Song book on a tablet for performing?
 

Hi there,

I'm not really doing any gigs at this stage but just travelling performing in hostels etc.

But because I get very little time to practise when I'm working I tend to get lost with all the songs I know lyrics etc :(

Some musicians have mentioned the 'song book' apps for ipads/galaxy tablets etc and just wondering which ones you recommended? (I would be using a Galaxy 10.1)

Chords are not super critical but would be nice ...mainly lyrics..
I thought about making up a PDF but I need something to skip to the song fast


Even something to help me refresh my memory when travelling.

any recommendations would be awesome!

I'm using unRealBook on my iPad and it's super. But the cost of Android tablets is really coming down and unfortunately that app isn't available on that OS, so I too am looking for a good substitute.

I've been using MobileSheets for a couple of years and I'm very happy with it. It's an android app and it's not expensive. I like the fact that it let's me make notes on the charts too.
Joe

I have a galaxy note: I don't gig much but I use mobile sheets to store all my songs - it's basically a way to organize images and pdfs, but in a way that make sense for musicians. I like it as sometimes I need just lyrics, sometimes chord charts, sometimes both and you can annotate everything as well. I also use iReal book pro which can be use to playback for practicing and stores a bazillion tunes, but is lead sheets only.

I don't play out but I use Pro Tapp. It's not expensive and works on my tablet. it scrolls and lets you make changes.

Songbook ... http://www.linkesoft.com/songbook

PC, Android, MacOS, iOS ... all versions, and buying one gets any of the others, too. I do my editing primarily on my Mac and transfer to my iPad/iPhone. Easy to organize your library. I've been using it for about four years and it's bulletproof.

I routinely do not read anything for performing, but for the odd request or, more recently, Christmas songs, I've been using something called "Setlist" on the ipad. I use it only for lyrics but it has the capacity for displaying chords. More importantly for me, it connects wirelessly via Bluetooth to an AirTurn which allows me to advance the pages and for the lyrics to display in a large font.

I have all my songs already in PDF format so Songbook doesn't look like it will work for me. Im looking for something that would make a gig list that would link to my PDFs. Is there nything out there that would do that?

I'm in the same boat. I haven't tried it yet, but it appears as though Mobile Sheets is what I'm going to try.

I use forScore on iPad. Lots of features, and the PDF support and set lists are easy to use.

Jim

There are some real disadvantages to using PDF's if all you want is lyrics and chords. Songbook works with PDF files, but you lose functionality (like transposition).

I know you're using android, but OnSong on an iPad is great. It can transpose keys, do the capo thing, etc, among a billion other things that I may never use. It works great with a group, too, we put our songs on Dropbox and everyone in that group can pick them up. Oh, it also has set lists too.There is a somewhat similar app called Open Song for Android, but it's nowhere near as polished, but it is free

Orpheus Sheet Music Pro
 

I've been looking into the android program Orpheus Sheet Music Pro, which uses files in PDF. You can upload double-sided sheet music by copying on a double-sided copier into a pdf file. You can use dropbox to store the files and download them from there.
The reason I wanted this is because it was the best way I could find to work with a keyboard player with me on guitar, I can have my diagram chords and he can play the piano notes, and we both have the lyrics. You can use a bluetooth page turner to go back and forth in the song. I haven't tried this yet but I do have the program on our tablets.

Thanks for the great suggestions for apps that can be used with pdf files.

Years ago I won a first generation iPad at an office party and it's still going strong for most uses. Unfortunately it only supports iOS 5.1.1 and OnSong appears to be the only app that works with that old OS.

If one day end up with a non-Apple tablet, or a newer iPad, neither of which is currently on my radar, I may try one of the other options.

I'm using MobileSheets Pro on a Galaxy tablet. Very pleased with it.