Tele-prompter On Stage ???

Mickster

Mickster

Well-known member
I used to know tons of covers (lyrics and chords) by memory.....but in recent years I really don't play live much....except for some fill in stints etc....etc. Not playing regularly it's easy to forget lyrics and chords here and there. Yup.....I know....getting older doesn't help either. I might look to play more in the near future.

I've seen a number of things used on stage for such a problem.......iPads.....phones....monitors.....etc.

Do any of you use anything and if so....what? I have an iPad. I'm thinking I want to load a song list on it and mount it on a mic stand??

Suggestions???

Mick
 
In my band, the singer uses an ipad with the Set List Maker app. It's a bit tedious to get the songs into the app, but once you do, it is versatile. I consider it cheating, but yeah, when you get old you need all the cheats you can get.
:D
 
Even when I was young I used to put a notebook with the changes on top of my amp to refresh my memory before each song.

And that was in my early 20s. I can only imagine how bad I would be now.
 
I was watching a concert video, and all those big stage monitors at the front of the stage had flatscreens in them, scrolling the words to all of the songs. Of course all the band members had the IEM so they didn't need the monitors anymore, but I guess looks more "rock show" to have those big boxes up there. Its only one step past having a wall of empty Marshall cabinets!

Having a nice tablet on the stand with the set list linked to the words is a great idea. A buddy of mine from near Chicago has a really nice setup. Probably a thousand songs are in that thing, most with chords. GREAT for jam sessions. It makes you look like you know every song ever written.
 
TalismanRich said:
I was watching a concert video, and all those big stage monitors at the front of the stage had flatscreens in them, scrolling the words to all of the songs. Of course all the band members had the IEM so they didn't need the monitors anymore, but I guess looks more "rock show" to have those big boxes up there. Its only one step past having a wall of empty Marshall cabinets!

Having a nice tablet on the stand with the set list linked to the words is a great idea. A buddy of mine from near Chicago has a really nice setup. Probably a thousand songs are in that thing, most with chords. GREAT for jam sessions. It makes you look like you know every song ever written.
Click to expand...

I'm confused. How does having an IEM help with remembering lyrics (or chords)? Am I missing something?

EDIT: OH DUH....you were just referring to the monitors not being needed anymore. Gotta be awake when I read I guess.
 
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notCardio said:
Even when I was young I used to put a notebook with the changes on top of my amp to refresh my memory before each song.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I would write notes to myself on the set list and tape it to my monitor. I've done the ipad/teleprompter thing before. I felt like I was cheating. There was this one Smashing Pumpkins song we would do and I could never remember the chords. I really only needed the ipad for that one song.

Nowadays, I use the ipad to run the mixer from stage. Not really mixing from stage. I'll get it set up before we start then use it turn effects on and off in between songs.
 
Mick,
I purchased an app for my iPad that is pretty impressive TelePrompTer. I have never tried it while singing, but I have used it a lot for VO recording. The app is Prompt Smart Pro.

Here is a long-winded demo. What would have been cool to show, is when he stops reading from the teleprompter, it paused. He began his commentary and it waits. If he had started back to reading, it would pick up and keep scrolling.

Dale
 
This may work. Just use an iPad, write the songs out and capture a good photo. Load the photos onto the iPad in a folder. This way you can sort the songs into a set order before the gig. There is a way to set up a foot switch to turn the pages, I have seen this at a classical music recital.

I am getting an iPad just for this shortly although I am thinking of buying a music writing software as I play in so many bands I am re-learning how to read dots again LOL.
Alan
 
My tablet is a Windows model, so I use an app called MobileSheets for my lyrics - also using it for chords now I am adding many new songs to my list.
I save the documents as PDF, with a large font (so I can read the tablet from an arm's length away!) I have a bluetooth pedal to advance pages - I hate seeing people pause to use a finger to push the page along. I have a holder that clamps onto the mic stand (or can be mounted directly on top of a separate one). A lot less intrusive than a music stand with a note book of lyrics.

MobileSheets allows you to create set lists, sort/search, etc.

If I'm playing with others (not singing or just singing choruses/backup), its no issue for me to remembers the music (and most of the songs I play solo I know the music, too), but the lyrics are getting harder and harder to keep straight.
 
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