Budget monitor/screen for studying/playing/sheet music?

[chigson]

I decided to upgrade my setup once again recently, and bought myself a mac mini that'll be used only for music related things.

Now, I'm lacking a screen for it, and thought maybe someone has some suggestions for that? I imagine it would be good to place it just behind the piano on the windowsill, and it probably has to be middle/small sized.

But buying the first one I see is not my style, so to say.

Any advice? Maybe some bottlenecks? Haven't worked/studied on screen much.

 

edit: here's the photo of how things are right now

 

 

 

Much appreciated,

C.

[MoodyBluesKeys]

Might not be useful in this application, but I did have a Mini (currently have MBP), and just ran the HDMI output to a purchased HDTV. It is 32" on the desk (and a 55" in the Living Room for playback of TV shows). Makes a reasonably priced monitor, in sizes available from tiny to gigantic.

I don't know whether or not HDMI TV's that are compatible with the Mac are available, but they have low pricing in the US because so many are sold.

 

Another potential solution would be an iPad. There are is software available named "Duet" which allows using an iPad for a second display on a Mac, I think it can also be used for primary display with a Mini. Cost of the 12" iPad is enough that one would need to have other uses to justify the cost. I'm currently ordering the parts needed to mount one of my iPads (oldest one) to use instead of a music stand, and all my charts put in Adobe PDF format.

[ElmerJFudd]

I agree. The 12 iPad Pro is a great sheet music solution but too expensive to buy exclusively for this purpose. For a dedicated sheet music reader with applications like https://orpheus-app.com/ look for a second hand 10-12 Samsung tablet. Many of these Android models also have an SD card port for saving your library to so no need to sweat the minuscule internal storage.

[J_tour]

I did look around for a similar gadget a while ago: just a tiny screen for using with some older linux boxes. Even one I could clip onto a handy surface as needed. You probably want a bit larger screen, I'm guessing, just without the large footprint most monitors have, when including the stand and all that. Don't remember the names/models or prices, but they exist, with HDMI being the most common interface.

 

I would probably just get a cheap tablet, like from a brand like KingPro or something running Android that's dirt cheap and put in a little micro-SD card as needed. You should get a few years out of a low-end tablet before it goes blank; probably more if you're not banging it around trying to affix to tripods and tossing it in your gym bag.

 

I'm not sure what notation software exists for Android from one of those "GooglePlay" stores or that cr**, but it's likely something like the Linux-friendly MuseScore (not great notation software, but it's adequate, I guess) could be made to work. Certainly you can view scores in pretty much any print-friendly or e-book format, and possible export to MusicXML, if you like that. Or, if you can stand being always-on networked, use some kind of IaaS or SaaS cloud "solution" for home use.

 

I'm not sure how much tinkering it would take, or if the Apple ecosystem would like it, but you might be able to rip the screen off an old/unusable notebook computer and rig something up. I kind of like that idea myself, having about six dead notebook computers lying around, and I'm pretty sure it could be done with about zero soldering, just off-the-shelf adapters.

 

IIRC a small (8" or 10", somewhere in there) LED or LCD screen w/ HDMI was not more than one or two hundred dollars, but I never took the plunge.

 

But since you want a pretty stable monitor that isn't going to be moved around much, you know, why not just poach an old LCD monitor for cheap, unscrew all the chunky supportive elements, and just affix it to your desired spot? That's easy, cheap, and guaranteed to work. Also, if you get tired of it, you can just use it for something else, or donate it to one of those "free computers for the indigent" type places that are around in some place. Or just toss it, or recycle it, or whatever.

 

ETA Nice Kawai! Yeah, assuming I have some old, feeble relatives who aren't dead poor, and who die and unexpectedly leave me some dough, that's the line I'd be looking at, for strictly at-home use. Stop me I now have GAS!

[chigson]

Thanks for good advices guys

 

@J_tour Yeah, option with a cheap LCD monitor looks good to me; I'll wander around the city and maybe'll find something for cheap.

I also started thinking in a way, that maybe it is better to get an iPad, it probably can be more useful. Although curious what are the prices nowadays..

 

ETA Nice Kawai! Yeah, assuming I have some old, feeble relatives who aren't dead poor, and who die and unexpectedly leave me some dough, that's the line I'd be looking at, for strictly at-home use. Stop me I now have GAS!

Haha yeah, it's awesome. Worked hard to set all of it up.

[MoodyBluesKeys]

iPad can do a lot of musical (and other) things. One note to a new iPad buyer in music: Get more memory than the base model. I got a couple of 5th generation (2017) 128 GB late last year, my previous ones were 32 GB, and I couldn't load all the stuff I wanted.

Microsoft Office apps (even with just a free MS account let you load Word, Excel, PowerPoint files. A few news and weather apps. A very few social media apps. Adobe Reader if you just want to use PDF files (OnSong also reads PDF)

Musical stuff: OnSong (used to download from CCLI which is our primary source for church praise music), can build set lists and bunch of other things)

AmpliTube (effects), Analog Synth, Animoog, Arturia ISEM, Autoharp, BASSalicious, BeatMaker3, ClearTune, FM Player, Korg Gadget 2, Galileo (Hammond), GarageBand, iCathedral, iFretless Bass, iFretless Brass, iFretless Sax, Korg iM1, iPlug MIDI, Moog Model D, Korg Module, Nave, Korg Oddyssei, PureSynth, Ravenscroft275, SampleTank, Synth One, Yamaha TouchNotation.

 

I use Korg Module (with most of the add-ins) most - my own very small MIDI sound source with over 600 different patches the most. iFretless Bass considerably, SampleTank with some of their orchestral add-ins a good bit. Ravenscroft for a good acoustic piano (also have Ivory inside Module). Music Apps for iPad cost about 10% of same app for PC/Mac, although some don't have as much features.

 

This along with either an IK iRig Pro 37 or Samson Carbon 61 controller has become my "go-to" rig for any time I want a very light and easy load-in/out for most any project that I don't have to have the big stuff. I have a fixed rig at church with Kurzweil PC2 and PC3, have a USB-Lightning cable on the PC3, just use a setup for MIDI only and feed the iPad for additional sounds (I like Module's Hammond/Leslie better than the internal KB3 for organ).

 

I'm going to use the oldest iPad model 3 (which can't be upgraded beyond IOS 9.3) to replace my music stand and sheets in the near future. It is just a bit too small to read easily with the music stand as far away as it is on the Z stand setup, so I will get an iPad mount that mounts to a mic stand, short boom, and adapter to the OnStage 2 tier Z stand to get it close enough to read. Using OnSong and PDF files. If I find it needed, can get a Bluetooth pedal to change pages by foot (already have enough for feet to do with 2 CC pedals and 6 switch pedals). Use the iPad charger and cable with a USB extension to keep the iPad battery charged - I find that I can run the older iPad mini for 3 hours without charging and still have about 60% battery.