Setlist timing and buffers

The gap between "the songs add up to 58 minutes" and "we were on stage for 75 minutes" is the single most common timing mistake in function work. SetGenius closes it.

Why raw song length is not set length

Add up the recorded durations of twenty songs and you get the amount of music in your set. You do not get the length of your set.

What is missing is everything between the songs:

Tuning
Talking to the room
Counting in
Guitar changes
The gap while the singer finds the right mic
Applause

Across a twenty-song set, that adds up to ten minutes or more. Ignore it and you either overrun your slot or finish early with a room still waiting.

How SetGenius calculates it

Total set time = total song duration + total buffer time

Your buffer time is a global default, set once in Settings — 30 seconds out of the box, but you can change it to whatever your band actually takes between songs. If you play in a band, there's a separate default for that band (editable in Settings under the band tab), so a tight covers band and a chattier function band can each set their own baseline.

Every song you add to a setlist inherits that default automatically. The builder shows a running total as you work, so you can see the effect of adding or removing a song immediately.

Overriding a buffer for one song

The default is a starting point, not a rule — every song in the setlist builder has its own buffer field right next to it, editable on the spot (0–300 seconds). Override it for the songs that actually need something different:

Reduce it for songs you segue straight into. A pair of songs that run together might need ten seconds, or none at all.
Increase it where you know you need the time. The song after a guitar change, a capo swap or a drop tuning. The one where the singer always tells the story about the wedding in Norwich.

Change the global default in Settings when your band's general pace has changed; override individual songs in the builder when just one needs it. A set with an accurate default and a few sensible overrides will predict your finish time to within a minute or two.

Hitting a fixed slot

Most function work is a fixed slot: two forty-five minute sets, or one ninety-minute set with a break. Here is how to land it.

Enter the slot length, not the music length, when you brief the AI. It works backwards from there.
Aim to come in slightly under. Sixty seconds of headroom in a sixty-minute slot is not headroom. Two or three minutes is.
Keep one song in reserve. Have a short, high-energy song you know cold that is not in the set. If you are running early, it is your encore. If you are running late, nobody ever knew it existed.
Set your buffers before you fine-tune the running order, not after. Changing buffers changes the total, which can undo the balancing you just did.

When the AI builds a set

Given a target set length, SetGenius selects songs whose combined duration plus buffers lands close to your slot — within a couple of minutes either way. If your library does not hold enough material to fill the slot, it says so in the warnings rather than padding the set with songs that do not fit the gig.

Where song durations come from

Duration is filled in automatically when you add a song to your library, and you can always edit it — enter it as 3:45 or as 225 seconds, either works.

Use your band's actual arrangement length, not the record's. Cover bands rarely play the recorded arrangement exactly — if you play a two-minute outro that the original doesn't have, or you cut a song short, correct the duration so your set timing stays accurate. The difference across a full set is significant.