iPhone/iTouch Apps : TabToolkit, Guitar Pro for your iPod!

     Recently,  Agile Partners ( the creators of GuitarToolkit, a best selling music app) came out with a new app for music tablature on your iPod or iPhone. It’s basically like a updated version of  Guitar Pro or Power Tab for your iPod, except you cant create tabs from the program itself, just view and play  them.  It has capability for alot of instruments with GP tabs or Power tabs. The sounds aren’t great and it doesn’t play bends ( though according to the developers they are working on that) it runs smoothly and sounds pretty good for a small mobile program.

     I was just gonna write a long explanation to how it works but I figured I should just write a short tutorial, which will show you how it works.

When you first open the app, it has some default tabs in it, like the Star Spangled Banner (the regular version, I prefer to play the advanced version which you can learn from www.JamPlay.com). To add your tabs, there are two different ways to do it. I will warn you that this app uses a pretty good bit of battery juice so the second option may be better.

1. There is a built in web browser with the app, get there by pressing the + symbol, and download tabs. This will bring you to the web browser ( and obviously this feature requires a Internet connection), from there just go to your favorite tab site. Search a tab and pick one you want. If it is a Power Tab or Guitar Pro tab, click download file on the page ( TabToolkit supports Guitar Pro tabs, Power Tabs, Text tabs, and PDF tablature). I use www.ultimate-guitar.com and I know that they’re tabs work, as far as I know all tabs do but I have heard otherwise. That will start downloading the file, which only takes a few seconds.  If its a text tab, load the page and wait a minute then you will probably see this:

 

Tap the red thing at the top and it will download and ask you to put in some info about it which isn’t necessary but very helpful.  That’s pretty much it for the first option.

 

2. Upload from your computer. At first I though I’d never use this but I actually love it. What you do is open the app and tap plus, but leave it on that page rather than tapping download tabs. It gives you a URL which is really http:// [your IP address]. Go there in your computers web browser, and if you should see this:

 

(I am assuming you have a GP file on your computer or a Power tab, or some form of tab.) Click “Add Files” and find the file if its a GP tab, etc. If its a text tab copy and paste it into the lower box. When you do this it sends it over your IP to your iPod, and your iPod downloads it. I usually do this while my ipod is charging. Please note that you have to be at the upload files page in the app, otherwise when you go to the page on your computer it won’t work and you’ll get an error from your browser.

So that’s how you get what you want on there, you just tap whatever tab you want to view and it shows up like this:

or if its a text tab like this:

 

 That’s the basics, but there are so many great features I decided to just add a couple videos from the developers.

This one is pretty much the commercial for it.

TabToolkit Intro from John Berry on Vimeo.

This one is demonstrating the sounds.

TabToolkit Instruments Sampler from John Berry on Vimeo.

 

Well that’s all for now, I will probably be putting some more posts involving any major updates. I really love this app and it can be purchased from the App Store for 9.99 it is a more expsensive app but it’s comepletly worth it.