From scattered files to playing in three steps

JamCrate is deliberately simple: organize once, then open a song and play.

Drop in a folder

Import tracks and tabs together. JamCrate pairs what it can and asks only when something is unclear.

Choose a song

The backing track, tab, notes and useful links are already together in one place.

Start playing

Play the track, loop a difficult fragment or move through a setlist without hunting for files.

Only what helps you play

Not a tab editor and not a studio. A practical player for guitarists who already have their own material.

Tab as a quick reference

Open PDF, text, chord sheets or Guitar Pro 3–5 files to refresh the part before playing. Tabs are not synced to notes or bars; optional auto-scroll moves through them proportionally with the track.

Practice the difficult part

Mark a solo or verse, loop it and slow it down to 0.5× without changing the pitch.

Open the set on your phone

Scan a QR code on the same Wi-Fi. Play loops on the phone or use it as a remote while the music stays on your Mac.

Away from your Mac? Export a set and open it in the browser companion. It plays that set offline, on any device — but it is a read-only companion, not the app on your phone and not a replacement for the Mac version. It opens with a demo set: two tracks by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), used under Creative Commons BY 4.0.

A library, not another pile

Keep setlists, favorites, notes and links with each song. Back up the complete library as one archive.

MIDI preset switching is in — the plain-player export is still an idea

MIDI preset switching is already built. When a song starts, or when playback crosses a solo marker, JamCrate sends program changes, control changes or SysEx to a connected device, driven by shareable .jamrig profiles (⌥⌘R). The M-VAVE Tank-G is done and verified on the pedal itself — all 9 banks and 4 slots, over plain USB, with no vendor app running. The rest of the M-VAVE family ships too, as profiles marked “(untested)”: they are extrapolated from the one frame I could actually measure, so a wrong one fails silently. Line 6 Helix, HX Stomp, HX Effects and Boss GT-1000 ship as “(documented)” — built from the vendors’ own MIDI documentation, and unverified until someone tries one. Try yours and tell me whether the pedal switches — that single answer is enough to make it real. The Rig window has a Test button and a MIDI monitor.

Still an idea: exporting a set as numbered tracks, separate solo loops and M3U playlists for any ordinary player. Tell me what matters at beta@jamcrate.app.

Try it with your own library

JamCrate is free during beta. It is made for guitarists who already have folders of backing tracks, tabs and several versions of the same songs.

Download JamCrate.dmg

About 20 MB · Universal build · Signed and notarized by Apple · macOS 14 Sonoma or later

Install

Signed and notarized by Apple, so JamCrate opens with an ordinary double-click. No right-click, no System Settings detour, no Terminal.

With Homebrew

brew install --cask vitas/jamcrate/jamcrate

Installs to Applications and updates later with brew upgrade --cask jamcrate. No tap needed — the full path works as-is.

Or download the DMG

Open the DMG and drag JamCrate to Applications.
Open it. That is the whole install — macOS has already verified the signature.

Coming from an earlier beta that macOS blocked? The old build needed the two-step “Open Anyway” dance. This one does not.

Everything you need to play a song. In one place.