Frequently asked questions

Try both! Use a specific app to write music if it improves your workflow, removes distractions, and makes you feel more creative.

StaffPaper is a created by someone who regularly writes music on paper, both digital and physical. This results in an attention to detail that is hard to match in a general-purpose tool:

Consistent feel

We adjust the geometry of each template based on the number and size of staves, so that larger templates feel larger, and writing on a staff with a given brush width feels consistent across templates.

Copying and pasting music even works across different templates, at least within one version of the app. (Occasionally we may have to adjust template geometry for new projects.)

Designed to zoom

We render staves using vector graphics, so they look sharp regardless how the view is zoomed. Zooming helps write music clearly and reduces the need to rewrite symbols, keeping you in a creative flow. This also allows us to have a background paper color that is removed from saved PDFs for clear printing.

We allow panning beyond the edge of the page to help write clearly at the edges, allowing your hand to rest on screen if that is more comfortable.

Use notation software too!

However notation software is less agile than writing ideas on paper (especially using your own shorthand). I prefer to work material out on paper first, then enter the most promising ideas into notation software. I also prefer to use condensed scores to work ideas out, where it is easier to write in an organized way.

Finally, writing on paper is good discipline. It is an opportunity to practice mental hearing (audiation) and transcription, which are helpful skills to develop.

Handwriting recognition tools like StaffPad are great alternatives to conventional notation software. StaffPad is stylus-based, and is designed for tablets, which makes it feel more lightweight.

However I use it similarly to notation software, after I work ideas out on paper. I find that I can get distracted wrestling with handwriting recognition, which takes me out of the creative flow. Handwriting recognition is great, but does not allow for shorthand abbreviations.

My preferred iPad-only workflow is to write on StaffPaper, then copy to StaffPad using a split screen with both apps open (in landscape mode).

I use physical paper too! Even for projects on physical paper, I often sketch ideas out, or try variations (copy, paste and edit), using StaffPaper before committing something on paper, where erasing or moving things around is messy.

I have a tablet with me more often than I have my manuscript notebooks, so I often write new ideas that come to me while I’m out on StaffPaper.

I also use digital paper for doing musical exercises, such as practicing counterpoint and voice leading, where I can keep them organized separately from more significant projects.

In StaffPaper 1.3.1 and later, the ruler has been updated to be easier to use, but it remains a bit quirky.

To use the ruler:

Use one finger to drag the ruler, or two fingers to rotate it.

Either of these gestures will begin moving the ruler. Once the ruler is moving, you can also move it with a two-finger drag.

If you start with a two-finger drag, it will scroll the page instead of the ruler.

Why is this?

This is a quirk of how we route gestures within StaffPaper.

In general, single-finger gestures go to the drawing tools (PencilKit), while two-finger gestures (scroll or zoom) go to our app.

In version 1.3.1 and above, we also route two-finger gestures that look like rotations to the drawing tools when the ruler is active.