Technology in Music Education

Item 1: New MacBook

I’m on my last day of Spring Break, and a few minutes ago, I ordered a new MacBook.

I’ll be getting the new MacBook Neo. I am opting for the “upgraded” model that comes with Touch ID and 512GB of memory.

I don’t replace technology at a rapid pace. My current MacBook Pro (my second) is a 2018 with a 2.3 GHz Quad-Core Intel i5, with 16GB of memory and a 512GB Hard Drive.

I tested it with GeekBench this morning, and here are the results:

Early testing shows scores of 3,372/8,406 on the MacBook Neo.

That means that the Neo, at $600 (education pricing) will be significantly faster than my current MacBook Pro…which only lasts about an hour on a charge and needs to be plugged in most of the time. And it has always been a HOT computer, even with its fans.

I’ll hold on to the old MacBook Pro for a little while before selling it (possibly trading it in towards getting my son a MacBook Neo for college), and just to make sure that I don’t need anything from the computer that I would not have on the Neo.

If the Neo is functional for five years (or more), it will have served its purpose. It does seem crazy to think that an iPhone chip will ultimately be a better computing experience than an Intel chip, but Apple moved away from Intel years ago (starting in 2020), and the A18 chip is designed in a similar way (similar architecture) to Apple’s much faster M series chips. My only concern is the small amount of memory (RAM), but all the early reports on the Neo say that it isn’t an issue—and the current RAM is probably far more efficient than my 2018 MacBook Pro.

I also do not intend to install all of my current apps on the MacBook Neo…only the main apps I use, which are the Apple Suite of Productivity Apps, Fender Notion, and MuseScore. I have used iCloud for the majority of my “storage” of files for years, so I don’t even have to transfer files!

Item 2: New(er) TCL NxtPaper 14 Tablet

I’m still an iPad User, owning my 12.9” 5th Generation iPad Pro from 2021. This fall, I’ll likely update my iPad as well, likely to an iPad Air ($1200), as the iPad Pro I would want would be at least $1900 (the Nano screen technology for performing is tempting). That would calculate to $160 a month—and quite literally, we have a car payment on a used Chevy Bolt that we purchased last summer that is only $199. I’m not sure an iPad Pro is worth most of a monthly payment for a car!

My iPad remains my workhorse for all of my video editing and most of my music notation work (Fender Notion). This blog post is being written on my iPad.

However, this past November, I purchased an Android tablet (GASP!). I have been co-directing the Bavarian Musikmeisters, an authentic German Wind Band, in the Twin Cities for the past two years. Many of our gigs are outside, and with one rainy performance—as well as my dependence on my iPad, I realized I needed a better solution that would not allow my primary computing device to be destroyed.

I wanted a large Android tablet, so I decided to buy the TCL NxtPaper 14, which was selling for under $300 at the time (currently $329). It does run an older version of Android, but for what I need it to do…it is a great solution, and includes a powered stylus and (not great) case.

As an iOS user, Android isn’t as easy to use—but I can manage with it—and MobileSheets is an excellent option (see next item).

Item 3: MobileSheets vs. forScore

If you use Android, the best solution for a PDF Music Reader is MobileSheets. The interface is not as graphically as nice as forScore, but it works, and it works well. I find that its integration with cloud storage is very good, and I think that the actual annotation/handwriting itself (not the menu, necessarily) looks better in MobileSheets than on forScore.

MobileSheets is available for iPad, so I have it on both devices (soon to be on my new MacBook Neo as well). It also does a great job with syncing (but it will do what you tell it to do, so make sure that you are choosing the right options otherwise you can accidentally overwrite a device’s music library). MobileSheet’s customer support has been top notch…I only ask a question when I need a strategy which I cannot find an answer to (e.g. I was trying to make “bookmarks” like forScore, so that I could package some ukulele chord melody books that I sell pre formatted in MobileSheets so that users could buy it and just install them to their app), and the developer responded very quickly.

As for forScore, it still works as it always has, though there was a massive interface change with the last update of Pad OS, resulting in a lot of confusion for users. They have offered an in-app purchase to support the app, which used to be $10, which I paid happily for years. That said, you were supposed to get “elevated support” and sadly, forScore has been TERRIBLE with customer support (as in: none). The forScore Facebook group (not run by forScore) is always filled with annoyed customers who cannot get an answer when things don’t work. For example, syncing is a mess—and there’s no apparent solution. It would be better to just rethink syncing (perhaps to a folder that different devices could access, like MobileSheets). That in-app purchase is rising to $15 and while it includes some other features (facial gestures), I don’t use them…and I am not upgrading to forScore Pro for the year.

Will I keep using forScore? Yes. Will I start using MobileSheets more? I already am!

Item 4: Cantai and AI

AI is a current “hot topic” in music, both in terms of actual options and people’s feelings on the matter. I have been using AI a number of ways: when I have a tough e-mail to send to a parent about a child’s behavior, I use AI to draft a response. I have used AI in other “proof reading” ways as well (you can probably tell that this blog post was NOT AI generated).

I have also used AI to sing songs into Suno, and to have Suno “Reimagine” them to be used in the classroom or on my Ukulele Play Along YouTube Channel. The results are impressive, and best of all, I can replace my male voice with a female voice, so that my students have an easier time of matching pitch (I still sing with them on occasion, and we do plenty of live music). I have also used AI (Gemini, in particular) to create illustrations and images for my Ukulele Chord Melody books.

