[Jonk]

Here's the case.

Thirty elderly men in a TTBB Men's Chorus, with director and accompanist. Currently paper based with a large library. I am a long time user (chordpro, not sheet music) and we are going digital. Church practise hall without internet. Looking for suggestions on how to proceed.  

I am looking to buy about 15 tablets. Amazon Fire 10. Two for the accompanist in two page mode. (I had considered a large touch screen, but forums and portability suggest two tablets) More will be purchased if the choristers accept the new technologies.  A large TV for all to see may be placed in front of the director.

My questions for you wise and wonderful people are...

Is Amazon Fire a good choice? (The weight, screen and price look good)

How to easily update many tablets when a new concert is planned? Each user will want to keep their annotations from previous performances. Bluetooth at Practise? Setup Wifi at Practise? Send out email for users to update their tablet at home?

Should each tablet have a separate amazon account or share one? 

Should we do a mass scanning of library before rollout, or just a few pieces?


Thanks for any opinions! JONK

[Zubersoft]

I will let others provide feedback on tablet suggestions, as I only have my own limited perspective on it. The Amazon Fire device is generally fine, but it will be somewhat lacking when compared to some of the newer Samsung tablets like the S7FE, S8+, S9+, etc, but those are much more expensive. So it depends on your needs when it comes to screen size, stylus/pen support, device performance, etc.

As far as purchasing, you really should go through my FastSpring store here: https://zubersoft.onfastspring.com/

You will then have complete control over when tablets are updated, as updates are delivered from my server. Each musician should have their own license, and this will ensure it is handled properly, and you will get a bulk discount. You also won't be tied to an Amazon account, and this will allow you to switch any other type of tablet if needed without issue. It would be against the terms of service to share a single purchase with multiple musicians using the same Amazon account, so please don't do that.

It might be good to roll out a smaller number of pieces at first while you are figuring out your preferred workflow for managing all the devices and how you plan to distribute pieces for the upcoming performances. I would recommend considering synchronizing a master library to a shared cloud folder, and then each musician can synchronize to that folder but uncheck the option to synchronize annotations. That will let each musician keep their annotations but get any other library updates that are required. You may only want to allow read-only access to that folder so that musicians don't accidentally modify it and push changes to it. 

Mike

[Jonk]

Thanks Mike,

I ended up buying 10 Samsung Tablets and licenses. The install went well, I tried bluetooth sync, but it was too slow. Using Companion now. I created a google account for each tablet MYCLUB001tab@gmail.com then MYCLUB002tab@gmail.com. That was tedious. They all share a cloud folder now. Seems to have worked well. Thanks for your help.

[paltieldav]

Sounds like an exciting project! I think the Amazon Fire 10 is a solid pick—it's lightweight, affordable, and should work well with chordpro. For updating the tablets, I’d recommend setting up a Wi-Fi hotspot at practice. It makes it easier for everyone to sync their files quickly, and it’s a bit of a hassle if they have to remember to update at home. Sharing one Amazon account could simplify things, too, especially since you’re all using the same library. As for scanning the library, I’d suggest getting a good chunk done beforehand.

[Zubersoft]

Please do not try to share one Amazon account - that goes against the store policies as you are effectively sharing one purchase which is not allowed, and you can also run into licensing issues. A separate Amazon account would need to be used per musician, or better, go through my FastSpring store which has bulk discounts: https://zubersoft.onfastspring.com/

Mike