Digital music stand

Abstract

Presenting musical notes today is very similar to how it has been done throughout the centuries; hand-written notes on paper, supported by a music stand. This system has worked for a long time, and still does, but there are several features that could be improved. Even though pen and paper is a preferred way of composing, it can be hard for the musician to read. The paper-based system is also problematic when it comes to the turning of pages. Unless the notes have been edited by a good copyist, page breaking can occur in an unnatural way, causing interruptions in the performance. Another problem that is related to the standard way of handling notes is changes from the original score. Even though changes in the scores seldom occur, they have to be distributed to every member of the orchestra. To replace the paper copies and put the scores in a computer library, e.g. on a CDROM, would not only offer an easier way to handle them but it would also mean that the musician can bring it with him/her. The context of this project is to develop a Digital Music Stand that would replace not only the music stand itself, but also the whole handling of scores. It would be based around a flat touch screen, which would display the notes through an easy to use interface, enabling the user to make changes and add personal notes directly on the screen. Other features included would be an automatic page-turner, a built in metronome and tuner and also a means of communication to other music stands as well as to an external library. suggestions will be made to how the interface would look like to ensure that it is user friendly and wont cause any disturbance for the musician during rehearsal or performance. To carry out this project in a systematic way, the following procedures have been followed: Research - To understand the user. To see what, if any, other products exists on the market today and to see what technologies applicable there are. Concept development and evaluation- To use the knowledge and user understanding retained during research to come up with 5 different valid concepts for evaluation. Design proposal To, with the aid of users and further tests, come up with the best possible product.