For conductors · ab|takt for Apple Watch and Wear OS

Eyes on the choir.
The rehearsal at your wrist.

Start and stop the recording from your wrist, mark places with a tap, play the tuning pitch and see what the plan has next – while your eyes stay on the choir. With Apple Watch and with watches running Wear OS.

Not available yet. Each feature says whether it is built or in development: see the programme.

How ab|takt works in rehearsal today

Two watches: place markedA drawn watch without brand features, seen close up. On the screen, top left, “✓ Marked”, below it “until 21:30” and the large red “Mark this place” button. To its left, a pencil line like the movement of a conducting hand – preparation, beat, rebound – labelled in pencil: upbeat. To its right, dashed as a draft, a round watch as with Wear OS: “until 21:30” and “Mark this place” along the bottom edge.147:16Markeduntil 21:30Mark this placeDraftuntil 21:30Mark this placeTwo watches: place markedA drawn watch without brand features, seen close up. On the screen, top left, “✓ Marked”, below it “until 21:30” and the large red “Mark this place” button.47:16Markeduntil 21:30Mark this place
App screens, redrawn; dashed screens are drafts.

Programme

Part one

Part two

Coming soon: built; before release it will be tested on real devices and signed off. We will name a date only at release. In development: designed and partly built already, but not finished; details may change.

AComing soon

One tap, and you’re recording. (Coming soon)

Your watch has one button: “Start recording”. The line below it tells you beforehand which device will record, and once your iPhone confirms, your watch says “iPhone is recording”. To stop, use “Hold to stop” – a stray tap won’t end your rehearsal.

Your iPhone records when ab|takt is open on it or already waiting for a planned rehearsal (see below) – your iPhone doesn’t let any app turn on the microphone from the background. If it can’t right now, your watch says so straight away and tells you the next step. You can stop at any time.

Record automatically

If you like, ab|takt records the rehearsals in your rehearsal plan by itself: open the app in the half hour before the rehearsal and leave it open – at the planned time, recording starts after a short countdown. Your watch shows until when the rehearsal is planned.Note 1

Start with a tap, stop by holdingOn the left, the watch: “iPhone is recording”, 2:04:07 at the top, the ring around “Hold to stop” held all the way round. On the right, a staff: a red bar line at the start, 19:30 · start, pencil hatching for the rehearsal, and a red final double bar at the end, 21:34 · held.Next rehearsal 19:30Start recordingThe iPhone will recordTuning fork›0:032:04:07iPhone is recordingHold to stop19:30 · start21:34 · heldStart with a tap, stop by holdingAbove, the watch: “iPhone is recording”, 2:04:07 at the top, the ring around “Hold to stop” held all the way round. Below it, a staff: a red bar line at the start, 19:30 · start, pencil hatching for the rehearsal, and a red final double bar at the end, 21:34 · held.Next rehearsal 19:30Start recordingThe iPhone will recordTuning fork›0:032:04:07iPhone is recordingHold to stop19:30 · start21:34 · held
Schematic: start with a tap, stop by holding. The recording is made on the iPhone.
In development

When your iPhone can’t: your watch records itself (In development)

If ab|takt isn’t open on your iPhone right now, your watch is to record the rehearsal itself – with its own microphone. The line below “Start recording” then says “This watch will record”, and the recording goes to your iPhone afterwards. This is built, but stays switched off until it has been tested on real watches.

Your watch can record by itself only while it is also recording your conducting motion (chapter F): only then does a recording on the watch keep running with your wrist lowered. Without that, your iPhone records as before.

BIn development

The plan suggests. You decide. (In development)

Set up the rehearsal beforehand: pieces from your library or simply a title, plus warm-up, break and minutes. On your phone, your iPad or in your browser – the same plan everywhere.Note 2

During the rehearsal your watch shows what’s on, short and easy to read: “Gloria · Mozart”. ab|takt shortens long titles for this; you can change a piece’s short name yourself. When the time is up, your watch taps once, briefly. Tap “Next” to move on to the next item – or stay as long as your choir needs. You can simply let a tap go by, too.Note 3

If the evening goes another way, rehearse on without times – with one tap on your watch.

