting to gather registrations to go along with particular songs.  I can see this becoming a cumbersome and physical process - getting the right fake book, right page, etc.

Since I'm at the beginning of the road, the concept of digital sheet music that connects to registrations is appealing.  It seems that mobilesheets can do this.  It also seems to be quite fiddly!  From looking on the mobilesheets site, these forums, and on the web, I'm thinking there will be a lot of setup frustration.  I've never worked with Midi files, or transferring data.  I just want it to work and be simple! 

I'm not a gigging musician, everything is for my own fun.  I have limited time to spend on music in general, whether that is taken up with technology items or digging through fake books.  I'm trying to think long term - might the up front hassle with mobilesheets be worth it?  What if mobile sheets goes out of business or is bought by someone else?  Would everything be tied to them?  It would seem I have the most control with paper, but obviously the most cumbersome.

For those of you that have been doing this for ages, if you could start fresh today (my position), how would you structure and connect your registration library with your sheet music library?

Many thanks in advance!

[ton37]

Hi jcm2016.
For a number of years I have been using Mobilesheets (pro) to my full satisfaction. I am a simple home playing hobby player. I can't play without sheet music. I now have a large collection (thank you fellow forummers!) And only use digital (pdf) sheet music. On the sheet music you can put 'annotations' (notes) to your heart's content, which will help you to show how you want to play that composition. (See a simple example). You can arrange that to your heart's content, 'the sky is the limit'.
I have two 29 inch monitors (with windows 10) in front of me (just above the keyboard. This allows me to clearly read 2 pages of sheet music per screen. Pressing the -> button on the computer keyboard switches to a next page.

I know that you can also link Mobilesheets (via midi signals) to the keyboard, but I find that too cumbersome and that does not help me in any case. I have 2 things to do:
1. My repertoire is in my Playlist. Search and press ...
2. The computer screen shows Mobilesheets. Search for a number, open on screen ...
... just play.

To be clear, this is MY way the way I 'work'. Fortunately, everyone can determine how he / she works best.
Just my 2 cents

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[Al Ram]

Not sure if you already decided to use MobileSheet (I assume this is an app) . . . or if you are open to other apps.

I have used SongBook+ for a number of years and find it very useful and very practical.  I converted all my paper sheets to PDF . . . . .

I have SongBook+ loaded on the iPad and connected wirelessly to my Genos keyboard.   With this program, i am able to load all my PDF's into the iPad and link each PDF to a Genos registration bank . . . . so that when selecting a PDF sheet(s) on the iPad the corresponding registration is automatically loaded on the Genos keyboard (the other way around too).

Whatever you decide, hope you find something for your needs.

Have a great day.

[jcm2016]

Thank you everyone for the responses; super helpful.


@ton37, I believe what you're doing is using the computer screens as a replacement to the paper, and you load up your registrations distinctly?  In other words, the two are not linked? 

@muddy - thank you for the guidance.  I haven't played around with that yet, because it looks quite fiddly.  I get frustrated with the fiddly and want to play!  Is it correct that you have the control and can link what you want?  In other words, you are deciding what sheet music to put and what registrations to link it to?  So while fiddly, you end up with exactly what you want and it can grow as your collection grows?

@AI ram - thank you.   I'm not at all set on Mobilesheets, it was the only one I'd seen that can link sheet music in an electronic format to the registrations.  Is songbook+ a closed system?  It appears that the adding of the sheet music and linking to registrations is done by the company selling the product?  From the videos I saw, they have about 200 songs.  It also seems that it is their selections of registrations etc?  So on the one hand it is easy because less fiddly, less for me to setup, they've done more of the work.  On the other hand, it doesn't expand to whatever I want and less customization?  Is that right?

I fully appreciate that every avenue has time investment to get it to work, fiddly bits, etc.  I'm just trying to do some homework on which is best suited for my particular desires, knowing those may well be different than others.

Again, I'm really glad I've discovered this forum - so much helpful information.

[reya]

Is it correct that you have the control and can link what you want?  In other words, you are deciding what sheet music to put and what registrations to link it to?  So while fiddly, you end up with exactly what you want and it can grow as your collection grows?

Hi jcm2016

I have been using Mobilesheets since 2013.
The way I use it is exactly as you describe above ..

1) I upload my musicsheet into Mobilesheets.
2) I make a registration file for that sheet on the keyboard.
3) Then I link the two ..
    3a) I have that sheet displayed in Mobileheets.
    3b) I have that corresponding registrationfile loaded on the keyboard and press the registration button to start off with for that song.
    3c) I then press the linking icon in Mobilesheets
Done!

From now on, both (music sheet and registration) are linked together. Meaning that in the future when I load the registration file and press the button on the keyboard, the song is automatically displayed in Mobilesheets and vice versa.

So yes, you decide what song sheet to link to what registration file button, and yes you can build it up as your collection grows ...

Rudy

[frozzers]

Hi Rudy

As a matter of interest, if you move a registration from its original location on your keyboard eg from the hard drive to a USB stick, does it break the link meaning you have to relink it?

