1. What SetCurve Does

SetCurve is a set-building tool for musicians. Instead of starting with a list of song titles, you can start with the shape of the performance: where the set should build, relax, peak, and finish.

The basic idea

1. Add songs to your SetCurve library with useful information such as BPM, duration and key.
2. Draw a curve. The horizontal direction represents time through the set; the vertical direction represents tempo (BPM).
3. Tap Build Set from Curve. SetCurve chooses songs whose tempos and durations follow the shape you drew.
4. Adjust the result manually if you want, save it, and use Performance Mode when you play.

One of SetCurve’s most useful long-term features is the Proven Curve: when a real set works particularly well, you can preserve its pacing and later generate a different set that follows the same successful tempo journey.

You do not have to use the generator

SetCurve also works as a manual set-list builder. You can add, insert, remove, replace and rearrange songs yourself. The curve and generator are tools, not requirements.

2. The Main Screen

The main screen combines the tempo graph, set controls, song selection and live-performance tools. On compact phones some areas are condensed to preserve working space; tablet layouts may show more at once.

Clear Set, Blocks and Curve

Clear Set removes all songs from the current working set without deleting them from your song library. It is different from Clear Curve, which removes only the editable tempo curve.

Minimize Blocks and Minimize Curve reclaim working space when you want to concentrate on other parts of the screen. Minimizing hides the area; it does not erase anything. Use the corresponding restore/expand control to bring it back.

Blocks view is the practical editing view for the running order. Build Set from Curve automatically switches to Blocks view so you can immediately inspect and adjust the generated set.

3. Build Your First Set

A quick first run

1. Open Settings and choose a target duration for the set.
2. Add enough songs to give SetCurve choices. Entering BPM and duration is especially important for curve-based building.
3. Draw a tempo curve across the graph.
4. Tap Build Set from Curve. SetCurve generates the set and automatically switches to Blocks view.
5. Review the song blocks against the curve. To change the order, press and drag/pull a song block to a new position. You can also replace, insert or remove songs.
6. Tap Save if you want to keep the set, or Perform when you are ready to use it live.

What makes a useful library?

A generator can only choose from the songs it knows. A library with a range of tempos and enough songs around each part of your curve gives SetCurve more freedom to match the shape.

4. Create and Maintain Your Song Library

Tap Add New Song to create a song manually. Depending on the song and how you use SetCurve, you can store more than just a title.

Editing and deleting

Song entries can be edited later. Deleting a song removes that library entry, so use deletion for songs you truly no longer want in the repertoire.

Excluded and already-used songs

A song can be marked Exclude from sets in its song details. It remains visible and editable, but is unavailable for adding, swaps and curve generation until that exclusion is removed. Build Set from Curve can also exclude songs contained in selected saved sets for that build, which is useful when you want material from earlier sets kept out of a new one. In an active Gig, Already Used has a different meaning: the song belongs to another set in that Gig and is normally withheld to prevent an accidental repeat.

5. Draw and Edit a Tempo Curve

Draw directly in the graph to describe the tempo shape you want. SetCurve smooths the freehand gesture into a usable curve. The vertical scale is BPM; the horizontal scale represents elapsed set time.

Think in sections

Tweak the curve without starting over

Once a curve is on the graph, you do not have to clear it and draw it again just because one section is not quite right. Touch close to the blue editable curve at the point you want to change, then drag up or down. SetCurve reshapes the surrounding portion smoothly while leaving the rest of the curve intact.

This is especially useful after you see a generated set and decide that one part of the pacing should rise a little sooner, dip a little farther, or finish at a different tempo. Adjust that section of the curve and build again.

You can also continue an existing curve when you need to extend it, rather than discarding the shape you already created.

Clear and redraw

Use Clear Curve when you truly want to start the shape over. For ordinary refinements, edit the existing curve directly instead. Clearing or reshaping the curve does not delete songs from your library.

6. Build Set from Curve

Build Set from Curve turns the curve into a sequence of songs. SetCurve samples the shape across the set timeline and compares candidate songs with the target tempo while also accounting for duration and the enabled preferences. When the build finishes, SetCurve automatically displays the result in Blocks view for review and editing.

The curve comes first

Song preferences are intended to influence choices without defeating the curve. If Favor Openers & Closers is enabled, SetCurve should prefer an appropriately tagged song when it also fits the required tempo neighborhood. If no suitable tagged song fits, it should use an ordinary song that better follows the curve.

Likewise, Favor Higher-Rated Songs favors Preferred material and reduces use of Last Resort material among musically suitable candidates; it is not permission to ignore the curve.

