Category: FAQ

What Screens Size for Displaying Music?

By Gordon Cameron 29 Aug, 2017 2 Comments

We are often asked about what “size” of screen on tablets or all-in-one PCs is best for displaying music. When talking about screens there are really 4 things to consider:

  • Size
  • Aspect Ratio
  • Resolution
  • Pixels per inch

In this short article I am going to look at each of these, particularly in relation to displaying sheet music. So to get us started here is a diagram showing the relative sizes of the screen on a number of common devices.

Size

For some historical reason screen sizes are still measured in inches – possibly because of the influence of the USA in technology and it’s use of imperial units.

I am reminded of my visits to a timber supplier where I asked for “two meters of two by inch white pine” – we rea Read more...

Windows 10 Hints and Tips for Performing Musicians.

By Gordon Cameron 7 Apr, 2017 1 Comment

As more and more musicians are using digital music display for performing, it is vitally important that nothing untoward happens on-screen during performance. The last thing you want to happen is for a message to pop up on screen saying “Restarting. Installing updates in 10, 9, 8… seconds”. AARRGGHHH!!!

In this article I will be looking at ways to avoid this type of scenario when running Windows 10 and also some general hints and tips.

Microsoft have been very “helpful” in the latest versions of their operating systems by “forcing” the installation of updates, so trying to avoid the situation where users fail to install critical updates or virus definitions and as a result have major issues with their PC. Microsoft also use ways of extending battery life, in particularly on tablet PCs by blanking the screen or putting the PC to sleep after a period of inactivity, both of which are definitely not desirable when performing.

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What is Power Music Store?

By Brenda Cameron 29 Mar, 2017 2 Comments

Power Music Store is an online shop where users of Power Music can purchase “virtual” songbooks in Power Music format. You can access all the songs that you purchase using Power Music Box – our unique cloud storage system. See this previous blog  “What is Power Music Box?” for more info about the Box.

What is the advantage of this type of store?

When you buy music from other stores you either buy a physical book or a PDF or similar for printing. This is fine if you want to use paper. Alternatively you can import these to Power Music by scanning or PDF import and then add the relevant information on authors, categories, copyright etc.
Power Music Store means we have done the work for you in preparing the content and all you have to do is press a button to get all the content and indexing you need in the software on your iPad, PC or Mac.


Each songbook is a collection of “Songs”. Songs in a songbook will contain some or all from the following, where applicable:

  • Sheet music
  • Chord sheet
  • Lyrics
  • Authors
  • Categories
  • Performance notes
  • Copyright information
  • Tempo
  • Melody line
  • Bible refer Read more...

New feature requests that are already in Power Music!

By Brenda Cameron 21 Feb, 2017 3 Comments

In our recent survey we asked how best to describe your usage of Power Music and what features you would like to see in future updates to Power Music. We were overwhelmed by the positive comments and by the number of situations in which Power Music is used. From church worship bands to Morris dancing bands – it is good to see it so widely used. A big thank you to all who took part.

We were also really impressed by the detailed responses from you about what features should be added to the new versions of Power Music coming out this year.

It turns out that quite a number of the requested new features are already in Power Music! So the purpose of this article is to explain where these features are and how to use them.

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Chord Sheets for Worship Songs from WeAreWorship.com

By Gordon Cameron 21 Dec, 2016 2 Comments

One of the most common questions we get asked on our support desk and at exhibitions is “What is a good source of worship song chord sheets?”

There are many websites out there that let you download chord sheets, but people tell us that quite often there are errors in the lyrics and the chords used are not the original ones. Also it is important that the websites pay royalties to the copyright holders of the songs you download – not all websites do!!

Recently we worked with Integrity Music Ltd, AKA WeAreWorship to create a free songbook of chord sheets that we were giving away at Mission Worship 2016. Integrity Music let you download chord sheets from their website WeAreWorship.com. All you need to do is open a free account with them. I have created a short tutorial video on importing chord sheets from WeAreWorship.

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Farewell to CDs

By Gordon Cameron 26 Sep, 2016 2 Comments

Power Music: No longer supplied on CD

cd-proSince the launch of Power Music many years ago (actually way back in 2007) Cambron have always offered users who purchase the software the option of download or buying it as a physical copy on CD.

As from  Friday 23rd September, we will no longer be supplying CD copies of Power Music Professional or Power Music Mac.

Of course, the important thing is not the CD but the Product Key which is used to register and activate Power Music.

There are several reasons why we are doing this:

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USB Button – For page turning and many other things!

By Gordon Cameron 7 Sep, 2016 2 Comments

Kevin new organSome time ago, we got an interesting request from one of our long-time Power Music users.  Kevin Bowyer is a world famous organist and now an author with six novels under his belt (find out more). He uses Power Music on a number of organs and turned the pages by tapping the touchscreen. He recently has got an impressive new 4 manual organ installed in his house.

His problem is that his arms are too short!!

The distance to the touchscreen is 35 inches so he was looking for an alternative page turner – obviously not a foot pedal as his feet are very busy on the organ pedals!

So after a bit of research we have found a company that produces a USB button which works perfectly with Power Music and hundreds of other apps.usbbutton-34 (1)

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Windows 10 Anniversary Update

By Gordon Cameron 31 Aug, 2016 6 Comments

What are the implications for Power Music Users?

win10At the start of August, Microsoft began to offer users what they are calling the “Windows 10 Anniversary Update”. The name comes from the fact the Windows 10 was released on 29th July last year.

The Anniversary Update updates Windows 10 from version 1511 to 1607. This is the second major update for Windows 10 since its launch. The previous update to 1511, known as the “November Update” was like a reinstall of Windows 10 on your PC. The “Anniversary Update” is the same. It appears to basically install a new version of Windows 10 on your PC. The previous version is still available to roll-back to if you “don’t like” 1607.

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Scanning Music – Using a Doc Scanner and Hints & Tips.

By Gordon Cameron 25 Aug, 2016 Leave a comment

This blog post deals with digitizing your library of paper music.

So you have made the decision to digitize all your music!

  • It could be because you are tired of lugging around folders/binders of paper;
  • It could be that you need to find a piece of music quickly and searching through the folders/binders is too slow;
  • It could be that at the end of each concert or gig you are faced with the task of putting all the music back in the correct place in the folders/binders;
  • It could be that you are fed up trying to keep a music books open at the right page;
  • It could be you are having to use rubber bands, bulldog clips and magnets to hold your music on the stand;
    Or
  • It could be that your eyesight is not what it used to be and reading paper music is becoming a bit of a strain.

Whatever your reason you are faced with quite a task. You need to digitize your music. Let’s say you have chosen Power Music Professional as your music management system. So how should you go about this task? Assuming you don’t have electronic copies of the music already in the form of PDF files, then you are faced with scanning the paper music.

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How to manage my Product Key

By Brenda Cameron 2 Aug, 2016 4 Comments

Two of our most frequently asked questions are:
1. I have bought another computer/reformatted my computer. How do I get Power Music and all my songs back?
2. I have tried to register my copy of Power Music and it says I have used up all my activations. What do I do?

Here I will try to answer these questions and in so doing provide answers to other related questions.
First an explanation of what product keys and activation codes are and how they are managed.

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