iReal Pro - Music Book & Play Along?

[Chumly]

Hello Vguitarists,

The reviews look promising and the YouTubes look merited, plus I can't find anything else on iOS that's it's equivalent. There's Band In A Box Pro and I do have a laptop PC but it's considerably more pennies. Thoughts?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ireal-b-music-book-play-along/id298206806?mt=8
https://www.google.ca/#q=iReal+Pro&tbm=vid

On second thought, Band In A Box Pro seems to have improved so much over the years (since I last used it) that I might purchase it instead of iReal Pro, or perhaps given the low cost of iReal Pro in addition to Band In A Box Pro.

Oh no!  There's also SessionBand http://www.sessionbandapp.com/

[Chumly]

Yep, I'm going to give some of the SessionBand Bundles a try and I'll let y'all know my feelings on 'em (not that I haven't lost interest in BIAB since it's improved so much).

[GraemeJ]

iReal Pro is quite useful, particularly as a means of carrying a lot of charts around and with the ability to transpose and play a backing track, but it doesn't even approach the versatility of BIAB.

I don't know about the IOS version, but the sounds on the Android version (which I do have) are pretty cheesy. 

To be fair, the versatility of BIAB is greatlycompromised by its extremely quirky GUI - something which the authors should have addressed years ago, rather than continuing to bolt extra bits onto it every year. 

[Chumly]

Thank you for that Graeme3!

Your views on BIAB seem to echo many, only that in my case I used it some years ago and don't recall the quirky user interface being overly bothersome, even though it was a not an unheard of criticism even then.

My position on user interfaces is that it's better to alter things incrementally and thus keep everything as much the same as possible, than it is to entirely revamp it.  This is one of the main reasons I do not like the newer versions of MS Windows and MS Office etc. and to the extent possible make new apps and OS's look and act like their predecessors. in other words I am not a fan of change for change sake, nor of needless repetitive relearning for no consequential advantage. So for me at least, I am not convinced that should I buy BIAB, I'd find it to be greatly compromised by its GUI, but who knows given the proof is in the pudding and I do not own a modern version of BIAB.

As to iReal Pro, thanks for letting me know of its usefulness as that also seems to echo many of the reviewers. From what I can tell of the IOs version the sound is decent enough for my practice purposes, and I would assume it to be the same as the Android version but I have no direct way of knowing. I think I'll wait and see if iReal Pro goes on sale however.

One interesting thing about BIAB Pro is that is has a free IOs app that allows at least some BIAB functionality.

So far, I am quite pleased with the two SessionBand Bundles I purchased (great pricing at the moment!) and my decision in part was based on the following review http://www.musicappblog.com/?s=SessionBand.

[GraemeJ]

Years ago, at the introduction of Windows, Microsoft published a set of guidelines for the GUI to use with the OS - this is why virtually all Windows programs look and behave in much the same way. Drop down menus, etc., etc.

PG Music completely ignored these sensible guidelines and have continued to plough their own furrow ever since.  As new tools were added over the years, their GUI has become increasingly confusing.  Not so bad for long-time users (who have learned their way around) but absolutely horrible for a new user. 

I run BIAB 2010 and I think the attached screenshot says it all.

I was probably a little unfair in my statement about the cheesy sounds of iReal Pro.  If all you are looking for is something to practice with, they're more than adequate and I use mine for exactly that purpose.  For the actual carting around of sheet music, I much prefer MobileSheets Pro (which is an Android app).

[Chumly]

Years ago, at the introduction of Windows, Microsoft published a set of guidelines for the GUI to use with the OS - this is why virtually all Windows programs look and behave in much the same way. Drop down menus, etc., etc.

Thanks for the insights; that's a head-scratcher then, as MS's ribbon would seem to belie such a constancy guideline as would exempting the start menu, adding tiles, MS Edge browser's GUI, etc.

[GraemeJ]

As more and more users are heading towards devices that are touch capable, I suspect the original guidelines are no longer optimum.  However, that doesn't excuse PG Music's almost total ignoring of them.

[Chumly]

It would be interesting to note how your views would be met by the forum users of BIAB. In any case, I just bought BIAB Pro in part because of the iOS app that allows at least some BIAB functionality, in part because I'm impressed by the improved audio of the demos compared to when I used it years ago, in part because I got it at a competitive price, in part because it will do (I hope) what iReal Pro can do on iOS thus negating the desire for iReal Pro and saving a few bucks, in part because I already have some familiarity with BIAB, and in part because as a Canadian it's pleasant to provide local support as opposed to being a slave to NAFTA and the pending TPP.

Your input has been of benefit GraemeJ!