Padrucci: The iPad app for IMSLP

[gardano]

Folks,

I'd like to announce the general availability of Padrucci, the iPad app for downloading, browing, and printing scores from http://imslp.org. You can can get it at the app store here: http://itunes.com/app/Padrucci.

A lot of work went into the application to make it easy to browse the composers, their compositions, and the scores. It's a fun way to look for new composers, new pieces. It's a great way to play a piece in the iPod app and read the score too. Of course, putting it up on your music stand and playing it directly from Padrucci is fantastic too!

Download it from the app store: http://itunes.com/app/Padrucci!

[jujimufu]

That's fantastic - I applaud you for your efforts (and any beta testers and guinea pigs too!) and the final result, it looks very impressive and I am sure will be appreciated by many

Two things I am concerned about: is Padrucci released under an open license, such as Creative Commons or a GP/copyleft license or similar? If not, that might hamper attempts by users of other tablet hardware to their machine, most notable a potential port to Android tablets and phones.

The second is minor, about the title - I don't find it very catchy, and as most people know IMSLP as IMSLP (not as Petrucci Music Library), it would make more sense (to me) to name the app something like iMSLP.

Also, I noted some of the comments to the appstore page about functionality. As I said I don't own an iPad so I haven't tried the app myself, but it seems to me that your app, although very handy and useful in many respects, lacks some of the functionality that the IMSLP browsing system offers. I think that if you are going to sell an app, it should add functionality to the user's browsing experience by making it easier to find scores or find out information about the scores rather than more difficult. Otherwise - why would anyone use your app to view scores instead of going to the IMSLP website? (given that the iPad screen is large enough to comfortably display websites and PDF files)

[gardano]

jujimufu,
I'm certainly continuing to work on the app, and additional functionality is being poured into it. Never fear on that score!

This is the first version. As time goes on, the app will get better and better, with features that appeal to the most people coming first. There are a number of different kinds of people who use IMSLP. There are performers, of course. Teachers, Music Copyists, Music Librarians. Each of this diverse group of people has different needs. Some need annotations, others, easier paging and bookmarking of pages, others, the omission of pages. All of these features and more are being addressed.

The code is not under Creative Commons, unfortunately. I'm working on a MacOSX (Lion) port of Padrucci, so that is in the pipeline. If there is sufficient interest in an Android port, that will also be considered. However, given the market dominance of the iPad, for the moment the iPad and MacOSX are the priorities. Given the main use of the app, I didn't think it a good use of my time to consider phones as an appropriate platform to write to. Viewing large scores on such a small screen would be painful at best, it seems to me.

As to finding scores, the intention is to continue to fine-tune the data such that more meaningful sections and descriptions can be displayed to ease the finding of *just* the right score.

I thank you for your thoughtful comments!
--Gardano

[jujimufu]

Hey,

Thanks for your reply - it is nice to hear that you will keep working on the project, I am sure it will keep getting better and better! You are right about padrucci on phones, although it could be useful to be able to have a playlist/library of scores, so when you're going to a concert you can follow a particular passage (of a solo piece, for example), or if you want to quickly remind yourself of a particular bar, lyric, or instrumentation of a piece for whatever reason (conversation, essay etc). But I understand it is not in your priorities

However, this is one other reason I would be delighted to see the code released in an open license - it would allow people who do have the time and energy to do such projects to come along and play with the code to do their thing and contribute to the total project. The principle of open source, and free code (both as in beer and as in freedom) is at the basis of the largest open source projects, such as firefox, openoffice.org or the Wiki code on which Wikipedia and other wiki projects such as IMSLP are based and without which they couldn't exist. Releasing the code in an open license would mean that hundreds more interested developers around the net would be able to access the fantastic work you've done and contribute to the project by adapting it to their needs, porting it to their device, or debugging the code itself more efficiently.

Of course there is the financial issue, of how you are going to make profit out of your efforts, which I understand are necessary (to some degree) to allow you to continue development of the project - however, donations have proved to support and sustain many projects netwide (such as wikipedia and IMSLP itself) and in fact - I am not sure whether IMSLP would have become what it is today if Feldmahler charged people a subscription to IMSLP which would provide him with a stable income to continue development on the project.

It is your project, and your decision - I am just throwing in my two cents, and the reasons why I believe the source code should be open source (although you can still sell the finalised app - much like SUSE linux, which you have to pay for, although the source code is completely free; you also pay for the services included with the package, such as assistance, professional help centre, maintenance, and support, not just the finished product).

[aragorn23]

Congratulations to the public release of the great app!

