The theatre deserves better
Who knows, maybe the desktop version is better. I haven’t messed around with it yet. But in the 20 minutes I have been working with this app on my 2020 iPad Pro, I have had it crash on me seven times, freeze twice, and play glitchy low notes after exiting vamps, sometimes followed by a freeze. The vamps seem to be the biggest culprit, causing the app to hard crash.
Additionally, the tracks so far are…disappointing. They sound like 30-year-old General MIDI files, and the sound fonts and sequencing are sorely lacking. They’re accurate to the score, yes, but they’re mechanical and dry. For rehearsal tracks, that’s not necessarily a huge problem (I understand the performance tracks are better), but I do feel it worth mentioning. Additionally, when vamping, there are some significant MIDI timing issues causing audible stutters and jitter.
The idea is solid, that’s the thing. Being able to follow along in the score is a nice touch, and the ability to change the sound font used for each voice is great for learning multiple parts. But the company clearly did not allocate the proper time or resources to develop a functional tablet version of this app, which is a shame in a world in which tablets are increasingly being used for playback. These features, buried underneath the rampant stability problems, are the reason I’m rating two stars and not just one.
I’ve been working in MIDI and playback for theatre for several years now, and am a firm believer in its potential. The technology is out there to create wonderful rehearsal and performance tools for organizations on a budget, and this application could be one such tool if—and only if—the debilitating stability and jitter issues are fixed.
Additionally, the tracks so far are…disappointing. They sound like 30-year-old General MIDI files, and the sound fonts and sequencing are sorely lacking. They’re accurate to the score, yes, but they’re mechanical and dry. For rehearsal tracks, that’s not necessarily a huge problem (I understand the performance tracks are better), but I do feel it worth mentioning. Additionally, when vamping, there are some significant MIDI timing issues causing audible stutters and jitter.
The idea is solid, that’s the thing. Being able to follow along in the score is a nice touch, and the ability to change the sound font used for each voice is great for learning multiple parts. But the company clearly did not allocate the proper time or resources to develop a functional tablet version of this app, which is a shame in a world in which tablets are increasingly being used for playback. These features, buried underneath the rampant stability problems, are the reason I’m rating two stars and not just one.
I’ve been working in MIDI and playback for theatre for several years now, and am a firm believer in its potential. The technology is out there to create wonderful rehearsal and performance tools for organizations on a budget, and this application could be one such tool if—and only if—the debilitating stability and jitter issues are fixed.
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Can’t reach controls of iPhone 14 Pro Max
The controls at the bottom aren’t usable as only the very top of them shows on the screen. App would be fine if they would fix this to support phones with a notch. Have to use it on my iPad as is.
AMAZING
I’m playing a lead and I have a TON of harmonies and this app has helped me so much!
Crashes
I cannot do anything on this app cause it keeps crashing L
Keeps crashing
The layout of the app is fine, but it took me ages to log in since it crashed each time I pressed submit and, once you successfully log on, it only lasts about 3 seconds before crashing. Often it crashes part way through a song which is really frustrating.
Awful app
Terrible interface, no tutorials or in-app help, difficult to see what you are doing. Measures and track numbers do not always match up with the production’s music book. No good way to select specific measures, audio levels for parts constantly changing, settings continually shifting back to defaults. Really frustrating app, should be much easier to navigate and control.
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Terrible
The app is unintuitive, with parts (such as the bass) not playing sometimes, despite nothing being on solo, and it not being muted; practicing if you’re in the orchestra is close to impossible, since if you have anything directly after a repeat or fermata, you won’t be able to play it, since you have to manually override those, which also makes practicing staging is annoying since the person you have to have controlling it has to be perfectly on time, or else you get messed up by a long fermata or repeat. There’s also the problem of it constantly crashing when trying to open the app, which makes starting practicing even longer since you have to go through upwards of 10 crashes sometimes before it fully opens. Don’t use unless it’s mandatory.
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It simply won’t work.
This app won’t open at all. It immediately closes, but on the off chance that it does stay open, It doesn’t even show the music. It kind of worked for most of my classmates so I’m not sure what the issue is here, but I was told to use this app to prepare for an audition and it is not working at all. Is there a way to fix this?
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doesn’t work
i’ve downloaded and redownloaded the app several times, but each time i do, it kicks me out the app within seconds. or, if it does let me into the app (which is rare), it doesn’t show me any of the songs.
Fine- most of the time
Great for teaching students when you aren’t a great pianist. New bug issues- even when the piano/vocals aren’t muted the app will randomly mute everything and only give you the click. And I HATE that the new update doesn’t show you the song title you’re on in the play. All mode, you have to back out to song list to make sure you’re on the correct piece. A great tool, but a couple user friendly bug fixes are needed.
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