
BandHelper 4+
Organizational suite for bands
Arlo Leach
-
- Free
- Offers In-App Purchases
Screenshots
Description
Much more than a "songbook" app, BandHelper can organize your band and power your live show.
COMMUNICATE EFFORTLESSLY
• Distribute songs and set lists automatically to your bandmates
• Send standardized gig invitations and confirmations
• Maintain one organized source for gig details
• Give sub players all the charts and recordings they need for a gig
REHEARSE EFFICIENTLY
• Sync set list, lyric and chord updates as you work
• Play reference recordings instantly, with speed and loop controls
• Transpose chords for different singers, capo positions or horn keys
• Review notes and voice memos from previous rehearsals
PERFORM SEAMLESSLY
• Configure keyboards, effects and lighting as you change songs
• Play backing tracks, click tracks and video presentations
• Customize the interface or use foot switches for hands-free control
• Add custom fields for personal notes and reminders
MANAGE YOUR BAND PROFESSIONALLY
• Track income/expenses and let band members view their earnings
• Organize your booking and industry contacts
• Build stage plots to send to venues
• Generate invoices to send to clients
*** If you have a problem or a suggestion, please contact me before writing a review. I can't troubleshoot problems through the review system, but I respond promptly to all help tickets and posts in my support forum. ***
What’s New
Version 2025-06-06
* Added a Separate Line setting to the Share Set List page. If you select a field here, that field will appear on a separate line, with the other fields sharing a line as before. This allows you to display fields with longer text on printed set lists. This setting is disabled if the Email Format is set to HTML.
* Added an option for transparent stickie notes in the lyrics and document annotations. (The color selector will be black in the dark color theme and white in the light color theme.)
! Renamed Select Next Song On Song Completion to Auto-Advance Through Songs, and moved it from the layout details to the Settings > App Control page. That makes this setting device-specific instead of layout-specific.
* Added Other > Start/Stop Auto-Advance to the app control actions, and added Top Toolbar Buttons > Auto-Advance to the layout details, to quickly toggle the Auto-Advance Through Songs setting. You can turn this on or off during a song to change what will happen at the end of the song.
* Added Recordings > Record/Save In-App Recording to the app control actions, to quickly make an in-app recording. Triggering this action skips the recording levels preview and starts recording immediately. Triggering it again skips the save prompt and saves the recording with the default filename. You can use this action in a layout that doesn't include the recording controls. If the layout includes the single recording button, that will highlight and show a timer while recording.
• Renamed the Start/Stop Automation app control action to Play/Pause Automation to better reflect its behavior.
• Updated the volume and recording speed sliders in the set list view to allow clicking on either side of the current position to nudge the position in 1/32 increments. Clicking too quickly will be considered a double-click, which resets the slider to the default position.
• Updated the set list view to allow pinch-zooming a document while annotating it.
• Updated the stage plot Edit Layout page to allow dragging a zoomed stage plot with two fingers, instead of with one finger after a long-press, for consistency with the set list view.
• Updated the event edit page to allow adding one or more set lists to the event, which is more convenient when reusing an existing set list for a new event. You can still add a set list to an event from the set list edit page, which is more convenient when creating a new set list for an existing event.
• Updated the event list to show the user response counts instead of the event category names.
• Added Settings > Appearance > Stage Plot Date Updated to include the last saved date on stage plots.
• Updated the text search fields to ignore punctuation marks except apostrophes, to match the website search functionality.
• Updated the Settings > App Control > Actions list to include the document scroll amount if the Document Scroll Up action but not the Document Scroll Down action is added.
• Stopped adding an automatic Start marker to lyrics that have a marker before the first line when the first line contains ChordPro chords.
• Closed the "reconnecting" message automatically when the Live Sharing function automatically reconnects to a lead device.
• Enabled the Save button in picker windows after adding a new item with the + button.
• Disabled the Clear Formatting button on formatted text fields when no text is selected.
• Hid the renewal button in accounts that have been deleted.
Ratings and Reviews
Easy to get started, exciting Midi features
The main reason I was interested in this app was to take advantage of its Midi capabilities. I use a guitar synth that has a very clunky interface, (looking at you, Roland) and was looking for a way to streamline selecting patches, mostly between songs. It works perfectly for this application, connecting to my synth using a bluetooth midi adapter, and after spending some time setting up program changes in the app, my entire song list now automatically activates the correct patch for each song. One non-obvious thing also, you can add as many Midi Presets to a song as you want, and use that song as a menu to select presets when a song is not on the set list… Brilliant! If that was all it did, it would be worth the monthly fee to me, but it has much more capability than I’ll ever need.
I have found it easy to navigate, and getting started was a breeze. I can see that its mainstream value is in set lists, with lyrics and chords in your device in many different configurations, but the midi stuff is the thing that seals the deal for me.
Also I would like to compliment the developer on the outstanding tutorials and support docs; very complete and easy to understand.
Great App, great support, love it...
After carrying around binders of music for years in our 5 piece band, I decided last year to try a digital approach. My band mates were afraid at first and two of them continued to use binders. After a few months of seeing how easy and convenient my setup was (and realize how nice it is to have back lit music in a dark bar) they made the switch and we have not looked back. I am continually learning how to do new things with this app that push me further into automation (which, as a control freak guitarist scares me, but also allows me to focus on performing and less on nonsense). I should have made the switch years ago and I very much so appreciate this app. There is a yearly subscription fee to use the app, but once you realize you can bring a guitar and all the music you have ever learned in one guitar bag, you won’t mind. Plus, the developer is making constant improvements so I think of it more as an investment than a fee. Don’t listen to the negative comments. There is a little learning curve, as with anything, but invest the time off stage so that you can focus on the music on stage.
Great app for guitarists
I love this app because of three important benefits:
1) Split screen option which allows you to see the set list on one side along with the chord sheet on the other.
2) Custom fields. Because I use up to four different presets on a song, I needed an app that can store the bank and preset number for each preset used for each song. BandHelper allows you to create a seemingly unlimited number of custom fields for each song - no more need to rely on an excel spreadsheet that shows the presets needed for each song.
3) Very flexible display options: pick what fields you want shown on the main display for a song chart as well as on the set list. When you create a custom field, it automatically creates two additional versions of the field corresponding to the next song in the set list and the one after that. So on the display for a particular song, it can show the bank and preset for the next song coming up, the title of the the next song, the key, etc. — very cool!
I used it on a gig for the first time last week, with a Donner tablet page turner footpedal, and the combination worked flawlessly.
App Privacy
The developer, Arlo Leach, 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 Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Identifiers
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Arlo Leach
- Size
- 76.6 MB
- Category
- Music
- Compatibility
-
- iPhone
- Requires iOS 12.0 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 12.0 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 12.0 or later.
- Apple Watch
- Requires watchOS 3.1 or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
-
English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian Bokmål, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © Copyright 2013-2025 Arlo Leach, all rights reserved
- Price
- Free
- In-App Purchases
-
- Pro - 2-5 Users (month) $9.00
- Basic - Solo Artist (year) $18.00
- Pro - 6-20 Users (month) $14.00
- Basic - 2-5 Users (year) $46.00
- Plus - 6-20 Users (year) $104.99
- Pro - Solo Artist (year) $38.00
- Pro - 2-5 Users (year) $94.00
- Basic - 2-5 Users (month) $5.00
- Basic - Solo Artist (month) $3.00
- Pro - 6-20 Users (year) $139.99