Planned beforehand, a short tap in the rehearsalOn the left, a phone as a draft with the programme of a rehearsal on Thursday 23 October, 19:30 to 21:30: 19:30 warm-up, 15 minutes; 19:45 announcements, 5; 19:50 Magnificat by Bach, 30; 20:20 Gloria by Mozart, 20; 20:40 break, 10; 20:50 Kyrie by Mozart, 25. Below: planned until 21:15, rehearsal until 21:30. An arrow labelled “the same plan” leads to the watch on the right, also a draft, on its “Programme” page: first “Now: Magnificat, Bach, 1 min left”; then the watch taps once, briefly, and it reads: Time for Gloria, Mozart, with the “Next” button.Plan beforehandIn the rehearsalDraftProgrammeThu 23 Oct · 19:30–21:3019:3015 minWarm-up19:455 minAnnouncements19:5030 minMagnificatBach20:2020 minGloriaMozart20:4010 minBreak20:5025 minKyrieMozartPlanned until 21:15 · rehearsal until 21:30the same planDraftNowMagnificatBach · 1 min leftNext ›Then: GloriaTime forGloriaMozartNext ›taps once, brieflyPlanned beforehand, a short tap in the rehearsalOn the left, a phone as a draft with the programme of a rehearsal on Thursday 23 October, 19:30 to 21:30: 19:30 warm-up, 15 minutes; 19:45 announcements, 5; 19:50 Magnificat by Bach, 30; 20:20 Gloria by Mozart, 20; 20:40 break, 10; 20:50 Kyrie by Mozart, 25. Below: planned until 21:15, rehearsal until 21:30. An arrow labelled “the same plan” leads to the watch on the right, also a draft, on its “Programme” page: first “Now: Magnificat, Bach, 1 min left”; then the watch taps once, briefly, and it reads: Time for Gloria, Mozart, with the “Next” button.Plan beforehandDraftProgrammeThu 23 Oct · 19:30–21:3019:3015 minWarm-up19:455 minAnnouncements19:5030 minMagnificatBach20:2020 minGloriaMozart20:4010 minBreak20:5025 minKyrieMozartPlanned until 21:15 · rehearsal until 21:30the same planIn the rehearsalDraftNowMagnificatBach · 1 min leftNext ›Then: GloriaTime forGloriaMozartNext ›taps once, briefly
Both screens are drafts: the programme is in development. An example evening.
Plan in your browser, tooA browser window as a draft: on the left the library with Magnificat by Bach, Gloria by Mozart and Kyrie by Mozart, the last marked “Title only”; on the right the same programme as on the phone.abtakt.appDraft‹ Rehearsal planLibraryMagnificatBach＋GloriaMozart＋KyrieMozart＋Title onlyProgrammeThu 23 Oct · 19:30–21:3019:30Warm-up15 min19:45Announcements5 min19:50Magnificat · Bach30 min20:20Gloria · Mozart20 min20:40Break10 min20:50Kyrie · Mozart25 minPlanned until 21:15 · rehearsal until 21:30Plan in your browser, tooA narrow browser window as a draft with the same programme as on the phone.abtakt.appDraft‹ Rehearsal planProgrammeThu 23 Oct · 19:30–21:3019:30Warm-up15 min19:45Announcements5 min19:50Magnificat · Bach30 min20:20Gloria · Mozart20 min20:40Break10 min20:50Kyrie · Mozart25 minPlanned until 21:15 · rehearsal until 21:30
Plan in your browser, too: the library on the left, the programme on the right. A piece without a score shows “Title only”. Draft.
CComing soon

Mark it without looking. (Coming soon)

A passage you want to come back to after the rehearsal? Tap “Mark this place”, and your watch sets a marker in the running recording. After the rehearsal you’ll find every marked place in the recording on your iPhone.

On newer models a double tap works too: tap the thumb and index finger of your watch hand together twice, without touching the screen.Note 4 “Mark this place” is on your iPhone, too.

Three marked placesOn the left, the watch showing “Marked”. On the right, a timeline of the rehearsal from 0:00 to 2:00 with three red marks at 23:41, 47:16 and 1:31:05.1:31:05Markeduntil 21:30Mark this place0:000:301:001:302:0023:4147:161:31:05Three marked placesAbove, the watch showing “Marked”. Below it, a timeline of the rehearsal from 0:00 to 2:00 in two rows, with three red marks at 23:41, 47:16 and 1:31:05.1:31:05Markeduntil 21:30Mark this place0:000:301:001:302:0023:4147:161:31:05
Three marked places in a rehearsal of just over two hours. An example.
In development

Note what it’s about – or “Just mark” (In development)

A tap on “Mark this place” sets the marker straight away. Right after that, your watch shows four large tiles with tags, such as intonation, rhythm, diction and entry – or, if you set it up that way, the four voice parts. In the middle sits “Just mark”: one tap, and the place stays without a tag. If you tap nothing, your default applies after six seconds – “Just mark” to begin with; a ring shows how much time is left.Note 5 ↺ takes back a marker set by mistake.

You choose on your iPhone which four tiles appear and what the default is; you can add more tags after the rehearsal. Then you listen back with a purpose – say, every intonation place in the sopranos, sorted by piece. Tags are about voice parts and topics, never about individual singers.

Marked places with tagsOn the left, the watch as a draft: after “Mark this place”, four tiles – Intonation, Rhythm, Diction, Entry –, the round “Just mark” button in the middle, ↺ at the top right; a ring runs down around “Just mark”, a third of it left. On the right, the same timeline as above with three marks and margin notes: Intonation, Rhythm, Diction. Below, after the rehearsal, Intonation is circled and the place at 23:41 is highlighted.DraftMark this placeIntonationRhythmDictionEntry0:000:301:001:302:0023:4147:161:31:05IntonationRhythmDictionAfter the rehearsal:Intonation · Rhythm · DictionMarked places with tagsAbove, the watch as a draft: after “Mark this place”, four tiles – Intonation, Rhythm, Diction, Entry –, the round “Just mark” button in the middle, ↺ at the top right; a ring runs down around “Just mark”, a third of it left. Below it, the same timeline as in C, in two rows, with three marks and margin notes: Intonation, Rhythm, Diction. At the bottom, after the rehearsal, Intonation is circled and the place at 23:41 is highlighted.DraftMark this placeIntonationRhythmDictionEntry0:000:301:001:302:0023:4147:161:31:05IntonationRhythmDictionAfter the rehearsal:Intonation · Rhythm · Diction
The same rehearsal as in C, now with tags. The ring shows when the default applies – “Just mark” in the middle, to begin with. Examples; you choose which tags are offered.
DComing soon

The piano’s A, at your wrist. (Coming soon)

Play the tuning pitch from your watch (“Tuning fork” on the screen): A = 440, 442 or 443 Hz, other tunings – or your own.Note 6 If there is a piano in the room, play an A: with “Take from the piano”, ab|takt listens briefly on your iPhone and takes over the instrument’s pitch. Your iPhone listens only while that screen is open, and stores nothing.

The tuning pitch also works without a watch, on iPhone and iPad.

From the piano to the wristOn the left, a keyboard with the A key highlighted. In the middle, a circle with A = 442 Hz: the iPhone listens. On the right, the watch with the tuning fork: 442 Hz, “Play tone” and the choice 440, 442, 443. Above, a dashed arc from the piano straight to the watch: or your watch listens – in development.PianoA = 442 HziPhone listensor your watch listensIn developmentTuning forkA442 HzPlay tone440442443Watch playsFrom the piano to the wristAt the top, a keyboard with the A key highlighted. Below it, a circle with A = 442 Hz: the iPhone listens. At the bottom, the watch with the tuning fork: 442 Hz, “Play tone” and the choice 440, 442, 443. On the right, a dashed line from the piano straight to the watch: or your watch listens – in development.PianoA = 442 HziPhone listensor your watchlistensIn developmentTuning forkA442 HzPlay tone440442443Watch plays
An A taken from the piano, played on the watch. Dashed: your watch listens with its own microphone – in development. App screen redrawn.
In development

From the piano – on your watch, too (In development)

Your watch can listen, too: on its tuning fork page, “Take from the piano” opens a page of its own. Your watch listens with its microphone only while that page is open, detects the note the way your iPhone does, and stores nothing; the pitch it takes over then applies on the watch. This works between recordings. Like recording with the watch, it is built but still switched off.

EIn development

Don’t hear it. Feel it. (In development)

Before the choir comes in, tap “Count in”: after one silent beat, your watch gives you one bar at the piece’s tempo as gentle taps on your wrist – felt rather than heard, just for you. Then it goes still, and you give the upbeat.

You set the tempo on your iPhone in beats per minute, or simply tap it in. On your watch you change it with the crown or by tapping, for now; with “Save”, ab|takt keeps it for the piece.Note 7

One bar to count inOn the left, the watch as a draft: Bach, ♩ = 72, “Count in”. Next to it, a quarter rest labelled “silent” and a bar of four beats, each with a ring above it marked as felt. After the double bar, the opening bars of Bach’s motet “Fürchte dich nicht”; above them: choir sings, watch still.DraftBach= 72Count insilent1234Choir sings · watch still
One bar to count inA quarter rest labelled “silent” and a bar of four beats, each with a ring above it marked as felt. Below, the opening bars of Bach’s motet “Fürchte dich nicht”; above them: choir sings, watch still.silent1234Choir sings · watch still
Schematic: one silent beat, one bar to count in, then the choir sings. Bach, “Fürchte dich nicht”, bars 1–2. Bach-Gesellschaft edition (1892), public domain.
FComing soon· optional

Your conducting hand – only if you wish. (Coming soon, optional)

If you wish, your watch records the movements of your conducting hand, aligned with the recording – to look at and export. How closely movement and sound line up is measured and shown for every recording. The rehearsal then reads “Conducting motion recorded” in the app and on abtakt.app – visible only to you, never to the choir.

This is a choice of its own, unticked to begin with. Without it, your watch is a remote and a way to mark places, and records no movement. When ab|takt transfers a rehearsal, only a short note goes with it: that movements were recorded, with which hand, for how long, how precise the time alignment is and how much of it was beating time. The motion data itself stays on your iPhone unless you choose to provide it for research in future (see below). ab|takt records neither heart rate nor location; your watch records sound only when it records the rehearsal itself (chapter A).

Movement next to the recording, schematicAt the top, the recording from 19:30 to 21:34 as pencil hatching between red bar lines, with three gaps where the choir is not singing. Below it, two pencil curves, the acceleration and rotation of the wrist; in the gaps they settle. Dotted lines and a bracket show: aligned with the recording. The curves are made up, not taken from a recording.RecordingAccelerationRotation19:3021:34aligned with the recordingMovement next to the recording, schematicAt the top, the recording from 19:30 to 21:34 as pencil hatching between red bar lines, with three gaps where the choir is not singing. Below it, one under the other, two pencil curves, the acceleration and rotation of the wrist; in the gaps they settle. Dotted lines and a bracket show: aligned with the recording. The curves are made up, not taken from a recording.Recording19:3021:34AccelerationRotationaligned with the recording

Conducting motion recorded · right hand · 1:52 h

In the settings, unticked to begin with:

Record the movements of my conducting hand

Two separate choices. Both optional.

Provide for research (In development)

Schematic, with made-up curves. Your watch records the acceleration and rotation of your wrist, aligned with the recording – no judgement of your conducting.
In development

After the rehearsal: your motion profile (In development)

From the motion data, ab|takt works out a motion profile of the rehearsal on your iPhone: the tempo your hand mostly beat (say, “Mostly around 72 and 108 beats per minute”), when in the rehearsal you were beating time, making expressive gestures or keeping your hand still, and, if you like, how the tempo changed. Tapping a marked place in the timeline plays the recording from there.

The numbers count the beats of your hand. The profile is an overview for you, not an assessment, and it stays on your iPhone. It is built already and is still being tested in real rehearsals.

In development

Separately: research (In development)

How a choir follows a gesture has hardly been measured in real rehearsals. We plan to research this – only with your separate, voluntary consent: under a research ID instead of your name, stored in the EU, for the ab|takt team only, never passed on, and you can withdraw at any time. Movements can identify a person, so we always treat them as personal data. What the research will find is open; we cannot promise you a personal benefit. We will report back to you what we learn.

GIn development

With Wear OS, too. (In development)

ab|takt is coming to watches running Wear OS, together with the app on your phone: starting and stopping the recording, marking places (with tags or “Just mark”), the rehearsal plan with its short tap and, if you wish, recording your conducting hand. Three things are different.

