dave_bass5 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) As above. I need to make up some set lists for the band, to be printed off. Ive been struggling with Excel/Pages (and less so with Word), but i think it will be easier with a proper app/program. The criteria is this. I want to enter all our songs, along with keys and length in to a main list/database. Then i want to be able to drag them around in to sets, and at all times i want to see the total running time of that set as i build it if that makes sense. Not looking for a song book app as such, i wont be using it live, its just for organising the lists and seeing at a glance how long they are. Would prefer Mac, but iOS is also fine. Ive seen Setlist maker on the Mac store and that seems ideal. Cheap as well. Thanks for any advice. Edited November 28, 2023 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Excel will do what you describe easily enough, I'd say. Given a total list of all the songs, with a column to indicate that they be included or not in a filter, a total running time would be a simple 'Sum' of the individual time column. It sounds easy enough to me, at least. I can't think of any easier way to do it, nor specific 'set list' software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 13 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: Excel will do what you describe easily enough, I'd say. Given a total list of all the songs, with a column to indicate that they be included or not in a filter, a total running time would be a simple 'Sum' of the individual time column. It sounds easy enough to me, at least. I can't think of any easier way to do it, nor specific 'set list' software. Thanks. Thats what i have at the moment, but i really don’t get on with Excel. I find it frustrating and get very annoyed with it (and myself). I can get on with the dragging up and down etc, but it’s when im creating new lists that i really struggle with, and the fact that printing to PDF as A4 seems like near impossible. Ive spent a few years doing this and still find it frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 1 minute ago, dave_bass5 said: Thanks. Thats what i have at the moment, but i really don’t get on with Excel. I find it frustrating and get very annoyed with it (and myself). I can get on with the dragging up and down etc, but it’s when im creating new lists that i really struggle with, and the fact that printing to PDF as A4 seems like near impossible. Ive spent a few years doing this and still find it frustrating. No dragging up or down with the simple list I'm doing right now. Just put a '1' in the 'To Be Included' column and it's all ready. I'll post it here in a few minutes, if you want..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 7 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: No dragging up or down with the simple list I'm doing right now. Just put a '1' in the 'To Be Included' column and it's all ready. I'll post it here in a few minutes, if you want..? Thanks but ive just purchased Setlist Maker for Mac. I know Excel is very powerful, but i also i know i hate it with a passion lol. I even prefer Numbers to Excel. My wife is very good with Excel but i just think something more dedicate, that can also hold the song charts etc might be the way forward. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) Here's my simple 'xls' file anyway, in case it helps someone... Running Time Set List1.xls Edited November 28, 2023 by Dad3353 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 Thanks for that. I’ll have a look at some point, but after an hour with Setlist Maker im blown away with it. Got my sets sorted already. In the time it took to do that i would still be trying to get Excel to output a centre justified A4 PDF 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Excel is going to be as easy and intuitive to use as anything; I'm not entirely certain what a 'proper app/program' (your words) is or what it's supposed to deliver. The basic fundamentals of any program are going to be dragging/copying/cutting/pasting, if you can't handle these, then the way forward is going to be paper and a Sharpie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: Excel is going to be as easy and intuitive to use as anything; I'm not entirely certain what a 'proper app/program' (your words) is or what it's supposed to deliver. The basic fundamentals of any program are going to be dragging/copying/cutting/pasting, if you can't handle these, then the way forward is going to be paper and a Sharpie. Why say that? Thats just crap if you ask me. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean others can or even want to. So the fact that i say i dont get on with it (i still use it) means, in your eyes, i need to use paper and pen? Please go away Edited November 29, 2023 by dave_bass5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 2 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said: Why say that? Thats just crap if you ask me. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean others can or even want to. My mother-in- law is 87 and she does her shopping lists in Excel. My mother did the same until she died. 87 as well. It's really not crap. There's this loose rule that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you a virtuoso; I could sit pretty much anyone in front of a computer and teach them Excel fundamentals in under an hour. If you know how to type (you replied here, so yes), if you know how to use a mouse, it's easy as making a cup of tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 13 hours ago, dave_bass5 said: I know Excel is very powerful, but i also i know i hate it with a passion. I know this song I had to use it all the time, was quite good with it, but it always felt like it was a badly-designed tool. Hope you get on with the set list software - if it works for you, then job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 1 hour ago, ahpook said: I know this song I had to use it all the time, was quite good with it, but it always felt like it was a badly-designed tool. Hope you get on with the set list software - if it works for you, then job done. Cheers. I use it on a daily basis at work, just doing pricing and stuff, so i know it’s capable, but i don’t actually set it up myself so I’ve not delved too deep. Been using it for a good few years for set lists but to always seems to take longer than it should to do the most simple things. I’m find with design programs like InDesign, Illustrator etc, but the Microsoft stuff still catches me out. i am blown away with what Setlist maker can do, and I’m sure I’ll make more use of its features. A big plus is that once you have added a song to a set list it gets greyed out in the main list. I can’t believe the amount of times I’ve added a song twice or more to a list 🙄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted December 2, 2023 Author Share Posted December 2, 2023 (edited) So i went with Setlist maker, and was really happy with it, but i found i couldn’t really get a layout i wanted. It’s easy enough to copy the text and put it in to Word or Pages etc, so not a big deal. I’ll only need to do this for those that want it printed out. But…i have now gone over to Band Helper. Very much the same as far as what i want, but i can use it on all my devices. Edited December 2, 2023 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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