Using the iPad for lyrics in live performance

[Strays Dave]

I'm going to be singing on an assisted living gig  in mid-May.  I have not sung on a gig since pre-Covid in March 2020.  I have an new  iPad mini - I've searched on lyrics to several songs - pinched out to make them a little bigger - took a screen snapshot and saved them in a file.  I want to be able to plan a 45-50 minute performance and  have the lyrics on the iPad in order of performance.   I think I can set the screen timeout to something like 10 minutes to avoid having the screen timeout.   No lead sheets or chord charts - just lyrics.  I'll be playing piano and singing.

 

I'm thinking there must be apps for say, arranging lecture notes in order as desired,  for easily swiping in sequence  as set up in advance.   Anyone have ideas for this in an app  ? Thanks in advance. 

[Anderton]

Seems like the PageFlip products would be just the ticket for you. I wrote a review of the PageFlip Firefly, see what you think.

 

And congrats on getting back into the game!

[Notes_Norton]

I've heard about apps that others use, but I forget the name. Someone else might be able to help if you ask on a gig forum.

 

I use a laptop which I find easier than a tablet for me. I like having the keyboard available at all times. But as always, there is more than one right way to do this.

 

I hope your gig goes well and they ask you back for more!

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Strays Dave]

Thanks for the ideas guys.  I've decided to print lyrics for each song, put them in a plastic sheet insert and in a binder, in order of performance.  The PageFlip Firefly would be nice if I were going to be singing on an ongoing basis (more singing gigs),  but I don't know that I will be.  The physical device, for me, would be something like using a sledgehammer to drive a nail

 

I did some searching, and found some app(s) with "podium"  in their name, but not being sure that they're the answer, I'll just stick to paper  unless/until  I come across something that seems specifically suited. 

 

[Gus Lozada]

I just create PDFs with each song with big enough fonts and "AirDrop" them from my Mac to the iPad

 

I send them to a local folder into "FILES" and I have them alphabetically. They will open just by tapping on them

 

50 minutes performance? That's about 10 songs, right? Piece of cake.

[Notes_Norton]

22 hours ago, Strays Dave said:

Thanks for the ideas guys.  I've decided to print lyrics for each song, put them in a plastic sheet insert and in a binder, in order of performance.  The PageFlip Firefly would be nice if I were going to be singing on an ongoing basis (more singing gigs),  but I don't know that I will be.  The physical device, for me, would be something like using a sledgehammer to drive a nail

 

I did some searching, and found some app(s) with "podium"  in their name, but not being sure that they're the answer, I'll just stick to paper  unless/until  I come across something that seems specifically suited. 

 

That works.

 

Some time low-tech is best.

 

I used to do that, but we don't do set lists, but call songs as we think the audience needs them when they need them.  As our repertoire grew, (we now have over 600 songs) so did the book. Finally there was no ring binder big enough to easily hold them all, and getting from song to song just took too long.

 

But until we reached 300 or so songs, it worked just fine and never crashed.

 

Notes ♫

[Strays Dave]

On 4/29/2022 at 9:12 AM, Notes_Norton said:

That works.

 

Some time low-tech is best.

 

I used to do that, but we don't do set lists, but call songs as we think the audience needs them when they need them.  As our repertoire grew, (we now have over 600 songs) so did the book. Finally there was no ring binder big enough to easily hold them all, and getting from song to song just took too long.

 

But until we reached 300 or so songs, it worked just fine and never crashed.

 

Notes ♫

I don't typically use a set list. But this particular gig seems to be presented as a concert.  They seem to often have classical performers and sometimes musical theater folks.   So I want to have a somewhat tight set planned....try to time it - roughly.  I'm doing songs like Zip A Dee Do Dah and That Old Black Magic.  A few 1950's slow pop songs. And so on. 

 

I usually pick songs on the spot from the working song lists I bring along.   But my weak spot it lyrics.  Oh well. 

 

[Notes_Norton]

I've done a few shows like that. Mostly for a retirement community about 20 miles north of us that puts on shows instead of dances and for a public library in the county just south of us who does the same thing. Planned music and roughly planned dialog for an hour concert.

 

It's another way to have fun with music, but for us, it's the exception rather than the rule.

 

Notes ♫

[ElmerJFudd]

Hmmm. I wonder how teleprompter and karaoke apps compare at this sort of task. 

[Joe Muscara]

I'm sure that apps that are designed for things like this as well as for sheet music or lead sheets can keep the iPad from going to sleep. It's either a setting or a default. If you do go that route, make sure. That way, you can keep the normal sleep settings on for the device and not worry about it when you use the app.

 

However, if you're just scrolling through PDFs or images in a folder, you won't get that feature, obviously.

 

Apps that might do what you're looking for include Set List Maker, iGigBook, and forScore. I had the thought that if you're only using it for lyrics, you could use Keynote as well.

[eileen]

Song book pro is perfect app for me. Can import from Word or

pdf. Scroll lyrics. Retain your patter or song info, create set lists, etc. I love it. 

[Stokely]

I think that is the app I use.  Song-something at any rate.  Edit:  Yep, Songbook Pro.

I usually put charts and lyrics in google docs, that way I can share to others and myself.  I can simply copy the contents of a doc into the app.

Speaking of, I need to put a few into the app before tonight's gig   Our guitarist's voice is gone as he's been ill so I'm going to cover a few of the ones he normally does.  

[Mike Kent]

I use UnRealBook app for chord charts on iPad. Displays any PDF file, so equally good for lyrics.

You can make notes on the PDF. You can put songs into set lists. Can link to Dropbox for file import.

I've got 500 songs in mine, all the ones I've collected over the past dozen years.

https://aronnelson.com/unrealbook/

Mike.

