From Rehearsal to Stage: Building a Performance Workflow with GigScroll

Most teleprompter apps focus on the moment you are on stage. But the stage is only one part of the picture. Here is how GigScroll fits into the full cycle of learning, rehearsing, and performing music.

Building Your Library

Every gig starts weeks or months before the show. You are learning new material, refreshing old songs, and slowly building a repertoire.

As you learn each song, add it to GigScroll. The app can search multiple lyrics sources online, so most of the time you just type the song title and artist and it finds what you need. If the lyrics are not available online, or if you write your own material, you can paste them in manually.

GigScroll comes with 8 sample songs pre-loaded so you can explore the app before adding your own. Feel free to delete those whenever you are ready.

A few formatting tips that will save you time later. Use section labels like "Verse 1" or "Chorus" on their own line. Add a blank line between sections. Try to keep lines under 80 characters so they display cleanly without awkward wrapping.

Rehearsal

Once you have a handful of songs entered, create a practice setlist. This does not need to be a real gig setlist — just a collection of songs you want to work through.

Open the setlist in Performance Mode and run through each song. The key thing here is dialing in your scroll speeds. Every song has a different tempo and density of lyrics, so you will need different speeds for each one. Use the speed jog wheel for fine adjustments — it covers a range from 0.2x to 3.0x.

When you find a speed that works, it saves automatically. The next time you open that song, it remembers. This is one of those small things that adds up. After a few rehearsals, every song in your library already has the right scroll speed set.

This is also a good time to experiment with font sizes. What looks readable at arm's length on your desk might be too small on a music stand three feet away.

Pre-Gig Prep

A day or two before the gig, create a setlist specifically for that show. Drag songs into the order you want to play them. Think about flow — maybe you do not want three slow songs in a row.

If you play with a band, you can share the setlist as a .gigscroll file. Send it over AirDrop, Messages, or email, and your bandmates can import it directly into their own copy of GigScroll. Everyone ends up with the same song order.

Pick a theme that works for your venue. Dark themes work well in dimly lit bars. Light themes are easier to read in bright outdoor settings. This is worth thinking about ahead of time so you are not squinting at your screen during the first song.

Set up your iPad on a music stand where you can see it comfortably. If you have a Bluetooth foot pedal, this is when you would pair it and test the controls. A foot pedal lets you start, stop, and advance songs without touching the screen, which is helpful if your hands are busy playing an instrument.

Performance Night

Before you start, enable Do Not Disturb on your iPad. Nothing breaks concentration like a notification sliding across your lyrics mid-song.

Open your setlist and tap Play Setlist. GigScroll will load the first song. When you finish, use the Next button (or your foot pedal) to advance to the next song. The Previous button is there if you need to jump back.

After a few seconds of inactivity, the on-screen controls hide themselves automatically. You get a clean view of just your lyrics. Tap the screen if you need the controls back.

If you want to capture the set, enable video recording before you start. GigScroll can record through your iPad's camera while the teleprompter runs. It is not a replacement for a proper camera setup, but it is a simple way to get a reference recording of every show.

After the Gig

Once the gig is done, there are a couple of housekeeping things worth doing.

Export a backup of your library. If something happens to your iPad, you do not want to lose all those scroll speeds and setlists you have built up over time.

If you recorded video, review it. It is useful for catching things you want to fix — a song where the scroll speed was slightly off, a transition that felt awkward, a lyric you keep getting wrong.

As for the setlist itself, that is up to you. If you play the same venue regularly with the same set, keep it. If it was a one-off show, delete it to keep things tidy. Your songs stay in your library either way.

Getting Started

GigScroll is available on the App Store as a free download with a Pro upgrade for additional features. If you want more detail on any of the features mentioned here, the user guide covers everything step by step.

For focused guides on individual features, see setting up fonts, themes, and sizes, Bluetooth foot pedal setup, video recording, and sharing setlists with your band. If you play solo acoustic gigs, the solo performer's setup guide covers a streamlined version of this workflow.