LIVE JAZZ STANDARDS PLAY ALONG APP

Quartet app – Overview

Quartet is a popular jazz standards play along app designed for jazz instrumentalists and vocalists at all levels. It’s purpose is to provide high quality jazz standards’ backing tracks for every jazz musician along with intuitive tools designed to make the play along experience as accessible and as immersive as possible.

Unlike other popular jazz play along apps, Quartet content is 100% audio. The accompaniment you hear is a ‘live’ jazz quartet featuring top professional jazz musicians. Quartet uses state of the art software to allow users to manipulate the audio in a number of ways including tempo changes (+/- 50%) and key changes (+/- 6 semitones).

There are currently 6 different editions of Quartet: Quartet 1-6 containing backing tracks to over 650 popular jazz standards. Each edition of Quartet contains access to between 50 (Quartet 5) and 150 (Quartet 1 or 2) jazz standards.

Users who buy Quartet are free to run Quartet on all of their iOS devices plus compatible Mac devices (M series only) simultaneously without incurring extra cost provided they use the same Apple ID they used to initially purchase the app.

The audio content in Quartet is licensed to you royalty-free so that it can be used freely in a wide variety of settings without incurring additional costs or permissions. Users can export audio from Quartet in a number of different ways and although there are some legal restrictions (please see ‘legal notices’), users can use some of the audio in their own projects whether commercial or otherwise. Please refer to ‘legal notices’ for more detail.

Quartet app – Quick start guide

Song search

There are various ways to search for songs in Quartet though the most popular and efficient is via the ‘Song Library’ in the ‘Search +’ section of the app. By default, all 650 songs in the Quartet ‘Song Library’ are listed alphabetically. Use the search box to type in all or part of the song you are looking for, or search a specific composer or artist, or a musical genre or BPM.

Tapping the song artwork will take you to the main chord screen for that song whichever of the 6 Quartet editions it belongs to.

Playing songs

To play any song in Quartet, tap the PLAY button at the bottom left of the chord screen for that song. At the footer of the chord screen you can make realtime adjustments to key and tempo. Changes to key and tempo will be auto-saved.

In the same chord screen for any of the songs in Quartet, sections of a song can be ‘looped’ by tapping the loop button (bottom left). The default 4-bar loop can be shortened or extended as required. [Refer to ‘Looping’ for more detailed information on the various ways to loop sections of songs]

Animated chord diagrams

Animated chord diagrams can be accessed from the same chord screen by tapping the buttons for either Piano, Guitar or Ukulele. In these alternative screens, the chord display is retained. Return back to the main chord screen by tapping the ‘CHORDS’ button again.

Please note – on iPhone, you can only access the animated chord diagrams in landscape orientation.

Changing the mix and adjusting song settings

When you first download an edition of the Quartet app, you are also downloading the ‘TRIO’ mix (ie. Bass, Drums and Piano) for every song in that app as part of the initial download process. The ‘TRIO’ mix is the most popular mix for most Quartet users. ALL additional mixes (ie. any of the preset alternative mixes and the separated parts for custom mixes) are downloaded subsequently by the user as required. Once downloaded, these additional files reside on the users’ device. Unwanted audio files can be deleted in ‘Global Settings’ if you decide to free up space on your device.

Each song in Quartet plays by default the ‘TRIO’ mix of Bass, Drums and Piano in concert pitch.

Using the ‘Song Configuration’ panel (i.e. local settings) for a particular song (the ‘gear’ icon in the top right hand corner of the chord screen), users can select one of 7 additional preset alternative mixes OR choose to create their own mix by opening up the ‘Custom Mix’ panel for that song.
On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

With a ‘Custom Mix’, the separated parts are downloaded onto the users device and a mix can be set up with the user having control of individual volume levels plus the level and type of reverb across each channel. In ‘Custom Mix’ the drums are re-routed away from the key change algorithm so that they remain unaffected by user-initiated key changes. This is not the case with the 8 preset alternative mixes.

In the same song configuration/local settings panel, users can select a count-in, select how many song repeats they want the song to play and override any global settings settings for a particular song.

With the ‘Arranger’ feature – which only works in conjunction with the ‘Custom Mix’ feature – users can pre-program a different mix for each of the repeats they have already selected for that song e.g. sax solo in repeat 3 and 4 only.

Quartet auto saves all local level settings made to individual songs.

As well as local settings for individual songs, there is a ‘Global Settings’ panel accessible from the top right corner of the Home Screen of any of the Quartet apps. This allows users to change specific settings for all songs in all the apps they own…settings like count-in type, continuous metronome, Bb and Eb transposition, global output volume etc…
Note: there is no global setting for alternative mixes since all alternative mixes are downloaded over the internet as required.

