SetBoss—an awesome band rehearsal app for iOS

I discover so many cool things on Twitter. SetBoss appears to be another one of those cool things. I saw SetBoss tweeting asking for people who were interested in guitars, iOS and blogging to take a look at their app. I fit all three of those criteria, so I decided to take a look. I’m glad I did. SetBoss is a nifty little app!

I’ll be honest and say that one of the first things I took a look at was the settings. It appeared the app interface was customisable. As someone who once delved in graphical user interface (GUI) design, this appealed to me greatly. The customisation is very simple while also appealing to my love for old-school replication. The app replicates the look of what I guess is these days referred to as an old-school cassette player/recorder. As you record and/or playback, the cassette reels spin around. Awesome. And as the app owner, you get to decide what your cassette and case look like.

You’ll see how the interface changes with further screenshots. I changed the look as I went through the app.

The basic premise of the app is to aid musicians as they practice and rehearse with their bandmates. That’s my interpretation at least. I see the app being useful for the following reasons.

• Record band practice using your device’s built-in microphone
• Add written notes to the in-app recordings
• Create a shareable setlist (with song length)
• Add written notes to tracks in the setlist

It’s simple, but seriously useful.

Recording tracks is incredibly simple. Hit the record button and hit it again to stop recording. You’re then given an option to either save or delete the recording. Obviously you keep the good tracks so you can impress your friends later.

When testing the app I discovered quickly that I could use the recording side of the app to collect all of my favourite original material in one place. With that done, I could replicate the track list into the setlist side of the app—including track length—to build a setlist of material my band could play through.

I just need a band for that last part.

Once you’ve added tracks to your setlist it’s a very simple process to rearrange the tracks until everyone involved is happy with the track order. And as mentioned earlier, notes can be added to the setlist as well. It’s very intuitive for an app that really is so simple.

Sadly I am not in a band. I’ve mentioned that. But I am collaborating with a friend on a track currently. There’s talk of more collaborative work to follow. This app has given me the motivation to get those tracks organised. And now I have a way of sharing the track details quickly and easily as new riffs are created. This just became a song building tool All while looking like a retro cassette player.

Is it sad that I still have actual cassettes? I sure do feel old right now. I’m OK with that though because apps like this make it cool.

Get SetBoss for free (currently) in the iTunes store. Have fun.