Cheers

Chris

[reya]

Hi Chris,

I can only comment for Mobilesheets ....

And there the answer is yes.
The full path of the registration file is stored in Mobilesheets. So when you move it, the link will no longer work until you relink it.
The advantage of storing the full path though, is that the registration files do not all have to come from one and the same folder as was the case on Tyros ....
That beeing said. The old way of linking sheets and registrations (as used on Tyros) is still available on PSR SX and Genos (and Mobilesheets). And there, the link is independent of the location (but you need to point the system to that location before you start and the actual linking process is more complex...)

Rudy

[ton37]

Thank you everyone for the responses; super helpful.


@ton37, I believe what you're doing is using the computer screens as a replacement to the paper, and you load up your registrations distinctly?  In other words, the two are not linked? 

................ more text ........

Digitization makes it more than just a replacement for the paper version. Some time ago I made a successful attempt to link sheet music and playlist. But in the end I found it too laborious. I don't have a very large repertoire. I have organized both the playlists and my favorite sheet music in the same folder structure and they are both easy to find and play. Usually alphabetically. Hence I wrote, this is how it works for me.
Good luck with your search ..

[jcook980]

I definitely want to get something similar set up and I have exactly the same needs as the OP. I have a ton of popular music books dating back to the mid 70's. Most of them out of print for decades. I really struggle though, with both hands busy, turning the pages as I play. I'd regret (a little...) splitting the bindings, but I'd be willing to do this just to be able to use the sheet feeder on my scanner to create the pdfs. I have an iPad 2 that can't be updated to run anything newer than iOS 9.3.5 that I'd prefer to use, if possible. But I also have a newer iPad running the latest iOS.

[overover]

I definitely want to get something similar set up and I have exactly the same needs as the OP. I have a ton of popular music books dating back to the mid 70's. Most of them out of print for decades. I really struggle though, with both hands busy, turning the pages as I play. I'd regret (a little...) splitting the bindings, but I'd be willing to do this just to be able to use the sheet feeder on my scanner to create the pdfs. I have an iPad 2 that can't be updated to run anything newer than iOS 9.3.5 that I'd prefer to use, if possible. But I also have a newer iPad running the latest iOS.

Hi jcook980,

Songbook+ (baum-software.ch) needs at least iOS 10.3. So you need at least an iPad4 (which supports up to iOS 10.3.3).

The current version of OnSong (onsongapp.com) requires iOS 13 or later. (I have installed OnSong v2020.5 on my iPad4, but this version does not yet contain the new Sy*** control mode (for use with Genos and PSR-SX models) which, to my knowledge, was introduced in OnSong v2020.7.)

MobileSheets (zubersoft.com), to the best of my knowledge, is available only for Android mobile devices and Windows 10 computers, but currently not for iOS/iPadOS.


Best regards,
Chris

[Fred Smith]

I definitely want to get something similar set up and I have exactly the same needs as the OP. I have a ton of popular music books dating back to the mid 70's. Most of them out of print for decades. I really struggle though, with both hands busy, turning the pages as I play. I'd regret (a little...) splitting the bindings, but I'd be willing to do this just to be able to use the sheet feeder on my scanner to create the pdfs. I have an iPad 2 that can't be updated to run anything newer than iOS 9.3.5 that I'd prefer to use, if possible. But I also have a newer iPad running the latest iOS.

I used a flatbed when scanning my sheet music, and didn't have to split any bindings. Sure love the hands-free operation which registrations and pdfs allow for. I keep my hands on the keys at all times.

Cheers,
Fred

[MikeS]

I started scanning my music collection using a flatbed scanner but found they can damage the spine on larger music books. Moved to a book edge scanner that can scan to within 2 or 3 mm of the scanner edge, I have scanned 1100+ page music books with no damage to the spine. Only issue is the cost, book edge scanners are a lot more expensive than a flatbed, but worth it if you want to keep your music book collection in mint condition.

[jcm2016]

Thanks again for all the responses.

I'm zeroing in on Mobilesheets for the following reason:.  I believe I would still have all of the sheet music within my own possession?   So if something happened to Mobilesheets (bankruptcy, they close the service, crash), I'm not trapped with all the effort lost.   I think all that would happen is I'd lose the linkages between the sheet music and the keyboard?   Is that a correct summary?   Since I'm at the very beginning, I want to think through how to get out of things go badly.   Thanks in advance

[ton37]

Of course you can worry whether a software program has a long future. But that is true of almost all computer programs/companies nowadays. In any case, you always keep the PDF files. Perhaps unnecessarily, have you made a reliable backup of it? You don't even need a flatbed scanner anymore. A smartphone currently also makes excellent scans, even out of hand. The technology goes on and on ...

[overover]

... You don't even need a flatbed scanner anymore. A smartphone currently also makes excellent scans, even out of hand. The technology goes on and on ...

Yes, I mostly use the "Microsoft Lens" PDF scanner app on my Android smartphone.


Best regards,
Chris