Playlists

Playlists can be created in a number of ways in Quartet (refer to ‘Playlists’ for more information) and once created, are stored in the ‘My Playlists’ screen of any of the Quartet editions you own. Any playlist you create will be automatically synchronised across all the Quartet editions that you own so that the same playlist can be viewed from any of the individual apps. Users can select whether a playlist is auto-played or played back manually. Users can easily add more songs to a playlist, delete songs from it and change the order of the songs. Playlists can be exported and imported for users who want to share playlists or simply back them up for safe-keeping.

Note that Playlists are not synced across different devices at the moment.

PDF Chord charts

A PDF chord chart for any song in Quartet can be exported by tapping the share/export icon at the top right of any of the chord sheets in Quartet and selecting the tab marked ‘EXPORT PDF CHORD CHART’. On iPhone (only), access the share/export screen by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ icon (top right of chord screen) followed by the ‘Share’ tab.

Exporting audio

There are two audio export options in Quartet. Users can either export a stereo mix of the song exactly as they have set it up (having made adjustments for key, tempo, repeats, mix type etc…) or download the separated parts for a song (ie. the multitrack) in high quality WAV format. The export of separated WAV files can only be done at native key and tempo and may not reflect the number of song repeats selected. The multitrack export is downloaded as a GarageBand project all ready to remix and edit. Extracting the ‘dry’ .WAV files from the GarageBand project for use in other DAW applications is a relatively simple process. Refer to ‘Exporting Audio’ for more detailed information and also ‘Legal notices’ for specific information on the use of licensed audio.

1. Playing songs and selecting different song mixes

Introduction

To play a song in Quartet, first tap the album artwork for that song to open up the relevant song chord chart. Now tap the white triangular Play button in the bottom left corner of the screen. To pause the song, tap the Pause button located in the same place as the Play button.

To change the tempo of the song, either tap the +/- buttons either side of the Tempo display at the bottom of the screen to increase/decrease tempo in 1 x BPM (Beats Per Minute) increments or for more dramatic tempo changes, tap the currently shown BPM (displayed in the rectangular box) to reveal the Tempo slider. Adjust the song tempo with the slider (left or right). Close the tempo slider once you have set your tempo by tapping the currently displayed BPM again. Now you can fine tune the tempo using the +/- buttons. To reset the key back to its original state, tap the currently displayed tempo to bring up the tempo slider again, and tap ‘Reset Tempo’.

To change the key of the song, tap the +/- buttons either side of the Key display at the bottom of the screen to increase/decrease the key in semitone increments. The chords on the song chord chart will also change accordingly. To reset the key back to its original state, tap the currently displayed key (e.g. Eb) and tap the ‘Reset Key’ button as it appears.
Note that user-initiated key changes will affect the pitch of the drums when playing preset alternative mixes. However, using ‘Custom Mixes’ the drums are not affected by key changes and the original quality of the drums is retained. Refer to ‘Custom Mix’ below for more information.

By default, Quartet plays the ‘TRIO’ mix (i.e. Bass, Drums and Piano) for each song. This is the mix that is automatically downloaded onto your device when you first install Quartet.

All other mixes (i.e. preset alternative mixes and the separated parts for custom mixes) are downloaded by the user as required. Once downloaded, both alternative mixes and the separated parts for custom mixes are stored on your device. Don’t worry, if you want to delete them in order to free up space on your device, you can do this in Global Settings. See ‘Global Settings’ for more information.

Each song in the Quartet library (i.e. 650 songs across 6 editions) comes with 8 preset alternative mixes but you can also create your own mix in the ‘Custom Mix’ section of the app which automatically downloads the separated parts for a song when ‘Custom MIx’ is switched on.

In the ‘Arranger’ section of the app – which works in conjunction with the ‘Custom Mix’ feature – you can also pre-program different mixer settings for each chorus repeat in any of the songs.

Any selections you make to a song in Quartet (including preset alternative mix selections or mixer level settings) are auto-saved so that they are there when you open up the song next time.

Please note…there is no global setting for alternative mixes for practical reasons since 7 of the 8 alternative mixes are downloaded over the internet as required by the user and not part of the initial app download.

Changing the mix

A) Preset alternative mixes

To access the preset alternative mixes, first tap the ‘Song Configuration’ button (i.e. local settings) which is a ‘gear’ icon at the top right hand corner of any of the song chord screens. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

There are 8 preset mixes for every song in Quartet. The default mix for every song is the ‘TRIO’ mix (Bass, Drums and Piano) which is downloaded with the initial app download.

To select a preset alternative mix other than the ‘TRIO’ mix, simply tap the small circle next to the relevant mix you want to download e.g. Bass/Drums mix.

Provided you have a WiFi connection, the mix you select will download onto your device and will now become the default mix for that particular song.

