Songbook Apps and Bluetooth Page Turner Pedal

[FunSteak]

Hello, music makers.

I have a pretty large library of songs I like to play (or try to play LOL), and some years back I got very tired of lugging around a three ring binder full of music for the ones I don't have memorized. I thought it was time to switch to a more techy solution, and settled on SongBook Pro. It's a fantastic app that immediately solved nearly every problem with the ol' three-ring.

• As small as your phone/tablet and holds a pretty much infinite number of songs
• Completely customizable view
• Uses ChordPro format, which is a simple tagging code that is pretty much ubiquitous among song sites like Chordie and others. Easily edited and customized once you learn the basics
• No more windblown pages!
• Usable in nearly any lighting condition
• Includes chords/voicings for multiple instruments, including ukes, guitar, mandolin, etc.
• Via "play together" feature, all band members can link together, so everyone sees the same thing at all times. When someone scrolls, everyone else does automatically. This is such a useful feature in group settings!
• Many other features including built-in metronome, one-click key transposition and more.

The only thing I wanted to improve was page changes/scrolling. You can set an automatic scroll for each song, but I find it can be tough to dial it in just right. Solution? Bluetooth page turner pedal! I use the STOMP by Coda Music Tech. Total game changer! It's a pretty simple device - link via Bluetooth to your device. It basically acts as a keyboard, but has only a few buttons. The big stomp buttons simply scroll the song down (or up) for hands-free page turns. If you're at the end of the song, a stomp advances to the next song on the playlist. It's so, so nice, especially for longer tunes with multiple pages, and allows those of us getting older with less clear vision to have larger font sizes and still easily navigate the tune.

There are cheaper footswitch options, but I'm hard on the equipment and use the STOMP outdoors in the grass/dirt frequently, so I wanted something metal and robust enough to take my abuse.

Anyone else using this sort of solution? If not, I can't recommend it enough. If so, I'm curious to know what you use and why.

Happy playing!

 

[Domo]

OMG - what a great way to control a "set." You got me searching (since I'm cheap).

Here's another. I'm gonna keep looking!

Thanks for posting the solution method for working easier with SongBook Pro!

 

[SeilerBird]

Ukulele Gent plays online every week and once a month at the library practice and he uses some software that turns pages, changes keys and all sorts of other things. I don't know what it is called, you can find Gent on Facebook. He will be online tonight doing his weekly show.

 

[Tom]

Hello, music makers.

I have a pretty large library of songs I like to play (or try to play LOL), and some years back I got very tired of lugging around a three ring binder full of music for the ones I don't have memorized. I thought it was time to switch to a more techy solution, and settled on SongBook Pro. It's a fantastic app that immediately solved nearly every problem with the ol' three-ring.

Thanks for posting that. I previously put my portfolio on a web site that I can access from (almost) anywhere. I use two tablets and, for songs longer than I page/screen, I have the pages open on different tablets. I tweak/rearrange songs before saving them as PDFs.

Just checked out SongBook Pro, and it's a heck of a deal. I'll give it a spin.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Wonder when the "AI" version of that will happen, one that listens with the microphone and scrolls through the pages based on what you're playing. I know there is training software apps that hears what you're playing and follows along.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Tom]

The only thing I wanted to improve was page changes/scrolling. You can set an automatic scroll for each song, but I find it can be tough to dial it in just right. Solution? Bluetooth page turner pedal! I use the STOMP by Coda Music Tech.

Prior to going to two tablets, I kinda managed with a bluetooth mouse. Needed a third hand

 

[FunSteak]

Thanks for posting that. I previously put my portfolio on a web site that I can access from (almost) anywhere. I use two tablets and, for songs longer than I page/screen, I have the pages open on different tablets. I tweak/rearrange songs before saving them as PDFs.

Just checked out SongBook Pro, and it's a heck of a deal. I'll give it a spin.

One of the great things about SongBook Pro is that you can easily edit every song to look exactly as you want. Definitely peruse the help docs and get familiar with the tags. After a bit of practice, I could tweak them perfectly.

When coded correctly, the chords are links that when clicked show you the various voicings for the chord. You can also choose to display all included chords in a side or bottom ribbon. You can even create your own voicings and chords, and choose which one is the default for a given chord. Super flexible.

You can also add tunes to playlists - no limit to how many lists or tunes. Then when you reach the bottom of a tune, a stomp will bring up the next one in the list. It's SO useful!

