Apps Every Catholic Artist Should Know: Part Two!
For Part Two in our series of Apps for Catholic Artists, we asked the members of the Catholic Artist Connection board which apps they find indispensable in their creative work.
THEATER
Cole Matson, executive director and vice president, recommends TODAYTIX. This free app (available for multiple major cities, including New York City, Boston, and London) lets users theater buy tickets at discounted prices, enter lotteries to win heavily discounted theater tickets, and otherwise stay up to date on shows happening in their cities. A ticketing agent will meet you outside the building at 30 minutes to curtain and give you your tickets. No age restrictions or IDs required, like there are for student lotteries! You can also add your own production to the TodayTix database to drum up ticket sales for your performances. TodayTix is a staple for broke young artists who nonetheless want to spend their last $30 at the theater.
MUSIC
Melissa Maricich, secretary, recommends APPCOMPANIST for performers who need backing tracks for auditions, vocal warmups, tempo and key changes, and more. Singers often find themselves preparing for auditions in strange places, and may not always have a personal accompanist on the piano at the ready - how awesome to have one in your pocket!
WRITING
Laura Pittenger, treasurer, recommends GOOGLE KEEP for writers. This free app lets you make lists, take notes, and draw sketches. The best ideas often come to us in the shower or walking down the street, places which are not optimal to stop and type or write in notebooks - this app makes it easy for you to talk and transcribe your thoughts for later. There’s also an alert function if you have a note of which you need to remind yourself at a set time.
PHOTOGRAPHY
While you can’t go wrong with Instagram, have you tried VSCO? This app functions as an outside extension for Instagram and lets you modify your photos with filters and features not available in Instagram. Whether you’re a professional photographer, or a performer looking to up your social media game, VSCO gives your photographs a professional, distinctive edge.
For the EASILY DISTRACTED of all disciplines…
Laura also recommends a productivity app called FOREST! This free app (which comes with a premium ad-free option to purchase) locks down distracting apps on your smartphone and builds visually appealing trees during the lockdown period you designate. It’s hard to contemplate cutting down a cute tree just so you can log onto Twitter for the 23rd time. Once you build enough trees, you start to build your own forest, and you have the option to build different kinds of trees.
It’s also a great opportunity to respond to Pope Francis’ call to protect the environment, our common home! From Forest’s website: “Forest team partners with a real-tree-planting organization, Trees for the Future, to plant real trees on the earth. When our users spend virtual coins they earn in Forest on planting real trees, Forest team donates our partner and create orders of planting.”
We want to hear from you! What apps do you consider essential to your creative process? Email us at catholicartistconnection@gmail.com.
