Anyone use a video display to view sheet music while playing the CVP?

[wa7bqb]

This is probably a very esoteric question, since to do this requires some pretty sophisticated equipment for this point in time. However, one consumer level product may be just the ticket for this, and I wonder if anyone is already doing something like this.

The Sony BRAVIA™ 26" LCD HDTV (KDL-V26XBR1) has a HDMI /USB port. I have a bunch of sheet music and songbooks already in PDF format, and just need a way to:

1. View them AT the CVP309GP (Space is obviously a problem).
2. Somehow facilitate electronic page turning.

I can do this at the PC, using Adobe Acrobat v7 in full screen mode with my keyboard's <enter> key as the page turn toggle. So the concept is doable. With the Sony product it may be possible to transport the pdf files via a thumb drive directly to this display monitor which I would have mounted near the music stand on the CVP309GP. I don't have a solution for turning pages, though, and I don't really know that the pdf is one of the multimedia types supported. However, I know that I can either convert them to a picture format (jpg, bmp, etc.) or a wmv file, so that problem probably has workarounds.

If anyone has some thoughts on this, I would like to hear them. Thanks!

-Dale-

[marcuslai]

something like this ?
http://www.tomleemusic.com/SpecialPage/musicpad/index_en.asp

i've never tried it nor seen it in action, but it seems to be designed for exactly the purpose u have in mind.

[bassclef]

Go to www.freehandsystems.com and look at Music Pad Pro.

A little expensive perhaps, but does an excellent job.

[wa7bqb]

Does that mean you have one? At $1200 (internet list price) it's not all that outrageous. I wonder if you can take existing pdf files of sheet music without going through some proprietary intermediat "validation" step and load it into the musicpad?

(I think so)

Since it supports external usb drives, that would make it just what I'm looking for ... although the screen size is a little small.

What do you think of it as a user (if you have one, of course).

-Dale-

[bassclef]

Hi Dale,

No, I do not own one (more is the pity), but have seen it used by members of a string quartet.

You should be able to load .pdf files I'd think, given that the publicity material refers to "scan...into a computer and than convert" and also "download, import..."
If you are seriously interested, ask them by email.

In case you haven't noticed, they also offer a 30 day "no questions" return guarantee.

George

[elliottpd]

You could use an X-Keys Foot Pedal to send the <Enter> to your computer to turn the pages. It is USB connected.
http://www.ymouse.com/xkeys.php

[wa7bqb]

Thanks for all the great input. After viewing the video sales pitches on the Free Hands Music web site, it looks like that product is 99% of what I was looking for. So I ordered it last night.

The only after thoughts (so far) are I hope that the 12 inch (diagonal) screen isn't going to be too small. I also hope they engineered it properly in that there aren't going to be a bunch of hardware/software issues that are going to drive me nuts. Time will tell.

According to their videos, it will accept all my pdf files, including my own scans. There is a USB port for external thumb drives, so I could easily have a variety of thumb drives to help organize material if memory is a limitation. With the included ethernet port, wifi adaptability will make it easy to transfer to/from the computer, and the fact that it (says) it will run up to 4 hours on internal batteries, solves the connectivity issues at the CVP and all the ugliness that the wiring would create. Here's hoping, I'll let you know how it works out, if anyone is interested.

-Dale-

[bassclef]

Hi Dale,

Happy news:) !

Yes please, let us know in due course, how things work out.
I'm most interested to see what you'll have to say about this product.

Regards,
George