The Apps That Help the Artist: Mariska Martina
Mariska Martina, the exciting artist from one of our last T-Spot instalments, has wrestled with the demands of making a living as a musician and lives to tell the tale. In this The Apps That Help the Artist, she offers the technical applications that have lent her creative vision practical weight.
For your convenience we have broken down the apps she readily recommended. These are sure to be crucial tools for any freelance musician.
Mariska: I mean for me question really ties in with the kind of person I am. I mean ADHD…as a freelancer, it’s a really, really tough thing to handle! And obviously women are often diagnosed late blah blah blah, so it is still something I am looking to get a handle on.
Specifically for music, iReal Pro is a must. It is an app where you download sheets and can send it to other people who have iReal Pro. And Ultimate Guitar for tabs and chords, essentially you can just look up the chords and lyrics for any song. For me, if I am at a gigs and somebody has a request and I kind of know the song but don’t know all the lyrics, I can just put it on my screen and it has this function where you click play and it just scrolls really slowly, which is really lovely!
Breakdown
iReal Pro is a crucial tool for musicians learning how to efficiently learn, play, and share their music. Some of the different tools offered are inbuilt scales and transpositions designed for practicing. These are important for people to employ when warming up for a gig or a recording session. There are also looping sections and backing tracks that contribute to the depth of music offered for new recording artists. The sharing feature allows musicians to secure crucial feedback, as Mariska notes.
For those who struggle to remember lyrics, Ultimate Guitar is a necessity. The Tab Playback feature allows you to listen to songs as you learn them, with the opportunity of learning every instruments part on your chosen track. Keep an eye out for exciting deals – most recently on Black Friday the site offered customers 80% off.
Keeping an accurate account of your schedule is the most important skill for every freelancer. Try minimising your time spent working on a screen and check out some of the cute paper diaries in the link. With one of these you will look like the overworked protagonist of a 90s romantic comedy while keeping your weeks organised!