New Member information

We rehearse Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm at Warren Central High School. Enter through 

door #36 on the south side of the building off of 16th street. Note: The doors automatically unlock at 6:30pm, and re-lock again at 7:30pm. Make sure you have your section lead’s cell number in case you are locked out.

The exact rehearsal room can vary. Generally we rehearse in the band room. After entering door #36 continue straight past the first hallway. The band room will be the first door on the right.

Our music is distributed digitally to our members. You are responsible for bringing a copy to rehearsal. 

Most of this article will instruct folks how to utilize the iPad effectively for reading music. If you don’t own an iPad, scroll to the bottom to see some Android Alternatives. Scroll down further to see some tips on how to best print your music if you choose to print music instead of using a digital music reader.

The current recommendation for digital music reading is for the largest screen available. Reading digital music for rehearsals and performance is not particularly processing-intensive, but having a large screen that is anti-glare is really helpful when playing outdoor concerts. Some hardware recommendations are as follows: 

• iPad Air 13" - If you're already using an iPhone and have other Apple products
• TCL NXTPAPER 14" - This is a low cost entry-level device that offers an e-ink mode that would work well outdoors in sunlight.

• Newzik
• forScore
• MobileSheets
• Piascore

All of these apps are available on the iOS App Store, forScore and Mobile Sheets are also available on Android. Piascore is a freedownload. Newzik is a free download but requires a subscription for all features, while forScore and Mobile Sheets are a one-time purchase. The apps have roughly the same features, but they have their own interface for displaying each of the features. 

Newzik's features are nearly identical to those in forScore, so the difference is largely aesthetic. The app offers a free download, but it limits the number of pieces you are allowed in your account. You’ll have to pay a monthly fee to allow for additional pieces and to scan additional parts per piece.

One unique feature in Newzik is how individual “Parts” are organized within a piece. This allows for a musician to have a piece of music in their library with multiple parts available to choose among. For example, if a player has played Sleigh Ride before on 2nd clarinet, they can add the 3rd part to the same arrangement without having to add a new piece of music to their library.

See their official tutorials for more information and see how to get started using it.

ForScore is an alternative to Newzik for reading music on an iPad and keeping all the music digitally. One benefit to using forScore is that the app is available for a single purchase price, rather than a subscription. The app is $19.99 on the App Store.

As mentioned above, forScore offers nearly all of the same features as Newzik, with the exception of how individual parts can be organized within a piece of music. If you double on different instruments, or play different parts within a musical group, you may find your library becomes cluttered with different versions of the same piece since you’ll need to keep track of each part for each piece separately.

Check out the forScore User Guide Table of Contents to familiarize yourself with the app’s functionalities and enhance your band’s musical experience.

MobileSheets is an alternative to either of the above, and is supported on Android, iOS and Windows based tablets. See their linked website for more information.

1. Acquire the Necessary Equipment: Ensure you have an iPad and download either Newzik or forScore from the App Store.
2. Import Your PDF files: Transfer your band’s PDF files to the app’s library. Use the “Import” feature of each app.
3. Explore App Features: Familiarize yourself with the app’s interface, including navigation, annotation tools, and organizational features.
4. Annotate and Organize: Start annotating your music sheets, add comments, markings, and organize them using metadata or tags for easy access. Both apps allow for using “stamps” (from forScore) and “symbols” (from Newzik) to annotate your music. These are great for marking flats, sharps, etc. in your music since they offer finer grained control of the position of the marking.
5. Practice and Perform: Utilize the apps during band practices and performances, taking advantage of collaborative features and annotation tools.

One of the biggest adjustments to make when using an iPad for music was getting used to the half-page turn. These apps all have this as an option, and it is  recommend that most folks to turn on. (it’s not on by default) The half page turn will turn the top half of the screen to show the next page of music, while the bottom half remains on your current page. 

Another GOTCHA is when the roadmap for a piece is complex. Specifically if there is a D.S., Coda, or a repeat that spans multiple pages. Each piece will be different and will require a bit of adjustment based on how the music is laid out. These apps offer a “rearrange” feature of the music that allows for copying pages, changing order of the pages, or even cropping pages given the need. This allows the musician to customize the music to suit the needed roadmap for the piece.

How do I turn pages?

Once the music is in “reading” mode (i.e. displayed in full screen, without any of the annotations bar visible) the edges of the iPad can be tapped to turn the page. As mentioned above, it is recommended to turn on half-page turning so that you have more flexibility as to when the next page of music is visible, and you can smoothly transition to the next page.

Should I buy a foot pedal to turn pages?

Maybe. This is a personal choice and is not required. Most music has sufficient breaks when the musician can quickly tap the screen with a free hand to allow for turning the page very quickly without needing a “hands-free” page turning system. There are parts that have very few breaks or rests between pages, so these lend themselves more to using a separate foot pedal. If you do decide to buy one, the PageFlip firefly is a good choice since it allows for nearly silent page turning, and will not slip under your foot during rehearsal or performances.

Do I need an Apple Pencil to annotate my music?

No. The annotations work with your finger. These apps will use a “magnified” section of the screen to allow for fine-grained positioning of annotations. Writing special instructions is a little cumbersome with one’s finger, but it can be done.

If you don’t own an iPad, there are Android alternatives. If you already own an Android tablet, the below apps may be useful alternatives to their iPad equivalents. 

• MobileSheets
• MusicReader

For a list of iPad alternatives, see this article that discusses some alternative tablets.

If you have any questions about using an iPad for reading music, please contact James Alexander for more information.

Standard paper that is distributed for home use is 20lb paper. This is great for “normal” uses like printing letters, term papers, etc. However when needing a piece of paper to “stand up” on a music stand and not be blown over by someone walking past, it is better to use a higher weight paper.

Most at home printers can comfortably print using 28lb paper. Some of the heavier pieces of music distributed from the ISB library were printed on 32lb paper. However, some home printers do not support this heavy weight paper. Therefore, we recommend using 28lb paper. This weight paper is available both at office supply stores (Office Depot) and at general stores like Wal-mart and Meijer. Note however that the 20lb paper is far more common than heavier paper, so be careful when identifying the weight of the paper before making a special purchase.

If you wish, the ISB will provide you with a standard music folder you can use to hold your music.

As an alternative, you can use a 3-ring binder. When the order gets changed, or you drop your music, or the pages get out of order, it is a real pain to shuffle individual sheets of paper. You can punch holes in your music and place it in a 3 ringed binder alphabetically. If you also place dividers in there, it is easy to jump to a specific piece. A thin binder will easily fit on your stand. Having all the music in a binder helps keep the music organized and easy to transport.

If you do this, make sure you punch holes on the right side of the music that you want to open on the left side of the your binder. Music that opens on the right side of your binder should have holes punches on the left side of the music. You can also arrange your music so that you have no awkward page turns if you do it this way.

When printing your parts, you’ll likely need to find the “Fit to Page” setting of the print modal that appears when printing each piece of music. Several of these tunes were scanned from pieces of paper that were non-standard 8.5” / 11” paper. To give you the best reading experience, use the “Fit to Page” setting. The exact location of this check box varies from printer to printer and computer to computer. However it generally resides in the “Printer Options” or “Page Options” section of the modal that appears when printing a PDF. On the screenshot below from a Mac, this option is actually called “Fill Entire Paper”: