# Staffpad on M1 Mac With Wacom Pen Tablet Works



## ssnowe (Nov 19, 2021)

I have Staffpad installed on my iPad. I thought I would give it a try on my M1 macbook.

Went to the Mac app store, searched on Staffpad, installed it and it works fairly well except no pen capability

I then installed my Wacom Pen Tablet on the macbook. Following install the Wacom pen worked immediately with Staffpad.

Observations 
- Staffpad on the mac doesn't seem to want to import midi or music xml files - no idea why (I can create new scores and load existing Staffpad scores just fine, however, when I try to import I click on a file and nothing happens)
- Staffpad on the mac seems to make the mac gui run a bit slower, brought up Activity Monitor but not seeing any obvious reasons for the slowdown
- I much prefer using my iPad with the Apple Pencil vs the Wacom pen (drawing directly on the iPad screen is easier than drawing remotely on the tablet)
- One of the advantages the Wacom tablet gives me is I can put Staffpad on my 4k screen and get a much larger view of my score


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## jadi (Nov 19, 2021)

ssnowe said:


> I have Staffpad installed on my iPad. I thought I would give it a try on my M1 macbook.
> 
> Went to the Mac app store, searched on Staffpad, installed it and it works fairly well except no pen capability
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing


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## brandowalk (Jan 2, 2022)

ssnowe said:


> I have Staffpad installed on my iPad. I thought I would give it a try on my M1 macbook.



@ssnowe - how do you manage cloud settings for StaffPad on iOS and on your Mac? I want to install on my Mac but I don’t want to overwrite files used on my iPad.

Also, have you had any more success with it on your Mac since your original post?

Thanks in advance!


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## dcoscina (Jan 2, 2022)

This sounds really cool. I wonder if we would be doubled charged... I kinda want to install on my M1 Mac Mini but don't want to pay the $140 CAD again.


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## ssnowe (Jan 2, 2022)

The install on the m1 mac is really easy. Simply go to the App store, type Staffpad and then pick the ios version (different tab on App store).

It mignt look like it will charge you again for Staffpad but you don't get charged twice.

After install you will find that Staffpad on the Mac is using the same Staffpad iCloud folder that the ipad uses, no overwrite happens, you get the ability to use the same Staffpad score on both the ipad and m1 mac.

This sharing is really nice in that you can do things like stem export on the m1 mac and then use it with logic and such.

In the new 1.5.1 update I have found xml import works better on the Mac then it did in the past but midi import is totally broken.

I have found that Staffpad on the Mac allows me to open larger scores then Staffpad on the ipad which is nice.


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## brandowalk (Jan 2, 2022)

ssnowe said:


> The install on the m1 mac is really easy. Simply go to the App store, type Staffpad and then pick the ios version (different tab on App store).
> 
> It mignt look like it will charge you again for Staffpad but you don't get charged twice.
> 
> ...


That is all good news for me and should improve my workflow. Thanks for sharing. I will give it a go.


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## Jett Hitt (Jan 2, 2022)

Wow, this is great news. I’m still holding out for an an iMac Pro M1 or whatever they call it. Now if we could just get some tools to interact with it on the Mac.


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## 3CPU (Jan 2, 2022)

@ ssnowe thanks for sharing your experience. 

I am considering doing this to make my workflow more fluid and natural. I have bookmarked this thread and will return for guidance. Thanks! And also to others who contributed to this topic. 

I was exploring the option of using a Huion H610 Pro V2 or similar model. No idea if that would work fine, considered the Huion because they are cheaper and got pretty good reviews.


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## ssnowe (Jan 2, 2022)

Also wanted to mention that everything mentioned in the " Custom Playback Rules in Staffpad - Mini Crash Course" thread can be done on Staffpad on the m1 mac because all of the instrument xml files are easily accessible.

That, and I think any wacom style digitizer (i.e. Huion) should work just fine. The other thing I do is simply use Staffpad on the mac for playback only and then I don't need a digitizer (no note entry is available however).

As another note, any libraries you purchased will automatically appear if you go to the Staffpad store and click update/restore.


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## 3CPU (Jan 2, 2022)

@ ssnowe thanks again, that is awesome.


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## ssnowe (Jan 2, 2022)

If you are comfortable using a mac terminal and the "find" command, here is how you locate the Staffpad xml files:

The *default* set from the factory is found at:
find /Applications/StaffPad.app/Wrapper/StaffPad.app/InstrumentLibrary -type f -name "*.xml"

The *updated* set (created when you buy a new library) is found at
find /Users/YOURUSERNAMEHERE/Library/Containers/*/Data/Library/Application\ Support/InstrumentLibrary -type f -name "*.xml"

Hopefully its obvious but you need to replace YOURUSERNAMEHERE with your actual mac user name (unless your user name really is YOURUSERNAMEHERE in which case you should be good).

The *updated* set of xml files may appear to duplicate the *default* set from the factory, but this is not always the case. The *updated* set can have updated xml information not found in the default set. In the case that you find duplicate xml files in both locations always refer to the *updated* set as that is what Staffpad actually uses for its instruments.


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## clonewar (Jan 27, 2022)

Bumping this up.. Is anyone using Staffpad on an M1 Mac with a Wacom Cintiq tablet screen? Seems like it should be a great combo, but interested to know if Staffpad is able to distinguish between the Cintiq’s pen and finger touch input.


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## Jett Hitt (Jan 27, 2022)

clonewar said:


> Bumping this up.. Is anyone using Staffpad on an M1 Mac with a Wacom Cintiq tablet screen? Seems like it should be a great combo, but interested to know if Staffpad is able to distinguish between the Cintiq’s pen and finger touch input.


A friend of mine tried it and said that it was not a good experience, but I have no firsthand experience. First thing I would try is Sidecar.


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## rsg22 (Jan 27, 2022)

The bummer about sidecar is you can kind of use pencil input with Staffpad, but you can't use touch input, at least in my experience. Since you really have to use both pencil and touch input with Staffpad, it's a problem. 

Edit: there may be a 3rd party app that gets around this problem, it's on my list to try


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## rsg22 (Jan 28, 2022)

I just read that Universal Control is finally in the latest Mac OS Monterey beta. I don't know everything it does, but apparently it allows you to use your Mac trackpad, mouse, keyboard to control both your Mac and your iPad Pro. Not just using the iPad Pro as a mirror device like with sidecar, but actually controlling the apps on the iPad itself.

This would be a different paradigm than what the OP talked about, but I'm wondering if there are possibilities with Staffpad here.


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