Andrew Tuline

After some challenging experiences and unexpected results with Sync and Backup/Restore on SongbookPro, I think I’ve found a ‘version control’ solution that works for me.

My use case:

I volunteer at a local seniors center and run a weekly guitar drop-in session for the ~10 attendees. I’ll display songs on an overhead projector at 1920×1080 resolution (landscape mode), and they can play/sing along. If no one can lead the song, I’ll play the MP3 via Bluetooth to my amp.

Interestingly, most attendees are better guitar players than me. I just got caught up in the technology.

Purpose:

To test the backup and restore functionality of SongbookPro by clearing the database and restoring it to another device.

Assumption:

When I backup up a .SBP database, it should include all songs, related metadata, Sets and Folders. When I restore that database, the ‘contents of the destination’ should match the source 100%.

Purpose:

To test the synchronization functionality of SongbookPro.

Setup:

Configure Window 10 workstation running SongbookPro as the ‘source’ for songs, Sets and Folders, and an Android phone as the ‘destination’.

We’ll be testing adding/removing songs, folders, sets and songs within and see how these changes are replicated to the destination device.

tl;dr – If you haven’t performed major edits on your Ultimate Guitar chords library of songs, you may be better off just re-importing songs from scratch using the SongbookPro import tool.

If you have a lot of songs on Ultimate Guitar that you’ve edited and wish to keep, feel free to read on.

I’ve got almost 500 songs in my favourites in Ultimate Guitar, and across several playlists.

The issue: Ultimate Guitar has continued multiple technical issues on various platforms, making it unreliable for use in a live scenario.

The challenge: How to I ensure songs are available to view FULL screen at any time.

Introduction

Back in the day, I used to use paper based sheet music to play guitar, however I’ve since moved onto electronic devices to save and display my sheet music. Here’s my sleuthing to date on formats, devices and apps. In the case of the organization I work with, we had over 500 pages of sheet music, each person with variations of those page. We called it the ‘Sherpa collection’, because you needed a sherpa guide to carry the 4 books worth.