Wow, this might be valid for live...

**CogCode** · 11-12-2010, 09:25 PM

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** · 11-13-2010, 12:22 AM

Originally Posted by CogCode;

...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** · 11-13-2010, 03:09 AM

Originally Posted by dflat

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** · 11-13-2010, 04:10 AM

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** · 11-13-2010, 05:30 AM

Originally Posted by gigdiary

...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** · 11-13-2010, 06:20 AM

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** · 11-22-2010, 02:16 AM

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!

**dflat** · 09-07-2011, 02:17 AM

http://agilepartners.com/
updated for multitasking (audio processed in the background.)

**nhsaxes** · 06-16-2012, 02:11 PM

I know this is an old(er) thread, but it seems to be the one that's most relevant.

I am a jazz sax player with more than 44 years of gigging experience, and in that time have played with practically every imaginable combination large and small, down to guitar/sax duos. 3-4 years ago, I began to experiment with the notion of doing small solo gigs with BIAB, GarageBand loops, etc., but gave it up when I found that it was simply too kludgey to be practical, and it really didn't sound that good.

Since I grabbed iRealB (its predecessor, actually), I have found that it was potentially a better application for making music in a live setting under certain circumstances.

Long story short: after much trepidation, fear of "cheesiness", and soul-searching I took a background-music gig and did it as a solo with iRealB on the iPad. I spent a couple days tweaking changes, and adding intros and endings onto charts found on this forum over the past year or so, and added several of my own to fill out a set list. Then i took a deep breath and tossed my horns, small acoustic amp and iPad into the car, and hit the gig.

Bottom line: people dug it. The only "cheese" anyone noticed was on the hors d'oeuvres table. For me, it was no worse than being in the recording studio weeks after the rhythm section had laid down tracks, and actually was a little more dynamic than that since I could change things on the fly, including repeats, tempos, and keys. Not every tune I thought of would work with this app, since there are many with very set bass lines, drum hits, and other quirks, but for the more or less straight-ahead jazz and Latin stuff, this thing is the bomb, and I have played live with "professionals" who were less together than this rhythm section is.

No, it's not the same as a live jazz performance with the kind of communication and synergy that happens among skilled musicians, and I certainly would not consider doing this in a real concert setting (although I could see creating some clever performance art out of it!). But, for street playing or a little cocktail party or reception gig where you are not the main attraction, it's got some legs, and it was fun to stretch out on a few tunes and play with the time here and there without the fear that the drummer would try to follow and turn the beat around on me.

And just for the record: at this point in my playing life I am not at all interested in what the "jazz police" think about what or how I play; I am happy if the client/listeners are happy and I am having fun, and the JP can stuff it!

Nice work, Massimo. I sure can tell a serious bass player was involved in the making of this picture. Keep up the excellent efforts!

Now, if I can just work out how to get this thing to lay out for a bar or a beat here and there without the drum track...

**dflat** · 11-13-2010, 05:21 AM

Originally Posted by CogCode

...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.