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  #1  
Old 07-30-2014, 10:28 AM
good_hillbilly good_hillbilly is offline
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Default Best iPad app for lyrics, chords etc.

Pardon the interruption. I am totally confused as to using an iPad to hold songs and lyrics. But I'd like to switch over, as my notebooks are filled to the brim with tatty pages of lyrics, chords, etc.

Could someone explain, in simple language, what I would want to get to cut over to using an iPad to hold everything?
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  #2  
Old 07-30-2014, 10:42 AM
RevRuss RevRuss is offline
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Thanks to threads on this subject....I got Unreal Book because of it's basic features and less of a steep learning curve.
I've had it for about a year now and it's great!
It does all I want to get my notebook digital and I love being able to make a set list.

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Old 07-30-2014, 10:44 AM
Kip Carter Kip Carter is offline
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I use Lyric Pad for Android but they make a version for IOS. It is easy to use and has lots of flexibility getting your songs into a set list so you can go from one to the next to the next in the order you planned... If you don't want to use the Set list feature it is a piece of cake jumping from song to song with it.

I also use Chordinator + but that is strictly an Android app. Take a look at the Lyric Pad... should be free in the apple store.
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  #4  
Old 07-30-2014, 10:50 AM
The Growler The Growler is offline
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OnSong is what I use on the iPad. You can easily import files from Dropbox, share with your band, etc. It transposes, you can change the fonts and color schemes, use a Bluetooth footswitch to page forward, backward, build set lists, etc.

Very nice.
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Old 07-30-2014, 10:54 AM
RustyAxe RustyAxe is offline
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I use Songbook from Linkesoft. I run it on my iMac, iPad, and iPod touch. Full featured. Uses Chordpro format. Very flexible. I have more than 1000 songs in my library (I play in two bands, two duos, and have a solo act). And if you change platforms there are Android and Windows versions available (for no extra charge), and they all work together.
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Old 07-30-2014, 11:20 AM
Slim Slim is offline
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I really like Scorecerer.
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  #7  
Old 07-30-2014, 11:32 AM
Captain Jim Captain Jim is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Growler View Post
OnSong is what I use on the iPad. You can easily import files from Dropbox, share with your band, etc. It transposes, you can change the fonts and color schemes, use a Bluetooth footswitch to page forward, backward, build set lists, etc.

Very nice.
+1 from me, with OnSong. It makes songlists a snap! Easy to download chords and lyrics.

Captain Jim
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  #8  
Old 07-30-2014, 11:41 AM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by good_hillbilly View Post
Pardon the interruption. I am totally confused as to using an iPad to hold songs and lyrics. But I'd like to switch over, as my notebooks are filled to the brim with tatty pages of lyrics, chords, etc.

Could someone explain, in simple language, what I would want to get to cut over to using an iPad to hold everything?
Hi g_h…
There are few point-n-shoot solutions, but learning and applying the process to one's library of music, once finished, is worth it.

The two main apps which work really well are unrealBook and OnSong.

unrealBook uses pdf charts to establish a
  • library of songs
  • build set lists (and modify them quickly and easily)
  • move from song to song (or jump to other songs in the list)
  • take notes on the chart (and remove them later)
  • can play songs from your iTunes library while displaying them
  • Send songs to others with the same app & via email
  • It has been easiest to drop the list into view and jump around the list - I hope all of them simplify that feature

It is a point-n-shoot app.

OnSong is a more comprehensive and work-intensive app which reads ChordPro and pdf files

It has all the functions of unrealBook, plus if songs are properly formatted in ChordPro format then it can transpose them on the fly. It claims you can suck charts in and convert them (if they are in text format including pdf files which have embedded text), but I found that it takes about 10 minutes to clean up most songs I tried to import from the web (not from OnSong's subscription pay-charts…they work fine)

There is a third app designed for Score Reading called forScore, and it is a comprehensive score reading app. It is built for orchestral type display, and can read/move to/from marks (like D.S., repeat signs, and Coda etc).

If you have a library of simple song sheets with chords displayed above lyrics, then unrealBook is easiest to navigate, especially on the fly.

