BandPilot | Band & Choir App for Songs and Setlists

Everyone has a different version

The setlist is buried in the group chat, the charts sit in three folders, and the bass player still plays the old ending. Right before the gig, half the band is hunting for the right PDF. In the choir, the director emails practice tracks, and whoever joins later never gets them.

BandPilot turns this into one shared library. Whoever swaps a lead sheet or reorders the setlist does it once. Everyone else has it on their phone right away.

The band’s song list on a tablet with artist, key, length, year, status and flags

Upload once, everyone has it

Each song carries its lead sheets as PDFs, audio recordings, YouTube links, key, tempo and length. Everything is stored centrally, and every change reaches the whole group at once. Songs, lead sheets and audio are stored offline on your mobile device, so they are available in a rehearsal room without Wi-Fi and on stage.

Files and links for the song “Ironic”: one lead sheet, four audio files and five YouTube videos, the studio version marked as reference — A song’s lead sheet, audio and videos, the reference version marked.

Crop editor with a lead sheet, corner handles and the Auto Crop and Hide buttons — Crop and hide pages, for the whole band.

Crop a PDF and hide pages. Do it once, everyone sees it that way.
One reference version per song: the lead sheet, recording and video the band plays from.
Decide per voice or role who sees which files. The altos see the alto parts.
Share files from other apps straight into BandPilot.
BandPilot stores songs, setlists, rehearsals and ratings centrally. Uploaded files such as lead sheets and audio live in your own storage, for example Google Drive.

Web app: file visibility for a choir piece, set for the soprano voice — In the web app: who sees which file, here for the sopranos.

Gig and concert: the setlist app on your music stand

Open the setlist and BandPilot shows the lead sheets in the order of the night. A tap at the edge turns the page, the page slider jumps anywhere. Before each song a short intro shows the band’s comments, your own notes and the song that comes next.

Lead sheet on a tablet with the setlist navigator open: sets, songs, add song and audience request — The navigator on a tablet: sets, running order, audience request.

Song intro for “When You’re Gone” with a description, a band comment and a personal note — The song intro with band comments and your own notes.

Choir score on a phone with the audio player of the choir version — A choir score with the player for the choir version.

Setlists with several sets and an encore, total length per set.
The setlist navigator: jump, reorder, slot a song in, for everyone at once.
Audience request: call up a song in between without changing the setlist.
Long scores: a tap in the upper corner jumps far ahead.
For playback: on a song change, the matching recording can start by itself and fade out at the next song.

Audio player on a tablet over a lead sheet: key, tempo, A–B loop and four recordings of the song — The player: key, tempo, A–B loop, every recording of a song.

Rehearsal on Tuesday, October 27, 6:30 pm with five songs and one person absent — A rehearsal with songs, date and who is missing.

Plan rehearsals, practise at home

Plan rehearsals with a date, blocks and who will be missing, and email the band about it. For practice, the player plays any recording in your key and at your tempo: up to six semitones up or down, from 50 to 150 percent, with an A–B loop for the hard part. Your settings are yours alone. Admins and editors can save them for the whole band.

YouTube search in the app with the version “Official” and several results — YouTube search with versions.

YouTube player in the app with tempo, volume and several videos of a song — Videos with tempo and loop.

Find the right recording inside the app: the YouTube search knows versions such as live, karaoke, backing track or instrumental. Videos play with a loop and your own tempo, too.

For bands, choirs, musicians and anyone who loves to play

Bands

Suggest new songs, rate them from one to five stars, veto if you must. The status shows how far a song has come, from suggested to stage-ready. Gig setlists with sets and an encore.

Choirs

Sheet music and practice tracks per voice, soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The concert programme in blocks, rehearsals in blocks. MuseScore files can be attached.

Just for you

Whether around the campfire, at a family party or alone in your living room: your favourite songs with lyrics, chords and recordings always with you, setlists for the next evening, and collections to share songs with others.

More than a personal sheet music folder

Apps like MobileSheets or SongbookPro are strong when one person manages their own music. BandPilot starts with the group. The library belongs to the band or choir, every member has a role, and rehearsals, setlists and ratings hang off the same songs. What you need for yourself stays yours: your own notes, key and tempo.

A MobileSheets library can be imported in the web app.

The band’s song list in the web app with columns for artist, key, BPM, media and status

Built by a musician who couldn’t find the right app

I’m Robert from Karlsruhe, Germany, an active musician in various bands for more than 15 years and a choir singer for over 40.

In 2013 I started moving from paper sheet collections to digital sheet music, and since then I have tried many apps for managing songs and lead sheets, switching several times. None of them really satisfied me. In the end I used several in parallel and still had to fill the missing features with elaborate Excel sheets.

As an experienced computer scientist, I always thought: this has to be possible in a better way. So I built BandPilot, at first just for myself, with the goal of combining the best of several apps in one solution.

Become a beta tester

BandPilot is in beta and not publicly available yet. I am looking for bands, choirs and solo musicians who test BandPilot in everyday use and help me develop it further.

Beta testers who actively contribute feedback and suggestions for new features may keep using BandPilot free of charge and in full after the test phase, permanently.

Write to me through the form or directly at info@bandpilot.net.

FAQ

Is BandPilot free?

During the beta, yes. Beta testers who actively contribute feedback and suggestions may keep using BandPilot free of charge and in full after the test phase, permanently.

Does BandPilot run on Android and iPhone?

Yes, on Android phones and tablets, on iPhone and iPad, and in the browser as a web app. During the beta phase, beta testers get the Android app as an APK and the iPhone app via TestFlight.

Does BandPilot work offline?

Songs, lead sheets and audio you have loaded once can be read and played without a connection, on stage too. Editing offline is coming.

Is BandPilot a choir app too?

Yes. Choirs get voices instead of instruments, sheet music and practice tracks per voice, and a concert programme in blocks.

How is it different from MobileSheets or SongbookPro?

Those apps mainly manage one person’s music. In BandPilot the library belongs to the group, with roles, rehearsals, setlists and ratings. You can import a MobileSheets library in the web app.

Which files can I upload?

Lead sheets as PDF (recommended), JPG, PNG, HEIC or WebP, audio as MP3, M4A, AAC or FLAC, plus MuseScore files.

Where is my data stored?

Songs, setlists, rehearsals, ratings and notes live in BandPilot’s central database. Uploaded files, meaning lead sheets and audio, live in your own storage, for example Google Drive or S3-compatible storage. You connect it once you want to upload files.

How do I become a beta tester?

Sign up through the form or email info@bandpilot.net. Everything else follows by email.

Who do I ask if something doesn’t work?

Write to info@bandpilot.net.

The app for bands, choirs and anyone who loves to make music. Your songs on every phone.