With Wear OS: what is the same and what is different

Topic

The same

Different with Wear OS

Mark this place

The same: One tap on “Mark this place”, then tags or “Just mark”.

Different: No double tap – you tap the screen.

Buttons

The same: Start with one tap, stop with “Hold to stop”.

Different: If your watch has a button you can assign, it can mark a place, if you like.

While recording

The same: Mark, Programme and Controls as pages side by side.

Different: The recording screen stays visible, even when your watch dims it – no jump to the watch face.

Wear OS: the “Mark” page while recordingA round watch as a draft, with a button on the right of the case. On the screen, with a red bar on the left: Gloria, below it “Time for · Mozart”; along the bottom edge the “Mark this place” button.DraftGloriaTime for · MozartMark this placeButton
Draft: the “Mark” page on a round watch with Wear OS, with Gloria due.

Notes

  1. Switched on per rehearsal series, off to begin with. ab|takt reminds you 15 minutes before the rehearsal. After the planned end, ab|takt keeps recording until it has been quiet for a while – without you doing anything, for at most one more hour. ↩ Back to the text
  2. The plan is kept in your account so that all your devices show it; nobody else sees it. Without a watch you see the plan on your phone; nothing vibrates or rings there. ↩ Back to the text
  3. The tap usually comes at the planned minute; without a connection to your phone it can come later or not at all. At most one tap per item, never repeated. Your watch’s Focus and silent settings still apply. On your phone you can turn the taps off altogether (“Feel the rehearsal plan”). ↩ Back to the text
  4. Double tap from Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 with watchOS 11. Tapping the screen always works. ↩ Back to the text
  5. With VoiceOver or Switch Control no time runs out; “Done” then works like the end of the six seconds. With Reduce Motion on, the ring shows the seconds in steps. ↩ Back to the text
  6. Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 play the tone through the watch speaker. On other models your iPhone plays it – except while it is recording. ↩ Back to the text
  7. Your watch counts in only before the entry, not while the choir sings. Your watch’s haptics need to be on. ↩ Back to the text
  8. Features and illustrations may change before release. The app screens in the illustrations are redrawn; dashed screens are drafts. Times, pieces and places are an example. The screens at the end of the page come from the app in the simulator, with sample data.

Good to know.

Already today: what you say ends up in your score.

The watch is the next step. Recording, listening back and finding your remarks in the score – ab|takt does that today, in your browser or as an app.

See an exampleTry it in your browser

From the watch into the recordingThe watch shows “Marked”. A pencil arrow leads to the recording on the iPhone, a timeline from 0:00 to 2:00 with a red mark at 47:16.Markeduntil 21:30Mark this placeMarked at your wristIn the recording on your iPhone0:001:002:0047:16From the watch into the recordingAbove, the watch showing “Marked”. A pencil arrow leads down to the recording on the iPhone, a timeline from 0:00 to 2:00 with a red mark at 47:16.Markeduntil 21:30Mark this placeMarked at your wristIn the recording on your iPhone0:001:002:0047:16

Already today: your remark in the score

Vivaldi, Gloria: Propter magnam gloriam, bars 5 to 6, with the pencil remark “Konsonant voraus” (consonant ahead) above the sopranos’ first entry
You find the marked place again in the recording (coming soon). What you say in rehearsal, ab|takt already places at the right spot in the score today. Vivaldi, Gloria – V. Propter magnam gloriam, bars 5–6. Kalmus (1967), public domain.
  • The app’s start screen: iPhone connected, Next rehearsal 2:15 PM · automatic, the red “Start recording” button, below it “The iPhone will record”StartComing soon
  • The recording’s “Mark” page: until 3:00 PM, below it the large red “Mark this place” buttonMarkComing soon
  • Tuning fork: A4, 442 Hz, “Play tone”, the choice 440, 442 (selected), 443Tuning forkComing soon
  • Tags after “Mark this place”: four tiles Intonation, Rhythm, Diction, Entry; the default’s ring runs around IntonationTagsIn development
What the app looks like at the moment: screens from the simulator with sample data, cropped at the top without the time.

Questions or wishes for ab|takt on your watch? Write to us: hello@abtakt.com