The Music Pad Pro Digital Sheet Music Viewer: What is it? Does it Work?
In recent years, viable new consumer products broadly categorized as “digital sheet-music viewers” have begun to offer enticing alternatives to–and advantages over–traditional printed sheet music. The first such product to be widely available was FreeHand System’s Music Pad Pro (www.freehandsystems.com). As might be expected with any new commercial product, the manufacturers’ promotional materials touted the product as a solution to a number of common limitations of traditional print music (e.g., page turns, stand lights, wind clips, carrying extensive libraries of printed music, etc.). This presentation will begin with an overview of the product and its basic functionality. The second half of the presentation will focus on a overview of my experiences, those of my colleagues taking part in a trial program, and our real-world assessment (“out in the wild”) before, during, and after a chamber concert in which all performers relied exclusively on Music Pad Pros.
