Well, it finally arrived . . . and I am pretty happy about it.
I am not a full-time singer/musician, as much as I wish I could be.
I do get to sing several times most every week, and always enjoy doing so. I'm the "Plan C" program/music guy" for a lot of local groups. My schedule is flexible to a point, and I'm not interested in the money. That by itself will get you a few invites.
Several years ago I made the intentional effort to being memorizing as many songs as I could. Only thing . . . memorizing songs is easy when you sing a lot. I sing in public, but 3-4 hours a week is my usual average.
That's not really a lot of time to sing songs regularly enough to remember them well. Let's say my ability to recall things and my age seem more and more tied together.
I got an iPad for Father's Day a few years back. I hadn't used it that much, until my wife, a Project Director for a local engineering firm, challenged me to get more tech savvy. So, I've been using my iPad for a lot of stuff. I discovered a stylus I can write on the iPad with, and the I started putting all my songs that I make song-lists from (over 450 songs) into my iPad with an app called "My Lyric Book."
Hey, no more carrying a couple of 3 ring binders with me to jam sessions, rehearsals or gigs!
Awesome!
Works great, except when I have to swipe the screen to move the page up or change the song. It takes two hands to play a guitar. You have to stop playing . . . or hit a long single chord . . . and then hit the forward arrow button or swipe the screen, and then start playing again.
Not easy . . . but I was managing. I'd like to give myself some multi-tasking credit here and there.
Then I heard from a pastor friend about blue-tooth foot pedals for use with iPads and other tablets.
Seriously . . . such a thing exists? Before that, I had to ask, "What's Blue-tooth?"
OK . . . I admit my techno learning has happened in a slow curve.
And learn I did . . . Yep, they are Blue-Tooth pedals out there for use with iPads. I check them out. I got to see one being used, and try it out. As a result, I recently placed an order for an AirTurn BT-105 (www.airturn.com) which you see in the picture above.
Connect it by blue-tooth with your iPad . . . and step on the right pedal . . . the song sheet on your iPad moves up. Step on the left pedal . . . and the sheet backs up. Once the song is done, step on the right pedal, and the next song comes up.
Mercy! I'm like a kid in a candy store. "Beam me up, Scotty!"
The entire unit, pedals and all, is only 4" by 6 1/2" in size. Fits in my back pack with my iPad.
Folks . . . if you like using an iPad . . . and you keep your music in it . . . you might want to consider a blue-tooth foot pedal. Hands free operation of the iPad . . . mean hands free to play more music on your instrument.
I know I am behind the times a bit . . . but this thing is pretty neat. Combine this with some of the neat gadgets I've purchased from IK Multimedia, and my iPad has become many things music wise for me.
Awesome! But I've already said that.
God's grace still amazes me . . . ><>
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