Leave a Review StaffPad
Playback Engine is revolutionary
I really recommend this app but there are still some serious problems.
Sometimes (and I would say like 60% of the time) the program would not recognize the dynamics I’m writing so I try to write a basic p for piano and edit it from there. Same with inputting sometimes it just won’t work. Accidentals are also a nightmare, it just accepts them when it feels like.
The good part is that when it does it jobs it feels rewarding, the playback engine (which is the reason I got it in the first place) is something amazing. I’m not into the deep DAW process yet and this make it sound like it was straight from a program like that if you get to buy the high end libraries.
What I would like to see in the future is a port to MacOS (and Windows Equivalent) so I can move from my current notation software and utilize this amazing playback engine. Honestly I bet it will revolutionize the market.Show lessMeisterSegarra
Give Staffpad another look!
I was a Staffpad early adopter and was very disappointed in the beginning. But now that the app has been developed, I’m a true believer. Check the dates of the critical reviews and you’ll find they were probably given early in the app’s development (or by people who failed to learn/practice the shorthand). After spending a few days learning and practicing the shorthand, you’ll become fluent. The app is still expensive, but I believe it’s worth it. It’s been a game changer for my workflow.Show lessGraham English
Not for serious composers
This is a fantastic idea, but unfortunately it just doesn’t really work on its own. If this were integrated into an actual notation software like Sibelius or finale then it could be great. The layout is beautiful. The interface is gorgeous and feels good to be in. Playback is fine with some glitchiness in that some notes just don’t play.
But it’s frankly just too expensive to justify purchasing given how limited it is. It’s a good app for doodling on your commute or something. Not a $90 app. Also a lot of conversion issues with Sibelius. I tried to convert a fairly standard piece into xml and open with StaffPad. Almost nothing was kept. Would not trust this app with editing big Sibelius projects. But may be fun for kids to begin writing notation? Especially since kids like being rough with electronics, they could work the erase function quite easily.
Brilliant idea! Well executed, but just not worth it (at my salary at least)Show lessJohnbaxter
Developer Response
Thanks for the thoughtful review and for the positive comments too! StaffPad is striving to be a unique compositional tool optimized for tablets and featuring great playback options. Other desktop notation software products are better suited for formatting the finer points of a score to prepare the music for printing and are priced accordingly. We recommend using the Dolet plugin when exporting from Sibelius as the native export can be less than ideal when importing into any other software product. Perhaps that could be the issue in your import? We encourage XML importing and exporting through StaffPad as you may want to continue an existing project in StaffPad or bring what you've written to another program to finish formatting for a publisher. If possible, we'd love to see what kinds of issues you experienced in your import from Sibelius into StaffPad. Please feel free to reach out any time. You can contact StaffPad Help by tapping on the StaffPad logo on the welcome screen and tapping "StaffPad Help". We'd love the opportunity to help troubleshoot any issues you have experienced.Nothing can beat StaffPad
I usually don’t write reviews on apps, but I think this one really deserved one. I was using these apps such as Komp and I really couldn’t use it because of it’s horrible feature that it converts handwriting instantly. This is not in StaffPad which kind of makes it the best app in the App Store for music notation.Show lessThanks for the game!
Apple Design Award winner for 2020!
This is the most impressive app in the entire store. I’ve been using it daily since just after it was first released. It richly deserves the coveted Apple Design Award it received, one of only 8 apps to do so in 2020. The playback from the high-end sample libraries (available as separate in-app purchases) is breathtaking in the hands of those with the knowledge and skill to orchestrate. Bravo to the developers for creating this gem!Show lessSnookFan
It’s still only a dream....don’t pass shortcomings to user
This app has so much promise...more than any notation app on ios....but, you know there’s a problem when the user is responsible for making the app be effective/functional the way it is supposed to and expected to be...the handwriting recognition is simply not there...we know what we all want and expect....but the developer will give us a response saying we need to “train ourselves” properly to use the app...THAT is not what we want...we want to be able to pick up the apple pencil and NATURALLY write music notation on the ipad using the universally accepted symbols we all know...I sure hope they can tweak and improve this app to get to this point...otherwise, the app will fall by the wayside until somebody who DOES accomplish this is successful. Disappointing so far..:(Show lessmilez124
Developer Response
Thanks for the candid review. We have created a recognition system based on how you would write naturally, but not exactly how you would write on manuscript paper. The design of the system is based on maximizing the speed you can enter notes versus a tool that can recognize whatever you write. That's a big distinction and I completely understand the disappointment if you are looking for a tool that is focused on recognizing music notation as you would write it on manuscript paper. StaffPad is a composition tool that is providing you tools to write quickly and not concerned with your penmanship because once you advance to the next measure you only see beautifully engraved notation. As a result, writing a quarter note is a one or two stroke process: a slash notehead and a stem. Filling in the notehead as you would on paper actually makes it more difficult for the system to recognize what you are writing. There are several quirks that are designed strictly to speed up your workflow once you know what to do, but the trade off is there is a slight learning curve to writing in a way that will be more easily recognized by the system. Your review is helpful to remind us that our design for speed over recognizing anything you write is not always in line with some customers' objectives, so thank you for writing this.Great for a busy music therapist
I’m a board-certified music therapist and I am constantly writing songs for my work with children in special education, usually on scraps of paper I find laying around my treatment room. I was thrilled when I saw this app!
