the Craic
Mobile tunes in abc notation
USD 5.99 · In-App Purchases
Keep the Craic on your iPhone at every session!
Stop rummaging through paper tunebooks - turn your iPad or iPhone into a portable tunebook. Quickly search, display and hear thousands of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other tunes for fiddle, flute, bagpipes, banjo, mandolin, concertina or accordion.
Please leave a review or rate the app if you enjoy it - it helps!
Subscribe either monthly or yearly to help support ongoing development.
- includes a selection of 76 commonly played session tunes (lots more on the Internet!)
- create, play and print sets of tunes
- create collections of your favourite tunes and sets, print them as tune books or as incipits
- import ABC notation via iTunes, cloud services like iCloud and Dropbox, email or the internet
- bagpipe notation for tunes with HP or Hp key
- search online or on your iPad or iPhone
- online search results can be quickly imported into your library
- simple playback with tempo control and looping
- choose flute, whistle, fiddle, banjo, guitar, piano, harp or accordion
- create and edit ABC notation on your iPad with a keyboard extension to simplify entry
- external keyboard fully supported
- print
- share via email as ABC notation or PDF
- open as a PDF in other applications
Use of the Craic is governed by the standard Apple Terms of Use. You can view this at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
more fixed a problem with reordering tunes in a set
3.9.1 15 Apr
Tweaks and improvements to parsing, display and importing tunes
3.9 25 Feb
Bugfixes and UI updates
3.8.1 21/10/2025
Fixed some bugs
Improved compatibility, especially for multi-window, multi-tasking and keyboard support
you can now get a cheatsheet for tunes and sets as well as collections
3.8 19/08/2025
Improved layout for annotations and decorations
Bugfixes and compatibility improvements
No longer deletes the remainder of a tune when encountering a parse error
3.7.3 16/05/2025
Minor bugfixes and compatibility enhancements
3.7.2 18/04/2025
Minor updates and layout improvements
3.7.1 10/02/2025
New/Fixed in 3.7 (250112)
- various compatibility and stability fixes
- support for additional SMUFL fonts (Petaluma, MuseJazz) with subscription
- fonts for annotations are now the same as guitar chords
- error messages are now in a contrasting font
- layout fixes
- annotations below no longer collide with note head
- more space between multi-staff systems
3.7 19/01/2025
New/Fixed in 3.6 (240707)
- fixed an issue with tunes freezing if they are missing an M: field
- added set titles
- tweaked staff rendering to better line up glyphs with staff lines
- settings/tools pages updates:
- layout improvements
- added a separate page for print/export/cheatsheet settings
- added settings for cheatsheets:
- number of bars to print
- number of bars for preview
- show/hide the music notation (requires subscription, default show)
- show/hide ABC (requires subscription, default hide)
- added a separate page for support/subscription
- added a tipjar
- improved layout
- fixed an issue where blank lines could be inserted when there are trailing spaces after the last barline
3.6 13/07/2024
Fixes for a couple of crashing bugs
3.5.1 22/02/2024
in version 3.5, I've added cheatsheets - the first 3 bars of all tunes in a collection, plus the rhythm and key signature. As well as viewing in the app, they can be printed or exported to PDF. As well,
- you can add a tune or set directly to the most recent collection (or choose another) from the detail screen
- I've added settings to adjust the maximum number of bars per line for display and printing
- fixed a few problems
3.5 20/12/2023
fix a possible crash on selecting a download, better support for large (Max) phones on rotation
3.4.6 22/10/2023
New/Fixed in 3.4.5 (230926)
- fixed occasional crash when using split-view mode on iPad
- fixed occasional blank tunes and collections page on iPhone
3.4.5 28/09/2023
fixed dark mode so that editing the abc shows the notation
improved readability of dark mode
3.4.4 21/09/2023
3.4.3 Bugfixes
- Fixed a problem where looping a section of music would skip the first note of the loop
- fixed a problem where connecting an external screen would interfere with screen mirroring
3.4.2 Bugfixes and performance improvements:
- much better performance for file import, especially on older devices
