If you're a musician or other performer planning your shows, Set List Maker is for you. This app lets you:

• Create separate databases for different projects (e.g, one for each band you play in).
• Enter all your songs, and copy them between databases if needed.
• Define a list of styles (e.g., Uptempo or Ballad), specify the key for each song and add notes.
• Add songs to a set list and drag and drop to rearrange them.
• Print your set lists wirelessly from your mobile device (requires a multitask-capable device and an AirPrint-compatible printer).
• Or use "performance mode" to skip the paper and take your iPad on stage with you.

You can also:

• Import songs from a spreadsheet to quickly populate your database. (Requires a $.99 in-app upgrade, and iOS 3.2 or later.)
• Enter the durations of your songs and set breaks, then see the total length of your set as you add songs to it.
• Enter the tempo for each song, then preview it from your set list with a flashing indicator and optional click sound.
• Specify which fields are included when you email or print a set list or view it in performance mode.
• Attach an audio file to each song, then play these files from your set list to preview your set. You can attach audio files by selecting them from your iPod music library.
• Attach a chart or lead sheet to each song, then open these documents from the set list. You can attach charts after copying them to your device through the file sharing feature in iTunes. (Requires iOS 3.2 or later.)
• Send your charts to another app on your device for editing or annotation, then send it back into Set List Maker.
• Email your set lists and charts directly to your bandmates. (Requires a $1.99 in-app upgrade.)
• Synchronize your databases wirelessly between multiple devices -- your own, or your bandmates'. (Requires a $2.99 in-app upgrade per user.)

Getting started

Start using the app by creating a database and entering your own styles and songs; then create a set and add your songs to it. You can watch a tutorial video, or read on for more details:

• When you launch Set List Maker for the first time, all you'll see is a sample database. You can explore this to see how the app data is organized. Remember that the upper-left corner always contains a button that takes you back to the previous level.
• If you go all the way back to the Databases list, you can tap the + button in the upper-right corner to add your own database.
• Tap your new database, then tap Styles. Then tap the + button in the upper-right corner to add your own styles. You can come back and edit this list at any time.
• Go back to your database menu and tap Songs. Then tap the + button in the upper-right corner to add your own songs. You only need to enter a name; all the other fields are optional.
• After you've added a few songs, go back to your database menu and tap Sets. Then tap the + button in the upper-right corner to add your first set. When you view your set, it will be empty at first, so tap the Choose Songs button. You'll see a list of songs you've entered; tap once to add a song (a checkbox will appear next to the song) and tap again to remove it (the checkbox will disappear). When you've selected the songs you want, tap Done.
• Now that your songs are in your set, you can decide their sequence. Tap the Sequence Songs button to open a new window that shows a "handle" icon at the far right of each song. You can drag and drop these handles to rearrange the songs, then tap Done.
• You can tap Choose Songs or Sequence Songs again at any time to adjust your set.
• When your set is finalized, you can use the Email button to send it to your bandmates, or the Print button to print a hard copy for use on stage, or the Perform button to show a large version designed for reading directly from your device.

Importing a song list to populate your database

You can quickly enter songs into your database by importing them from a song list that you set up on your computer. You can watch a tutorial video, or read on for more details:

• Your list must be saved in a tab-delimited text format. You can create this format directly using Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac), or set up a spreadsheet in Excel or Numbers and save your file in this format when you're done.
• The file should contain six basic columns in each row: Title, Style, Key, Tempo, Duration and Other. If you enter styles here that match styles you've already defined in your database, they will be imported; otherwise you can set the style in the app after importing. Durations should be entered as minutes and seconds separated by a colon (e.g., 3:15). You can use this sample file as a starting point (right-click and select the Download or Save File option).
• If you've copied charts to your device, you can specify their file names (including the file extensions) in a seventh column in your import file, and Set List Maker will attach the charts to the songs upon import.
• If you'd like to include additional notes for each song, you can add those in a eighth column in your import file. However, you cannot import more than one line of notes. You can enter more than one line of notes in the app after you finish your import.
• The file should be named import.txt. When the file is ready, you can copy it to your device using the file sharing feature in iTunes. With your device connected, click it in the iTunes sidebar; then click the Apps tab for your device; then scroll down to the File Sharing section and click Set List Maker. For more info on iTunes File Sharing, click here.
• When you use the Import feature, Set List Maker will show you a preview of the data it's importing. You can review this to make sure your file is set up correctly before finishing the import.

Attaching charts to your songs

If you have a document for a song, such as a chord chart, lyric sheet or music notation, you can copy that document to your device and then attach it to the song record. Then a document icon will appear in song lists, which you can tap to view the document on your device. You can watch a tutorial video, or read on for more details:

• Set List Maker can display .pdf, .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx, .pages, .key, .rtf or .txt documents.
• To copy documents to your device, use the file sharing feature in iTunes. With your device connected, click it in the iTunes sidebar; then click the Apps tab for your device; then scroll down to the File Sharing section and click Set List Maker. For more info on iTunes File Sharing, click here.
• Alternatively, if you can open the chart from another app on your device, you can choose the "Open in..." command to send it to Set List Maker. For example, if someone emails you a chart as an attachment, you can tap the chart from the email message, then use the "Open in..." command.
• Once the documents are copied to the device, open a song edit window and tap the Chart button. This will open a list of documents you have copied over; just tap to select the desired chart.
• If you have created your document by scanning a piece of paper, the file size will be relatively large, which will make the document open slowly when you view it within the app. The best documents are created from an electronic source such as a Word document. If you don't have an electronic source, you can expirement with your scanning settings (e.g., black and white and 150 or less dpi) to minimize your file sizes.