I looked at some web-based options, but I'm often not near good signal. SongBook uses internet to find songs and sync to the cloud, but it's not necessary for playing.

That reminds me - you can link to your DropBox or other online storage, and your entire song list will sync to it. I have the app installed on both my tablet and phone, and they sync up so when I add a song to either, it appears on both. Good backup, too, since I have a couple hundred edited tunes on my list.

Finally, when using the "play together" feature, multiple bandmates see the tune exactly the same way across multiple devices. When one scrolls, the rest match it. Plus, if I bring up a tune that you don't have in your library, it will prompt you and ask if you'd like to add it to your list.

As you can tell, I've thoroughly geeked out on this tool. It really was a huge game changer for me.

 

[FunSteak]

OMG - what a great way to control a "set." You got me searching (since I'm cheap).

Here's anotherView attachment 165844. I'm gonna keep looking!

Thanks for posting the solution method for working easier with SongBook Pro!

You are more than welcome, and that looks like a pretty nice footswitch. There are a surprising number of them out there, at many price points.

 

[Larry N.]

SongBook Pro is a neat app, and I thank you for the information. But I discovered that navigation on an iPad is awkward, and I have yet to find a way to put songs in a new "set." Following the instructions in the online manual is fine until it says to get into the new set and hit the plus sign -- that sign fails to appear, and if I'm in that All Sets mode the plus sign creates a new set but won't let me populate it.

Has anyone successfully done so on an iPad (iPadOS 16.5.1)?

 

[FunSteak]

When you go to the Playlists view and click the plus in the upper right, it asks you to name it. Once named and in the list, another plus appears on the right side of that playlist. Clicking that should take you to the song list to select and add to the playlist. You're not seeing that second plus?

Another method is just go to the full song list, open a tune, click the three dots lower right and select "add to playlist". A bit slower, but works.

 

[Larry N.]

When you go to the Playlists view

I don't have a "playlists" view (maybe Windows does?). When I press "Sets" at the bottom it brings up "All Sets" in the sidebar, and shows the (currently) 6 sets that are in there -- all came with the program.

When I push the '+' it opens a new "set" box (Unknown Set) and I can change that title to, say, Test Set. If I hit RETURN it takes out of editing and leaves a box that says Does Not Contain Songs Yet. If I hit the '+' instead, it replaces the title I typed with Unknown Set (which is what it had to start with) and takes it out of edit mode.

In either case, if I hit the '+' again it opens a new box with the Unknown Set title. If, instead, I touch the box with the title it 'opens' the Unknown Set, taking up the whole sidebar with a pair of 16th notes and "No Songs In Set." At the top is the small arrow to go back, the Unknown Set title and the 'return arrow' icon which brings up a dialog box to allow me to Print or Export, but that's all. There's also the edit "pencil' icon but it's grayed out.

For the alternative method, when I open the tune there is no three dots on the lower right. There are three dots at top center, but pressing those let me choose FULL SCREEN, SPLIT VIEW, SLIDE OVER or CLOSE.

Again, this is on an iPad on iPadOS 16.5.1. And I don't have Windows 10- my laptop is on Linux and my main desktop computer is on Windows 7 (13 years old) and I won't upgrade the OS on it.

But I appreciate you trying -- thanks.

 

[FunSteak]

I don't have a "playlists" view (maybe Windows does?). When I press "Sets" at the bottom it brings up "All Sets" in the sidebar, and shows the (currently) 6 sets that are in there -- all came with the program.

When I push the '+' it opens a new "set" box (Unknown Set) and I can change that title to, say, Test Set. If I hit RETURN it takes out of editing and leaves a box that says Does Not Contain Songs Yet. If I hit the '+' instead, it replaces the title I typed with Unknown Set (which is what it had to start with) and takes it out of edit mode.

In either case, if I hit the '+' again it opens a new box with the Unknown Set title. If, instead, I touch the box with the title it 'opens' the Unknown Set, taking up the whole sidebar with a pair of 16th notes and "No Songs In Set." At the top is the small arrow to go back, the Unknown Set title and the 'return arrow' icon which brings up a dialog box to allow me to Print or Export, but that's all. There's also the edit "pencil' icon but it's grayed out.

For the alternative method, when I open the tune there is no three dots on the lower right. There are three dots at top center, but pressing those let me choose FULL SCREEN, SPLIT VIEW, SLIDE OVER or CLOSE.

