ScatAbility 4+

Leafcutter Studios Ltd

    • 2.0 • 1 Rating
    • Free
    • Offers In-App Purchases

Screenshots

Description

ScatAbility is a practice app for scat singing. It utilizes the simple method of listening and imitation to get you scatting quickly, and musically. The focus is on singing, not thinking, similar to the immersion process of learning a language. Knowledge of theory, jazz chord types, progressions and scales, though beneficial, are not required to use this product.

ScatAbility is easy to use: sing exercises, call & response and etudes with great jazz singers including Darmon Meader, Rosana Eckert, Greg Jasperse, Kate Reid, Justin Binek, Michele Weir, John Proulx, and more to be added soon. Mute the vocals to practice on your own with the backing tracks, and when ready, record yourself, listen back, then export for other uses!

ScatAbility's creator, Michele Weir (MichMusic) is a renowned teacher who has powerfully influenced the development of jazz education around the world through her workshops, books and other materials. Michele's arrangements have been performed by The Manhattan Transfer, The Swingle Singers and New York Voices, and she currently serves on the faculty at University of Southern California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

www.michmusic.com

FEATURES

• Vocal demos by professional jazz singers.
• User-friendly. No knowledge of jazz theory (chords, scales, progressions) required.
• Ability to record yourself singing with the backing track, listen to it, and export your recording.
• Three different product types: Exercises, Etudes and Call and Response.
• Backing tracks available in a wide variety of rhythmic styles, instrumentation and difficulty levels.
• Loop function allows for repeating any section of a track for targeted practice.
• Use the halfway locate function to optionally begin practice at the 2nd half of the track.
• Countoff on/off button to bypass countoff when desired.
• A synth track (vibes sound) that duplicates the vocal is an optional alternative to practicing with the vocal, allowing for greater flexibility in development of personal style and syllable use.
• The mixer allows for adjusting volume levels or muting any given fader: backing, vocal, or synth.
• The chord progression for each exercise is provided and can be visually tracked in real time.
• Complete In-app glossary.


BENEFITS

• Practice anywhere, anytime.
• Learn to scat sing in different rhythmic styles and tempos.
• Develop a great sense of rhythm feel (groove, pocket, articulation) by modeling the demo vocals.
• Get comfortable with a wide variety of different syllables.
• Develop a superior ear for hearing chord progressions and interesting licks and melodic lines.
• Learn to sound stylistically authentic: jazz inflections, vibrato use, tone colors, articulation, vocal turns, and more.
• Organize jam sessions with small groups of friends, anywhere, anytime.
• Prepare for performance by recording then listening back to evaluate.
• Use the Etude backing tracks for practice at singing jazz standard song melodies and lyrics.
• Transcribe the Etude tracks to improve musicianship.

ScatAbility can be applied to use in the classroom; find specific methods and creative ideas for working with groups in the app INFO pages.

What’s New

Version 2.11

This update fixes an issue on iOS14 where downloads fail to install. We've also added the ability to listen to the app over Bluetooth.

Ratings and Reviews

2.0 out of 5
1 Rating

1 Rating

Imaginegeorgia ,

Not priced or packaged properly

Great idea, but practice packs should be by level, not singer. There is no point for a beginner to buy a pack with practice tracks beyond their ability. For the price, there should be more tracks in each practice package.

drosboro ,

Disappointing

I’ve been waiting for this app for months, since I teach vocal jazz and thought it would be a great practice tool for my students. However, the in-app purchases of “song packs” are priced so high (7 packs @ $10 each) that I can’t expect my students to purchase it for themselves. The song packs are “canned” Band-in-a-Box tracks, with professionals scatting over the computer-generated track. There’s only 5 tracks per pack, but you already get one from each pack for free in the sampler the app comes with - so really you’re only getting 4 tracks for your money.

I would have loved to use the “call-and-response” tracks in my class as warmups, but since each song pack only includes 2 call-and-response tracks, I’d have to spend about $70 in in-app purchases to get a decent and varied selection to work with.

Finally, I thought maybe I could use this in the car to scat along with myself on the way to work. Unfortunately, it doesn’t at the moment work correctly with Bluetooth audio. So, I’ve struck out there too.

Two stars instead of one, because the pros doing the scatting are really some of the best vocal jazz performers and teachers on the planet. However, the pricing and organization of the song-packs is a deal-breaker. It would be a big improvement if they would a) provide more tracks for the money, b) allow you to purchase individual songs (for a student, buying a couple of tunes they really need would still be more compelling), and c) provide packs organized by track type (Etude, Call & Response, Exercise) rather than by singer. As it currently stands, it’s just not worth it.

App Privacy

The developer, Leafcutter Studios Ltd, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.

Data Not Collected

The developer does not collect any data from this app.

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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