B) ‘Custom Mix’

To create a custom mix for a song, first tap the ‘Song Configuration’ button (i.e. local settings) which is a ‘gear’ icon at the top right hand corner of any of the song chord screens. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

Scroll down the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel until you see the ‘Preset’ / ‘Custom Mix’ switch and set this to ‘Custom’. This will temporarily disable the preset alternative mix options and automatically trigger a download of the 4 x separated parts for this song. Be sure you have a good Wi-Fi connection in order to download these song files.

You can adjust each of the volume sliders to get the relative volumes for each instrument the way you want them.

The circular knobs underneath the volume sliders control the reverb level for each channel. Rotate these knobs clockwise to increase the level of reverb for a particular instrument and vice versa.

Tapping the circular reverb knobs bring up a selection of reverb types (e.g. Hall, Room etc…) for that channel. You can select different reverb types and different levels of reverb for each mixer channel independently.

Quartet will automatically save any changes you make to mixer settings so that they are there when you come back to this song next time.

2. The ‘Arranger’ feature

The song ‘Arranger’ feature allows users to pre-program different mixer settings for each of the song repeats that have already been specified for a particular song. Refer to ‘Song Configuration settings’ for more information on how to set the number of song repeats.

Since the ‘Arranger’ feature relies on accessing the separate parts for a song, it only works in conjunction with a ‘Custom Mix’ ie. The ‘Arranger’ feature is disabled when preset alternative mixes are being played.

To access the ‘Arranger’ feature, first tap the ‘Song Configuration’ button (i.e. local settings) which is a ‘gear’ icon at the top right hand corner of any of the song chord screens. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

Scroll down the ‘Song Configuration’ panel and be sure to switch on ‘Custom Mix’. The separate parts for this song will automatically be downloaded so be sure to have a good WiFi connection in order to download these song files.

Scroll down to the ‘Arranger’ section which is just below the Mixer section of this screen.

In the ‘Arranger’ section are a series of numbers 1- 20 (max) in small rectangular boxes, each relating to the number of song repeats you have already specified for this song. Refer to ‘Song Configuration settings’ for more information on how to set the number of song repeats.

To set a different set of mixer volume and reverb settings for each repeat of the song, first tap the corresponding song repeat number (e.g. tap 1 for the first song repeat). Now set your mixer levels for this repeat of the song. Now tap another of the numbers (e.g. 2 for the second of the song repeats) and adjust the levels for this song repeat. And so on.

Quartet will automatically save the mixer volume and reverb levels you have set for each song repeat.

3. ‘Global Settings’

Introduction

As well as local settings for individual songs, there is a ‘Global Settings’ panel accessible by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right of the Home Screen (i.e. the screen with the array of album artworks) of any of the Quartet apps you own.

In ‘Global Settings’ you can change settings for all songs in all the Quartet apps that you own. Settings include count-in type, continuous metronome, Bb and Eb transposition, global output volume, etc…
Tapping the ‘Apply’ button once you have selected specific global settings, applies your selection to every song in all the editions of Quartet that you own.

You can override global settings at a local song level by making alternative changes to settings in the ‘Song Configuration’ panel for any specific song. Refer to ‘Song Configuration settings’ for more information.

Note – there is no global setting for preset alternative mixes since all alternative mixes are downloaded over the internet as required and not part of the initial app download.

A) Global count-in settings

Tap the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of any of the Home Screens on any of the Quartet apps that you own to access the ‘Global Settings’ screen.

Choose between no count-in (i.e. ‘None’), a 1-bar count-in or a 2-bar count-in.

Choose between a silent count-in or an audible count-in by toggling the speaker switch to ‘On’ or ‘Off’.

Choose whether you want the ‘standard’ traditional metronome-type count-in sound or a more subtle ‘hi-hat’ count-in.

To apply your selection to all songs in all the Quartet editions you own, tap ‘Apply’.

B) Global metronome setting

Tap the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of any of the Home Screens on any of the Quartet apps that you own to access the ‘Global Settings’ screen.

To initiate a continuous metronome sound in every song in all of the Quartet apps that you own, switch the continuous metronome setting to ‘On’ and select between the ‘standard’ traditional metronome-type sound or a more subtle ‘hi-hat’ sound.

To apply your selection to all songs in all the Quartet editions you own, tap ‘Apply’.

C) Global transposition for Bb and Eb instruments

Tap the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of any of the Home Screens on any of the Quartet apps that you own to access the ‘Global Settings’ screen.

To transpose all chord charts in every song across all the Quartet apps you own, first select either Bb or Eb transposition.

To apply your selection to all songs in all the Quartet editions you own, tap ‘Apply’.

D) Global output volume

The ‘Output Volume’ setting in Quartet is to allow users to regulate the volume that Quartet outputs when connecting Quartet with other apps/devices.

Tap the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of any of the Home Screens on any of the Quartet apps that you own to access the ‘Global Settings’ screen.

Move the ‘Output Volume’ slider to the left to reduce the output volume.