I bought it yesterday for use on my iPad Pro with Apple Pencil 2. So far I am extremely please. Contrary to many reviews that may have been using a different OS or older version of the Apple Pencil, StaffPad is incredibly responsive and recognizes almost every stroke I make. I have only had to rewrite measures a few times and I have notated 5+ full songs.
My biggest complaints/bugs that I’m noticing are:
You have to push VERY hard in order for it to recognize that you are trying to erase...to the point that I’m worried about long term damage to my screen.
There is not audio when I try to play back what I’ve written.
Other than these two problems, I am ecstatic about StaffPad and will be telling all of my music therapy colleagues about it!Show lessconnerlucus
The best thing that ever happened to composing
Since the pencil and actual paper there has never been a better way to compose music. As an arranger I have had a more fluid work ethic and a better way of composing on the fly. Of course there are some things i would like to see more of but overall this is a game changer. Thank you StaffPad.Pirahnahead/Maurice Herd
This app is kinda broken
This is trash to be quite honest. In theory you should be able to write out whatever music you envision within the app, and it automatically becomes engraved really easily, right? Wrong. There are lots of problems with the handwriting recognition which someone like Beethoven would surely throw his iPad out the window for. It follows a very strict logic where you have to write out notes with extremely proper handwriting for just for StaffPad to recognize it 50% of the time. But writing out things with that amount of perfection is incredibly time consuming, and honestly takes less time to write out with the old fashioned pencil and paper.
I haven’t tried out the expansions for playback featuring popular orchestral library companies like Cinesamples, Orchestral Tools, and Spitfire Audio. If the goal is to allow film composers to be able to write clearly and quickly with that kind of playback quality for cues, then this app has failed that goal because of how much time it takes to write ideas down. Again it’s faster with pencil and paper.
The interface is okay, but the fact that I have to look up tutorials on how to do everything is a sign of poor design. New users should have a clear enough interface where they can find things easily without needing tutorials.Show lessuglib3467
Developer Response
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your experience with StaffPad. It sounds like most of the problems you have encountered so far center around the recognition system. You had mentioned that extremely proper handwriting is required to use StaffPad. This couldn't be further from the truth actually and is the likely culprit of the trouble you're experiencing. StaffPad is designed for speed and while based in how you would write on manuscript paper, is quite different. For example, if you are writing a quarter note, filling in the notehead makes it harder to recognize than it would be if you use a slash notehead and to make a half rest, you simply make a horizontal line just above the 3rd line in the staff versus drawing and filling in a half rest. There is no doubt a learning curve to get going with StaffPad, but we are here to help if you feel like the recognition is failing completely or are hoping for a quick tip to make something easier. We would love the opportunity to help you work at the pace you were hoping to work at when you purchased StaffPad. Please feel free to reach out by tapping the StaffPad logo on the welcome screen and selecting StaffPad Help. Thank you for reminding us that we need to do better to stress to users the differences of writing in StaffPad compared to handwriting music notation on paper.A joy to use
I'm a hobbyist musician who dabbles in composition and as such have found most composition software to be fairly tedious to learn. StaffPad has been a game changer for me in that regard. I am now actually writing music again, and after somewhat of a learning period the experience using staffpad is so much smoother than anything else I've tried. Combined with the fact that playback is decent out of the box it has really been a joy to use. I've written more in the past few weeks than the preceding several years.
That all being said there are still a few things that could be improved. I have had no success hand writing dynamics, the only way I can get them to work is by long pressing and inserting text. There are also a few notations I miss such as ghost notes on the drum kit.Show lessGLW Action
Developer Response
Thanks for review, we really appreciate it! We're happy to help with get your written dynamic markings recognized better by the system. Please feel free to reach out by tapping on the StaffPad logo from the welcome screen and selecting StaffPad help. Also, since you wrote this review, ghost notes are now supported in StaffPad in case you missed that release. Thanks again for this review and please feel free to reach out any time with any other questions or comments.