Duration matters

Because real songs have different lengths, the horizontal position of song blocks will not always line up identically from one build to another. SetCurve aims to preserve the overall BPM shape while filling the requested duration.

When a manual addition runs over

If manually adding or inserting a song would take the set beyond the target duration, SetCurve warns you, shows the resulting total, and lets you add it anyway or cancel.

7. Fine-Tune a Set Manually

Generated sets are starting points. You can also build an entire set by hand. The normal editing tools remain available in both Build Mode and Performance Mode; entering Perform is the point at which the interface becomes the active song-by-song live view.

Add

Choose a song from Available Songs and add it to the working set. Search is available when the library is large.

Replace

Tap a song block to work with that position. In replacement mode, SetCurve can show Same Tempo candidates or All Tempos. Same Tempo is useful when you like the shape but want a different song.

Insert

Tap between song blocks to insert a song at that point rather than replacing an existing song.

Remove

Use Remove to take a song out of the current set without deleting it from the song library.

Rearrange

Press and drag/pull a song block to move it to a new position. This makes it easy to reshape the running order without rebuilding the set.

Build Mode and Performance Mode

You can insert songs, replace or swap songs, remove songs and rearrange the running order in both Build Mode and Performance Mode. Performance Mode is therefore useful for preparing or revising a set in a performance-oriented layout before you actually enter Perform.

Clear Set

Use Clear Set when you want to empty the current working set and start over. The songs remain in your library, and the tempo curve is not the same thing as the set: use Clear Curve separately when you want to remove the curve.

8. Generator Preferences

Key Variety

Favor Higher-Rated Songs

When enabled, Preferred songs are favored and Last Resort songs are used less often, while curve fit remains the primary musical requirement.

Favor Openers & Closers

When enabled, Opener-tagged songs are favored near the beginning and Closer-tagged songs near the end when they are suitable for the curve at those positions. Explicit role tags take priority over the general rating preference among suitable candidates.

Same Tempo and All Tempos

These controls are most useful while replacing songs. Same Tempo narrows the choices toward the current tempo; All Tempos opens the full candidate pool.

9. Save, Load and Proven Curves

Saved Sets

Save stores the current working set so you can return to it later. Saved sets are useful for rehearsal, a particular show, or as a starting point for another arrangement.

Proven Curves – SetCurve’s quiet powerhouse

A Proven Curve captures the pacing of a set that has already proved itself. This is more powerful than simply saving a hand-drawn line: build a set manually, play it, and when you know the sequence really works, SetCurve preserves the set’s resulting tempo curve along with information about the songs, duration and after-song padding from which it came.

Later, load that Proven Curve and ask SetCurve to build a brand-new set from your library. The songs can change completely while the new set follows the rise, release, peaks and finish of the successful set you saved. In effect, you are reusing a pacing strategy that has already worked in the real world.

A practical Proven Curve workflow

1. Build a set manually – or refine a generated set – until the running order feels right.
2. Rehearse or perform it. If the pacing works especially well, save its Proven Curve.
3. For a future show, load that Proven Curve instead of starting with a blank graph.
4. Generate a new set. SetCurve uses different songs while aiming to reproduce the proven tempo journey.
5. Fine-tune the editable curve or make manual song changes if the new situation calls for them.

Loading a curve saved for a different duration

SetCurve can warn when a Proven Curve was saved for a different target duration. Review the result after loading, especially near the end of the set.

10. Gigs

A Gig groups saved sets that belong to the same performance. It keeps a multi-set show organized and lets SetCurve account for songs assigned elsewhere in that show.

Create a Gig

Use the Gig controls in Load to create and name a Gig, then associate the appropriate saved sets with it.

Already Used

When you work with a set in a Gig, songs assigned to the Gig’s other sets are marked Already Used and are normally unavailable for adding, inserting or swapping. Songs already in the current set remain valid there. This is different from Excluded, which means a song has been deliberately removed from the applicable selection pool.

Building from a curve

Build Set from Curve respects the Gig too. SetCurve chooses from songs still available after accounting for the other sets, then follows the curve as closely as that remaining repertoire allows. As more songs are committed elsewhere in the Gig, fewer close tempo matches may be available.

Editing and Performance Mode

The Gig context remains active while you revise or perform the set. In Performance Mode, This Set identifies material already in the current set, while Extra draws from songs outside the set that are still available. Songs marked Already Used in another set are not offered as normal Extra choices, helping prevent an accidental repeat during a live change.

Deliberate repeats

Gigs prevent accidental reuse without rewriting intentional set lists. If the same song is deliberately present in more than one saved set, SetCurve preserves that repeat – useful for an encore, request or other planned exception.