Emailing a set list to your bandmates

After you've created a set list, you can tap the Email button to send it to your bandmates. Read on for more details:

• By default, the set list will be sent as an HTML file attached to an email message. These files should display in the default web browser when your recipients download and open them (click here for an example). Recipients can then print the files using the browser's print command.
• Some email programs will display a plain-text preview of the attachment. To see the complete set list with its formatting, your recipients will have to download it and open it.
• Emailed set lists should display and print on a single page -- Set List Maker fits 18 songs onto a page at the normal font size, and automatically reduces the font size if you have more than 18 songs in your set. If your set displays on more than one page, you might have to shorten your song titles or your entries in the Other fields so that each song fits onto one line.
• You can control which fields appear on your set lists by editing your database settings and toggling the options in the Set List Contents setting. These options also control the layout of set lists when printing or using performance mode.
• Since the emailed set list is a simple HTML file, you can open it in an editor like Notepad or TextEdit to tweak it if you wish.
• If your recipients have trouble with the HTML format, you can open your database settings and change the "emailed set list format" option to RTF. Recipients can open and edit these files in TextEdit on Macs, WordPad on Windows or other RTF-compatible applications.
• Set lists cannot be emailed as PDF files because of compatibility problems with the PDF format.

Synchronizing data between devices

If you want to manage your set lists from multiple devices, or if you want to collaborate on set list management with your bandmates, you can configure your databases to synchronize wirelessly between any number of devices. You can watch a tutorial video, or read on for more details:

• To set up synchronization, start with the device that already contains your database. Select the database, then tap Edit and scroll down to the Synchronization settings. Enter a sync name and a password, and remember these so you can enter them on the other devices. You will see an error message if you enter a sync name that another user has already taken, so it's best to enter a sync name based on the name of your band or project.
• Turn on the Auto-Sync option if you want your data to be synced whenever you use Set List Maker. If you would rather sync manually, leave this option off and save your database settings, then tap Edit again and tap the Sync Now button.
• Next, go to a device that you would like to synchronize with the first device. From the databases list, tap the + button to add a new database. Enter a database name, then scroll down to the Synchronization settings. Enter the exact sync name and password you entered on the first device, then tap Save. If you enabled Auto-Sync, the data from the first device will appear on this device in a moment. If not, you can return to the database settings and tap Sync Now. You can repeat this step on as many devices as you like.
• Synchronization uses an intermediary sync server, so the synced devices do not need to be online at the same time, and do not need to be on the same network. Synchronization works over wi-fi or cellular network connections.
• If you've attached charts to your songs, those charts will not synchronize between devices. However, the chart names will -- so if you copy the same charts to each device manually, they will be linked to the appropriate songs automatically.
• If you've attached recordings from your iPod library to your songs, those links will not be synchronized because the song IDs will be different on each device. However, if you manually link the recordings on each devices, those links will not be overwritten by the sync process.
• If you find that a synchronization has resulted in older data being copied to your device, you can roll back to a previous version of your data. From the database edit window, scroll down to Synchronization and tap Roll Back. You will see a list of all the past sync times. You can select a previous sync time and tap Continue to download the data as it was at that time. You can also use this feature as a database backup tool, even if you only have one device.
• The synchronization functionality requires a $2.99 in-app upgrade per user (per iTunes account). This means that you can sync all your devices with a single purchase, but if you want to sync with your bandmates' devices, your bandmates will have to purchase the upgrade as well.

Using your iPad on stage

As of version 2.0, Set List Maker includes a "performance mode" designed for use on stage. You can watch a tutorial video, or read on for more details:

• To enter performance mode, select a set, then tap the Perform button in the lower-right corner. A new window will appear, showing your set list in larger text, with a clock at the top of the screen. You can rotate your device to make room for longer titles (landscape orientation) or more songs (portrait orientation).
• If you've attached charts to your songs, you can tap the chart button. In landscape orientation, the chart will appear in the right side of the screen, with your set list remaining on the left side. In portrait orientation, the chart will take up most of the screen, only leaving room for the other song buttons (recording, tempo and notes), a button to close the chart and a button to leave performance mode.
• When you view charts in performance mode, you can move from one song to another by swiping left or right, tapping the right or left side of the chart, or tapping another song in the set list. If your charts have multiple pages, you can move from one page to another by swiping up or down, tapping the top or bottom side of the page, or tapping one of the numbered page buttons that appear beside the chart.
• In the original set view, you can tap the recording button for a song, and if you let it play, Set List Maker will automatically advance through each song in your set. But in performance mode, the playback will not auto-advance. This means you can use a recorded audio file as part of your set, without worrying about stopping playback when you reach the end of a song.
• If you would like to see the songs numbered in your set list, or check off the songs as you complete them, you can enable this in performance mode. Navigate to your database, then tap Edit to edit the database settings, and enable the "song numbering in performance mode" option. This will display a numbered checkbox next to each song in your set list. If you tap the checkbox, the checkmark will be saved even if you close and re-open the performance mode window. You can tap the checkbox again to clear the checkmark.
• If your device gives off too much light on stage, you can invert the screen colors in performance mode. Navigate to your database, then tap Edit to edit the database settings, and enable the "dark background in performance mode" option. This will not change the colors of your charts, but you can edit your charts and re-copy them to your device if you want to change their colors.
• While in performance mode, your device will not auto-lock (go to sleep). Please be sure your device has an adequate charge before starting your gig!
• On the iPhone and iPod touch, you can access performance mode by tapping the Interaction button in the lower-right corner of a set view to reveal the Perform, Print and Email buttons. On these devices, performance mode does not include the option to display charts.

Set List Maker is © 2010-11 Arlo Leach. Try Arlo's other apps: