Introducing GRaPL 1.3

GRaPL is a music player app that is designed for those that need more control over how music is played.

For dance instructors, choir directors, school play directors, fitness motivators, or anyone that wants to play songs behind a performance or activity and might need to control what happens at the end of a song, or need to rehearse portions of a song over and over, this app is designed for you!

For example, at the end of a particular song, would you like it to advance to the next song and wait, continue playing, loop, loop and wait, or return to the top of the playlist?

Also, when scrubbing through a song to begin rehearsing at a specific spot, GRaPL allows much more control than the typical thumb sliders by providing a high resolution waveform* of the song allowing you to easily scroll to just the right spot in the song. GRaPL also provides multiple types of markers to allow you to return to the same spots over and over.

If you would like to trim off the beginning or end of a song, GRaPL offers “In” and “Out” points eliminating the need to edit songs for such a purpose.

GRaPL also supports Apple Music allowing you to take advantage of your membership to play songs (some limitations apply).

* Waveform displays are only provided for songs that have been purchased and downloaded to your device. High resolution scrolling is still supported but without the display of the sound waveform.

What's New in GRaPL 1.3

Channel Mods

Many performance sound tracks provide split trax where the instrumentals are on one channel and the vocals are on the other channel.

“Channel Mods” allow you to take advantage of these sound tracks by allowing you to choose how you want to combine the channels for your performances.

Make Mono

This option will combine both left and right channels and play them back equally in each channel. Depending on the sound system in your auditorium, stereo or split track channels can introduce problems. Choosing this option can often alleviate these problems.

Left Only

This option will take the audio from the left channel and send it to both the left and right channels of your sound system. Whatever audio is on the right channel will be silent.

Right Only

This option will take the audio from the right channel and send it to both the left and right channels of your sound system. Whatever audio is on the left channel will be silent.

Swap Left & Right

This will send the audio from the left channel to the right channel and send the audio from the right channel to the left channel. Depending on the sound system in your auditorium, this may help in some situations.

"In" / "Out-Point" Fading

Using “In” and “Out-points” can be useful in situations where an audio track continues longer than you would like. In previous versions an out-point could be set, as in the image above, to cause playback to stop prior to the actual end of the song. However, depending on the nature of what might be playing, there can be an abrupt ending to the playback which might be undesirable.

Now, in version 1.3, it’s possible to specify an amount of time over which to fade the volume of the playback. In the example below, the volume level will begin to fade 7.0 seconds before the end of playback. The display will provide visual feedback to give a sense of how the audio will be faded before playback stops.

iPad Remote Control

In previous versions of GRaPL it was possible to control the iPhone version remotely with the Apple Watch, but the iPad version didn’t have a way to be controlled remotely since the Apple Watch doesn’t support direct communication with the iPad. GRaPL 1.3 provides a solution.

If you also have an iPhone with GRaPL installed, you can use it to remotely control GRaPL running on an iPad. This can help in circumstances where you want to leave the iPad connected to your sound system and keep your iPhone with you as you move about.

With GRaPL running on your iPhone, select the remote button at the bottom of the home screen.

Make sure the iPhone and iPad are nearby and have wifi enabled. Now the iPhone will mirror the iPad.

… and now you can control GRaPL on the iPad remotely with GRaPL on your iPhone!

AND, if you have an Apple Watch, you can use your watch to remotely control the iPad while GRaPL on the iPhone is remotely controlling the iPad.
Check out my latest tutorial for importing performance CD’s for use in GRaPL!