11. Performance Mode

Performance Mode and Perform are related but distinct. Performance Mode is the performance-oriented workspace: you can prepare or revise the running order there, including inserting, removing, rearranging and swapping songs. Perform starts the active song-by-song live workflow, where SetCurve tracks the current song and Played progress.

Song states

Moving through the set

Use the previous/next controls to move through the running order. As you advance, completed songs are marked Played, checked off and de-emphasized. Moving backward reverses that progress for songs you move back across, so they are no longer marked Played.

Lyrics navigation also tracks progress

While you are in the live Lyrics view, moving forward through the set also marks the songs you pass as Played. Moving backward unmarks them. This keeps the visual state of the set synchronized even when you navigate from the lyric screen rather than the block list.

Swap a song during Performance

If the room, timing or circumstances call for a different song, use Swap in Performance Mode rather than abandoning the set. Swap candidates distinguish between This Set – songs already elsewhere in the current running order – and Extra – eligible songs outside the current set. SetCurve can therefore rearrange material already planned for this set or bring in an available replacement. Active exclusions still apply, and when the set belongs to a Gig, songs assigned to the Gig’s other sets and marked Already Used are not offered as normal Extra choices. This helps prevent an accidental repeat across the show while preserving repeats already deliberately saved into the Gig’s sets.

Changing course live

You can still respond to the room. In Performance Mode you can insert, remove, rearrange or swap material as the plan changes. Once in Perform, the checked and de-emphasized Played songs also become a quick visual progress meter: the remaining unplayed blocks show roughly how much material is left. If the clock and the remaining set no longer agree, that visual cue can tell you it is time to shorten, extend or rethink what remains.

12. Lyrics

Lyrics can be stored with individual songs and opened from the working set or Performance Mode.

Add or edit lyrics

Open the Lyrics editor, paste or type the text, and save it. On Android, long-press in the text box if you need the system Paste command.

Live viewing

Use the Lyrics button for a song to open its lyric view. During Perform, advancing to the next song from Lyrics marks the song you leave as Played; moving backward reverses that Played status. This lets you work from the lyric screen without losing SetCurve’s live progress tracking.

Font size

Lyrics have per-song font-size control so a dense lyric sheet can use a smaller size while a short lyric can be made larger for stage readability.

13. Share, Print and PDF

Share the current set

The main Share control lets you send the current set through Android’s sharing system. Current builds also offer PDF for the displayed set.

PDF from saved sets

In the Saved Sets workflow, select one or more sets and choose PDF. When multiple sets are selected, each set begins on a new page.

What the PDF contains

The PDF includes the set name, song count, total duration and a numbered table with Song, Key, BPM and Time columns. Long sets continue onto additional pages.

Printing

Because the PDF is handed to Android’s share system, available destinations depend on the apps installed on the device. A print service or PDF-capable app can be used to print or save the file.

14. Settings

Tempo colors

Tap a color swatch in Settings to customize the color used for a tempo category. The medium maximum must remain higher than the slow maximum.

After-song padding

Padding is useful when a 45-minute set cannot realistically contain 45 minutes of continuous music. A small pause per song can make SetCurve’s target-duration calculation better match stage reality.

15. Backup, Restore and Song Library Transfer

Open Admin for data-management tools.

Song Library

Full Backup

Backups are especially worthwhile before moving to a new device, reinstalling the app, or making a large change to a carefully maintained repertoire.

16. Quick Reference

A useful mental model

Curve = pacing. Library = possibilities. Generator = first draft. Manual editing = musical judgment. Performance Mode = live preparation and editing. Perform = active song-by-song progress tracking.

17. Troubleshooting and Practical Tips

The generated set does not follow my curve closely

• Make sure enough songs have BPM values.
• Check whether the library actually contains songs near the tempos requested by the curve.
• Try a slightly less extreme curve if the repertoire has large BPM gaps.
• If a preference is enabled, remember that it should influence choices only among musically suitable candidates.

The set is too long or too short

• Check the target duration in Settings.
• Verify song durations.
• If enabled, remember that after-song padding is included in the timeline.

I cannot find a song

• Use Find a Song/search.
• Check whether the song is already in the current set, excluded, or de-emphasized because it was used elsewhere in the active Gig.

My screen goes to sleep during a show

• Enable Keep Screen Awake in Settings.

I want a different song without changing the shape

• Select the song and start with Same Tempo replacements.

Before an important gig

• Open the saved set and verify the running order.
• Check lyrics and font sizes for the songs that need them.
• Confirm the target duration and any after-song padding.
• Create a PDF or printed copy if you want a paper backup.
• Make a full SetCurve backup after major library edits.

SetCurve

Draw the pace. Generate the set. Play the show.