To apply your selection to all songs in all the Quartet editions you own, tap ‘Apply’.

E) Deleting unwanted mixes (i.e. deleting Preset mix and Custom mix audio files that are no longer required)

This feature is designed to delete ALL of the ‘Preset’ and ‘Custom’ mixes that you have downloaded since installing editions of Quartet. It will delete all of the audio mixes from ALL editions of Quartet leaving only the ‘Trio’ preset mix that was installed with the initial app download.

Tap the ‘gear’ icon at the top right hand corner of any of the Home Screens on any of the Quartet apps that you own to access the ‘Global Settings’ screen.

Tap the blue ‘Delete ALL song downloads’ button to delete these unwanted audio files.

4. ‘Song Configuration’ (i.e. local song settings)

Introduction

Use the ‘song configuration’/local settings panel to make specific settings for a particular song.

Although many settings (e.g. count-in, Bb/Eb transposition, continuous metronome) in Quartet can be applied to all the songs in all of the Quartet apps you own via ‘Global Settings’, you may want to override those settings on a per-song basis.

A) Count-in

Access the ‘Song Configuration’ settings panel by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of the chord screen of the song you want to configure. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

Choose between no count-in (i.e. ‘None’), a 1-bar count-in or a 2-bar count-in.

Choose between a silent count-in or an audible count-in by toggling the speaker switch to ‘On’ or ‘Off’.

Choose whether you want the ‘standard’ traditional metronome-type count-in sound or a more subtle ‘hi-hat’ count-in.

If you have already set up a count-in to all songs in all of the editions of Quartet that you own in ‘Global Settings’, you can override this setting for a specific song by switching the white Count-in switch to the right and choosing a different setting or select ‘NONE’ for no count-in.

B) Continuous metronome

Go to the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of the chord screen of the song you want to configure. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

To initiate a continuous metronome sound for a specific song switch the continuous metronome setting to ‘On’ and select between the ‘standard’ traditional metronome-type sound or a more subtle ‘hi-hat’ sound.

Alternatively, to switch off a continuous metronome that has already been applied globally, for this song only, switch the white ‘Metronome’ switch to the right and select ‘NONE’.

C) Transposition for Bb and Eb instruments

Access the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of the chord screen of the song you want to configure. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

Select either Bb or Eb transposition as appropriate.

To override transposition that has already been applied to all songs in ‘Global Settings’, switch the white ‘Transposition’ switch to the right and select ‘NONE’. This will revert the transposed chord chart back to concert C.

D) Selecting the number of song repeats

Go to the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of the chord screen of the song you want to configure. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

In the section marked ‘Repeat section’, move the white switch to the right. Using the +/- buttons, select the number of times you want this song to repeat. To switch off repeats for this song altogether, simply move the same white switch to the left.

You can increase the number of repeats in any of the songs in Quartet up to a maximum of 20!

Please note that some songs in the Quartet app have a minimum of 1 song repeat by default.

E) Selecting preset alternative mixes

Go to the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of the chord screen of the song you want to configure. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

The default mix for every song in Quartet is the TRIO (Bass, Drums, Piano) mix. This is the only mix that is downloaded at the point when the Quartet app is first installed. All other mixes are downloaded by the user as required.

Select a different preset alternative mix by tapping the relevant circular button e.g. Piano/Bass for a mix of Piano and Bass only.

Provided you have a WiFi connection, the mix you select will download onto your device and will now become the default mix for this specific song.

Note – there is no global setting for preset alternative mixes since all alternative mixes are downloaded over the internet as required.

F) Creating a ‘Custom Mix’

To create a custom mix for a song first open the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of the chord screen of the song you want to configure. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

Scroll down this panel until you see the section ‘Custom Mix’ and set this to ‘Custom’. This will temporarily disable the preset alternative mix options.

Switching to ‘Custom Mix’ will automatically trigger a download of the 4 separated parts for this song. Be sure you have a good Wi-Fi connection in order to download these song files.

You can adjust each of the volume sliders to get the relative volumes for each instrument the way you want them.

The circular knobs underneath the volume sliders control the reverb level for each channel. Rotate these knobs clockwise to increase the level of reverb for a particular instrument and vice versa.

Tapping the circular reverb knobs brings up a selection of reverb types (e.g. Hall, Room etc…) for that channel. You can select different reverb types and different levels of reverb for each mixer channel independently.

Quartet will automatically save any changes you make to mixer settings so that they are there when you come back to this song next time.

G) The ‘Arranger’ feature

The song ‘Arranger’ feature allows users to pre-program different mixer settings for each of the song repeats that have already been specified for a particular song. Refer to ‘Song Configuration settings’ for more information on how to set the number of song repeats.

Since the ‘Arranger’ feature relies on accessing the separate parts for a song, it only works in conjunction with a ‘Custom Mix’ i.e. The feature is disabled when preset alternative mixes are being played.

