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Is Anyone Here Using a Mobile Device App On Stage?


MikeRivers

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You know, stuff like the IK Multimedia Amplitubes and such? Your guitar (or whatever sound source) goes into the phone's headset input or maybe through USB or Lightning if you have a new enough phone, gets processed by the app, and then goes out through the headset or digital output to an amplifier or PA system.

 

Simple question: What happens when you're right in the middle of a soul-inspiring solo, or even if you're between songs, and you get a phone call? Is the ring tone (and maybe more if you actually answer the call) broadcast to your audience?

 

It seems to me that I had a phone, maybe the semi-smart one I had before the brain-dead-smart one I have now had an option to disable ringing between certain hours that you could set, but my current phone doesn't have that option. Could I wrap my phone in a Faraday shield? Or should there be an option to disable the phone function that I haven't been able to find?

 

I first thought about this when I saw the first of now more than one "Bluetooth receiver DI" that can wirelessly play music from your phone into a PA system. I know, from rental car experience (my car is older than my phone and doesn't have anything Bluetooth) that when I have the phone connected to the car via Bluetooth, when the phone rings, it interrupts what I might be listening to on the radio or CD player. I'm thinking about it now because I picked up an iRig Acoustic pickup at the NAMM show and it actually sounds pretty good with not too much fooling around with EQ. If they ever get the Acoustic app for Android released, and it's capable of running on my phone (some doubt there) I might want to give it a try some time when playing a dance. I very rarely get calls on my cell phone, but it seems that a telemarketer has discovered or invented my number so I'm starting to get calls. I have a call blocker app that seems to work but I suppose the phone call and called ID has to actually be received before it can be shut down.

 

This problem would probably go away for me if someone gave me a newer phone for my birthday. It's coming up next week. ;)

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My iPhone has a "Do not disturb" option. Its main value is I turn it off during meetings and when doing workshops so as not to cause a distraction, but the best part is I often forget to turn it back on again, so I don't have to deal with the phone until I remember :)

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My iPhone has a "Do not disturb" option. Its main value is I turn it off during meetings and when doing workshops so as not to cause a distraction, but the best part is I often forget to turn it back on again, so I don't have to deal with the phone until I remember :)

 

My only experience with an "external ringer" has been with Bluetooth in a rental car, so I guess I should have tested further before I asked this question.

 

I can put my phone in "silent" mode where it neither rings nor vibrates but I never tried it with headphones plugged in. I just tried it and sure enough, in that mode, no ringer in the headphones. And furthermore, I found that it doesn't ring in the headphones even when it rings from the speaker. That's odd.

 

I know that people wear headsets with ear buds and a microphone with these phones. If it doesn't ring in the earphones, how does a headset user know he has an incoming phone call? Maybe it looks at the TRRS jack to see if there's a microphone connected (with the mic ring contact on the TRRS not grounded), and if so, assumes you're using a headset and it needs to send the ring to the earphones. With a TRS headphone-only plug, the sleeve grounds the mic contact on the TRRS jack, giving it a clue that with only headphones plugged in, you're listening to music and don't care about answering the phone.

 

I wish these phone-y things came with a block diagram, or at least an understandable manual. They're probably all different anyway - at least that's the excuse that developers use for not making Android versions of their iOS apps.

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You know, stuff like the IK Multimedia Amplitubes and such? Your guitar (or whatever sound source) goes into the phone's headset input or maybe through USB or Lightning if you have a new enough phone, gets processed by the app, and then goes out through the headset or digital output to an amplifier or PA system.

 

Simple question: What happens when you're right in the middle of a soul-inspiring solo, or even if you're between songs, and you get a phone call? Is the ring tone (and maybe more if you actually answer the call) broadcast to your audience?

 

It seems to me that I had a phone, maybe the semi-smart one I had before the brain-dead-smart one I have now had an option to disable ringing between certain hours that you could set, but my current phone doesn't have that option. Could I wrap my phone in a Faraday shield? Or should there be an option to disable the phone function that I haven't been able to find?

 

I first thought about this when I saw the first of now more than one "Bluetooth receiver DI" that can wirelessly play music from your phone into a PA system. I know, from rental car experience (my car is older than my phone and doesn't have anything Bluetooth) that when I have the phone connected to the car via Bluetooth, when the phone rings, it interrupts what I might be listening to on the radio or CD player. I'm thinking about it now because I picked up an iRig Acoustic pickup at the NAMM show and it actually sounds pretty good with not too much fooling around with EQ. If they ever get the Acoustic app for Android released, and it's capable of running on my phone (some doubt there) I might want to give it a try some time when playing a dance. I very rarely get calls on my cell phone, but it seems that a telemarketer has discovered or invented my number so I'm starting to get calls. I have a call blocker app that seems to work but I suppose the phone call and called ID has to actually be received before it can be shut down.

 

This problem would probably go away for me if someone gave me a newer phone for my birthday. It's coming up next week. ;)

I haven't used it, but this app looks pretty good:

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...cheduler&hl=en

 

It lets you schedule when your phone's ringer is silent flexibly but can let key people through.

 

 

My phone didn't come with a bunch of manufacturer-installed apps (which, after having the FB app permanently installed in my old phone, I consider a big plus -- give me the minimum and I'll choose which apps will suck up resources, thanks), nor did it have what not-so-smart phones always seemed to have -- a voicemail-alert light [bring 'em back!]. So I use a free app called Missed Message Flasher (there's a pay-for with more options). It has an and/or selection of audio alerts (you can schedule the timing of them flexibly, so that they come closer or farther apart as time goes on) and/or brief screen flashes. (I ended up going with just the audio alerts.)

 

Since junk calls are becoming an increasingly bad problem on the mobile phone system, I also use Calls Blacklist which allows me to quickly add a number from the call log. When a call comes in from a number I don't recognize, I hit the call-reject so a real person has a chance to leave a message. If they don't, I then google the phone number. It's almost always a call-center spam call. (One recent exception the Social Security Admin.) I open up Calls Blacklist and add the number from the log. It's quick and vaguely satisfying. Not as satisfying as crawling through the wire and pummeling the phone-spammers but...

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For a brief time I was using Amplitube on my iPad at gigs. It turned out to be a hassle however for a couple reasons; (1) my main function is keyboards and when it's time to play guitar there's no time to mess with the iPad which is really there for my in-ear monitor mixer, (2) when you're dragging gear all over the region it's best to have things racked up and/or secured down which ain't happening with a Line 6 Sonic Port dangling out of an iPad. I ditched that effort and switched to a Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 which is small, lightweight and can be left cabled up and thrown into the back of my rack case.

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