Overview

Document conventions

What is Drumsetlist Manager?

How does the App work?

Basic principles

What are Presets?

What are Chains?

Play Screens

Portrait Play Screen

Stage Play Screen

Preset Song & Mode Selection Area

Transport & Audio Control Area

Tap & BPM Measurement Area

Background Color Change

Actual Preset Parameters Button

„Add Preset to Actual Chain“ Button

Preset Editor

Chain editor

Practise Manager

The Audio System

Preferences

Overview

Document conventions

In this document the images used will show the iPad version of the App. In case where the UI differs I will place both versions to clarify which UI elements you find where in the iPhone / iPad Version of the App.

What is Drumsetlist Manager?

DrumSetlist is an advanced setlist manager for musicians, mainly Drummers, who have to play many songs in a row and possibly also in several bands / ensembles. In such a situation DrumSetlist Manager helps to keep Track of the correct Timing, Lyrics, Song Clefs and more. It even can play audio files from your iTunes Library when you tell it to do.￼Bild

How does the App work?

A few pictures tell more than words so let's go through the initial start phase together with a few screenshots. When you start the app the first time you will see a start screen like this one on the left. Everything is empty and when you press start nothing will happen, except that you see that the Start button change from „Start“ to „Stop“ and its suddenly red. But no Sound, no clicks, no Metronome at all. Why is that? This happens because the app is based on Presets, which represent the information of Songs you have to play. And this informations, like timing, rhythm pattern, Song name, Artist and so on need to be entered first, so the App nows what to do. So let's do that, give the App some Data.

To enter a Presets tap the Preset Tab and you see a screen like this one.

This screen shows a￼Bild complete List of all available Presets.

Of course in the moment this list is empty since we just started the App. So press the „+“ button in the top right section and the screen changes to the Preset input mask.

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Now you see the Preset edit screen. Here you see many different fields and buttons and they all have their purpose. But for this introduction we will not go too deep into all different settings since that is done in the Presets section of this help system. We will just enter the most important data to get some noise and LED blink out of the App.

But we can even hear some sound now! Just click the „Note“ button in the right button section and you hear the current BPM click!

So we enter some Title, Artist, BPM (beats per minute, that is the actual speed of the song and then the speed the metronome plays) and Info and press the little Disk Icon in the upper right button bar to store it.

We now see the list screen again and here we have the song we just entered in the list. Of course you will see your info you entered in the fields.

This way just enter another song or two and the list looks something like this screen on the left.￼Bild Now when you press the play button you will here a click and see red LED indicators running according to the click.

When you press „Next“ the next Preset will be loaded and you hear and see the clicks and LED‘s according to the next Presets settings.

Of course playing always all Presets from the List in the same sequence is definitely not always appropriate. Here comes the concept of Chains into the game where you can organise Presets in a distinct order for a concert, practice, or whatever other purpose where it is important to play Presets in a sequence. Since chains use and store just links to Presets you can choose to play as many Presets even more than one time, in any order.

You find more Information how to work with chains in the chapter Chains of this Document.

For now you learned the principle of the App and how you create and play Presets.

Have fun with DrumSetlist Manager!

Basic principles

What are Presets?

A Preset is a collection of data which are needed to get a song with its speed, title, artist, bars and some more info into the database. A setlist Chain consists of several Presets which then can be played in a row. Here a description of all data a Preset consists of:￼Bild

Title: This reflects the title of the song to be played. In chains this is the main Info to identify the Song.

Artist: For further differentiation this information reflects the Artist of the song.

Time: The running time of the Preset.

BPM: The speed of the song in beats per minute. This is the clock for the Metronome.

BPM Tap Button:

With this button you can tap the speed according to a running song. Note that only after 4 sequential taps the calculation starts to be accurate!

Info: Some additional info to remember for instance to get the headset and sing the chorus or other stuff which is important to remember.

Beep Selection: This setting enables different beep sounds for Accent, half not, quarter note, triplets etc.

First / Second Bar Length Selection: With this buttons it is possible to setup complex rhythmic patterns:

For instance 5/9 means that the metronome plays one bar of five ticks and the second one of 9. With the appropriate Beep election it is then possible to have in this case a 14/4 or 14/8 bar.

Lyrics: The Lyrics of the Song. Import by iTunes is not always working but you can type in the lyrics or copy from the web.

Key: The Main Key of the Song.

Chord Sequence: The Sequence of chords of the song.

Beep Track Volume Settings

This entire screen is just for setting the beep track volumes. Each value is stored in the preset and when the preset is called for playing the volume settings are automatically set.

Beep Track Panorama settings

This entire screen is just for setting the beep track panorama. Each value is stored in the preset and when the preset is called for playing the volume settings are automatically set.

Program Change:

This 16 fields contain the program change numbers from 1...127. If 0 is put in no program change is sent through the according MIDI channel.

Program Bank Change:

This 16 fields contain the program bank change numbers from 1...127. If 0 is put in no program bank change is sent through the according MIDI channel.