To access the ‘Arranger’ feature, go to the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel by tapping the ‘gear’ icon at the top right-hand corner of the chord screen of the song you want to configure. On iPhone (only), access to the song configuration/local settings panel is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘settings’ tab.

Scroll down the ‘Song Configuration’/local settings panel and be sure to switch on ‘Custom Mix’. The separate parts for this song will automatically be downloaded so be sure to have a good WiFi connection in order to download these song files.

Scroll down to the ‘Arranger’ section which is just below the Mixer section of this screen.

In the ‘Arranger’ section are a series of numbers 1- 20 (max) in small rectangular boxes each relating to the number of song repeats you have already specified for this song. Refer to ‘Song Configuration settings’ for more information on how to set the number of song repeats.

To set a different set of mixer volume and reverb settings for each repeat of the song, first tap the corresponding song repeat number (e.g. tap 1 for the first song repeat). Now set your mixer levels for this repeat. Now tap another of the numbers (e.g. 2 for the second of the song repeats) and adjust the levels for this song repeat. And so on.

Quartet will automatically save the mixer volume and reverb levels you have set for each song repeat.

5. Song search (‘Search +’)

There are various ways to search for songs in Quartet though the most popular and efficient is to use the ‘Song Library’ in the ‘Search +’ section of the app.

By default, all 650 songs in the Quartet ‘Song Library’ are listed alphabetically. Those songs that are from Quartet apps that you don’t yet own, will also appear in the list. You can also view all songs in reverse alphabetical order by tapping the small blue triangle at the top of the left hand column next to the words ‘SONG LIBRARY’.

You can play any song from any of the Quartet apps that you own directly from the ‘Song Library’ by simply tapping the relevant album artwork in any one of the apps.

1. Use the search box to type in all or part of the song you are looking for. Alternatively…
2. Search by Composer e.g. Richard Rodgers will bring up all songs in the library written by Richard Rodgers.
3. Search by Associated Artist i.e. Notable artists that have released versions of a particular jazz standard. Typing in Frank Sinatra for example, will return all the songs in the song library associated with Frank Sinatra.
4. Search by musical genre e.g. Bossa or Bossa Nova to see all songs in the library of that genre.
5. Search by era e.g. 1930s or 30s to return all songs in the library first published in that decade.
6. Search by BPM by typing in a tempo e.g. BPM:120 will return all songs with a native tempo of 120 BPM (please use a colon as shown).
7. Search by time signature e.g. 3/4 will return all songs in the song library with a 3/4 time signature

To play a song either directly from the Song Library or from a list of returned search results, simply tap on the album artwork in the far left column. This will open up the relevant edition of Quartet and take you directly to the chord screen for that song ready to play.

In the Quartet ‘Song Library’ (‘Search +) you can also preview any song from the catalogue – whether you own all editions of Quartet or not – by tapping the small speaker icon in the column of the ‘Song Library’ marked ‘PREVIEW’.

To view songs in the ‘Song Library’ both alphabetically and by Quartet edition, tap the small triangle at the top of the column headed ‘APP’. Tapping the triangle will sort all 650 songs by their respective editions (ie. Quartet editions 1 – 6).

Any songs that you have made ‘Favourites’ will appear in the column of the song library headed with the ‘heart’ symbol. Refer to ‘Favourites’ for more details on making specific songs favourites.

6. Favourites

There are various ways to make a song a ‘Favourite’ in Quartet.

Either…

1. Tap the ‘heart’ icon at the top right of any of the song chord screens (on iPhone [only], first tap the circular ‘menu’ button, then tap the ‘favourite’ tab)
2. Tap the ‘heart’ icon on any of the album artworks on any of the app Home Screens
3. Tap the ‘heart’ icon in the column headed with a ‘heart’ in the Quartet Song Library (‘Search +’)

To view a list of all of your ‘favourites’ from across all the editions of Quartet that you own, open up the Quartet Song Library in ‘Search +’ (in any of the editions of Quartet) and your ‘favourites’ will appear with a highlighted heart icon in the ‘favourites’ column.

Note – on iPhone (only) and in portrait view only, you will first have to expand the view of the Song Library by tapping the ‘More’ tab in order to view the ‘favourites’ column.

Tap the small triangle at top of this column twice to sort the song library with your favourites appearing at the top of the list of 650 songs.

You can easily create a Playlist of all of your ‘favourites’ in ‘Search +’ by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘Save Favourites’ from the pop-up list. For more information on creating Playlists, refer to ‘Playlists’.

7. Playlists

Introduction

Playlists can be created in a number of ways in Quartet. Once created, all playlists are stored in the ‘My Playlists’ screen of any of the Quartet editions you own. ‘My Playlists’ can be found by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘My Playlists’ from the pop-up list.

Any playlist you create will be automatically synchronised across all the Quartet editions that you own so that the same playlist can be viewed from any of the individual apps.

