Why can't a drummer turn the page?
A drummer has both hands on sticks and, on a standard kit, both feet on pedals: the bass drum with one, the hi-hat with the other. A drummer has no limb to spare, and a stumble in the groove is heard by the whole band.
That is why a Bluetooth foot pedal, the usual answer for other players, often does not suit a kit. And a tap on a screen needs a free hand. What you want is a stand that follows you and turns by itself.
How do drummers read music on stage?
Many gigging drummers play from a chart, not a full part: a page or two for each song with the form, the feel, and the places the band plays something together. Some play from memory and keep a chart as a safety net. Others read a full part, such as a pit drummer in a musical or a drummer in a big band.
How the chart is written matters. If you are new to the symbols, start with how to read drum sheet music: the notation key, a basic beat, slashes, kicks and repeat bars.
A short chart can sit on one screen, with no turn at all. A longer one needs a turn, usually in the middle of a groove, and a mistimed turn is the cost. A stand that turns on its own removes the problem.
What does SheetScroll open for drums?
- PDFs and photos of paper charts and drum books, shown exactly as printed, with your notes on them.
- Digital scores: MusicXML, MuseScore, Guitar Pro and MIDI files, with a drum part. SheetScroll recognizes a drum part and listens for the kit.
- Your own charts from a notation program, exported as MusicXML or PDF.
Add them from Files, a whole folder, or by scanning pages with the camera. A digital score gives SheetScroll every bar exactly. A scan is read from the picture, and following it is less certain, so a clean page helps. Pairing a scan with a digital copy of the same chart makes it follow as closely as the digital one. The help page on import formats lists each format.
Use the Pen in Annotate to circle a fill, write a count under a hard rhythm or mark a stop. The marks stay with their bars in every view.
How does it follow a drum part?
SheetScroll listens to the kit through the microphone and follows a drum part as it follows any instrument. It turns two beats before the end of the page, not on a timer, so a stop or a long fill does not run away from you.
Drum music repeats itself. A groove returns bar after bar, and a verse and a chorus can look alike. When SheetScroll cannot tell which bar of a groove you are in, it holds the page and outlines the places it is choosing between. Keep playing, and it usually settles. If you have a free hand, tap the bar you are on: at the top of a song, or after you stop and start again somewhere else.
Repeat signs, first and second endings, D.S. and coda are followed too. See repeats, endings and codas.
Sound is analyzed on the device and never recorded, stored or sent. It works offline, in a rehearsal room or on a stage with no signal.
Where should a drummer put the tablet or stand?
- At eye level, in front or to one side, where you can read it without leaning, and clear of your sticks, cymbals and hi-hat.
- Where it hears the kit. SheetScroll tells you if it hears too little or too much (Too quiet to follow or Too noisy to follow) and what to do. Test at soundcheck, with the band playing.
- A long chart in half-page or line-by-line view, so the next line shows before the last one ends.
- A full battery, or a power bank. Reading and following run on the device, with no internet.
The help page on how SheetScroll listens says more about placing the device.
Can the band's pages turn together?
Yes, with Play together. On one Wi-Fi network, one device listens and the others turn with it. The leader taps Lead other devices and shows a code. The others tap Follow a leader and scan it. Each device shows its own copy of the piece, and only bar positions are sent, encrypted.
A drummer can lead, or follow a keyboard player or guitarist and let that device do the listening. The leading device needs Pro, and the ones following it do not. SheetScroll follows by bar numbers where it can. If your chart and the leader's score are different editions, it says so, with Another edition: not following and Follow anyway. The help page on Play together has the steps.
A setlist keeps the night in order. Put the charts in, and each opens and listens by itself when you reach it. At the end of a song, the foot line names the next one. Setlists are free.
What is free for drummers, and what is Pro?
Free: the reader, every format and view, annotations, setlists, and turns by pedal or tap. Pro lets SheetScroll listen to your own charts and turn them for you. It is $5.99 a month, $29.99 a year (the first 2 weeks free) or $79.99 once.
See the page turning apps compared for the kinds of page turner and which suits a player whose feet are busy.
Questions
Is there a page turner for drummers?
Yes. SheetScroll listens through the microphone as you play a drum part and turns the page two beats before the end, never early. You do not touch the screen or use a foot pedal.
Can I use an iPad for drum charts?
Yes. SheetScroll runs on iPad, iPhone, Android tablets and computers. It opens PDF charts, photos of paper charts, and digital scores, and you can mark them with the pen.
How do drummers read music on stage?
Many read a chart of a page or two per song: the form, the feel and the band's hits, with a written part for the tricky bars. Some play from memory and keep the chart in front of them.
Why can't I use a foot pedal to turn pages?
On a standard kit both feet are busy with the bass drum and the hi-hat. A pedal still works with SheetScroll if you have a foot free, but listening does not need one.
What if the groove repeats and it loses my place?
It holds the page and outlines the bars it is choosing between. Keep playing, or tap the bar you are on, and it picks up.
Can I use it with an electronic drum kit?
Yes, through the microphone. The device has to hear the pads or the kit's speakers, so with headphones only it hears too little, and SheetScroll says so. If the kit is also connected by USB or MIDI, choose Microphone under Listen with in Settings → Listening.
Related
- How to read drum notationHow to read drum sheet music: the drum notation key, noteheads and stems, a basic rock beat, counting, ghost notes, flams, rolls, charts and drum tabs.
- BandsPlay together: one device listens and every band member's pages turn with it over Wi-Fi. Setlists, chord charts in any key and Nashville numbers.
- Church musiciansKeep a service in order, follow every repeat and D.S. through the verses, and put chord charts in the singers' key. Free reader, hands-free turns with Pro.
- Performers and accompanistsA page turner that is never early, with half-page turns, nothing over the music, a pedal and a swipe, and no network needed. Free reader.
- Automatic page turnersEvery way to turn sheet music pages hands-free, from pedals to apps that listen, with the pros and cons of each and how a listening page turner decides.
- Play togetherOne device listens and every other device turns with it over Wi-Fi, in the app or a browser. How to lead, follow with a code or QR, and what is shared.