If you are in a worship structure who has a lot of teams and different leaders doing songs in different keys all the time, OnSong will get-et-done. It's the app I've most wanted to win-out but so far it's limiting issues are still there.

If you pay them several dollars a month to belong to their ChordPro library, then you can find most current worship music (and up to probably 10 years past) properly type set. If you have your own personal songs, you must convert them to ChordPro format which is an unforgiving programming language. If you miss even one little symbol or format mark, it will not function & display properly.

I own all three, and unrealBook is what my song list lives in.

There are others, but these are the best, and best supported apps. Developers are still working on all three after several years to make them better.

How do I get my charts into the iPad?
You can either scan songs and convert them to pdf format to put them into any score reading app, or if you have them typed and stored in Word, or other word processor, simply convert them to pdf and load them into the library.

Via iTunes, with your iPad plugged into the computer, it is a drag-n-drop process. It only takes seconds to drag and drop your existing pdf or Chord-pro files into the apps via iTunes.

All of the apps also work with BlueTooth foot pedals for advancing or repeating pages.

Hope this helps...





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  #9  
Old 07-30-2014, 11:59 AM
Kyle76 Kyle76 is offline
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I use Unrealbook. I usually look up tabs on the internet and copy and paste them to a Word document in Courier font, which is a fixed-space font, so that chords and lyrics will match up. I save the Word documents to my computer, which will allow me to edit them later, if needed. Then, under "File" in the Word program, I hit "Save & Send," which gives me the option of emailing the Word document as a PDF attachment. I email it to myself, open the email on my iPad, click on the attachment (hold my finger down on it) and choose "Open in Unrealbook." This saves the PDF to Unrealbook, and I'm good to go.
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  #10  
Old 07-30-2014, 12:22 PM
Kelly Grayum Kelly Grayum is offline
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I use Onsong...it is a little work intensive but it seems to work the best for me. It's true you do have to clean up certain songs after you import them. But I like the way you have the option to go back and edit/change a song on the fly after you import it. The transposing and capo feature is also great if you are like me and play worship music with an ever changing lineup of musicians with different abilities on a weekly basis
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  #11  
Old 07-30-2014, 12:32 PM
CharlieRay CharlieRay is offline
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I use the Ultimate-Guitar app for both the iPhone and the iPad. As I'm a big fan of the site (www.ultimate-guitar.com), it allows me to to keep all of the chord charts/tabs w/lyrics with me at all times.
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  #12  
Old 08-05-2019, 03:20 PM
Mike Nykoruk Mike Nykoruk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieRay View Post
I use the Ultimate-Guitar app for both the iPhone and the iPad. As I'm a big fan of the site (www.ultimate-guitar.com), it allows me to to keep all of the chord charts/tabs w/lyrics with me at all times.
I use Utlimate-Guitar.com on my mac laptop and iPad. I only wish they had support for BT page tuners. Songbook is pretty extensive and does support my Donner page turner, but getting the songs in is a manual, time consuming, process and the interface is definitely not "Mac simple" Pdf dislay apps don't allow to enlarge the type so ugh.
Ultimate -G is the best for getting songs, printing them, and saving as PDF's, It's is possible to copy and paste into Songbook, requires some minor title and artist input detail, but like I said the GUI is not friendly. With 350+ songs already in U-G, inputting them one at a time is a pain.
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Old 08-05-2019, 03:41 PM
difalkner difalkner is offline
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I've been using OnSong for about 5 years - love it! At one point in our Praise Band I controlled 3 other iPads with OnSong so when I hit page down or switched songs theirs did the same thing. Even had an external monitor hooked for a couple of years so our Worship Pastor could step back and see it from a distance.

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Old 08-05-2019, 03:44 PM
Goat Mick Goat Mick is offline
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I've been using OnSong for about 7 years now and I'm very happy with it. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that loading all your current songs into ANY app is going to be time consuming and tedious, but after that adding new material is pretty simple in all of them. At this point I also write all my songs directly in OnSong because it just makes them much easier to edit and manipulate during the writing process. Then when I'm done it's in my library.
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  #15  
Old 08-05-2019, 06:01 PM
Slothead56 Slothead56 is offline
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OnSong all day long.
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