Program Change Mode:

The segmented button bar controls the sequence in which the bank and program changes are sent:

OFF: No program or bank changes will be sent.

Prg Chg: Only the program changes will be sent.

Bnk Chg: Only the program bank changes will be sent.

Bnk/Prg: First the bank changes and then the program changes will be sent.

Prg/Bnk: First program changes and the bank changes will be sent.

The switches:

Enable Midi Out:

This enables the sending of Midi data for the current preset. If this switch is off no midi commands at all are sent.

Send Midi Autostart:

To start a connected Sequencer or drum machine the app send a Midi autostart command when this switch is ON.

Send Midi Sync:

To be able to synchronize other devices with the speed of the metronome the app will send Midi sync commands when this switch is on.

BnkChg0..127:

Some devices need the bank changes from 0..127 instead of 1...128. When this switch is on 1 will be subtracted from the values and then sent.

What are Chains?

A Chain is a collection of Presets which are ordered in the sequence to be played in a performance. Chains then can be selected in the play screen and with the prev/next buttons the sequence can be stepped through. You can think of. Chain being a setlist and a Preset is a song you have to play.￼Bild

Name: This reflects the name of the Chain which should be explanatory like „Concert ABC Setlist“

Comment: Some additional Info of the Chains purpose

Chain Preset List: The Chain Preset List can consist of many songs which can point on any existing Preset in the database as shown in the image below.

Play Screens

Portrait Play Screen

The Portrait Play Screen is mainly to select the Play modes, pre Listen the setlist and get to the other tab bar functions.￼

Actual and next Preset area￼Bild

In the top area of this screen the actual and the next preset are shown with its related information like BPM, Artist, Titel, Comment and more.

Groove LED indicators

According to the groove settings this LED will be shown sequentially.

Preset/Chain Selector

With this buttons it can be set in what order the sequence of the presets will be played. If „Prs“ is selected the device will play all available presets as they are stored on the device. If „Chn“ is selected only the sequence of the selected chain will be played.

Preset List Button

This button shows the position of the current active Preset in the current selected Chain or in the entire Presets List. When pressed a pop up appears and a Preset out of the current list can be selected.

Help Screen Button

This help appears.

Rotate Button

Then the Stage Screen is only shown when this button is pressed.

Chain Select Button

The button pops up a window where the current chain can be selected.￼Bild

Next/Prev Preset Buttons

With this buttons it is possible to select the next/prev preset in the selected sequence. The buttons gray out in case there is no next/prev preset.

Main Volume Slider

With this slider the main output volume can be set. Also the MP3 audio will be affected.

MP3 Volume Slider

With this slider the MP3 audio output volume can be set.

Start/Stop

The start/stop button for the metronome.

Start/Stop MP3

If there is a MP3 associated to the preset the audio can be started and stopped with this button.

Preset Tab

Via this tab the Preset editor is reached.

Chain Tab

Via this tab the Chain editor is reached.

Preferences Tab

Via this tab the Preferences editor is reached.

Stage Play Screen

The Stage Play screen is mainly made for the performance on stage. Most of the controls are similar to the Portrait Screen. Note the coloured button fields, when you touch them popups to change the Chain, Preset, Count-In Value or Play Mode selection appear. The screen is divided in sections where different info is shown and functions can be invoked.

The images shown are from the iPad Version, for the iPhone there are 4 separate screens which serve the same functionality. ￼

Preset Song & Mode Selection Area￼

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With the Chain Selector Button an existing chain can be selected. The current Preset is changed to the 1st one of the new Chain.

With this popup any existing chain can be selected.

Playmode Select / Count-In Lenght￼Bild

With this 2 buttons the playmode will be controlled.

Count-In Length determines how long the audio beep is hearable. After the time selected the beeps will stop. You can select „All“ so the click plays all the time or 1…8 to stop the click after x bars.

Playmode Select defines if you want to have all Presets in alphabetical order available (Prs) or if you only play the sequence of a Chain (Chn).￼Bild

The Preset Selector Button opens a Popup with all Presets in the current chain.

Selecting one of that Presets immediately changes all parameters to the new Preset.

The clock is showing the actual time in 24h format and the Remaining Chain Play Time shows the rest of the Chain’s time.

Transport & Audio Control Area￼

Previous / Next Preset switch to the previous / next Preset in the Sequence depending on the play mode. If the first / last Preset is reached the respective button will be greyed out.

To start / stop the metronome press the Start Click Button. It will change its color to red meanwhile the click runs. If the „Link Click & Audio Start“ Button is set to „Lnk“ the App will start/stop the Click AND the Audio (if stored in the Preset) simultaneously.

To start an attached audio file of the Current preset press the Start Audio button. The audio will play and the button changes its color to red and the Title to „Pause Sign“. Pause will stop the audio at the current position and start from there when the button is pressed again.

When Stop is pressed the Audio will be stopped and the position is the beginning of the audio file.

Mute Main volume is a toggle switch which mutes all audio when selected. The button will change color from green to red to show that the audio is muted.

Main Volume slider sets the volume from 0 … 100%.

