Program to turn pages of music book automatically; UVA/ Engineering Sup

If you were giving funding for a small engineering project what would you do? (250)

Learning to turn a page of music is a skilled art form when playing in an orchestra. As a violinist, it has been a constant struggle to turn a page of sheet music at exactly the right moment. If the page is turned too early, my stand partner misses the last few bars of music on the previous page, but if the page is turned too late, my stand partner misses the first bars of the next page. This is why if I were given funding for a small engineering project I would create a program that would turn the pages of the music automatically based on the music that is currently being play. Although there are similar programs to this in existence, they require manual activation and can be slightly delayed. The step up would consist of a tablet that stores a copy of the sheet music and a midi file of the music. Prior to playing, the musician will enter a tempo that he or she is taking so the program can establish the time the page should be turned. The tablet would also have a microphone that is able to listen to the music and correlate the music heard with the midi file so the position of the musician within the context of the sheet music can be determined. Once the position of the musician is determined, the appropriate time for the page to be turned will be approximated based on the previously entered tempo.

Hmm.. Have you ever used smart music? It does essentially what you've outlined - not that your idea isn't novel. The best solution to this problem seems to be to lose the partner and just have a stand all to yourself, haha.

I feel like this was an interesting concept but it certainly isn't universal. A college admissions reader who has never been in band might not sympathize with your initial problem. I also feel slightly confused. Are your interests mechanical engineering, computer engineering, or music?

I think it's pretty good, but you don't really relate it to what you want to study. I think having some correlation to what you would want to study would help give the admissions officer a better idea of how you may use what you learn at the university.