Again, this is on an iPad on iPadOS 16.5.1. And I don't have Windows 10- my laptop is on Linux and my main desktop computer is on Windows 7 (13 years old) and I won't upgrade the OS on it.

But I appreciate you trying -- thanks.

Interesting. Here are some views of what I see. I'm also on an iPad, Ios 16.5.1.

First, let's ensure we're talking about the same app. I now realize that there are couple with similar names! The one I'm using is Songbook Chordpro for IoS. I suspect you may have downloaded a different one.

If we're on the same page, have a look at the photos below. Number 1 shows the "Playlists" button at the bottom of the main screen.

#2 shows the Playlist view, and highlights the Add New Playlist plus, upper right.

After clicking the plus, you'll see something like #3, where you name the new list.

#4 shows the Playlists view, with the plus on the newly added list highlighted.

Clicking that plus brings you to the songs view. You can click on multiple songs. Ones you've clicked to add show a gold checkmark on the right. When finished, click the back to playlist arrow, top left. See photo #5.

After returning to Playlist view, it should look like #6, where you see the added songs on the list.

Does this help?

 

[Larry N.]

I just found out why I was having trouble with this application -- it's not the same SongbookPro that was mentioned in the original post here, or that I found the docs online for. On the Apple app store there is a second SongbookPro, Songbook Pro - Digital Songbook, by a different party, Michael Lauer rather than Jonathon Salmon. While there is some commonality, there are also large differences.

So with this "Digital" version things are working as I expected from the docs.
Thanks.

Addendum: You posted #12 just as I was saving this post. You have yet a third version with that name. Wow! And I just spotted another: Songbook+

So again, thanks for the information and I should now be able to make it match your explanations.

 

[Domo]

@FunSteak - my life has changed!

I received my page-turner pedal, connected to my Android with Songbook Pro - and... and... no more frantic page swiping between strums and then trying to find how far beyond the song had flipped, no more trying to keep up with the automatic stroll speed (that I had erroneously set incorrectly when in a different mood) -

What a blast! I've been serenading the folks in our RV campground (poor souls).

Oh, yeah - thanks (for the second time). I knew Songbook had the capability but I never pursued a device... 'till I saw your OP on this thread.

 

[FunSteak]

I just found out why I was having trouble with this application -- it's not the same SongbookPro that was mentioned in the original post here, or that I found the docs online for. On the Apple app store there is a second SongbookPro, Songbook Pro - Digital Songbook, by a different party, Michael Lauer rather than Jonathon Salmon. While there is some commonality, there are also large differences.

So with this "Digital" version things are working as I expected from the docs.
Thanks.

Addendum: You posted #12 just as I was saving this post. You have yet a third version with that name. Wow! And I just spotted another: Songbook+

So again, thanks for the information and I should now be able to make it match your explanations.

Oh great, and sorry for the confusion. I didn't realize there were so many with similar names!

 

[FunSteak]

@FunSteak - my life has changed!

I received my page-turner pedal, connected to my Android with Songbook Pro - and... and... no more frantic page swiping between strums and then trying to find how far beyond the song had flipped, no more trying to keep up with the automatic stroll speed (that I had erroneously set incorrectly when in a different mood) -

What a blast! I've been serenading the folks in our RV campground (poor souls).

Oh, yeah - thanks (for the second time). I knew Songbook had the capability but I never pursued a device... 'till I saw your OP on this thread.

Fantastic! Sounds like you're having a similar experience to me when I first discovered this. It's just so great. Glad you're enjoying it!

Tip: If you go to the "scrolling" section in Settings, you can adjust how much of the screen scrolls ("Percentage of Page") when you click the pedal button. This can come in handy on complex or long songs.

 

[Larry N.]

Oh great, and sorry for the confusion. I didn't realize there were so many with similar names!

Well, the result is that we both learned something, and I discovered that the one titled SongbookPro - Digital Songbook by Jonathan Salmon, at $5.99, is doing well for me, once I discovered that a manu selection advertised on my LAN so that a browser on my PC can connect directly to its IP (Songbook Manager) and will let me upload/download songs between the two, edit songs and lists via the PC, and much more, so it's working well.

And if I need more, there's still the one you got, SongBook Chordpro in the App store, plus a couple of others.

So once the hassle is past, it was actually worthwhile for what I learned. So, again, thanks for posting this.