- fixed a problem where the Piano instrument would not play back properly
- improved error handling in the editor
3.4.3 18/09/2023
Bugfixes and performance improvements:
- much better performance for file import, especially on older devices
- fixed a problem where the Piano instrument would not play back properly
- improved error handling in the editor
3.4.2 10/09/2023
Fixed in 3.4.1
- fixed a problem where the playback cursor didn't handle the window resizing
- fixed an occasional crash when changing tunes during playback
New/fixed in 3.4
- support for A4 and Letter printing in both portrait and landscape
- adjustable notation size on print/pdf output
- collections are printable/exportable as incipits
- UI improvements on exporting from collections
- multiple window support on iPad
- rendering improvements, improving AbcPlus compatilibity:
- show the P: (parts) field in the header
- inline [P:] and [R:]
- in-tune %%linebreak and %%barsperstaff
- accaciatura display
- force slur/tie direction
- other layout improvements
3.4.1 15/07/2023
New/fixed in 3.4
- support for A4 and Letter printing in both portrait and landscape
- adjustable notation size on print/pdf output
- collections are printable/exportable as incipits
- UI improvements on exporting from collections
- multiple window support on iPad
- rendering improvements, improving AbcPlus compatilibity:
- show the P: (parts) field in the header
- inline [P:] and [R:]
- in-tune %%linebreak and %%barsperstaff
- accaciatura display
- force slur/tie direction
- other layout improvements
3.4 13/07/2023
Expand the size of the staff display
Take advantage of the full width of the iPad for displaying a tune
Fixes a problem where edits could go missing if you go back to the homescreen or another app.
3.3 10/05/2023
Fixes a crash when trying to print or create a PDF of a Collection that includes a Set
Version 3 of the Craic introduced Collections of tunes, and 3.1 introduced MIDI export, as well as print and MIDI options available with subscription. With 3.2 you can:
- add Sets to a Collection
- manually re-order a Collection
- create a Collection directly while downloading or importing from a web page
Other improvements include:
- improved layout for tunes that included part markers and tempo markers or chords/annotations outside a line
- Recents are now displayed in reverse order of recency
- you can Copy a tune to get head start on transcribing a variation
- bugfixes, including improved stability on playback
3.2.1 20/04/2023
Version 3 of the Craic introduced Collections of tunes, and 3.1 introduced MIDI export, as well as print and MIDI options available with subscription. With 3.2 you can:
- add Sets to a Collection
- manually re-order a Collection
- create a Collection directly while downloading or importing from a web page
Other improvements include:
- improved layout for tunes that included part markers and tempo markers or chords/annotations outside a line
- Recents are now displayed in reverse order of recency
- you can Copy a tune to get head start on transcribing a variation
- bugfixes, including improved stability on playback
3.2 14/04/2023
I've added MIDI export, as well as fixing some bugs.
You can subscribe to help support ongoing development, and get more control over printing and export options
3.1 13/03/2023
Bugfixes:
- fixed a problem where the collection editor became unresponsive
New
- enabled favorites and recents on the tune picker for collections and sets
the Craic version 3.0 has:
Collections
- create a collection to manage your favourite tunes
- add a tune file as a collection to keep tunes together
Refreshed UI and bugfixes
3.0.2 14/02/2023
Bugfixes:
- fixed a problem with the search function
- fixed a problem with importing saved library
the Craic version 3.0 has:
Collections
- create a collection to manage your favourite tunes
- add a tune file as a collection to keep tunes together
Refreshed UI and bugfixes
3.0.1 31/01/2023
Collections
- create a collection to manage your favourite tunes
- add a tune file as a collection to keep tunes together
Subscriptions:
- help support ongoing development by subscribing for a yearly or monthly term
Refreshed UI and bugfixes
3.0 23/01/2023
fixed a problem with reordering tunes in a set
more Version 3.9.1 15 Apr
Data Not Collected The developer does not collect any data from this app.
