Tired of lugging Realbooks and binders to the gig?
I've moved to using my iPad instead of paper, and while it takes some up front work, it is well worth it.
A secure mount for your iPad
You don't want to trash your iPad, so you need a secure way of mounting it. This stand adapter from IK Multimedia is the one I use. It is reasonably priced on Amazon. Easily mounts on either a mic stand, or a cymbal stand. Lots of flexibility on angle and orientation. Snap-in adapters convert for any generation full size iPad.
Software
You've got a few choices.
1) If you want to keep it simple, you can simply drag and drop your pdf versions of the Realbooks and other charts you may have into the iBook application on your Mac or PC (within iTunes). Then sync your iPad and the charts will show up in iBooks. Easy, simple, and free. Bud a bit clumsy at gigs.
2) iGigBook: A very powerful iPad app specifically designed to act as your gig librarian. You buy it in the iTunes Store. They don't provide any content, just the cataloging software. Most of us have a CD of all of the Realbooks and other fakebooks hanging around. iGigBook gives you a single, unified way to view and build set lists from all of your lead sheets - the Realbook pdfs, the secondary books on the CDs, and any pdf that you have created by scanning your own music or saving a file as a pdf. If the chart you have selected is from the Jazz 1200 pdf file, then you can click and transpose the chord chart on the fly (but no melodies). You can download the Jazz 1200 file free here, don't worry about it looking pixelated. After you build a setlist, you can export it (with all of the charts) as a single pdf and email it to other players on the gig, or print it out for players without iPads. (No more "which version of the Realbook are you reading from").
Their system is based on indices of the pdfs, where the index identifies which page number of the pdf contains which chart. For many of the standard files of fakebooks floating around, they have already done the work of indexing for you. You just have to rename the file to their standard names before you import it, and the indexing will be automatic. If you have a non-indexed pdf, you simply add bookmarks to the pdf file with the names of the tunes. You can also create a pdf with only one tune, and the filename of the pdf will become the tune name in iGigBook. Read more here.
3) iRealB: An amazing iPad (and Android) app that serves a completely different purpose - it's a "music minus one" practice tool. You purchase it in either the iTunes Store or the Google Play Store. You load "playlists" into the app that contain chord changes (not melodies) for tunes and you can control key, tempo, feel, count-in, and looping. You can control volume for piano, bass, and drums, as well as muting any one. Requires small additional purchases for certain "packs" but works fine in the bare bones version. Their forum has links to lots of free iRealB playlists in different styles that folks share, including the Jazz 1200 file that is also used in iGigBook. Read this posting in their forum to get a good start on the technical side.
4) There is a metronome imbedded in iRealB, but when I am practicing without iRealB I like the Visual Metronome which you can also buy in the iTunes Store.
5) If the charts you are using are multiple pages, you might want a Bluetooth page turner like the BT-105. I haven't tested it with iGigBook, but it should work. Turning pages with a swipe is pretty easy, but if you need hands free this looks like a good solution.
1) If you want to keep it simple, you can simply drag and drop your pdf versions of the Realbooks and other charts you may have into the iBook application on your Mac or PC (within iTunes). Then sync your iPad and the charts will show up in iBooks. Easy, simple, and free. Bud a bit clumsy at gigs.
2) iGigBook: A very powerful iPad app specifically designed to act as your gig librarian. You buy it in the iTunes Store. They don't provide any content, just the cataloging software. Most of us have a CD of all of the Realbooks and other fakebooks hanging around. iGigBook gives you a single, unified way to view and build set lists from all of your lead sheets - the Realbook pdfs, the secondary books on the CDs, and any pdf that you have created by scanning your own music or saving a file as a pdf. If the chart you have selected is from the Jazz 1200 pdf file, then you can click and transpose the chord chart on the fly (but no melodies). You can download the Jazz 1200 file free here, don't worry about it looking pixelated. After you build a setlist, you can export it (with all of the charts) as a single pdf and email it to other players on the gig, or print it out for players without iPads. (No more "which version of the Realbook are you reading from").
Their system is based on indices of the pdfs, where the index identifies which page number of the pdf contains which chart. For many of the standard files of fakebooks floating around, they have already done the work of indexing for you. You just have to rename the file to their standard names before you import it, and the indexing will be automatic. If you have a non-indexed pdf, you simply add bookmarks to the pdf file with the names of the tunes. You can also create a pdf with only one tune, and the filename of the pdf will become the tune name in iGigBook. Read more here.
3) iRealB: An amazing iPad (and Android) app that serves a completely different purpose - it's a "music minus one" practice tool. You purchase it in either the iTunes Store or the Google Play Store. You load "playlists" into the app that contain chord changes (not melodies) for tunes and you can control key, tempo, feel, count-in, and looping. You can control volume for piano, bass, and drums, as well as muting any one. Requires small additional purchases for certain "packs" but works fine in the bare bones version. Their forum has links to lots of free iRealB playlists in different styles that folks share, including the Jazz 1200 file that is also used in iGigBook. Read this posting in their forum to get a good start on the technical side.
4) There is a metronome imbedded in iRealB, but when I am practicing without iRealB I like the Visual Metronome which you can also buy in the iTunes Store.
5) If the charts you are using are multiple pages, you might want a Bluetooth page turner like the BT-105. I haven't tested it with iGigBook, but it should work. Turning pages with a swipe is pretty easy, but if you need hands free this looks like a good solution.