PartPerfect — User Guide

Welcome to PartPerfect! This guide walks you through everything you need to know to get the most out of the app.

PartPerfect is designed for singers who practice with learning tracks — the kind used by chorus, choir, and barbershop groups. You import your own tracks, listen and practice with them, record yourself singing along, and then review your recording with pitch analysis to see how accurately you sang.

The app has five tabs along the bottom of the screen: Library, Player, Record, Pitch, and Settings. Let's walk through each one.

Getting Started

When you first open PartPerfect, you'll find two tracks already in your Library:

1. PartPerfect — a sample learning track to help you get familiar with the app
2. Bluetooth Synch — a reference track for testing and calibrating Bluetooth latency (more on that later in the Settings section)

These give you something to play with straight away, but the real power of PartPerfect comes when you import your own learning tracks.

The Library

The Library is your home screen — it's where all your content lives. At the top, you'll see a segmented control that lets you switch between two views: Tracks and Sheet Music.

Importing a Learning Track

Tap the "+" button (the blue rounded square in the top-right corner) and choose Import Learning Track. This opens your device's file picker, where you can select audio files in any of these formats: MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, AIFF, or CAF.

Once imported, the track appears in your Tracks list showing its title (pulled from the file's metadata or filename) and duration.

Importing Sheet Music

From the same "+" menu, choose Import Sheet Music to import a PDF file. Your sheet music appears in the Sheet Music view with the title (taken from the filename) and the date you imported it.

Tap any PDF to open it in a full-screen viewer where you can scroll through pages and pinch to zoom. A page indicator at the bottom shows where you are (e.g., "3 / 12"). The viewer stays open even if you switch to another tab — when you come back to the Library, your sheet music is right where you left it. Tap Back to return to the Sheet Music list.

Organising with Folders

You can create folders to keep your tracks and sheet music organised. Tap the "+" button and choose New Folder — the folder is created in whichever view you're currently on (Tracks or Sheet Music). Track folders only appear in the Tracks view, and sheet music folders only appear in the Sheet Music view.

To move an item into a folder, long-press on a track or PDF and drag it onto the folder. You can also nest folders inside other folders — breadcrumb navigation at the top (e.g., Home > Vocal Exercises > Warm-ups) helps you find your way around.

If you delete a folder, don't worry — the items inside it aren't deleted. They simply move back to the top level.

Searching

A search bar sits just below the header. Type a title to filter your content. When searching, the results span all folders, so you don't need to know which folder something is in.

Loading a Track

Tap any track in the Library to load it into the Player. The app switches to the Player tab automatically and the track is ready to go. The track you've loaded is highlighted in the Library so you can always see which one is active.

The Solo Record Button

In the Library header, you'll see a blue Solo Record button (with a microphone icon). Tapping this takes you straight to the Record tab in solo mode — meaning you can record yourself without any learning track playing. If you already have a recording in progress, the app will ask whether you want to discard it first.

The Player

The Player tab is where you listen to and practice with your learning tracks. If no track is loaded, you'll see a prompt to go to the Library and select one.

Once a track is loaded, you'll see the track title displayed prominently under a "NOW PLAYING" label, along with the folder name if the track is in a folder.

The Waveform

Below the track title is a visual waveform of the audio, rendered in blue. You can tap or drag anywhere on the waveform to jump to that point in the track.

On the waveform, you'll notice draggable bracket markers at the start and end. You can drag these inward to crop the playable area — only the section between the brackets will play. This is great for isolating a tricky passage so you can focus on just that part. Combine this with the loop button on the transport controls to repeat the cropped section over and over until you've got it down.

Transport Controls

The transport bar gives you everything you need to control playback:

1. Play/Pause — the large blue circular button in the centre
2. Skip to Start — jump back to the beginning of the track
3. Skip Back 5 Seconds — nudge back a few seconds
4. Skip Forward 5 Seconds — nudge forward
5. Skip to End — jump to the end
6. Time Display — shows your current position and the total duration

Tap the turtle icon to slow down the track. It cycles through three speeds: 1.0x (normal), 0.75x, and 0.5x. When you're not at normal speed, the icon changes colour and shows the current speed. The pitch stays the same when you slow down — so the notes sound correct, just slower. This is perfect for learning fast or complex passages at a comfortable pace.

The loop toggle button enables looping — when active, playback restarts automatically when it reaches the end. If you've cropped the playable area using the brackets, looping repeats just that cropped section. If the brackets are at their default positions (the full track), it loops the entire track.

Current Note Display

As the track plays, PartPerfect shows the musical note being played in real time (e.g., "C4", "F♯3"). Whether you see sharps or flats depends on the enharmonic preference you've set in Settings.

The Balance Slider

This is one of PartPerfect's most useful features for learning tracks. Many learning tracks are recorded with the vocal part panned to one side and the other parts (or accompaniment) on the other side.

