NOTE: We are no longer adding new features to Set List Maker. We recommend our newer product, BandHelper, for the latest design and functionality.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't swiping to change songs work reliably?
To change songs by swiping, you must swipe within 10 degrees of horizontal, at least a half inch in distance, within a tenth of a second. That's not excessively straight, far or fast, but it won't work if you swipe at an angle or for a very short distance.
Alternatively, you can edit your layout and add Next / Previous buttons to change songs with a tap, or edit the layout details to assign a two- or three-fingered tap to the Select Next Song action. Or you can change songs with a remote foot switch or MIDI controller.
How can I see the total duration of my show?
Set List Maker will automatically show the total duration of your show at the top of the main window, and the duration of each set in the set headings, but only if you've entered a duration for every song in your show. If you're not seeing the totals, please check each of your songs to make sure a duration is set (or enter a default duration in the show details window).
How can I add a medley or a short sequence of songs when building a show?
To indicate a medley or a sequence of songs performed with minimal gap between them, you can click the Link Songs button when adding songs to your show, then drag the link between two songs. These linked songs will then appear grouped together when you view or share a show.
If you frequently play the same sequences of songs, you can copy a sequence from a previous show to a new show. While editing the show's songs, click the Add Songs button, then click the Shows button, and select a previous show that contains this sequence. Then click each of the songs and links in the sequence, in order, and click Save. The songs and links will be added to the new show in the same order.
If you wish, you can set up a special show containing all of your sequences and then use that whenever you want to add a sequence to a new show.
To move a sequence of songs within a show, you can click the options button (three dots) for the first song, select Move Multiple Songs, select the last song, then select the song you want to move these songs after.
When I add a song to a show, it isn't saved. How can I save the songs I add to a show?
Are you using the Quick Add button in the show view to add one song at a time? Those changes are only saved if Settings > General Settings > Save Quick Added Songs is turned on.
That button is meant for quickly adding a song during a show when you get a request or want to deviate from your set list. To build or edit a set list, you should use the Edit Songs button in the show menu instead. Then you can add more than one song at a time, and your changes will always be saved when you leave that page.
How can I add songs or rearrange my set list while performing?
Set List Maker offers a few ways to handle varying your set list during a performance:
- If you want to add a song from the set list view, you can tap the Quick Add button in the top toolbar and select a new song, which will be added to your set list after the currently selected song.
- If you want a way to play songs out of order and keep track of which ones you've played so far, you can edit your layout, tap the song list, tap its options button, and turn on the Song Number option. Then a numbered checkbox will appear next to each song in the show view, and you can check them off as you go.
- If you want to completely jump around with no planned list, you can edit your layout and turn on the Song Number option, then open a Smart List, which you can configure to show all the songs in your database, sorted by the field of your choice. Then you can quickly jump around your complete song list, checking off songs as play them.
- If you don't even know what song you want to play next, you can let the app pick a song at random. First, go to the Edit Details page for your layout and make sure the Random Song button is enabled. Then view a set list or smart list and click the Random Song button (similar to a "shuffle" icon) in the top toolbar and Set List Maker will select a random song from the list. Or click the Quick Add button and click the Random Song button there, and Set List Maker will show you three random songs to choose from.
How can I copy a show to make a new show?
You can copy an entire show by tapping the Edit Details button for the show, then tapping the Copy button, then entering a name for the new show.
If you already have a new show and just want to copy a portion of a previous show into it, you can tap the Edit Songs button for the show, then tap Add Songs, then tap Shows and select the previous show. Then you will see all the songs from that previous show, and you can tap the songs to add them to your new show in the selected order.
How can I copy songs to another database?
You can copy one song at a time to another database by editing the song, then tapping the Copy button, then choosing the Copy To Another Database option and selecting the destination database.
There's no way to copy a batch of songs to another database. If you want to have many of the same songs in two databases, you might be better off with one database, using tags or custom fields to organize songs within that database.
How can I rename or delete a database?
In the list of databases, tap the database name, then tap Settings > General Settings. To rename the database, enter a new name into the Name field. To delete the database, tap the Delete button.
I've attached two documents to a song. How do I view the second one?
If you have attached multiple documents to a song, you can tap the right or left side of the current document to view adjacent documents.
If you want to jump directly to a particular document and your layout includes a document button, you can tap and hold the document button until a submenu appears, then tap the desired document name. In the set list view, you can also customize your layout to include Multiple Document Buttons in either the song list or the song info area, and then you'll see a separate button for each attached document. Or for hands-free access, you can map a remote control device like a foot switch or MIDI button to each of the first ten documents, from the Settings > App Control window, and then select a document with the press of a physical button. (This also works with multiple recordings or multiple MIDI presets attached to a song.)
If you simply want to change which document appears by default for a given song, you can edit the song, scroll down to the Documents list, then drag a different document into the first position. (This also works with multiple recordings or multiple MIDI presets attached to a song.)
Finally, you can display a second document on a second mobile device using screen sharing, or an external video display, if you change Settings > General Settings > External Display > Content to Document +1.
How can I set up my database so each band member sees his or her own document for each song?
Set List Maker offers two ways to show different documents or lyrics to different people:
- If each person wants to see a different document, everyone can attach their document to a song, but not copy their documents to other peoples' devices. Then only the documents installed on each person's device will appear.