[Stokely]

Ugh...I suck at reading lyrics while playing.  Happened last night trying to cover a few of of the (sick) guitarist's tunes.

What happens is that I lose my place.  I've tried auto-scrolling, manual scrolling and the whole thing is just too distracting.  My playing sucks when I do this as well.   Our band has had discussions before of coverage in the event that someone can't sing...in my case, I normally only sing 5-6 songs so they'd probably just skip them.  The lead singer hurt her back before a recent gig and the rest of us had to muddle through, obviously range can be a bit of an issue and she also does a lot of the  more important harmonies.

I think I'm going to work on memorizing some of the guitarist's tunes in the event this happens again.  He might welcome a bit of a break--he has been known to do  gigs every day in a week, and doubles on the weekend, most of them solo guitar and vocals   

Maybe I'll try the "first couple words of a line or verse" in the meantime.  A quick glance might be enough to keep me on track without having me trying to find my spot in a wall of lyrics.

[o0Ampy0o]

 

There is Teleprompter

 

You guys probably already considered things like Keynote and Powerpoint but I did not see them mentioned so here they are mentioned.

 

Best Teleprompter Apps for iPad

 

How To Use Your Mac Device As A Teleprompter

[Strays Dave]

I was the original poster here.  I wound up creating a dedicated 3 ring binder notebook with plastic page inserters.  I did maybe 12 songs - lyrics in the notebook arranged in performing sequence to avoid fumbling around. But since it was a concert format (people sitting in straight back chairs, someone introduced me etc. )  I practiced specifically for this performance. I found doing the preparation ended up being tedious - I practiced just those specific songs and singing them  for several weeks - in order to try and do the best performance I could. Way too repetitive.  Normally, my home practice routine is flexible and I play from my "menu" of options (playing jazz standards, playing and singing Beatles, sight reading some Bach and a few other things).   

 

The one upside is that although I'm not really a singer, all the preparation worked up and strengthened my singing voice.  Then I went back to non-singing...mostly.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Notes_Norton]

I remember when I wasn't a singer.

Then I decided to learn how. I play sax, drums, guitar, bass, flute, wind synth, and keyboard synth. Learning to sing was much more difficult than the other instruments. I guess I wasn't born with a good vocal instrument. I would sing easier songs, just to give the lead singer in the band a break.

In 1985, the then future Mrs. Notes and I left a 5-piece band and started a duo. As a multi-instrumentalist, I could do our own backing tracks, but having her sing almost all night was unfair (she also plays guitar and synth), so I started singing more and more.

It takes a lot of practice (and if you can't practice on stage, where can you practice) to develop the muscle control to sing on pitch, develop tone, sing dynamically, and sing expressively. It took years before I considered myself a decent vocalist. I sing about half the songs now. Mrs. Notes is still a much better singer, and sings the hardest songs, but in those rare cases, twice since 1985, when she got laryngitis, I could carry the entire night's vocals.

 

If you want to be a singer, you have do to it a lot to develop the control. At least that's how it worked for me.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Stokely]

I am a pretty good singer, for a non-trained-from-youth one   

My problems are two:  I'm a tenor somewhere in my heart, so I try for too much at times.   The reality is that I'm a baritone with a good falsetto because I really worked on it for harmony purposes.

Main problem is simply memory.  I have a great memory for music (albeit we play relatively simple stuff).  Dust off a classic rock I haven't played in 10 years, my hands know what to do.   Flip side, I've been singing Don't You Forget About Me since it was released and I still **** up the lyrics.   That's quite literally hundreds of performances and not counting practices and rehearsing.    Same goes for You May Be Right, which likewise I've sung hundreds of time but still blank out on.  It's freaking frustrating.

I just know that when I start reading, it makes it worse because then I lose my place and am *really* lost.   And I don't play well when reading.   It's like reading puts me into "dependence mode", all or nothing.

I'm going to maybe try the "first phrase of a verse" for new songs and just try to mentally stay positive on the ones I already sing.  I seem to do better when I let things flow like Luke Skywalker and the Force....the more I bear down to remember or work on it, the worse I seem to do.

[Notes_Norton]

We have over 650 songs in our playlist, and there is simply no way I can remember them all.

And, it seems to me, that my fingers remember better than my brain does with words.  Although I pull up charts for my sax 'just in case', I rarely need to see more than the starting note.

 

For words, it's different. It takes me much longer to learn them, and when they are finally almost memorized, I might need the first line of each verse.

 

When they are new, I tend to read the first words of every line or so.

 

I use laptops instead of an iPad, simply because I can get from song to song faster. I read the audience and sometimes make the next song decision as the one we are playing is ending.

 

My voice range is baritone, and my falsetto sounds like Mickey Mouse (no edge). Fortunately, my wife/duo-partner is an excellent singer, and is an alto range that also soars into the soprano range.

 

I see no harm in reading on stage if you have to. It's better to have eye contact with the audience, so a pair of sunglasses might be just the thing you need.

 

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Greg Mein]

I can't imagine using an ipad on stage although I know it's become pretty common. Even though my vocal range is somewhat limited there seems to be a never ending list of popular tunes that fall into it. I listen, practice and try to capture the nuances and inflections. For me that would all be lost if I were trying to read from an ipad. I do have a pretty good knack for being able to memorize lyrics. The times I've felt I actually needed to have a lyric cheat sheet I found that if I just have the first line of a verse, the rest falls into place.

[Philbo King]

I saw Mavis Staples use one at the King Biscuit blues fest.  I go both ways; if it's an open mic I'll use an android pad when playing more obscure stuff (old King Crimson on acoustic anyone?).  When I'm sitting in as a guest musician at a paid gig, nope, it's frowned upon by some.