Show|Ready

Using this app for the first time at our theater (iPad edition). Instead of getting the tracks meant for Grease School Edition, we got tracks for the full Broadway show. So our director spent 3 HOURS fixing issues with the track lengths because the app crashes constantly!!! It is hard to play transition tracks repeatedly, because the sound stops instead of restarting. In other apps/players, I can press this ⏪ to start the song over, in this app, it either doesn’t work, or sends it to a random point in the song. The only indicator of song length is measures, having a minute/seconds counter would be so much more helpful. Every single track has a metronome that cannot be turned off, which is a pain to listen to, and sometimes confuses the kids. Also the majority of the tracks are piano and metronome, with no guitar or drums, which just sounds odd. While I get that a lot of my issues might be fixed easily, the constant crashing and stress of using this system is very irritating.

I think this app is very helpful for learning the music, but only when it works. It glitches out so much and kicks me out that I have to stop and I can’t practice for the show I’m doing. Also I don’t think it’s ever been updated because the design is so old. I wouldn’t use this app if it wasn’t a platform that my school used.

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.