My “newest” AI experience was purchasing a month of Cantai, a plug-in for MuseScore, that allows the application to “sing” your vocal parts. I had to generate practice files for my elementary choir, and did my best (the songs were in Spanish) to get Cantai to sing those songs (Cantai at the moment seems to be focused on English pronunciations). I wish that I had Cantai when I taught high school choirs. Cantai does stop and think every time you make a change, as the processing is done online—but over time that will move to the device and become much faster. There are other apps that can sing for you, but the cost is exponentially greater (e.g. ACE Studio) or less functional in a music notation environment (e.g. Synthesizer V). My hope is that this functionality will come to all notation programs in the future, including Fender Notion.

I think back to the terrifying choral sounds that existed for years with the vocal option of PDFtoMusicPro by Myriad. Cantai’s voices are light years ahead—and it will be great to hear when other voices (e.g. children, adolescent) are added.

[An observation as both a band and choir teacher: there is no such thing as a “infant” tuba sound. Instruments, from the first days of playing, are desired to sound like the instrument (unless you are using a specific style, such as a plunger mute or pizzicato). Singers, however, have changing voices which modify with age and style. You may not want to generate a practice file for an elementary choir with an operatic voice as an rehearsal track.]

Item 5: MuseScore Has Become a Great Option

We know that MuseGroup has bought a number of companies (including Hal Leonard!), and you can’t use MuseScore without being bombarded by requests to “subscribe.” However, the basic version of MuseScore is still free and easy to use, creates decent looking music, and sounds good. Yes, Dorico is a pro tool and does more in all categories. I bought the crossgrade version of Dorico upon the death of Finale, and then realized that every major upgrade is going to cost more—so I haven’t upgraded or even started truly using it (on my MacBook or my iPad). If MuseScore existed on iPad, I might move fully to it as a music notation app.

That doesn’t mean I’m a master of MuseScore, but it is shocking how every question I have is only a very quick Google search away. I’ve never left MuseScore without being able to find an answer to an issue.

Surprisingly, I don’t miss Finale at all. I never thought I would say that.

Item 6: What Happened to StaffPad?

StaffPad was acquired by MuseGroup, and while you can still buy it, it has not been updated for two years. There is a Facebook group for StaffPad as well, and people there are MAD. The word “abandonware” is used frequently. I left the group, as the anger was so intense.

You can’t get technical support for StaffPad, and I have even asked some other bloggers who have contact with the StaffPad and/or MuseScore “higher ups” to reach out to the companies about the issues—but there is no news available at this point.

I was hoping that StaffPad would be incorporated into a tablet MuseScore app (maybe that’s still coming).

I would, however, advise MuseGroup to remove the app from the various app stores if the program is not going to be updated and there is no customer support.

Item 7: My Technology Use and This Website/Blog

I occasionally receive marketing e-mails for new music technology items, even though I seldom post to this blog. That makes me realize that there are not many Music Education Technology and Music Tech Blogs that are left and active. Kudos to Robby Burns, who continues to make content on a regular basis!

I still use technology for music education every day. I find new solutions with new options (e.g. using Suno or Cantai). It is how I am wired and how I teach.

That said, in the world of Music Education Technology, three things are true,

1. Music education technology is evolutionary these days, not revolutionary
2. Most of the music education technology innovation these days is tied to AI applications and implications for music education.
3. Many educations and musicians are STILL recovering from the over-reliance on technology during the COVID lockdowns six years ago.

All that said, I know that if I present at a music conference and demonstrate forScore, or StaffPad, or a music scanning app like PlayScore 2, people will STILL be shocked. In the ukulele world, I show my automatic tuner and people lose their minds. None of these things are new—but still so many music educators have no idea about them. How do we move people further ahead when they don’t know what already exists?

I am sure that future sessions on AI will result in massive disbelief, such as my own uses of AI, which are not ethically problematic!

We have a lot of work to do to continue to move this profession to a point where it can comfortably and ethically work with the technology that is available and that is coming.

As for my work on this channel, based on the low rate of revolutionary advances, there hasn’t been a lot to write about. I’m still here, and will continue to write when I feel the need .

As I have mentioned before, two other things have occurred in my life that have changed my own path. One was leaving high school choral music to teach middle school choir, and then being reassigned to an elementary position (I’m in year seven of teaching elementary already!). While I still use technology as I did for my high school and middle school choirs (particularly with my elementary choir), I use technology for so many other things today—and it is just a part of what I do.

And the other change was teaching the ukulele at the middle school level. That instrument has impacted my life—allowing me to make music and teach music in a different way than I ever expected, and reaching hundreds of thousands of people. As a result of that impact, most of my hobby work these days goes into the ukulele resources that I make for my YouTube channels and my ukulele website—all influenced by the technology that I use in my “primary” job as a music educator.

So, I’m here, still using technology, and still involved with music as a career and hobby—in some ways more than ever before. If you have a question, or want to work together to ponder a topic or approach, please reach out. I hope you, as a reader, are doing well, and if you are a music educator in a school that follows the general American educational calendar, that you are ready for the final three months of the academic year!