The Balance slider runs from LEFT through MID to RIGHT:

1. Slide left to favour the left channel
2. Leave in the middle for a normal stereo blend
3. Slide right to favour the right channel

There's a snap-to-centre detent with a gentle haptic tap so you can easily find the middle position. This lets you isolate your part to learn it, or push it to the other side and hear just the other parts.

By default, the selected channel plays in its original stereo position (left in the left ear, right in the right ear). If you'd prefer to hear the selected channel in both ears, turn on Play as Mono in the Settings tab.

Volume Slider

Below the balance slider is a simple volume control for the learning track playback.

Background Playback

Your learning track keeps playing if you switch to the Library, Pitch, or Settings tab — handy if you want to check your sheet music while listening. However, switching to the Record tab will stop playback, because the Record tab needs exclusive control of the audio.

Recording

The Record tab is where you sing along with your learning track and capture your performance. It can also be used in solo mode (without a track) if you just want to record yourself.

Before You Record

When you arrive at the Record tab, you'll see:

1. The name of the loaded learning track (or "Solo Recording" if no track is loaded)
2. Blank waveform areas labelled "YOUR RECORDING" and "LEARNING TRACK"
3. A red Start Recording button
4. A mic level indicator showing whether headphones are connected
5. The balance and volume sliders (these are hidden in solo mode since there's no learning track to balance against)

You can use the transport controls to preview the learning track before you start recording, so you can remind yourself of the part.

For best results, use headphones (wired or Bluetooth) when recording with a learning track. This prevents the track from bleeding into your microphone. The mic level indicator confirms when headphones are connected. PartPerfect always records from the device microphone, not a headphone microphone — this gives you better audio quality.

Recording

Tap the red Start Recording button to begin. As you sing:

1. A red RECORDING badge appears at the top with a pulsing dot
2. A green waveform scrolls in real time, showing your microphone input
3. The learning track waveform shows playback progress (if a track is loaded)
4. A timer counts the elapsed recording time
5. A mic level bar shows the real-time input level

When you're done, tap Stop.

Reviewing Your Recording

After stopping, the Record tab switches to review mode:

1. Your recording appears as a green waveform labelled "YOUR RECORDING"
2. The learning track appears as a blue waveform labelled "LEARNING TRACK" (if one was loaded)
3. Both play back in sync — the app automatically compensates for audio latency so they line up

You can tap or drag either waveform to seek to any position.

The transport controls in review mode include:

1. Play/Pause
2. Skip Back/Forward 15 Seconds
3. Speed Control — just like in the Player, you can slow playback down to 0.75x or 0.5x to hear details more clearly
4. Trash Button — deletes the recording (you'll be asked to confirm)
5. Share Button — exports a mixed audio file that combines the learning track and your recording using the current balance and volume settings

Checking Your Pitch

The Check Pitch button is always visible on the Record tab, but it's disabled until you have both a recording and a learning track. Once both are in place, the button becomes active and you can tap it to analyse how accurately you sang compared to the reference vocal.

Tap Check Pitch to open the pitch analysis panel:

1. Choose the reference channel — select which channel of the learning track contains the vocal part you were singing (Left, Right, or Centre)
2. Set the tolerance — choose Standard (±25 cents) for a normal assessment, or Strict (±10 cents) if you want a tighter evaluation
3. Tap Analyze

After analysis, your recording waveform is colour-coded:

1. Green bars — you were on pitch (within tolerance)
2. Red bars — you were off pitch (outside tolerance)
3. Grey bars — silence, breaths, or sections where pitch couldn't be detected

A results row appears showing:

1. Real-time pitch deviation as you play back — you'll see values like "+12¢" (slightly sharp) or "-8¢" (slightly flat), or a thumbs-up when you're spot on
2. The reference note name at the current position
3. Your overall accuracy percentage, colour-coded: green for 80% or above, yellow for 50–79%, and red for below 50%

You can dismiss the pitch results with the X button when you're done reviewing.

Tip: Use the speed control (the turtle icon) to slow down playback while reviewing your pitch results. At 0.75x or 0.5x you can observe exactly how your pitch varies from the reference track in real time.

A note on vibrato: The pitch analysis uses a signed average approach, which means it's vibrato-friendly. If you oscillate evenly above and below the target note (as singers naturally do with vibrato), those deviations cancel out and the bar shows green. The analysis looks at the average tendency, not individual wobbles.

Re-Recording

If you want to try again, tap the red Re-Record button. You'll be asked to confirm that you want to discard your existing recording before starting fresh.

Solo Mode

If you record without a learning track loaded (either by tapping the Solo Record button in the Library, or by navigating to the Record tab with no track selected), only your recording waveform is shown. The balance slider is hidden and the track volume is disabled, since there's no learning track to control. Pitch comparison isn't available either, as there's no reference to compare against. Solo mode is useful for general practice or warming up.

Sharing Your Recording

Tap the Share button to export a mixed audio file that combines your recording with the learning track using whatever balance and volume settings you currently have applied. On iOS, the standard share sheet lets you send the file via AirDrop, email, Files, or any other sharing option available on your device. On Android, there are separate Share and Download buttons — share opens the system share menu, and download saves the file directly to your device.

