Blackcap
Support
Help with Blackcap for iPhone and iPad. For how to do something, the Docs have every Help article from the app. For anything else, email hello@blackcapmusic.app and a person will answer.
Get in touch
Questions, bugs, ideas, or something you made: hello@blackcapmusic.app. Say which device you're on and what you tapped, and I'll get back to you.
First steps
The first time Blackcap opens, it asks whether you've made music on a computer before. Not yet starts you in Beginner on a new song; A little opens Intermediate; Yes opens the full studio (Pro). You can change this any time in Settings → Experience. Every level has every feature.
- New to all of this? Read Quick Song: the Easiest Way to Make a Song
- Want to see what each screen does? Tap the "?" at the top of any screen, or read A Tour of the Screens
- Ten minutes free? Your First Song in Ten Minutes
Something's not working
I can't hear anything.
Check the volume, and that the part isn't muted on Song → Mix (or that the song's parts include it: a part with the beat dropped out is silent there, and the strip above Play says so). If headphones or a speaker were just connected or disconnected, press Play again.
Blackcap can't record, or says there's no microphone.
Allow microphone access in the Settings app → Blackcap → Microphone. If another app or a call is using the microphone, end it and try again. On an iPhone or iPad with an audio interface, check Settings → Recording → Record from.
My take is late, or out of time.
Recordings are lined up to the beat automatically. Use headphones so the music doesn't get back into the microphone. If takes still land late, read Staying in Time When Recording.
Hear Yourself won't turn on.
It needs headphones or an audio interface; on the built-in speaker it would feed back. Over Bluetooth it works but with a delay, so a cable is better for playing along.
Lyrics from singing isn't writing anything down.
Allow Speech Recognition in the Settings app → Blackcap. Recognition runs on your device and works best singing clearly, close to the microphone. It's a first draft; edit it on the chart.
A sound or a plug-in is missing.
If a song used a plug-in that isn't installed on this device, that part plays with Blackcap's own sound until you install it. Blackcap's own recorded instruments load in the background the first time you pick them; a synthesized stand-in plays until they're ready.
My MIDI keyboard plays the wrong thing.
Settings → MIDI → Keys & Pads: press a key or hit a pad, and it shows which channel it arrived on and what that channel plays. If your pads hit the wrong drums, open Drum Pads and choose your layout, or teach it: tap a drum, then hit a pad. See MIDI Keyboards and Pad Controllers.
The song keeps scrolling while I'm trying to tap something.
Touch the page and it holds still until the next Play. On the Beat screen, Follow the Song brings following back.
I deleted something by mistake.
Undo, at the top, takes back almost everything, including deleted takes. Blackcap saves as you go, so there's no Save button to forget.
Your songs, backups and iCloud
Where are my songs kept?
On your device. If iCloud is on (Settings → iCloud in Blackcap; it starts on), they're also in your own iCloud Drive, in a folder called Blackcap, and on every iPhone and iPad signed in to your Apple Account. A song with a cloud badge in Songs hasn't downloaded yet; tap it and it fetches.
How do I back up or move a song?
Open Songs, tap a song's ⋯, and choose Share: you get one .blackcapsong file with the song and all its recordings. AirDrop it, save it to Files, or open it in Blackcap on another device. Songs → Song files → Back Up All Songs… makes one file per song. A .blackcapsong file keeps everything; an exported audio file is just the mix.
How do I keep a finished version?
Finish & Share → Finish It (Save → Finish my song in Beginner). The finished mix is kept as a version with the song. Change the song and finish it again for version 2. Read Save and Finish Your Song.
Where do finished songs and copies go?
Keep songs in folders inside Songs (an album, an EP, songs for the band), and save a copy to Files from any song's ⋯: the finished song as audio, or the song file.
Does Blackcap sync?
Yes, through your own iCloud Drive, between devices signed in to the same Apple Account. Nothing goes through any server of Blackcap's. If you'd rather keep songs only on this device, turn iCloud off in Settings; your songs are copied back to the device first.
Getting your song onto Spotify and Apple Music
Streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music don't take songs straight from musicians or apps. Independent artists release through a distributor: a company that delivers your song to the streaming services and pays through what it earns.
- Finish the song and listen all the way through, on headphones and on a speaker.
- In Finish & Share, export a Full-Quality WAV with Release-Ready Loudness on. Streaming services play songs at about −14 LUFS; Blackcap brings your song there and tells you what it did.
- Save the WAV to Files.
- Make cover art: square, at least 3000 × 3000 pixels, without store logos or web addresses. The Release Kit makes one from your picture or a plain design, and a credits and split sheet if you wrote the song with someone.
- Choose a distributor and compare prices: some charge a yearly fee, some a fee per release, some a share of earnings.
- Upload the WAV and cover art, add the title, your artist name, songwriter credits and a release date. Most ask for a date two weeks or more away.
- After release, claim Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists to add a photo and see who's listening.
Accessibility
Blackcap works with VoiceOver, larger text sizes, Reduce Motion, Increase Contrast and Differentiate Without Color.
- A two-finger double-tap plays and stops the song from anywhere.
- The tuner speaks: the note, which way to turn, and "in tune".
- Each drum row reads out its whole bar ("Kick, steps 1, 7 and 11").
- With VoiceOver on, the keyboard plays by direct touch, like a real keyboard.
- Recording, errors and Undo are announced.
If something doesn't work well with the way you use your device, please write. That feedback decides what gets fixed first.
Contact
Questions, bugs or ideas: hello@blackcapmusic.app. Blackcap is made by one person, so you'll hear back from the person who made it.