03-27-2023, 05:21 AM
There are several scenarios where having multiple versions of a song is going to be important to some users:
1) In a band/orchestra/choir where a single central library contains every song entry, but each musician may need to view a different version of a particular score. When using the "Connect Tablets" feature to have one person control the other tablets, there is no good solution to handle this, because if you had a different song entry for each version, then the conductor/leader can't just load one song and everyone else immediately sees the correct version they need. The song versioning will solve this because you can have multiple versions of one song, and I plan to add a "role" type setting which lets you assign a version to a particular role. Each musician then only needs to change one toggle (their role) and they will always see the correct version of every song in the library without having to fiddle with anything.
2) Many users want one version of a song for practicing and one for performance. If this is done for every song in the library, the song list gets incredibly cluttered. Having one song entry with multiple versions means it would be simple to change between practice and performance (especially if coupled with a role for each given my plans described above).
3) Having multiple entries of a song in multiple keys. Similar to number #2, some musicians play multiple instruments, and while they can effectively accomplish separating songs per instrument using collections or different libraries, having multiple versions and a way to easily switch versions depending on which instrument is played may be a superior solution in some situations.
To clarify, with the song versioning, the plan is that each song version can have different metadata, files, annotations, link points, bookmarks, etc (although as described above, I'm still thinking through the metadata part of it). There will just be one entry on the library screen, and a dropdown that lets you switch versions. When adding a song to a setlist, it will be possible to choose which version of the song to use in the setlist.
The song versioning will take many months to implement and test, as I have to make changes on all three platforms and the companion app, and also test every feature in the application with all the different combinations of settings.
Mike
1) In a band/orchestra/choir where a single central library contains every song entry, but each musician may need to view a different version of a particular score. When using the "Connect Tablets" feature to have one person control the other tablets, there is no good solution to handle this, because if you had a different song entry for each version, then the conductor/leader can't just load one song and everyone else immediately sees the correct version they need. The song versioning will solve this because you can have multiple versions of one song, and I plan to add a "role" type setting which lets you assign a version to a particular role. Each musician then only needs to change one toggle (their role) and they will always see the correct version of every song in the library without having to fiddle with anything.
2) Many users want one version of a song for practicing and one for performance. If this is done for every song in the library, the song list gets incredibly cluttered. Having one song entry with multiple versions means it would be simple to change between practice and performance (especially if coupled with a role for each given my plans described above).
3) Having multiple entries of a song in multiple keys. Similar to number #2, some musicians play multiple instruments, and while they can effectively accomplish separating songs per instrument using collections or different libraries, having multiple versions and a way to easily switch versions depending on which instrument is played may be a superior solution in some situations.
To clarify, with the song versioning, the plan is that each song version can have different metadata, files, annotations, link points, bookmarks, etc (although as described above, I'm still thinking through the metadata part of it). There will just be one entry on the library screen, and a dropdown that lets you switch versions. When adding a song to a setlist, it will be possible to choose which version of the song to use in the setlist.
The song versioning will take many months to implement and test, as I have to make changes on all three platforms and the companion app, and also test every feature in the application with all the different combinations of settings.
Mike