iTouch and iPhone Real Book App

Thunderthumbs73 · #1 05-04-2010, 09:42 AM

I figure there are some Jazz folks here who have downloaded the Real Book application. Thoughts? Thanks.

Marc Piane · #2 05-04-2010, 09:46 AM

Worth having. No heads or anything but you can transpose and edit changes. I don't really travel with books anymore so it has gotten me out of a few jams where a singer comes up and calls a tune I don't know well in a strange key.

Wilbyman · #3 05-04-2010, 09:47 AM

It's cool. I even put some velcro on my plywood to I could attach the phone to the upper shoulder if I needed a quick look see.

Now then, has anybody tried putting a real book (or any other kind of sheet music) on an IPad? It looks like it would be big enough for reading heads.

W

SteveC · #4 05-04-2010, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wilbyman

Now then, has anybody tried putting a real book (or any other kind of sheet music) on an IPad? It looks like it would be big enough for reading heads.

W

My keyboard player bought an iPad for this very reason. Scanned all the tunes we use into pdf's and has them on his iPad. It works great. I'll be getting one soon.

I have a student in my orchestra that has all our Spring Concert music on it. I don't care what all the negative Nancy's have to say. If you use the iPad for what it's intended and appropriate uses are, it's a great little device.

If you want all the stuff it doesn't do, wait or get an iPhone.

Roger Davis · #5 05-04-2010, 10:40 AM

Yes, it seems promising. I initially thought the iphone would be good for looking up changes in the band room but on a gig the other day the soloist (trumpet) put it up on my music stand. With the backlight illumination it was surprisingly easy to read.

Trouble was, the tpt player was going to play With a Song in my Heart (Chet Baker) but the iphone called up Without a Song. So the first chorus was, er, interesting.

Leeners · #6 05-04-2010, 11:02 AM

I have all three Real Books on my Kindle. It isn't backlit, but you can easily ready the charts.

So next time you are on the beach doing some "light reading" and in the back of your mind you the changes to Speak No Evil are boring a hole in the back of your brain, you can quickly switch pages...

Actually, you can load any pdf on a Kindle.

funkyfretless · #7 05-04-2010, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wilbyman

It's cool. I even put some velcro on my plywood to I could attach the phone to the upper shoulder if I needed a quick look see.

Now then, has anybody tried putting a real book (or any other kind of sheet music) on an IPad? It looks like it would be big enough for reading heads.

W

i did the same thing to. its a really good thing to have when you play with singers that want to do obscure songs in obscure keys

kreider204 · #8 05-04-2010, 08:39 PM

I just downloaded it - very cool app. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

colors · #9 05-08-2010, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wilbyman

It's cool. I even put some velcro on my plywood to I could attach the phone to the upper shoulder if I needed a quick look see.

W

I would love to see this. I had the same idea, but thinking maybe bass bib or have the ipod hang from the neck. My bass is pretty beat up already so I guess a little velcro sticky won't hurt. Is your Iphone in a case to attach to the velcro?
Alan

Wilbyman · #10 05-09-2010, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colors

I would love to see this. I had the same idea, but thinking maybe bass bib or have the ipod hang from the neck. My bass is pretty beat up already so I guess a little velcro sticky won't hurt. Is your Iphone in a case to attach to the velcro?
Alan

Nah, I just got some velcro and adhered one side to the phone, the other to the bass. It was pretty strong but my bass has kind of a matte finish and there didn't seem to be any chance of marring it (even if there was such a chance, its a Christopher ply so I would not care

). You can also check your email or stocks during the drum solo/shout chorus.

jfranzen · #11 12-09-2010, 12:58 PM

If I was a bass player I would use iRealBook on the iPad. It has changes, but not melodies. It has an easy quick access function that lets you go to the title of the tune. It is set up with sheets of changes for all the real book tunes.

As a sax player, I use iGigBook, also on iPad, for the full lead sheet, lots of good functions.

4-string · #12 12-09-2010, 02:31 PM

Great app. Let's you create songlists, you can transpose to any key very easily, send any tune pr email as printable image etc. Love it!

mcbosler · #13 12-09-2010, 02:32 PM

No heads is definitely the con. One thing I don't think has been mentioned is the ability to use it as a play-along tool. That's the thing that made me finally spring for it.

Phil Smith · #14 12-09-2010, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfranzen

If I was a bass player I would use iRealBook on the iPad. It has changes, but not melodies. It has an easy quick access function that lets you go to the title of the tune. It is set up with sheets of changes for all the real book tunes.

As a sax player, I use iGigBook, also on iPad, for the full lead sheet, lots of good functions.

In early 2011 I'll be making available as a seperate book the transposable charts of www.realbook.us on iGigBook and iGBMobile.

screemnjay · #15 12-11-2010, 07:49 PM

unrealBook is a GREAT app. I use it with the play alongs to shed also.

mr mastodon · #16 12-13-2010, 01:15 PM

it's an invaluable resource. being a newbie, i still usually need charts on a gig. but i make regular use of it in practice too now with the extensive playalong stuff on there. i just turn it on, and play through the changes with the rhythm section on. then i turn the phone around while still having it play the audio to play the changes without needing the chart.

Rook · #17 12-20-2010, 08:23 AM

I haven't been on here for a while. Then the talk bass ap said download me.

I use the irealbook ap on almost all my gigs. Each singer I work with has their own tunes/keys and the playlist function really speeds things up. The band in a box feature (yes, it is cheesy) is useful to run the changes before you hit em at the gig. Plus you can edit the charts or add your own. Recently I found the online community of irealbook using musicians publishing tunes they have entered. Overall irealbook, I think it was 5 bucks, is some of the best money i've spent on a tool for the gig (besides the bass).

For PDFs I have stared using Forscore ap. This is new ( to me) but it helped out the other day with a smooth jazz guy that had some PDF charts. The ability to mark up PDFs is useful.

Still discovering musical applications for the iPad. It has turned out to be an excellent gig tool. Ikmultimedia makes a iclip that holds the iPad to a music stand. It hasn't arrived yet but that will (hopefully) help with the physical access to the aps/tunes on a gig.