Users can select whether a playlist is auto-played or played back manually. Users can easily add more songs to a playlist, delete songs from it and change the order of the songs in it. Playlists can be exported and imported for users who want to share playlists or simply back them up for safe-keeping.

Note that Playlists are not synced across different devices at the moment.

 A) Adding songs to playlists

Playlists can be created in a number of different ways. Once created, they can be viewed and played in ‘My Playlists’. ‘My Playlists’ can be found by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘My Playlists’ from the pop-up list.

(i)  The most efficient way to build a playlist is to use the A-Z list of all 650 songs in the main ‘Song Library’. Scroll down the list of songs tapping the small box in the ‘Select’ column (far right-hand side) to identify those songs you want to add to the playlist. When you’re done, tap the ‘Save Selected’ tab by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button (top right of ‘Search+’) and selecting ‘Save Selected’ from the pop-up list. Now choose whether to add the selected songs to a ‘New’ playlist or an ‘Existing’ one.

 

(ii)  Alternatively, you can create a playlist directly from a set of search results using the search box at the top of the ‘Search+’ screen. For example, you might want to search an artist e.g. Frank Sinatra. This will return a long list of songs associated with Sinatra. To create a playlist from these search results, first tap ‘Select all’ (top centre), then tap ‘Save Selected’ by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button (top right of ‘Search+’) and selecting ‘Save Selected’ from the pop-up list. Choose whether to add the selected songs to a ‘New’ playlist or an ‘Existing’ one.

 

(iii)  You can easily create a Playlist of all of your ‘favourites’ in ‘Search +’ by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘Save Favourites’ from the pop-up list. As editions of Quartet are synchronised, this action will create a single playlist of all of your ‘Favourites’ from all the editions of Quartet that you own. Choose whether to add these songs to a ‘New’ playlist or an ‘Existing’ one..

 

(iv)  You can also add any individual song to a ‘New’ or ‘Existing’ playlist directly from the chord screen for any of the songs in Quartet. Tap the ‘+’ symbol at the top right of any song chord screen to add that song to a playlist.

Tip: You can easily add more songs to an existing playlist either by selecting specific songs from the ‘Song Library’ (which is viewable within any playlist below the dotted line underneath the last song in your playlist), or to add more songs in bulk, by conducting another song search using the search box, tapping ‘Select all’ followed by ‘Save Selected’ and adding them all to your ‘existing’ playlist.

B) Deleting songs from playlists

To delete songs from a playlist, first open up the playlist in ‘My Playlists’. ‘My Playlists’ can be found by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘My Playlists’ from the pop-up list.

To view the playlist, simply tap on the album artwork of the relevant playlist.

Delete a song by tapping the ‘X’ symbol in the ‘Remove’ column towards the right of the screen.

When you’re done, exit the amended playlist by tapping the ‘X’ symbol in the top left corner of the screen.

C) Changing the order of songs in playlists

To change the order of songs in a playlist, first open up the playlist in ‘My Playlists’. ‘My Playlists’ can be found by first tapping the circular ‘menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘My Playlists’ from the pop-up list.

To view the playlist, simply tap on the album artwork of the relevant playlist.

To move a song to a different position in the list, hold the 3 horizontal white lines of the song you want to move and drag it to its new position in the playlist.

When you’re done, exit the amended playlist by tapping the ‘X’ symbol in the top left corner of the screen. The playlist will always display the album artwork of the first song in the list.

D) Playing playlists: manual or auto play

To play a playlist, first open up the playlist in ‘My Playlists’. ‘My Playlists’ can be found by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘My Playlists’ from the pop-up list.

Autoplay

By default, all playlists you create are set to autoplay.

To play a playlist in autoplay, open up the playlist by tapping on the album artwork for that playlist (in the ‘My Playlists’ screen) and tap the large white play triangle on the right hand side of the screen. This opens up the chord screen of the first song in the playlist. You will have to manually start this first song by tapping the play triangle at the bottom left of the screen in the usual way.

The playlist will now automatically play through each song, leaving a 3 second gap between the end of one song and the beginning of the next.

You can manually skip songs in the playlist while in auto play by tapping the < and > symbols which appear at the top left of the chord screen in all songs when they are in a playlist.

To exit a playlist in autoplay, simply tap the ‘X’ symbol in the top left-hand corner of the screen which will return you back to the playlist view.

Playlists play each song in their most recent ‘saved state’. So all song settings that have been applied to the individual songs in your playlist will be retained. This includes count-in settings. You can easily switch off count-in settings for all songs across all the Quartet apps you own within the ‘Global Settings’ panel. Refer to ‘Global Settings’ for more detailed information.

Manual play

To set your playlist to manual play rather than autoplay, first open up the playlist in ‘My Playlists’ by tapping the album artwork. Now toggle the ‘autoplay’ switch left to disable it. The ‘autoplay’ on/off switch can be found at the top-left of the playlist view once the playlist has been opened.

