Setsmith

About the Project

Organizing live band performances often involves managing multiple WhatsApp conversations, spreadsheets, song lists, and manual coordination between band members. This makes it difficult to manage performance sessions, assign singers, track song timings, and maintain an organized setlist.

Setsmith is a web-based setlist planning and live performance management platform created to address these challenges within FASTUNES, the official music band of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka.

What We Built

Setsmith provides a centralized digital platform for planning, organizing, and managing live band performances. It brings together show management, song organization, singer assignments, musical information, chord sheets, and live performance controls in one application.

Key Features

• Show Management: Create and manage live shows with dates, venues, and scheduled performance durations.
• Session Management: Divide performances into multiple sessions with target durations and automatic time calculations.
• Song Management: Add songs through YouTube links or search and maintain a reusable song library.
• Singer Assignment: Assign singers to individual songs and monitor consecutive song assignments.
• BPM & Musical Key Management: Track song tempo and musical keys through API lookups, tap tempo, and manual entry.
• Camelot Key Compatibility: Identify potentially difficult musical key transitions between consecutive songs.
• Smart Setlist Arrangement: Automatically arrange songs based on tempo and energy progression.
• Drag-and-Drop Editing: Rearrange songs between sessions using drag-and-drop and quick-swap functionality.
• Live Stage Mode: Display the current song, singer, BPM, musical key, private notes, and upcoming song through a dedicated performance interface.
• Manageable Chord Sheets: Access, manage, and display full-screen chord sheets during live performances, with PDF export support.
• PDF Export: Generate professional setlists containing song details, singer assignments, YouTube links, QR codes, and session summaries.
• Band Collaboration: Support manager, editor, and viewer roles with invitation-based access.
• Live Device Synchronization: Synchronize band information and updates across multiple devices using Supabase.
• Mobile Support: Provide an installable Progressive Web App and iOS and Android applications through Capacitor.

How It Works

Band managers create a show, define its performance sessions, and populate each session with songs from the song library or YouTube. Singers are assigned to songs, while BPM and musical key information help organize the performance and identify potential key transitions.

The setlist can be rearranged using drag-and-drop, quick swap, or automatic tempo-based arrangement. Once finalized, the same setlist becomes available in Stage View, allowing performers to follow the current song, view the next song, check performance details, and access chord sheets.

Through Supabase-powered synchronization, changes are shared across authorized devices, keeping band members up to date. Managers can also export professional PDF setlists for rehearsals and performances.

Project Outcome

Setsmith transforms the traditional manual approach to live band coordination into an integrated digital workflow. It simplifies performance planning, improves communication and collaboration, helps maintain musical consistency, and provides performers with essential information through a dedicated stage interface.

The platform brings the entire performance management process together, from initial show planning and song arrangement to live stage execution, making concert preparation more organized and efficient for FASTUNES.