- If you have multiple documents for each song, and sometimes want to see one type of document for each song and sometimes another, you can sequence the documents the same way in every song (e.g., always put the lyrics first, then the rhythm chart, then the horn chart). Then you can change Settings> General Settings > Defaults > Document as needed to show that item in the sequence by default (e.g., setting it to 3 would show the horn chart for each song).
How can I resize my lyrics?
When you are viewing lyrics from a song edit page or the show view, you can pinch-zoom in or out to resize the text. If you are using the Chords field, which displays above the Lyrics field, you can resize the chords text separately. Resizing is not available from the lyrics editing field.
If you're using a Mac that does not have a trackpad to perform pinch gestures, you can open the document toolbar, then click the Lyr+, Lyr-, Cho+ or Cho- buttons to change the Lyrics or Chords text size
To save the text size, you can open the document toolbar, then click the Save Text Size button (aA icon). You can also click Reset Text Size (aA with a line through it) to return to the default size.
You can use this same technique to resize your notes if you have added the notes field to your layout in the show view.
How can I sort the list of shows?
The list is sorted automatically by the show name and date. Shows that don't have a date will appear in the top part of the list, sorted alphabetically. Shows that do have a date will appear in the bottom part of the list, sorted from newest to oldest. So when you create a master song list or practice list, you can leave the date field empty to keep it at the top of your list, but when you create a show that you will perform on a specific date, you can set the date field to keep it in the dated part of the list.
How can I send MIDI to another app or device to perform some action?
Set List Maker can send almost any MIDI message to perform actions on almost any other app or device. Setting this up is a two-step process. First, you'll need to find out whether the action you want to trigger has an associated MIDI message on the target app or device, and find out what that message is. The user manual for that app or device is usually the best place to find this information. You can also check user forums for that app or device, or contact its manufacturer for help. Once you know what MIDI messages you need to send, you can use our Sending MIDI tutorial to enter these messages into Set List Maker. We can help with the Set List Maker setup, but we usually can't provide MIDI specs for the app or device you're trying to integrate with.
I want to send MIDI to two or more devices and my MIDI interface only has one MIDI Out port. What should I do?
If your devices have MIDI Thru ports, you can connect the first devices to the MIDI Out port of your MIDI interface, then connect the second device to the MIDI Thru port of the first device, the third device to the MIDI Thru port of the second device, etc. If your devices don't have MIDI Thru ports, you can either add a MIDI splitter between your MIDI interface and your devices, or replace your 1-port MIDI interface with a multi-port interface like this or this, or purchase a wireless interface for one or more of your devices like this or this.
Why can't I add songs to my database anymore? The + icon at the top of the Songs list is gone.
If all the add buttons and edit actions have disappeared from the app, you probably turned on Settings > General Settings > Read Only Database. If you want to add or edit data in your database, you will have to turn that off.
I tried installing or updating Set List Maker, but the progress bar didn't finish and the app icon doesn't do anything?
Unfortunately iOS apps get stuck in the middle of installation from time to time. The first thing to do is restart your device. If that doesn't make the installation continue, and you're installing Set List Maker for the first time, your can delete the partially-installed app and try again.
However, if you've been using Set List Maker already, you don't want to delete the app because that will delete all your app data. If you have a recent iTunes or iCloud backup, you can restore from your backup and try again; or if you have a recent database export, you can delete the app, install it again, then import your database file to restore your data.
If you have previous data but you don't have either of these kinds of backups, please try a web search for "iOS app stuck install" and try some of the solutions suggested there.
How can I move all my data to a new device?
If you want to do a one-time transfer of all your info to a new iOS device, you can back up your old device to iTunes or iCloud, then when you set up your new device, choose the option to restore it from your backup. This will install all the data and settings for Set List Maker and all your other apps.
If you want to do a one-time transfer of all your info to a new Android device, and you are using Android Backup Service, you can simply install the app on the new device and Android will restore your data.
If you will continue using the old device and want to periodically copy your updates to other devices, you can export your latest database to a file by clicking the import/export button in the top toolbar and then clicking either Export Database or Email Database. Then email or copy that file to the other devices and import it with the Import Database button (or Open In on iOS). You can repeat this process whenever you make changes that you want to share with other devices. You will also need to copy any attached documents or recordings to the other devices.
Alternatively, you can upgrade to BandHelper, which will sync each change you make to all the devices in your band automatically, and will sync your attached documents and recordings along with your database data.
How can I back up all the data I've entered into Set List Maker?
We recommend a multi-level approach to protect against broken or stolen devices, app bugs and user error:
- On iOS, you can sync your device to your computer or iCloud. That will back up all the data for all your apps, and you can use the backup to restore a device or set up a new device. This system does not allow you to restore just one app; you would need to restore the entire device.
- On Android, you can turn on Google Backup in the Settings app. That will back up the data for all your apps, and will restore it automatically if you get a new device or reinstall the app or operating system. The functionality and settings might vary across different Android devices.
- On all platforms, you can click the import/export button in the top toolbar and then click either Export Database or Email Database to manually back up your database. This gives you a file containing all the data you've entered (but not attached documents and recordings or the info on the Settings pages). You will need to do this separately for each database. You can then store the exported files on a different device or a cloud storage service, and if you ever need to, import them back into the app with the Import Database button.
- If you use documents or recordings attached to your songs, you can keep a copy of all those files on a different device or a cloud storage service, then copy them back into the Set List Maker data folder if needed. You can use any of the methods listed in step 5 on the Attaching Documents tutorial.
Alternatively, you can upgrade to BandHelper, which automatically backs up all the data you enter, including attached documents and recordings, to its own server.