E) Exporting and importing playlists

You can export any playlist created in Quartet either to share with another Quartet user or to save as a back up. Playlists can be imported into Quartet and once imported will automatically sync across each edition of Quartet that you own so that they can be viewed within the ‘My Playlists’ screen of all of the Quartet editions that you own.

To export a playlist, go to the ‘My Playlists’ screen. ‘My Playlists’ can be found by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘My Playlists’ from the pop-up list. Tap the Export icon (in the Export column) for the playlist you want to export. This will bring up the standard Apple dialogue box. Now choose a destination you want to save your playlist to e.g. ‘Save to Files’ (iPhone/iPad) or ‘Desktop’ (Mac).

To import a playlist, go to the ‘My Playlists’ screen by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button at the top right of the ‘Search+’ screen and then selecting ‘My Playlists’ from the pop-up list. Tap the Import icon which can be found at the very top right of the ‘My Playlists’ screen. Now highlight the playlist you are importing and tap ‘Open’ on the dialogue box.

8. Exporting audio

Introduction

There are two ways to export songs from Quartet.

You can export a stereo mix of any of the songs in Quartet as an m4a file (i.e. mp3 equivalent) which will capture all of the adjustments you have made to the song including: tempo, key, number of repeats, mix (preset alternative mix or custom mix), reverb settings, ‘Arranger’ settings and count-in and metronome (on/off) settings. You can easily switch off count-in settings for all songs across all the Quartet apps you own within the ‘Global Settings’ panel. Refer to ‘Global Settings’ for more detailed information.

Alternatively, if you want to download the separated parts for any of the songs in high quality .WAV format (i.e. the multitrack) you can select this option.

Please note that the separated parts (i.e. the multitrack) can only be downloaded in their native key and tempo and may not include the number of song repeats you are looking for. However, this option delivers the files as a GarageBand Project all ready set up ready to remix/edit. Many Quartet users choose to extract the high-quality audio files from the Garage Band Project folder and use their own preferred DAW for further production work e.g. Logic, ProTools. For this reason, all of the separated parts are ‘dry’ (without reverb or other FX) to allow users to use their own audio plug-ins most effectively.

A) Exporting a stereo mix

To export a stereo mix tap the export/share icon at the top right of the song chord screen. On iPhone (only), access to export/share screen is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘Share’ tab.

Tap the first option at the top of the export/share screen marked ‘EXPORT STEREO MIX’ and the song will download in a few seconds. The standard Apple dialogue box will then appear. Now select a suitable destination for your downloaded m4a file.

B) Exporting the separated parts as high quality WAV files as a GarageBand project

To export the separated parts for a song in high-quality .WAV format, tap the export/share icon at the top right of the song chord screen. On iPhone (only), access to export/share screen is made by first tapping the ‘circular menu’ button (top right of the chord screen) followed by the ‘Share’ tab.

Tap the second option marked ‘EXPORT SEPARATE PARTS AS A GARAGEBAND PROJECT’ and the song will download as a Garage Band Project zip file. The standard Apple dialogue box will then appear. Now select a suitable destination to save the GarageBand Project file to.

C) Opening up the GarageBand Project file in GarageBand

If you decide to remix/edit the song within GarageBand (iOS app or Mac desktop), make sure you have GarageBand installed on your device.
Open up the zip file and follow the prompts. The song will open up in GarageBand on the grid all ready to play/edit. Cutting and pasting sections of the song or adding FX is a straightforward process in GarageBand since the .WAV files for each instrument will be already in place on the timeline and easily identifiable.

D) Extracting the separated parts of a song from the GarageBand Project folder for use in a different DAW

If you decide not to remix/edit the song in GarageBand but prefer to use another DAW, then you need to extract the .WAV files (i.e. the separated audio files) from the GarageBand Project folder.

This is best done on a Mac or PC rather than an iOS device.

First unzip the GarageBand Project folder. Now right click on the unzipped folder to view its contents. The .WAV files can be found in the subfolder entitled ‘Media’. Open this subfolder and drag the files to a suitable destination.

The .WAV files can now be imported into any popular DAW and will ‘snap to grid’ once the correct tempo has been set up on the receiving DAW.

9. Looping sections of a song

To set up a loop in order to practice a section of a song, tap the ‘loop’ icon which can be found in the bottom left hand corner of any of the song chord screens just below the main Play button.

This action sets up a default 4-bar loop beginning with the bar which the song was playing when you tapped the ‘loop’ button. The song will play this section over and over until you tap the ‘loop’ button again to deactivate the loop.

To extend (or shorten) the loop from its default 4-bar length, tap the first and then the last bars of the custom loop you are wanting to create. The song will now play this section over and over until you tap the ‘loop’ button again to deactivate the loop.

