Set Manager

Designed and produced by a gigging musician, this app contains tools to create a song library and sets of songs for your gigs. It has been designed to have just the functions you need for the job, and none you don't. This version has added a play MP3 function directly from the lyric display screen. Place the MP3 in your 'Music' folder, make sure it has the same name as the lyric file and select 'Play' from the 'More' menu. Play along as you learn the song.

When adding a title to the library, the song is empty. Simply tap the title to enter lyric view, then tap the mode change button, at the top of the screen, next to the 'more' menu (...), to enter edit mode. A song can be entered by manually typing lyrics and chords into the edit screen or by copying and pasting from some other source. Once entered, lyric and chord lines can be converted to a 'Chordie' format to allow easy key change. Tap the mode change button to return to performance mode. If you created a Chordie format file then returning to performance mode displays the song in conventional chord and lyric lines. In edit mode you will see the first three characters of a converted file are !(). Set Manager adds these characters to easily check for Chordie formats. If you type a new song in Chordie format you must type these three characters at a the beginning.

Once you have a few songs in the song library you can start creating sets. On the front screen, select Set Lists then '+ADD SET'. Give the set a name. Tap the name to move to set list view, which, at the moment, will be empty. Tap '+ ADD SONGS'. A popup list of your library songs appears. Tap the titles to add them to the set. Songs already in the set are shown in a lighter colour. Don't worry about the list order. The set can be re-ordered by long-pressing the title and dragging it to its new position.

There are at least two ways of using Set Manager during performance. Firstly, if you have a bluetooth footswitch then Set Manager can page up and down in response to the switch. Alternatively, there is an auto-scroll 'play' button on the performance screen toolbar. If you prefer to use this then the display waits until about half the screen has been performed, then starts to smooth scroll. The wait time and scroll speed is determined by the tempo setting and the font size so some experimentation is needed. Swiping left or right on the song lyric display moves to the next or previous song in the set so you don't have to go back to the set list to see what's next. This only works if you are working through a set. A song lyric in the Song Library doesn't respond to swipes.

Have you ever got into a new song and you find it's not really in the right key? The song toolbar has a key change button which is active if the file has been converted to Chordie. The key can be changed be selecting the number of semitones by which to increment the chords. Simple.

Songs can be shared by email, SMS or whatever messaging apps you use. The share function is in the more menu, '...'. Set lists and individual songs can be shared this way. They can also be printed for any band member who prefers hard copy.

Context help is available on all screens. The help button, '?', can be turned off in settings.

There is a feature in Set Manager which, if you have access to a web server, can be used to store and access songs. In the settings screen you can enter a web address and the name of the song listing script. The '+ Add' button in the song library now has an active option to download songs already prepared and uploaded to the server. This is great in that one person can create and upload to the web server, giving access to the rest of the band. Below the web server details in Settings is a link to a support page with more details of setting up the web server.

For the avoidance of doubt, the app is a content-free system. Any songs shown here are for illustrative and educational purposes only.