Mute MP3 volume is a toggle switch which mutes only the MP3 audio when selected. The button will change color from green to red to show that the audio is muted.

MP3 Volume slider sets the volume from 0 … 100%.

Mute MIC volume is a toggle switch which mutes the MIC input audio when selected. The button will change color from green to red to show that the audio is muted.

MIC Volume slider sets the input volume from 0 … 100%.

Tap & BPM Measurement Area￼Bild

TAP

With the big yellow TAP it is possible to measure a song or rhythm by tapping the big TAP button within the rhythm. After 4 taps the BPM and the calculated inaccuracy of the tap distances is shown in the fields. The closer the - and + deviation to the calculated BPM is the more accurate the BPM is.

Pressing the green BPM result will end up this new BPM to the temporary Preset storage. To store it in the database open up the Preset Settings and press the SAVE button.

Calculate

In case an audio file is available the BPM can be calculated with the „Calculate“ button. After finishing 3 values are presented in the 3 red BPM button fields. Each of them is a button, when pressed the BPM value will be taken to the actual buffer. To store it permanently open the Actual Preset Parameters and press the save button.

BPM Measurement / calculate section

A special mode here represents the Measure button: when switched on the system tries to measure the actual played BPM value. It will show the target BPM value in the green BPM field and the actual BPM and the difference in the other two BPM fields. Additionally an arrow bar will indicate if the actual BPM is to high (arrows down to indicate to slow down) or to low (arrows up to indicate to speed up):

Orange Arrow: the measured BPM deviates in a range in between +/- 5 to 10%.

Orange and Red Arrow: the measured BPM deviates more than +/-10%

Green Circle: the measured BPM deviates less than +/- 2%.

Background Color Change

The the background color of the Play Screen is changeable through the blue button. Press the blue button and a color picker appears / disappears. Here you can select the color from the round color palette and also its density.

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Actual Preset Parameters Button￼Bild

The Grey Button on the right next to the actual Preset area opens some settings which can be changed for the actual Preset. This Settings show the beep track settings while the metronome is playing. So it is possible to change the beep tracks volume and mute status while playing the sequence on stage. The changes are not stored immediately, the save button needs to be pressed that the changes are written to the database. With a press on the blue „Vol“ button the sliders and buttons will change to represent the according panorama settings of the Preset.

With another press the Button changes to „EQ“ and the sliders represent the 8 frequency sliders of an 8-Band EQ. With the sliders you can adjust the frequency, with the button the band is switched on/off.

„Add Preset to Actual Chain“ Button￼Bild

When pressed a popup opens which displays all available presets. Through this function it is possible to add a preset during playing a gig. Select a preset in the appearing table and press „Insert Before“ to insert the selected preset before the current preset. Press „Insert After“ to insert the preset after the current one. The function works only in play chain mode.

Preset Editor￼Bild

The Preset Editor is a key part of the App. See Section What are Presets for information about the content of a Preset.

Preset Beep Preview (Note Icon):

When this button is pressed the current beep track selection will be played. When pressed again it stops. All changes will be immediately taken over and played.

Caution: although the changes settings are played immediately you still have to save the preset to permanently store the settings.

Save Changes (Disk Icon)

After editing the Preset this button needs to be pressed to store the new values.

Audio File Selection

Select Song:

With this screen it is possible to select an audio file from an existing iPod library on the device. The song reference will then be stored in the database to enable the playback of the song in one of the play screens. To skip over silence or a song intro the start position can be set. The song then starts always from this position.

Play:

With the play/pause button it is possible to listen to the song. The playback also continues when the preset editor is left. The playback volume and the panorama are stored in the preferences and are global settings. The start Position slider can be used to scroll through the song.

Calc BPM:

This Button invokes the BPM calculator which tries to find the songs beats through detailed song analysis. The progress wheels turning will spin until the analysis is finished. The three red buttons will then contain the 3 possible BPM‘s which are found by the calculator. To store the retrieved value press on of the three buttons. Don't forget to save the preset if desired.

Chain editor￼Bild

For a description of the Chain files please refer to the Chapter What are Chains.￼Bild

Function Buttons

Directly above the chains Preset list is a block of buttons to manipulate the Preset list.

Add

When selected a Preset Selector appears to add the selected Preset to the list.

Edit

With this function the Preset List can be edited: With the red minus the Preset is deleted, with the 3 lines a Preset can be grabbed and moved to another position.

Add All

Through this function it is possible to add all Presets available. The Presets will be added to the Chain in alphabetical order at the end of the Chain.

Del.All

All Presets of the Chain will be deleted.

Send￼Bild

The Preset List of the Chain can be sent via Email through this function. The standard E-mail page with the Preset List as Text is displayed to fill in the receiver of the Mail.

Add C.

Another Chains Presets will be added at the end of the currently edited chain.

Print Chain

With this function it is possible to print through AirPrint a list of the Presets. A selection popup appears to select the mode how the list shall be printed.

Save Changes

All changes made to the Chain need to be saved before the screen is left.

Practise Manager

The Audio System

Preferences