10. Adding text notes or comments for a particular song

To add your own text notes or comments for a particular song, locate the song ‘Notes’ panel for a specific song. This is located on the song chord screen right under the end bar of the song.

Text that you add in the song ‘Notes’ panel for any song are automatically saved and are searchable using the search box in the ‘Search+’ section of the app.

11. Connectivity

Currently, Quartet will connect to other external devices via Bluetooth or Apple Airplay.

A) To connect Quartet to external devices via Bluetooth

First establish a connection between your iOS or Mac device and your external Bluetooth product (e.g. Bluetooth speaker). Quartet will now play through the external Bluetooth product rather than the internal speakers of your iOS or Mac device.

B) To connect to external devices via Apple Airplay

You can stream Quartet to Apple AirPlay compatible devices by performing the following set-up process:

1. First make sure your Apple device and your AirPlay compatible TV or speakers are on the same network
2. Now play a song from Quartet on your Apple device
3. Now close the Quartet app which is currently playing and the song should continue to play in the background
4. On your Apple device swipe down from the top right to open the ‘Control Centre’
5. In the ‘Media control’ section (of the ‘Control Centre’) you should now see the Quartet song album artwork of the song you are playing
6. Tap on the AirPlay icon to the right of this artwork
7. Select the compatible AirPlay device that you want to stream audio to, and close the ‘Control Centre’
8. Now go back to the Quartet app on your Apple device and play Quartet as usual with audio now streaming through your external AirPlay compatible device.

12. Mac ‘shortcuts’

If you are using Quartet on a Mac device, there are number of useful shortcuts we have added to speed up your workflow:

13. Legal notices

The music featured in Quartet (i.e. all volumes of the Quartet app and the exportable separated musical parts (‘stems’) is licensed to users who purchase the Quartet app – it is not sold to you.

The content is licensed to users on a non-exclusive, royalty-free basis so that they may use elements of the content in developing their own musical works, but there are certain legal restrictions which you must be aware of. Please read the whole of this legal notice.

All rights not expressly granted to the user are reserved.

The user, in purchasing and downloading the Quartet app from the App Store, has the legal right to use the Quartet content in a public commercial setting without restriction and also has the right to extract elements of this content for use in creating their own original music compositions.

Please make sure that you credit the Quartet app when you upload/publish music which incorporates elements of of music sourced from Quartet using the following form of words: “This recording incorporates music sourced from the Quartet jazz standards play along app. More information at www.quartetapp.com”

The user however, may not do any of the following:

i) Distribute, upload or publish any of the music tracks from Quartet without first making material changes to the track;

ii) Distribute, upload or publish any of the tracks in Quartet to form part of a database, library or collection of backing tracks in any form whatsoever – commercial or otherwise – and whether or not the track has first been modified. This includes (but is not limited to) the following examples: an online collection of backing tracks; a collection of backing tracks for online stores or streaming services; a collection of backing tracks for music tuition/education services (online or otherwise); a CD/DVD of backing tracks; the creation of any competitor product or service such as (but not limited to) a music app;

iii) Distribute, upload or publish any element of any of the tracks in Quartet to form part of a database, library or collection of music loops or music samples or similar, in any form whatsoever – commercial or otherwise. This includes (but is not limited to) the following examples: an online collection of loops/samples; a collection of loops/samples for online stores or streaming services; a CD/DVD/pack of loops/samples; in the creation of any competitor product such as a music app, an expansion pack, a virtual instrument;

iv) Distribute, upload or publish multiple tracks from Quartet to form part of a database, library or collection of music tracks in any form whatsoever – commercial or otherwise – whether or not the tracks have first been modified. This includes (but is not limited to) the following examples: an online collection of tracks; a collection of tracks for online stores or streaming services; a collection of tracks for music tuition/education services (online or otherwise); a CD/DVD of tracks; in the creation of any competitor product or service such as a music app;

v) Re-sell any element of the content of Quartet or pass its content on to a third party. All copying, duplication, lending, renting, re-selling, uploading, file sharing or unauthorised trading of content is strictly prohibited by international copyright law and UK Music Apps Ltd will take legal action against any individual, persons or company who contravene this copyright notice. All UK Music Apps Ltd content is digitally watermarked for this purpose;

vi) Reference the names of any of the musicians featured on any of the Quartet apps as having played on the user’s own musical compositions.

If you wish to modify or adapt tracks from Quartet or extract elements of the content for use within your own music compositions, and having considered the prohibitions above, please be careful not to infringe the copyright of other copyright holders e.g. by way of an existing tune or melody.

UK Music Apps Ltd cannot be held responsible for any third-party breaches of copyright.

UK Music Apps Ltd reserves the right to amend the song content included in the Quartet app series at any time.

If you have any questions about using content featured in any of the Quartet apps, please contact us: hello@quartetapp.com