StaffPad 4+
Music Notation and Composition
StaffPad Ltd.
Designed for iPad
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- $119.99
- Offers In-App Purchases
iPad Screenshots
Description
MADE FOR COMPOSERS
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StaffPad is designed for composers who want to write music effortlessly, using music notation and audio. Write your music using Apple Pencil, and the app will transform your writing into beautifully typeset notation that can be edited, played back, printed and shared. Record or import audio directly onto your score and edit it intuitively with Apple Pencil. Use world leading sample libraries and mix your score with a suite of studio effects. From basic idea to a full film score, StaffPad is the easiest, most powerful and most intuitive way to compose music on iPad.
WRITE NATURALLY
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Write your score with the fluidity of natural handwriting. Use touch and Apple Pencil to quickly edit your notation. Transpose, repeat and structure your score with intuitive gestures and tools. Add smart symbols easily from the symbols palette, turning Apple Pencil into an articulation paintbrush. Customise the tempo with a unique tempo staff (or import a tempo map from a MIDI file), add chords either manually or automatically with the chord staff. You can even copy music written in StaffPad into other apps, simply using the normal copy and paste functions. Every aspect of StaffPad has been thought about from a composer's point of view, making the tools simple to create your masterpiece.
HEAR YOUR MASTERPIECE
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With a groundbreaking playback engine and over 55 included instruments, StaffPad is ready to perform your written piece instantly. Add industry-standard sample libraries, adapted and customised for StaffPad, from some of the world's leading sample developers. This is a leap forward for composers working at the highest levels.
SHARE WITH SCORESYNC
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Once you're ready to perform or record your work, tap the ScoreSync button in StaffPad and your score is instantly shared across a Wi-Fi network to any device running the free StaffPad Reader app (available in the App Store). The Readers present each individual musical part beautifully formatted, update in realtime with any changes you make to your score, handle automatic page turns, and play back in perfect time with a synchronised metronome, for capturing the perfect recording every time.
IMPORT AND EXPORT
StaffPad imports and exports MusicXML and MIDI files for easily working with other music apps. You can also export your playback as WAV, AAC or MP3. You can import audio files into your score, with support for most major audio formats.
WORK WITH AUDIO
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For the first time, you can seamlessly mix audio with your notated score. Record directly onto the score canvas using your device's in-built microphones, whilst monitoring a metronome through headphones. Import existing audio in most major audio formats. Tempo map freeform/rubato performances using the tempo staff. Add shine to your production with a suite of studio quality DSP effects, and polish with precise automation. This opens a world of possibilities, and makes it possible to create release-quality productions entirely in StaffPad.
MARKUP
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Annotate your score with either private or public (shared with the Readers) annotation pens. Public pens allow for instant written communication with individual musicians in the room via ScoreSync and StaffPad Reader.
PRINT / PDF
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As well as digital parts via ScoreSync, StaffPad will automatically format and print parts or export PDFs for you. Customise the paper size, bar number styles, number of bars per line, scaling, margins, multi-bar consolidation and more. StaffPad automatically formats the score for consistent presentation.
COMPOSER ASSISTANT
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StaffPad features "Fenby", our voice-activated composer assistant, who can assist you in routine tasks like setting up your score, adding instruments, tempos, bar line styles, key changes and more.
What’s New
Version 1.5.7
What’s new in 1.5.7?
- NEW: Time Staff. Add a time staff, choose a time base (e.g mins/secs, or a SMPTE timecode).
- NEW: Drop labelled time markers directly on the time staff
- NEW: Reduce Treble, and Reduce Bass mixer effects for audio and instrument staffs.
- NEW: Niente hairpins. You can now drag down and up on hairpins to add a niente circle. This ensures the dynamic goes to or from silence, saving edits to the expression layer.
- Dynamics will render above the staff for the print view when lyrics are used
- Fixed some audio import issues on Windows
- Fixed an issue when recording to stereo staffs on mono-mic iPads
- Various fixes to file format stability
- Fixed touch keyboard issues on Windows 11
- Adjusted logic for Round Robin samples on chords, resulting in more realistic RR playback
- General MusicXML import and export fixes
- Fixes for playback jumps during repeats, DC and coda structures
- StaffPad will now favour tempo numbers when tempo words and numbers are used together (e.g Allegro 140bpm will favour the explicit tempo of 140bpm)
- Fixed an issue with the abbreviation display for audio staffs within the “ghost staff”
- Various stability fixes and performance improvements
Ratings and Reviews
Flawed masterpiece
I was first introduced to this app when it was available on the Surface back in 2016. It didn’t work too well for my needs at the time and being left handed the palm recognition on the MS Surface wasn’t ideal. Fast forward to 2020 when Staffpad not only debuted on iOS for the first time but also induces expansion sounds from industry leading developers like Orchestral Tools, CineSamples and Spitfire Audio.
I’m using it on an iPad Air 3 and while it does have some issues interpreting my hand writing, its an amazing app as far as realistic playback of ones work without having to undergo rigorous editing in a DAW. It’s a Young app for iOS so people must be patient. My current work around for past passages involving tuplets is entering notes in Notion iOS and exporting via XML to Staffpad, and then adding articulations and dynamics markings.
It’s not a cheap app and at present it needs some refinement but I’m glad it got rebuilt from the ground up for iOS and I use it everyday when I’m away from the studio.
Works as advertised
I had trouble writing music in Notion so I got StaffPad. Infinitely easier to predictable results writing music in StaffPad. There is a learning cure but I was up and running in about 2 hrs. Really like the sound fonts and that you can import and export your music to other programs.
Best !
After one week, I realize this app is the best to write sheet fast. Thanks StaffPad !
App Privacy
The developer, StaffPad Ltd., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- StaffPad Ltd
- Size
- 1.2 GB
- Category
- Music
- Compatibility
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- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 14.5 or later.
- Mac
- Requires macOS 11.3 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
- Languages
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English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © StaffPad Ltd
- Price
- $119.99
- In-App Purchases
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- StaffPad Essential Guitars $0.00
- StaffPad Essentials: Accordion $0.00
- Retro Keyboards $0.00
- Toy Glockenspiel $0.00
- VOXOS Epic Choir $129.99
- Berlin Strings $129.99
- StaffPad Essentials: Drummers $24.99
- Ambience One $24.99
- Berlin Brass $129.99
- Tina Guo Cello $49.99
Supports
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Family Sharing
Some in‑app purchases, including subscriptions, may be shareable with your family group when Family Sharing is enabled.