Encore or MusicTime for the Apple iPad

[Hucbald]

Greetings Gvoxians,

Since the iPhone came out, I've been wanting a composition sketchpad app to carry around with me, but the notation apps that have appeared so far are mostly toys and lacking enough functionality to be useful to me. Besides, the iPhone screen is just too small to work on comfortably. Now that the iPad has appeared, however, the game has changed. I started using Encore on a 1024x768 monitor years and years ago - back when that resolution was considered huge - so I know it will work amazingly well, especially in the portrait orientation. Since GVOX already has the most intuitive user interface out there with Encore and MusicTime, it would seem like a natural for them to get the iOS SDK and get after it.

What would make the most sense to me for a mobile touchscreen device would be a minimalist interface without any of the extraneous palettes - Dynamics, Expressions, Marks 1, Marks 2, Guitar, Graphics, Tools, Symbols, Color - and just the necessary ones to create the actual notation - Notes and Clefs. Key and time signature setup and changes would be necessary for me, because I change those a lot in the corse of longer pieces.

Then, just allow single and dual staff systems without any fancy hiding, and sizing, and limit scores to 8-12 systems max (12 staves with systems determined by how many were dual stave systems would work). Perhaps have it auto space only, and also only at engraver's spacing.

Remember, this is a mobile sketchpad for jotting down ideas on the run, not creating finished scores, so just a few native sounds like piano, guitar, bass, and drums would be enough. Then, have the files export in the .ENC format so that they can be imported into Encore, and work on them can continue with Encore's full features.

Somebody is going to do this, and I'd prefer it was GVOX.

Cheers,

George
http://hucbald.blogspot.com/

[Hucbald]

BTW, I just checked, and there's a thread about this at the Sibelius forum. No moderator replies yet.

[stavro]

Encore and MusicTime already have an exceedingly small footprint by modern software standards. I do not see it necessary to pull features at all from Encore, customisation is already available and users can choose what palettes they want for example. Neither should it export to .ENC, it should be the fully fledged Encore program ported to the iPad, which having just checked over the hardware specifications seems more than capable. People are already demanding enough in this day and age, and the more feature backed the better, it will be a selling point and may put Encore in a position hard to match by other vendors. This is a market where footprint matters, and a lot of the more mature editors will have a tough time porting without feature loss I can imagine.

Thanks for bringing this concept to our attention Hucbald. If GVOX made a success in this market then it would benefit all of us due to the influx of more resources.

[Denkster]

I wholeheartedly support that request.
Regarding the developing environment I recommend to stay away of vendor lock-in. Do not rely on Apple-only or MS-only platform features. Feed on open source to breed the widest market.
Regarding the file format however, I tend to (a further developed) MusicXML.
That would make the application useful for users of all important notation programs.

Eveline

[polarbreeze]

Yep, the era of the tablet has arrived and those software vendors who leap on it most effectively will gain great competitive advantage. As far as music scores are concerned, I think there are two separate needs:

1. The idea that started this thread, which is along the lines of a portable music composition notepad.

2. An electronic sheet music application for musicians to use in performance, which we were talking about in another thread.

Each of these presents great opportunities for Encore but at the same time it's important to recognize that the required feature set is actually very different between these two applications: composition versus performance.

Also, I think unfortunately that it would be quite a daunting task for GVOX to create an iPad version of Encore because it's an entirely different OS - not Mac, not Windows.

[Denkster]

Also, I think unfortunately that it would be quite a daunting task for GVOX to create an iPad version of Encore because it's an entirely different OS - not Mac, not Windows.

IPad uses iPhone OS, which belongs to the OSX family of operating systems.
The problem is not the kernel of the OS (basically Linux BSD) but the parts that are on top of the kernel (like Cocoa, Carbon, Aqua), which handle the user interface, windowing system, etcetera. Encore relies on these 'shell' components.
Read more here:
http://osxbook.com/book/bonus/ancient/whatismacosx/

Currently, we don't know which 'shell' components will be available on the iPad.

Eveline

[polarbreeze]

... user interface, windowing system, etcetera. Encore relies on these 'shell' components.

That's my point. It will be a non-trivial task.

[mikehalloran]

Encore, with its small footprint, would be the ideal program to port to the iPad.

I want one when there exists a decent music notation program for it. I have no use for an iPad otherwise.

What concerns me is no mouse. About a year ago, I became severely handicapped due to a stroke. I can run Encore just fine one handed. I do almost everything with the mouse and one hand.

[aliahlewis]

Hey I don't know about this feature of iPad. Is there any software or keyboard which we can install at iPad and use it?? How to use an iPad for producing music?? I have hear about music producing feature of an iPad but I really don't know how to use it??