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Anyone use iPad?

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(@amusicianslife)
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Joined: 13 years ago
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A friend of mine who teaches guitar has been using a free app called Progression with his students. I checked it out and it seems perfect for any guitar person. It allows you to easily write tabs or download GuitarPro tabs offline and use/edit them in many ways. Apparently he can email any of the files directly to his students which is perfect too.

If you have an iPad (which I don't yet) I would definitely check out the free Progression app. And the guitar sounds actually sound decent haha.

Blakley Leonard
Music here: http://www.facebook.com/blakleyleonardmusic
http://www.youtube.com/blakleyleonardmusic


   
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(@big-lar)
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Joined: 17 years ago
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I have one, and there is a ton of good stuff out there for guitarists and musicians in general. I've not used Progression much, but I do have it installed. ForScore is an app that is close to replacing my binder of printed tabs though. I highly recommend it. Also, for practicing on the go, AmpliTube combined with the iRig interface is about the best headphone amp I've ever used.

Plus, Apple's own GarageBand app is pretty cool. The smart instruments are really innovative and fun to play with. I've not tried using it to do anything other than noodle around though.


   
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(@amusicianslife)
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Joined: 13 years ago
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That's cool, I haven't heard of any of those except for Garage Band which is pretty fun to play with. The interactive instruments, such as the drum set seems to entertain for ever. I'll have to look these up myself.

We're they free? I know Progression was and that was why we tried it.

Blakley Leonard
Music here: http://www.facebook.com/blakleyleonardmusic
http://www.youtube.com/blakleyleonardmusic


   
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(@big-lar)
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ForScore isn't free, but it wasn't much. $5 I think.

Ampitube has a free version, but if you want all the available amps and effects, and the 8-track recorder, it will run you upwards of $35.00. Pricy for an app, but dirt cheap compared to a pocket pod.

To use Amplitube, or even GarageBand's amp, you'll need a guitar interface. I use the iRig. It was $30 I think.


   
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(@amusicianslife)
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Joined: 13 years ago
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Ok $5 isn't so bad but I may have to reconsider the $30+ apps. Seems a bit much for an app but if it's worth it I may have to give it a try. How do the audio samples sound with ForScore and Ampitube? I know a lot of these apps playback sound is terrible, especially the distortion.

Blakley Leonard
Music here: http://www.facebook.com/blakleyleonardmusic
http://www.youtube.com/blakleyleonardmusic


   
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(@big-lar)
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ForScore doesn't record. It only manages my binder of songs. It does have bundled iPod player which allows you to associate a song from your iPad's music store to the song. That way, the iPad can play the sound while you play along. It is pretty cool, but I've not used it much. It's output quality in that mode is the same as normal iPad audio playback.

Amplitube, on the other hand, is a modeling amp and effects system. I only use it for headphone playback, so I'm not a good judge of the quality of the sound. It sounds as good to much better than any other portable amp and effects modeling system I've used. I've not messed with the recording stuff much, but it would be at least as good as a portable digital recorder. I seriously doubt you would use it to record your next album, but it should be fine for getting some ideas down.


   
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(@amusicianslife)
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Thanks I'll probably try the free version of Amplitube just to give it a try. The Progression software that my friend uses just released a new version thats $5. From what I can tell, it's the real deal. The free version is good but compared to the capabilities of the new version its nothing. You may want to check it out. You can use any type/style guitar you can think of, plus bass, mandolin, and banjo.

Blakley Leonard
Music here: http://www.facebook.com/blakleyleonardmusic
http://www.youtube.com/blakleyleonardmusic


   
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(@rum-runner)
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I downloaded the free version of Progression and played around wityh it some. I was working out the intro for Jimmy Buffet's "Volcano" and used it to tab it out. The problem that I had with it was I couldn't find a way to insert a note in between ones that were already tabbed. It made the thing quite hard for me to use. Perhaps the paid version has this feature?

I, too, was looking to move my songbook away from three ring binders and onto the iPad. I found a cheap Word/pdf viewer/file mamager called FileApp Pro. It cost me about $2 from what I recall. That has worked pretty well; I can set up different folders and easily organize the files that way. In my case, for example, I like to separate my music by genre- country, rock/pop, and I keep my originals also in a separate folder. It'd be interesting to know what features ForScore might have in addition. Sounds like it's targeted more specifically for music.

I have been thinking about Garage Band but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. Sounds like it has a lot of features for $5. Also I need to look more into this iRig/Amplutde thing. You say it can turn your iPad into a headphone amp?

Regards,

Mike

"Growing Older But Not UP!"


   
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(@big-lar)
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Read the description of ForScore in the app store (sorry for the unfortunate rhyme). I think you'll find it does have some more music specific features.

Off the top of my head, the way you tag songs is very music specific. Think MP3s. You can tag each song by artist, composer, album, etc. Also, it supports custom tags. I use one for capo fret number. This way, I can filter my entire song list by where my capo is currently sitting on my guitar (I know, lazy). Another feature that is pretty cool is that you can associate a song from the iPad's song library with the score, allowing you to start playing the song using ForScore's embedded player controls. Nice for playing along, if you have the output from your iPad hooked to a PA or amp.

It has been worth the $5 for me.


   
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