We've just had a gig where we didn't prepare the setlist as a whole sequence, we just alphabetically took a list of songs with us and played what we felt like.
So during the gig we just ticked off the songs we've played to not repeat any. Is there a way to determine/view the order I've ticked off the songs retrospectively? So I could now adjust the setlist afterwards to reflect the actual order we've played the songs in?
Edit: Or maybe activate a function for those occasions to move ticked off songs to the bottom of the list. That way it'll get sorted automatically.
No, you can see which songs you played but the app doesn't track what order you played them in.
Ok, would that maybe be something to consider as a new function like in the edited part?
This is on my wish list and I'll add a vote for you.
Thanks a lot :)
Excuse my ignorance but is your wishlist somewhere publicly visible so I could add votes to push other ideas as well?
No, the wish list is not public. It's enormous and it would take too much work to write up every item in a way that would be meaningful to users.
Ok, got it. Thanks anyway :)
Hi Arlo
I just played another gig today. And we're currently preparing a bunch of songs and decide which ones to play on the go.
For that I now just mainly use the quick search during the performance to look up a song and add it from there to the list on the go. I forgot about that function and it's really nice, as this also kind of replaces the function I requested above to keep track of the set, because I'm kind of creating the set on the go.
However, maybe the search could be improved slightly: Currently it's just checking for the song name in all of the (active I assume?) songs. Would it be possible to add a filter for setlists and smartlists?
That way I could create a dedicated "pool" of songs in a setlist or smart list and the search function would only look into these songs.
I'm also aware that in theory editing the setlist and adding a song already comes with the filter of setlists and smart lists, but those are quite some more clicks and to me it feels like this takes longer loading times, etc. The quick search is much quicker.
Do you think that would be possible somehow? :)
P.S.: Sorry for spamming so many requests and questions lately, but luckily I got to play some more gigs in different setups and projects, which is why my usage of BandHelper is extending as well :)
I recommend turning on the Title Shortcut option for the set list or smart list you want to draw from, then using the title shortcut to quickly switch to it and browse it:
https://www.bandhelper.com/tutorials/app_shortcuts.html#title
I have set a shortcut for that list already. But adding a song quickly from that list to my current performed setlist isn't resolved by that then.
Like written above I know I can add songs from a setlist via the setlist edit page, but I found the search function to be quicker. A combination of the search but only for a shortcut list would be my most preferred option. To me this request is about creating a setlist on the fly in a very quick manner without editing the whole setlist. Just adding song after song from suggestions of either our singer or the audience.
But I also understand your point of view.
Do you have so many songs that searching for the desired song isn't enough to narrow them down? How many results are you getting with a typical search?
No, it's not the number of songs. But if we're preparing a certain set of songs for the gig and creating the setlist on the fly, it would be cooler to not have the FULL set of ALL songs we have in the project, but only the ones we prepared on a certain setlist or smartlist.
Especially the randomizer function is great to catch a song from that list rather from ALL songs.
I hope that makes more sense.
So you're making a set list containing the songs you want to play, but not putting them in a predefined order, and you want to select from that list as you perform, is that right? In that case I'd recommend viewing that set list and adding the song numbers to your song list so you can check them off as you go. You could sort that song alphabetically to make it easier to find the songs you want -- that would be easier than typing a search term. Alternatively, you could group that set list by style or tempo to choose songs that fit a general criteria rather than choosing specific songs by title.
I actually could see a use case for this as well.
My band has very long set lists and that we use for weddings. We usually stick to the order but will sometimes need to jump to different sections on the set.
A simple "search current setlist" feature would be great to quickly to find a song in the set.
That's then coming back to my original feature request to be able to sort the setlist by played songs. Just checking them makes it more and more difficult during the gig to navigate as it is quite easy to miss unchecked songs on the list if you're quickly searching one.
Insider just described exactly that use case better than I did - thanks for that! :D
Navigating through the list to quickly find the correct song is, what would be helpful. I initially thought about searching across setlists or smartlists. But I think the most straight forward way would be to throw all songs into the set and from there with the search function create the order on the go.
So if the search function would have a toggle ,,only search this setlist" rather than all songs, it would do the trick :)
If you are looking for a particular song, I don't understand how searching just the current set list would have an advantage over searching the entire project. What are the different results you are hoping to get?
The only differences I can think of are 1) you might get two or three matches when searching the entire project compared to one match when searching just the set list, but it will still be just as easy to click the one match you want, and 2) if you accidentally try searching for a song that isn't in the set list, you'll still see it when searching all projects but you won't see it when searching a set list. This seems like an advantage of searching all projects because if you've decided you want to play a particular song, you should be able to quickly get to it even if it's not in the current set list.
