MUST we use iTunes???

GtrGeorge

Peter, therefore you must already have an apple computer by which you store the mp3s there and then transfer into your ipad running ST3. Is that how you do it?
fwiw: I own a PC..and have had itunes on it..and used that as my holder for the songs (in apple lossless format), if that helps.

peter

GtrGeorge Actually my ST3 library is rather small. I have around 50 multitrack songs and the raw tracks for those are stored on an Nextcloud instance which can be accessed by all band members. So my workflow is identical to all those users that use iCloud Drive, Dropbox or Google Drive. I import the files directly from Nextcloud.

GtrGeorge

peter

Damir

GtrGeorge just copy all your songs and paste them in to ST3 folder and refresh the song list , now throw away your iTunes forever.
If you have two devices, treat one like your master , load it with all your iTunes songs and do all editing on that machine , once you have everything perfect , do a full backup then install that backup on the other device , now you have two identical players , one at home you create new stuff on and the other you take out on gigs, once you have more new material just do another full backup procedure, but keep deleting old full backups or you will soon run out of memory.

GtrGeorge

Damir Damir you are so HELPFUL. THANK YOU!! I will try this.

GtrGeorge

Damir
Damir I have a PC with all the 2 trk masters...and use an ipad for playing them back out at the shows...is this going work? Or must I own a apple computer to do this?

GtrGeorge

peter
Peter I think because of your excellent technical background this works well for you..but as I am much less talented in that area..I would prefer to see if I can hold the data on my ipad...so I wont require dependancy on RF,internet etc at shows.

peter

GtrGeorge The cloud is only needed during import. Once the tracks are in Stage Traxx there is no need for internet.

Damir

GtrGeorge Damir I have a PC with all the 2 trk masters...and use an ipad for playing them back out at the shows...is this going work? Or must I own a apple computer to do this?

Where and how you create your backing tracks does not matter , as long as you transfer those audio files in to ST3 folder of your performing IPad , a good thing would be once you are happy with your ST3 setup on iPad do a full backup and store that file somewhere safe outside the ST3 folder, perhaps have one in your download folder and also copy another version on to your PC incase your iPad gets stolen or totally fails, this way you can buy another iPad and restore this full backup which will get you back without any hassles. I actually have an iPhone that is my backup and another iPad i carry with me just in case something goes wrong on the day and I also have a Mac Studio at home with the same setup .In you case a PC is fine as you can store the full backup on it but you can’t have ST3 on it which is fine I normally use my iPad I perform with as my master anyway and I use the Mac Studio as my editing machine , I use the iPhone to play material in my car via Bluetooth to rehearse while I am driving or as my music background player it is so easy and great as no network is needed all my 10,000 song library is on there and no iTunes or Music software needed which creates a much simpler user experience, I love ST3 for so many reasons .
Cheers Damir

GtrGeorge

Damir
I tried to open up the ST3 files on my PC. I hooked up the ipad and the PC asked if I wanted to download all photos. I said no. After that I could not see anything on my PC display but the ipad..but no amount of clicking could I open up the Ipad and see a folder within it that holds the audio files.
My Windows PC has Win11 and the ipad has whatever OS they are upto. I can try again tommorrw..its late in NY and I have work in the morning. You know how it is.

Damir

GtrGeorge I use to use PC with iPhone years ago and it was a huge pain.
I assume nothing much has improved, my suggestion is keep it simple , use a USB stick put all your songs on that on your PC. Then plug the usb stick in to your IPad and transfer all the songs in to your ST3 folder , this gets away from marrying to systems that hate each other.

GtrGeorge

Damir
I appreciate your input on this..it will be a new way of doing things and I would hate to go down a path that just leads to a dead end. I am researching my space needed, how big a thumbdrive to buy (I guess 64MB should do it for 6 hrs of mp3s). Thank you.

GtrGeorge

GtrGeorge
Damir
I got the thumb drive and the adaptor..so I can shuttle mp3s (rendered 2 trk masters into my ipad that runs ST3) I did a few and it WORKED!!!! So awesome.
But now..I have a situation..how do I marry the lyrics into those mp3 files ? WAIT: I just imported the lyrics..though I LOL..am not sure how I did it!!!! Thank you for all your help..I think I got it from here. For fun check out my FB accounts..I do a live stream from the shows and you can watch it ANYTIME you please. Id love to get your feedback on what I am doing. And Id love to see one of your shows ,too.
....appreciated.
GtrGeorge

ventman

I’m having trouble with iTunes on a new IPad. Worked fine with my old one. I’d love to not use iTunes but can’t figure out how to on PC. Plug in iPad and shows Inernal storage but where to from there?

peter

You need to install iTunes on your PC. Then you can use iTunes Filesharing to transfer files between iPad and PC.