The paperless office didn’t exactly come to pass. But how about the paperless orchestra? It could happen: Even sheet music is going digital.

Two companies that market electronic systems for reading and notating music are quietly making headway among musicians. One of the greatest advantages is that the tablets allow the user to turn pages himself, either by touching the screen or pressing a foot pedal – obviating the need for a page turner. They also theoretically allow a performer to store a vast library of sheet music in a compact, 5-pound device.

The technology has at least one champion in the classical world – a community not generally fond of innovation. For several years violinist Itzhak Perlman has been using a tablet computer loaded with software from a company called eStand; he is also involved in the company’s management.

“As far as just an automatic page turner, it’s absolutely wonderful,” he said. “When you play concerts outdoors in the summertime, you’re dependent on the weather – sometimes there’s a lot of wind. But if you use this, you won’t have pages flying around.”

While eStand makes only the software (which it sells alone for $399, or installed on a 14-inch Gateway tablet for $1,699), its competitor, FreeHand Systems, sells software and a music-specific tablet on which it runs, the MusicPad Pro. Among its loyal users is Michael Schober, a psychology professor at the New School and a classical pianist, who frequently flies to Los Angeles to accompany his sister, an opera singer. For him, the new device solved a packing problem: It eliminated the need to carry music books back and forth across the country.

“It was driving me crazy, and the whole idea that your entire music collection could be on a USB memory stick seemed absolutely brilliant,” he said. He was daunted by the cost – $1,199, for a tablet with a 12.1-inch screen – but he took a chance, knowing the system had a 30-day money-back guarantee. In short order, he was hooked. Now he’s using it every day, for local performances and rehearsal.

Like Mr. Schober, Jack Aaronson, a musical director and composer who plays at piano bars in Manhattan and on Fire Island, was interested in the MusicPad because of its portability. In a fortunate twist, he discovered that the technology improved his performance at the piano. “People throw random requests at you, and finding the right book in time can be a nightmare,” he said.

With the MusicPad, he pulls up whatever song is requested – say, “Light My Candle” from “Rent” – immediately. “It changed my life,” he said. “It’s not just the difference in my happiness, not having to carry millions of bags with me. Other people have more fun, too.”

Fun, yes, but there are some start-up hurdles. The sheet music has to get into the device, either by digital upload or scanning. Musicians can purchase music over the Internet – from the FreeHand or eStand Web sites, as well as in PDF format from any other site. Otherwise, it has to be scanned in by hand. The latter is the most taxing alternative, but because there is a limited amount of music online, scanning is often the only way to go. “It turns into this crazy all-nighter project,” Mr. Schober said of the effort it took to transfer his music library into digital form. “I had to learn more about scanning than I ever wanted to know.”

Another element that takes some getting used to is MusicPad’s foot pedal, which is used to advance the pages. Messrs. Schober and Aaronson both said they spent some time adjusting. Now they’re so habituated, however, that when using paper sheet music, they accidentally stomp the floor and wait for the page to turn.

And then there’s the factor that all electronic databases users face: Will it work when needed? Mr. Schober said that though he had been worried about the device crashing, so far it has worked very well. He acknowledged that for a recent performance, he brought a backup paper copy of his music, just in case. “I suppose if I were really wealthy and paranoid,” he said, “I would have a second one of these with me, booted up and ready to go.”

And he said he sees room for improvement in future releases: “I would love version 2.0 or 3.0, with yet a higher resolution screen. I would love if they could be just that much thinner. It’s pretty lightweight, but if it could roll up or fold up …”

Given the high prices, scanning time, and physical adjustment, how likely are musicians to switch? The benefits aren’t equal for all musicians. To a soloist who memorizes his music, or a member of an orchestra who has only a few bars in a work (and thus plenty of time to turn pages), these devices could be more trouble than they’re worth.

But as with most new developments, the early adopters are eager. Mr. Schober said other musicians who see him using his MusicPad are “immediately envious.” Mr. Aaronson said four pianists he knows bought their own MusicPads after they saw his.

Students, too, are a serious potential market. A 24-year-old student in collaborative piano at Juilliard, Paul Kwak, expressed strong interest. “I don’t know how they’d work logistically, but it sounds really cool,” he said.

In his work – accompanying singers doing opera and art songs – these devices could potentially eliminate some tiresome paperwork. For a recital, Mr. Kwak usually has to track down music by many composers, copy it, and organize it in a binder. To minimize page turns, he ends up cutting the music up in funny ways or simply reducing it on a copier. “I remember once I had a song that was about eight pages long and there was no good place for a page turn,” he said, “so I had to reduce it to 65%. It’s a really big pain.”

On the business side, the two makers of these electronic music options are poised to lead the way. The MusicPad Pro has been on the market for nearly two years, and according to FreeHand’s chief executive, Kim Lorz, the company has sold about 5,000 tablets. This year, it expects to sell 25,000. “It’s just a question of making them fast enough to fill the demand,” Mr. Lorz said.

Its rival is at an earlier stage; eStand declined to give sales figures. “We’ve basically been on the market since January,” eStand’s COO, Harvey Becker, said. “Providing sales numbers would be premature.”

As the sole players in the still developing market, the companies have had a rocky history. The founder of eStand sued Freehand Systems for patent infringement. The suit was settled, but the relationship is still tense.

Mr. Lorz was eager to tout his product – and dismiss his competitor’s. “Musicians have had access to laptops and tablets prior to us making a specific performance tablet,” he said. “They wouldn’t buy them then, and they won’t buy them now.” He said FreeHand’s specially designed tablet was more reliable. “We only have one support guy,” he said, “and he’s no busier now that we’re shipping 5,000 tablets he than was when we were shipping 250.”

And what of resistance from sellers of sheet music? Sam Ash, the largest sheet music dealer in New York City, plans to start selling the MusicPad Pro soon. A Sam Ash sales representative, Duke Guillaume, who is also a saxophonist, praised the device’s convenience. “It hasn’t been out long enough to really judge it,” he said, “but it looks like it will boom.”

Protests by throngs of jobless page turners are unlikely. According to Mr. Kwak, page turners are typically just pianists helping out their friends for free. In some upscale professional settings, they can be paid – sometimes as much as $250 a night – but it’s almost never more than a side gig. “It’s just extra money, not a steady source of income,” Mr. Kwak said. “I don’t think you’d be putting anyone out of work.”

Instead, the greatest obstacle to the spread of digital sheet music may be the classical music world’s dogged adherence to tradition. Mr. Schober said he used his MusicPad Pro once to accompany his sister at an opera audition: “The judging panelists looked at me as if I were from the moon.”

As a psychologist, Mr. Schober said he sympathized with the feelings of the musical Luddites. “There’s a fear that new technologies will get in the way of gorgeous acoustic music-making – that it’s all part of something that’s trying to take the human out of this,” he said. “I’m part of a different generation that sees these technologies as simply tools that facilitate the human stuff.”