Quote from: arlo on September 29, 2025, 08:49:51 AMIf you are looking for a particular song, I don't understand how searching just the current set list would have an advantage over searching the entire project. What are the different results you are hoping to get?
The only differences I can think of are 1) you might get two or three matches when searching the entire project compared to one match when searching just the set list, but it will still be just as easy to click the one match you want, and 2) if you accidentally try searching for a song that isn't in the set list, you'll still see it when searching all projects but you won't see it when searching a set list. This seems like an advantage of searching all projects because if you've decided you want to play a particular song, you should be able to quickly get to it even if it's not in the current set list.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way the search function works currently is that when you search a song, it adds it to the current spot in the setlist. This is great for adding a song that's not in the list or for adding a song again as a reprise. But I think what ChrisMikolaj and I are asking for is a simple way to search a current set and just jump to that song wherever it is in the set, rather than adding a new song.
If you search for and select a song that is already in the set list, that existing instance of the song will be selected; it won't be added again. (Unless Settings > General > Insert Duplicate Searched Songs is on, because some people do want it to be added again.)
Ahh ok, I didn't know that and I must have had that setting on without realizing.
However, I think there's still room for improvement in this search function. Like you were saying, it could be confusing if you have a lot of smart copies or alternate versions of the same songs.
For example, I have the song Mr. Brightside in our repertoire as well as a number of smart copies (Mr. Brightside VERSE CHORUS ONLY). I know Mr. Brightside is in the set but I'm not sure which version. If I search "Mr. Brightside", both versions will come up. If I happen to hit the right one, it will take me to that spot in the set. If I hit the wrong one, it will add it to the set.
Maybe there could be just a simple visual marker to indicate songs that are already in the set. Maybe just small text underneath that says "Set 1, song #1". Similarly, songs that are added multiple times (for reprises) could indicate that they are in the set multiple times already
Well, I'm still coming back to my original request. My main aim is to have the proper full setlist after we played it to be able to look at what we played in which order. Maybe it was good or we want to improve or whatever. I just like to have it archived as we played it.
So the current workflow is to prepare a list of songs we want to play and sort them alphabetically. Then during the gig we decide on what we want to play.
From there I will go to edit the setlist and move the song to the current position and so on and so forth. The outcome will be a setlist, that represents the order we've played the songs in.
Initially I asked if it would be possible to use the ticking off of the songs to sort the last ticked song to the bottom or something, then it would already be sorted the way we played in. However, I actually more recently figured out the function of the search, which (with the correct settings enabled as mentioned by Arlo above) can add the song even if it was in the set already.
That would already resolve my use case to have the correct setlist in the end. The nice thing about the search is the suggestion of 3 random songs. So the search function itself would already be what I could use perfectly to create a setlist on the go. But searching just within the active or a dedicated list would ease the process to me in my use case a lot.
The current way of editing the setlist takes way more clicks and takes longer loading times compared to the search or ticking off. That's why I thought it might be possible to "upgrade" either or both of these functions.
The use case of filtering out smart copies makes sense. Using the random song button only for set list songs also makes sense (although you can also do that from the Random Song button in the top toolbar of the set list view). I can also see the value of browsing the songs in the set list in alphabetical order rather than set list order. So in the next update, I'll add a Set List tab between Songs and MIDI Presets that limits the search to the songs in the current set list or smart list.
Quote from: arlo on September 30, 2025, 04:14:37 PMThe use case of filtering out smart copies makes sense. Using the random song button only for set list songs also makes sense (although you can also do that from the Random Song button in the top toolbar of the set list view). I can also see the value of browsing the songs in the set list in alphabetical order rather than set list order. So in the next update, I'll add a Set List tab between Songs and MIDI Presets that limits the search to the songs in the current set list or smart list.
These are great additions Arlo!
If I can make one more related suggestion regarding filtering smart copies: it would be helpful if there was some sort of "show only smart copies" button on the website. There's a "hide smart copies" button but it would be useful to only see smart copies to help clean up the repertoire
Quoteit would be helpful if there was some sort of "show only smart copies" button on the website
I can put that on the wish list.
Quote from: arlo on September 30, 2025, 04:14:37 PMThe use case of filtering out smart copies makes sense. Using the random song button only for set list songs also makes sense (although you can also do that from the Random Song button in the top toolbar of the set list view). I can also see the value of browsing the songs in the set list in alphabetical order rather than set list order. So in the next update, I'll add a Set List tab between Songs and MIDI Presets that limits the search to the songs in the current set list or smart list.
Awesome! Thank you so much! :)
In the new version 2025-10-03 released yesterday, the search window in the set list view has a "Set List" tab you can select to search only the current set list or smart list.
That is amazingly perfect! Thanks so much, I tested it and it fits the purpose exactly :)
Excellent.