Members EightString Posted November 11, 2011 Members Share Posted November 11, 2011 When I gig, I have my amp sim app (AmpKit+) and a PDF reader for set lists and the occasional lyric cheat sheet both running, but always had to do a double button press, followed by selecting the alternate app, to switch between the two. Just updated to iOS 5.0.1, which brings the "swipe" gesture to switch apps to the original iPad 1, and my gigging life just got LOADS easier. Just in time for a gig tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 12, 2011 Moderators Share Posted November 12, 2011 I am still mastering the 'swipe on my 'droid'...schweet that you can do it on an iPad now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jayare Posted November 13, 2011 Members Share Posted November 13, 2011 Is there an app for the IPAD that displays lyrics,AND will playback the backing track at the same time?If so...that would REALLY lighten/simplify things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skybluegary Posted December 20, 2011 Members Share Posted December 20, 2011 Is there an app for the IPAD that displays lyrics,AND will playback the backing track at the same time?If so...that would REALLY lighten/simplify things. OnSong! scrolling lyrics and playback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_e Posted December 20, 2011 Members Share Posted December 20, 2011 Is there an app for the IPAD that displays lyrics,AND will playback the backing track at the same time?If so...that would REALLY lighten/simplify things. I believe you can associate a file with a pdf (whole df or single pagen, not sure) in forScore. I use forScore for sheet music and lyrics, works pretty well especially if you can get everything on a single page although I've not tried associating a file with a pdf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted December 20, 2011 Members Share Posted December 20, 2011 Is there an app for the IPAD that displays lyrics,AND will playback the backing track at the same time?If so...that would REALLY lighten/simplify things. There are several. I use SongBook. It can read plain text files as well as ChordPro file format, a standard file format for displaying chords along with the music. Works really, really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 I guess I need to get out of the 20th century. I still use a 3-ring notebook with hand written chord charts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jayare Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 I guess I need to get out of the 20th century. I still use a 3-ring notebook with hand written chord charts. Thats what I'm using...but it's so big, it almost needs its own road case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Thats what I'm using...but it's so big, it almost needs its own road case! Same here. In fact, I have a bunch of them...one for my classic rock trio, one for the oldies show band, one for solo acoustic gigs, one for the German band, plus a few more assorted ones. Of course, there's some duplication, and I usually only bring one at a time to a gig. So if I wanted to go the iPad route, how much could I store? And how easy is it to switch between songs? Could I separate song lists into different genres, just like I do with my different binders? Is it worth the big bucks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted December 21, 2011 Members Share Posted December 21, 2011 Same here. In fact, I have a bunch of them...one for my classic rock trio, one for the oldies show band, one for solo acoustic gigs, one for the German band, plus a few more assorted ones. Of course, there's some duplication, and I usually only bring one at a time to a gig.So if I wanted to go the iPad route, how much could I store? And how easy is it to switch between songs? Could I separate song lists into different genres, just like I do with my different binders? Is it worth the big bucks? The amount of backing tracks you use is determined by the file format you choose (mp3, aiff, etc) and the model iPad you choose, but certainly you would not run out of room unless you had 10,000 backing tracks or something. Even then you might not. In terms of lyrics, I don't know the limits of the app I use, but the iPad itself could probably store billions of song lyrics and chords. It is way easier and faster to switch between songs, you can separate songs into as many categories as you want, songs can be in more than one category, and you never need a light to see the words. Is it worth the money? I would say that it is IF you also use the iPad for other things and not just lyrics. I use it as an eBook reader (I buy all my books electronically now,) and I have music, videos, and games on it. I also sometimes surf the web on it, though I prefer my laptop for that. The iPad 2 also has a still and video camera built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_e Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 It's certainly a LOT easier to carry around an iPad and a music stand and several books of music. I mount mine to my keyboard stand using an xclip and a bracket I rigged up out of a mic stand adapter. It's pretty unobtrusive on stage (vs a music stand) and quick and easy to setup. I have the 32 gig iPad. I figured that'd be more than enough and battery life is great too, pretty close to the claimed 10 hours, more than enough for a gig.I've got around 140 pdf files on there, a few apps including a few soft synths etc and it's barely made a dent in the available space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 I've got mine velcro attached to my keyboard stand (velcroed? velco'd?) I keep mine plugged in despite the battery life, because you never know. I also have the screen set to never dim or turn off, so that I can control it manually. And I'm a HUGE fan of SongBook. Great app. Not perfect, but pretty damn good. Whoever wrote it is a musician, for sure. I've only got the 16 GB but I won't run out of room in my lifetime. There probably are cheaper ways to do the same concept - the Kindle Fire is cheaper than the iPad by quite a bit, and there's probably an Android app that does something similar. But my problem with the Fire and other tablets with smaller screens is that the screens are too small. The iPad is, to me, the smallest usable screen. Anything smaller and my 46 year old eyes would have issues. And I don't like my lyrics scrolling - I like to see them all, like you would on a sheet of paper. Also, browsing the web is so much better on the iPad than the smaller screened tablets. Biggest issue with the iPad is the price. It's the best tablet on the market, but you're going to pay to have the best. I think the best deal out there would be a used iPad 1. They can run practically all the software that the iPad 2 can run, and you can save a bit of money by buying one off of someone who is upgrading to the 2. The iPad 2 is better... better screen, faster CPU, thinner body. But the iPad 1 is still a very good tablet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 Just a little more. When I used paper lyrics, I used our binder (we have one of those inexpensive plastic ones at home) and put all of my lyrics in alpha order. But it was still a pain finding the right book and flipping to the right page. In SongBook, you touch the first letter of the song title in an alpha list, then touch the song and up it comes. I can pull up any song (and load up the backing track if there is one) in under 3 seconds pretty easily. Before I had to find the lyric, turn to that page, then go to my iPod Touch, scroll and find the backing track, and pull it up. Took three times as long, easily. And then the f*cking wind would blow (at outdoor gigs) and I'd have to secure the paper to my keyboard stand with black electrical tape... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 You guys have almost convinced me. I can see that replacing all of my 3-ring binders with one iPad would certainly be more convenient. And I just realized I can download an accordian app on the iPad, strap the iPad to my chest, and play that for my German gigs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jayare Posted December 22, 2011 Members Share Posted December 22, 2011 You guys have almost convinced me. I can see that replacing all of my 3-ring binders with one iPad would certainly be more convenient.And I just realized I can download an accordian app on the iPad, strap the iPad to my chest, and play that for my German gigs! You are a sick man...and I mean that in a good way!Ive got friends that found a cowbell app on their Iphones,and use that onstage right into the mike.It looks cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skybluegary Posted December 24, 2011 Members Share Posted December 24, 2011 Richard, what music files are you using with songbook? is it just mp3 or can wav's be used. I just realised songbook + has midi, therefore i'm guessing it could be used to trigger a pre-programmed lighting controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.