Manual contents

Construct and use arrangements

A song in SongSheet Pro consists of one or more stanzas. For example, a song might have three verses, a chorus (repeated after each verse), and a bridge. Rather than write out the whole song long-hand, you can create an arrangement that lists the stanzas in the order you want them. Using a Bluetooth foot pedal, you can then step through the arrangement in the order you have specified.

An arrangement can be timed or untimed. An untimed arrangement (the Arrangement mode) only keeps track of the order of markers. A timed arrangement (the Timed arrangement and Backing track with arrangement modes) also keeps track of each marker’s location on the timeline. The sections below describe untimed arrangements; timed arrangements are described at the end of this page.

Creating an arrangement

In order to add an arrangement to a song, tap the mode select icon on the timeline controller at the bottom of the screen, then select Arrangement from the popup menu:

Initially the arrangement is empty, and the user interface should look like this:

On the left, taking up most of the width, is the arrangement view. Next to that is the Edit button – tap this to toggle arrangement editing mode on or off. Finally the mode selection button’s icon is an arrangement marker, reflecting the current timeline mode.

Let’s assume that the song for which you are creating an arrangement has the following stanzas: Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Verse 3. The arrangement we will create is a simple one, alternating each verse with the chorus.

To begin with, tap the Edit button to enter edit mode. In edit mode, if we tap a stanza within the song, a corresponding marker is inserted into the arrangement. So, since we wish our arrangement to start with Verse 1, tap it. A marker is inserted into the arrangement and it should now look like the following:

You will notice that the inserted marker is labeled with a reference to the stanza to which it belongs.

Next is the chorus. After tapping the chorus, a corresponding marker is inserted:

Continue tapping each verse followed by the chorus to insert the rest of the markers. When you are finished, tap Done to exit edit mode. The arrangement now looks like this:

Stepping through the arrangement

Once you have created an arrangement, you can use it to step through a song using a Bluetooth foot pedal, an external keyboard or the SongSheet Remote application running on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

For example, using a Bluetooth foot pedal, when you tap the pedal corresponding with the Next stanza command (see the section on Bluetooth pedals for more information), the arrangement will move to the next marker and highlight and scroll to the appropriate stanza in the song.

You can also tap on any marker in the arrangement and the corresponding stanza will be highlighted.

Editing an arrangement

It is very easy to alter an arrangement. Tap the Edit button again to re-enter edit mode. Now you can insert new markers, delete existing markers, or reorder the markers.

Inserting a marker

Let’s say we want to begin the song with the chorus. Since we will be inserting the new marker at the very beginning of the song, select the first marker by tapping on it.

Assuming we are in edit mode, all you need to do now is tap the chorus within the song, and a marker corresponding to it will be inserted before the selected marker.

Deleting a marker

When you tap a marker in edit mode, a popup menu will appear with the option to delete the marker:

If you tap Delete, the marker will be removed and the remaining markers will expand to fill the space left behind.

You can also delete a marker in edit mode by dragging it past the right end of the arrangement.

Moving a marker

If you tap and hold on a marker, you will notice that all the other markers will fade out. This indicates that you can now drag the marker to a new location:

Drag your finger right or left to reposition the marker. When you let go, the markers will snap to their new order:

Timed arrangements

The Timed arrangement mode works like Backing track with arrangement, except that there is no backing track. To use it, tap the mode select icon on the timeline controller, then select Timed arrangement from the popup menu.

Instead of the length of a track, the Timed arrangement mode uses the song’s duration. While playback is stopped, tap the remaining time at the right of the timeline to set it. Auto scroll uses the same duration. Markers keep their relative positions, so if you change the duration later, they move with it.

The markers are shared between the Timed arrangement and Backing track with arrangement modes. They are separate from the markers of an untimed arrangement, but if a song has no timed markers yet, the timed modes start with a copy of its untimed markers.

In a timed arrangement, each marker has a start time, so editing differs from an untimed arrangement in these ways:

• When you tap a stanza in edit mode, the new marker is inserted at the current position on the timeline and becomes the selected marker.
• When you delete a marker, the marker before it extends to take its place. The first marker has no marker before it, so deleting it leaves a gap.
• When you drag a marker, its start time changes. If you move the selected marker, playback jumps to the marker’s new position; moving a marker that is not selected does not change the playback position.

While a song with a tempo is playing in the Timed arrangement mode, SongSheet Pro shows a small metronome in the top-right, which pulses at the song’s tempo. You can turn the metronome off with the metronome setting.