I have not purchase it yet, so I could not comment on the functionality and user-friendness of it. The reason of not buying it is the financial issue. I have already paid a few bucks for ForScore already and have transferred a bunch of pdf downloaded from IMSLP to ForScore. I am not sure whether I should pay an additional $5.99 at this moment. We appreciate the time and effort you guys spent on this huge project. I don't know if it is correct to expect for a free Padrucci (iMSLP?), but a lower price would be greatly welcomed indeed.

Cheers!

[Yagan Kiely]

However, this is one other reason I would be delighted to see the code released in an open license - it would allow people who do have the time and energy to do such projects to come along and play with the code to do their thing and contribute to the total project. The principle of open source, and free code (both as in beer and as in freedom) is at the basis of the largest open source projects, such as firefox, openoffice.org or the Wiki code on which Wikipedia and other wiki projects such as IMSLP are based and without which they couldn't exist. Releasing the code in an open license would mean that hundreds more interested developers around the net would be able to access the fantastic work you've done and contribute to the project by adapting it to their needs, porting it to their device, or debugging the code itself more efficiently.

Apple does not permit the source code to be released, which, I believe, is a requirement GNU (Creative Commons encourages people to not use CC for software), and as such it isn't possible to have an open source iOS (or Mac App Store) App.

[Yagan Kiely]

Downloading it now.

One thing I'm curious about, is the icon. What does it represent?

[gardano]

Downloading it now.

One thing I'm curious about, is the icon. What does it represent?

The icon is inspired by a painting by Mark Rothko. I thought, turning it 90° made it a nice modernish interpretation of a score, no?

[Quodlibet]

The app is very handy, and looks great, but is there any way there could be an "export to" or "open in" function? I primarily use forScore for its handy annotation functions, and because it's a convenient way to organize my own PDFs. Having both apps working together would be a dream come true . . .

[VictorEijkhout]

I agree that "Open In..." is an absolute must-have. (For instance, I doubt that you support the AirTurn hardware, which several pdf readers do).

Other question: if I save a playlist of scores, are they kept downloaded? I'm spending a fair amount of time in locations without WiFi (and I don't have the 3G iPad) so local caching is very important. (I wish DropBox would be more elegant about that!)

Victor.

[Monk]

good evening
A few hours ago I purchased the application Padrucci in my ipad with great expectations, is the truth, because I use the library of the IMSLP very often on my mac but mainly on my ipad. Unfortunately the disappointment quickly took the place of enthusiasm ...
I downloaded about 15 different music scores and the application crashed almost every time or became all too slow or unprossesive. I red with a lot of attention all the comments in the forum, and replies, and I would justify all the glitches if the Padrucci was a free application. But I can not understand why the app costs 6 euros, when the work that, was supposed to do, is done like a breeze and without any delay, simply through the site of IMSLP using Safari and exporting all the chosen scores in iBooks. c
I Want to support the whole effort thats why I am writing the above but the developers should at least do an immediate decrease in the selling price, for the future buyers, and urgently do a "correction" update for all of us, who for some reason insist on supporting the efforts of developers.
Sorry for my poor English.

[dugald37]

I bought the Padrucci app for AUS$7.99 so not a cheap app by any stretch of the imagination. In theory it is an excellent tool but unfortunately it continuously crashes. I can't open any of the scores I have downloaded to the Ipad without it crashing. So frustrating to have spent this much on what promised to be an excellent application to use this fantastic site. it has now been 6 months or so since I bought it and still there has been no update to fix it. Please do something about this issue. It irks to have paid so highly for an application that refuses to work properly.

[ramsnake]

Yep same here. I reckon there is a memory leak causing the crash which should be fixable so I am mystified why nothing has been done to address it so far! C'mon gardano or I am going to have to buy the other app. Incidentally, I really like the name Padrucci!

[imslp]

My understanding is that there will be a new version out soon, which has both bug fixes and new features. Hopefully that will help with the problems mentioned in this thread!

Because Padrucci is not actually written or maintained by me, I am unfortunately unable to help in this case. However, I know that the app developer is monitoring this forum, and has been fixing bugs in anticipation of the next version.

Very sorry for the troubles!

[juanclitton]

I am quite interested in this app however, I have a few questions.

Am I correct in assuming that you have to access the database and download only the scores you need?
And that once it's downloaded, would I be able to open the downloaded scores even without wifi or 3g connection?
Are the scores totally free for download?

I hope that the known issues would be resolved soon, it would be a waste to let such a promising app go to waste.