The Pitch Pipe

The Pitch tab provides an interactive pitch pipe you can use to find your starting note or check your tuning at any time.

How It Looks

The pitch pipe is displayed as a circular "donut" with 12 segments — one for each note in the chromatic scale, arranged clockwise starting from C at the top. Each segment shows the note name in large text, with the enharmonic equivalent in smaller text below where applicable (e.g., "D♭" appears under "C♯").

When a note is playing, its segment lights up in blue, and a pulsing green orb appears in the centre of the donut.

Playing Notes

A toggle at the top of the screen switches between two modes:

1. Non-sticky (the default) — press and hold a segment to play the note. Release to stop.
2. Sticky — tap a segment to start the note playing, tap again to stop it. In sticky mode, you can tap multiple segments to build a chord — all selected notes play simultaneously until you tap them off.

Changing the Octave

Below the donut are four octave buttons: 2, 3, 4, and 5. Tap one to select the octave for all notes. The active octave is highlighted in blue.

Clear All

The Clear All button stops all currently playing notes at once. It's only active when notes are sounding.

The Sound

The pitch pipe produces a reedy, hollow tone that simulates a traditional free-reed pitch pipe. The sound has a smooth attack and release so notes start and stop cleanly.

Settings

The Settings tab lets you customise how PartPerfect behaves.

Playback

1. Play as Mono — when enabled, the channel selected by the balance slider is sent to both ears. This is useful when your learning track has the vocal part on one side and accompaniment on the other, and you want to hear your isolated part in both ears rather than just one.

Recording

1. Auto-Normalize Volume — automatically adjusts your recording to a consistent volume level after you stop recording. Handy if your mic levels were a bit uneven.
2. Remove Low Rumble — applies a filter that removes frequencies below 80 Hz. This cleans up room noise, air conditioning hum, and other low-frequency rumble that can muddy your recording.
3. Recording Sync Adjust — a slider from 0 to 500 ms (in 5 ms steps) that lets you fine-tune the timing alignment between your recording and the learning track. PartPerfect automatically measures and compensates for audio latency, but if things still sound slightly out of sync (especially with Bluetooth headphones), you can nudge this slider until the alignment sounds right. Changes take effect immediately on your existing recording — no need to re-record.

Display

1. Enharmonic Notes — choose whether the app displays accidental notes as Sharps (C♯, D♯, F♯, G♯, A♯) or Flats(D♭, E♭, G♭, A♭, B♭). This affects the note display in the Player and the pitch analysis results. A live preview updates as you toggle so you can see the difference. (The Pitch Pipe always shows both sharps and flats on each segment, so this setting doesn't apply there.)

Support

1. Feedback — opens a feedback form where you can send comments, report issues, or request features.

Version

The current app version and build number are displayed at the bottom of the Settings screen (e.g., "PartPerfect v1.2.0 (77)").

Tips for Best Results

Use Headphones When Recording

Headphones prevent the learning track from being picked up by the microphone, which gives you a clean recording and more accurate pitch analysis. Both wired and Bluetooth headphones work — the app automatically adjusts for the extra latency that Bluetooth introduces.

Slow It Down

Don't be afraid to use the speed control. Practising a difficult passage at 0.5x speed and gradually working up to full speed is one of the most effective ways to learn a part accurately.

Use the Crop Brackets

In the Player, drag the brackets on the waveform to crop the playable area down to a specific section, then turn on looping to repeat it. Combined with reduced speed, this lets you drill a tricky passage until it's second nature.

Isolate Your Part

If your learning track has your part on one channel and the other parts on the other, use the balance slider to isolate just your part while learning, then slide it the other way to sing along with the other parts for context.

Check Your Pitch Often

After recording, use Check Pitch to see where you're sharp, flat, or right on target. The real-time deviation display during playback is especially helpful — you can hear exactly where things went off and by how much.

Fine-Tune Bluetooth Sync

If you're using Bluetooth headphones and your recording sounds slightly out of sync with the learning track during review, head to Settings and adjust the Recording Sync Adjust slider. Small tweaks make a big difference. You can adjust it after recording and hear the change immediately.

Audio Continuity

A few things to know about how audio behaves as you move between tabs:

1. Your learning track keeps playing when you switch to the Library, Pitch, or Settings tab
2. Switching to the Record tab stops playback — the Record tab needs exclusive audio control for recording
3. The track you've loaded stays loaded across all tabs — selecting a track in the Library makes it available in both the Player and Record tabs

If you try to load a new track from the Library while you have a recording, the app will ask whether you want to discard the recording and load the new track, or keep the recording and go to the Record tab instead.

File Storage

PartPerfect stores your files locally on your device. If you need to back up or share files externally, you can do so manually using the share function — for example, to Dropbox, Google Drive, or other cloud storage services. Note that sharing to external cloud services requires that you have the apps for those services installed on your device.

Your content stays on your device unless you choose to share it — PartPerfect does not upload your audio or recordings to any server automatically.