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Recorder Digits for Ereaders, Tablets, and Smartphones


02/02/18 - PDF versions

I have created PDF versions of the original ereader files, for use on devices that handle PDFs better than ereader (epub) files - for example, tablets and smartphones.


05/18/11 - New Version 2.10

Version 2.10 adds a display of the note on a music staff to each note diagram page, as can be seen in the upper right side of the note diagram screen snapshot below.


04/17/11 - New Version 2.00

I have 2 significant changes in Release 2.00 of my ereader files:
  • I have created color versions for use with the Color Nook, iPad (using Nook for iPad), or any device that can open a color epub or mobi file.

  • I have significantly cut down on the size of the epub files. The earlier ones were over 1MB (1,250,000 bytes); the new ones are about 100K (106,000 bytes) - almost a 90% reduction in size! So they will take up much less room on your device, and open much faster too. The section below describes how this reduction in size was done.


I may eventually rewrite Recorder Digits as an Android "app." This would be a nice replacement for my old version for the Palm Pilot (which is completely obsolete), but I somehow doubt it.

My solution is to produce ereader and PDF files that display Recorder Digits fingering charts on the Nook. The files are in epub format (which display on essentially all ereader devices except the Kindle), and PDF format (which display on most Android and Apple devices). I am also supplying mobi format files that should display properly on the Kindle, although I haven't tried them. Go to the bottom of this page for a description of how these files were created.

I continue to improve these ereader files, and in some ways they might actually be better than an app, since they are more universally useable .

I currently have 2 versions of these ereader/PDF files:

Descriptions and screen shots are below.

Click here to jump directly to the download area to get these files


Standard and Alternate Fingering Charts

These ereader/PDF files show the Recorder Digits "built-in" standard and alternate fingering charts for F and C recorders.

Below is the cover page and a note diagram page, showing the standard fingering and alternate fingerings.

cover_forf_2_sm.jpg sample_alt1a_sm.jpg

And below is an Octave 1 "Choose Note" page which you can use to go to a particular note for that octave. These three Octave "Choose Note" pages are present in all Recorder Digits ereader/PDF files.
choose_note_forf_1a_sm.jpg


Beginner Advice From Ken Wollitz

These ereader/PDF files show fingering advice from the book The Recorder Book by Ken Wollitz. You can read more about the information here. This is the same information displayed with the "Beginner 2" quickload button in Recorder Digits.

Below is the cover page and an actual note diagram page, showing Ken's remarks on the note and the fingering for it.

cover_forf_wollitz_1a_sm.jpg sample_wollitz1a_sm.jpg

Downloads

To download a particular file below, click the link with the right mouse button and pick the "Save link as" option in Firefox or the "Save target as" option in Internet Explorer. The file will be saved to your hard drive, wherever you tell it.

If you are using the Firefox browser and have the EPUBReader plugin, if you click the file with the left mouse button you can read the epub file in your browser and decide whether you want to use it on your ereader device without actually downloading it (although it looks quite different on the browser screen than on a device).

Similarly, a PDF file clicked with the left mouse button will usually open and display in your browser. Once on the screen, the browser's PDF viewer software should provide an option to download the file to your hard drive.

Files for download:
    F recorder means Alto; C recorder means Soprano or Tenor

Epub files - useable by Nook and most other ebook devices

 

Mobi files - useable by Kindle

 

PDF files - useable by tablets, smartphones, and most ereaders


How These Ereader Files Were Created

The basic method used to create an ereader file was to first use Recorder Digits' Report feature to produce an rtf report file. This file was then manipulated using Calibre (the excellent ereader organization and utility program), producing an epub file. This epub file was then extensively edited using Sigil, an epub editor. Editing included adding the Cover image, the Title and Introduction pages, and the "Choose Note" pages (which provide quick navigation).

The change with version 2.00, which allowed me to create ereader files much smaller than the first version, was to use Open Office to convert the rtf file into an HTML file, and then use Calibre to create the epub from the HTML file, instead of using Calibre to create the epub directly from the rtf.

The mobi files for Kindle were created by running the epub files thru the Calibre conversion with mobi as the output. They look pretty good in the Calibre viewer, but I do not know how well they work on the Kindle. It looks as though the page breaks may have been lost (in the epub file, there is a page break after every note). It's a real shame that Amazon doesn't upgrade the Kindle to handle epub files.

The PDFs were created by opening the epub files with Calibre's epub viewer and printing to a PDF driver.  
 

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