Wow, this might be valid for live...

[CogCode]

I do a "one man band" show, where I take a computer rig with me, and I've sequenced up a couple hundred cover songs from various genres of music, everything from Sinatra to Sabbath.

I do all the vocals and guitars live, with everything else handled by the sequencer and virtual instruments.

Statistically, the material where I get the best reaction is jazz standards, and my originals that are written in that old "jazz standard" style.

So while some people seem to like the eclectic mix, the vast majority keep asking for "more Sinatra", etc.

I've been thinking of "steering into that curve" and taking gigs where I do ONLY jazz standards and my similarly arranged originals.


Long story short, after plugging my iPad into my PA and running the iReal Book player, I liked what I was hearing. I think this might be a reasonable replacement for my computer rig on some gigs in the future.

I also was really getting a Tony Bennett vibe from the more ballad-type songs, which I really liked.


I can't wait for per-song bpm support...

[dflat]

I do a "one man band" show ....

Hello CogCode, thank you for letting us know how you might use iRealbook player and your feedback. It helps us understand how it is being used so we can develop in the right direction. Happy gigging.

[CogCode]

I have a few songs worked up now in iReal Book form, various styles and tempos, so I'm going to give this a go at my gig tonight.

If it sound as good as I think it's going to sound in a real venue setting, I'll actively start "moving" my current standards repertoire from the computer to iReal Book for live stuff.

Of course, for now I have to have a cheat-sheet for tempos, etc.

[dflat]

...so I'm going to give this a go at my gig tonight...
Of course, for now I have to have a cheat-sheet for tempos...

Will be good to hear how it works out for you. Let us know.
If you need to, you could append the tempo to its title.

[CogCode]

Will be good to hear how it works out for you. Let us know.
If you need to, you could append the tempo to its title.

Yeah, that little trick crossed my mind at the gig tonight.


Which went really well, by the way.

Once the levels were set, the iReal Book player output fit right in with my other jazz standards coming from my computer sequencer.

Yeah, I would have loved some Bill Evans style improv once in a while on piano, but I was able to cover the soloing/fills territory with guitar anyway, so the basic chord comping on piano from the player was fine for my purposes.

A real standout tonight at the gig was the player's walking bass stuff. This had a very natural sound, with that little swingin' "push" that drove the energy level up.

So the verdict is in. The sound quality is good enough that, for pure jazz gigs, I can safely start subbing my iPad and iReal Book's player for my computer rig. As a gigging singer/guitarist, this app is turning out to be a real gem for me.

[gigdiary]

I've been wondering about this since installing iRealBook and the player component. That's great news. I'm using it at home, alongside sequencers and mp3s, and find it compares more than favourably, but have yet to take it to a gig. Next Tuesday's the first one!

So once your track has an intro, and ending, you still need to input tempo and number of choruses? Is that right? Also I've just installed AmpKit+ and would love the two to work together.

Any chance?

[dflat]

...As a gigging singer/guitarist, this app is turning out to be a real gem for me.

Thanks for the feedback. Great news. We spent a lot of time making it sound as good as we could (with all the variables and complexities involved.) Of course Massimo is a bass player so he wanted it sounding reasonably convincing.

[dflat]

...So once your track has an intro, and ending, you still need to input tempo and number of choruses? Is that right? Also I've just installed AmpKit+ and would love the two to work together.

Any chance?

Yes you need to set tempo or tap to get it (assuming the one it has is not what you want) and number of choruses. Can be done quite quickly though.

As far as I know AmpKit+ does not work with audio from another app as input. We have had another thread here:
http://irealb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=830
relating to this. We will look into this in the future and see if it is possible to sum the audio. Multitasking has just been introduced for iOS (and not yet iPad.) Obviously we also need to make sure the CPU can handle the demands of both.
Meanwhile you could record the audio of iReal book tunes at the correct tempo, key etc. and add it back via iTunes into your music/ipod library, then use guitar amp apps that can play them while adding your guitar effects. Not as spontaneous, but should work.

update Sept 2011
Ampkit v1.2 includes multitasking support so audio is processed the background
http://agilepartners.com/

[gigdiary]

Thanks, dflat. That is all I really need. As I said I'm new to this and didn't know I could do that. I'll look further.

[gigdiary]

I played my first iRealBook gig the other day. It works! Really well! And it's real easy to operate on the stand.

I'm a guitarist, and had a gig with a singer who had her own tracks and
rig. I played a few jazz standards before her set. Instead of using my sequenced tracks, it was nice to be able to compile a set from the iRealBook list and choose tempi and number of choruses on the spot. The factory settings sounded fine, although I can see how a quick sound check, and adjustment on the app could be good. Also I have to think about intros and endings. But even without them for jazz standard gigs where you need tracks, the iRealBook player is awesome.

And for once I'm not dreading the Xmas song thing this year. No matter what a singer may choose, and what key etc, this is the easiest way to do it.

Brilliant software, guys!