What is the modern way to use sheet music for gigs?

[jonfields45]

In bright sunlight nothing beats paper...

I have a comb binder to make it as compact as possible and clothespins to keep the pages from turning on their own :~).

Also, I like having my songs spread out over two pages of paper. That way the music stand does not need to be particularly close and I almost never have to turn a page during a song (we do a side one medley of Sgt Peppers which is a turner however...).

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by michaelm101

Old school here and have a sets worth of material on paper sitting on a music stand.

What is the modern way to do this?

I have tech savvy and I use an ipad with a special slo-mo app for coaching tennis students.

Thanks in advance!

I don't use the music display programs (which allow for full-staff sheet music, I admit - but I don't use sheet music for performance anyway).

I am old school and low-tech. (Even lower tech than SongwriterFan).

I use the text program, "Notepad" on a laptop (notebook would do as well, but I don't have one) and a page-turning bluetooth device on the floor.

My lead sheets are plain text (as notepad does) and more easily editable than PDF files.

Here is an example (Midnight Special). Chords are embedded in the lyrics in brackets so whatever font is used, alignment is not a problem

{D}Let the midnight {G}special, shine the light on {D}me
Let the midnight {A7}special, shine the ever-lovin’ {D}light on me

{D} When you get up in the mornin’,{G} when that big bell ring{D}
You go and march to the table{A7}, see the same **** thing{D}
{D}Knife and fork are on the table{G}, there’s nothin’ in your pan{D}
And if you say a-thing about it{A7}, havin’ trouble with the man{D}

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

There are Bluetooth battery powered page turner pedals available.

There are even Youtube instructions on how to convert a bluetooth numeric keypad to a foot-operable page-turner. So, instead of a $75 to $150 page turner, you have a $10 (plus some labor) usable device.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by michaelm101

Old school here and have a sets worth of material on paper sitting on a music stand.

What is the modern way to do this?

I have tech savvy and I use an ipad with a special slo-mo app for coaching tennis students.

Thanks in advance!

Hi michaelm

iPad Pro 12.9" plus a stand holder.

The app I use is UnrealBook. I also own OnSong (which is overkill for me), and ForScore - which is an orchestral sheet music reader, which you can embed controls for standard score language, and use a foot pedal to advance, and observe chart marks (D.C. al coda for instance).

There are apps for iOS, Windows, and Android these days all of which are fine for displaying lyrics-chords-scores.

The reason for special apps is the ability to load 'lists' and advance things quickly (so the audience is not watching you tap all over the place on a screen).

[Nymuso]

I don't read on stage, I feel I do my best work if it's memorized.

However, when I did time in the pit for musical theater, I didn't want people to know I really couldn't read notation that well. So at home I worked through it slowly, memorizing the score. Then at rehearsals and performances I looked at the book while I was playing, but not reading anything. I just had to remember to turn the pages once in a while.

[The Bard Rocks]

I use forScore. Haven't tried anything else and have no regrets with what I have. It includes the largest iPad but I think I could have got by with a slightly smaller one. This one is a bit heavy on the music stand.

[tadol]

Ive been using OnSong on an iPad Pro for years now, pretty happily, but they seem to be changing their biz model. There is a new app, Song One, which looks like it might be even better, especially if you don't need to control light shows and midi stuff -

[michaelm101]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi michaelm

iPad Pro 12.9" plus a stand holder.

The app I use is UnrealBook. I also own OnSong (which is overkill for me), and ForScore - which is an orchestral sheet music reader, which you can embed controls for standard score language, and use a foot pedal to advance, and observe chart marks (D.C. al coda for instance).

There are apps for iOS, Windows, and Android these days all of which are fine for displaying lyrics-chords-scores.

The reason for special apps is the ability to load 'lists' and advance things quickly (so the audience is not watching you tap all over the place on a screen).

Yes, that sounds good. I've been contemplating an ipad upgrade for tennis coaching-The larger screen, plus 120FPS video makes for much better slo-mo. Knowing it can work with the music gig makes it even more feasible for me.

To you and all of those who commented here, thanks very much!

[leew3]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

I don't read on stage, I feel I do my best work if it's memorized.

However, when I did time in the pit for musical theater, I didn't want people to know I really couldn't read notation that well. So at home I worked through it slowly, memorizing the score. Then at rehearsals and performances I looked at the book while I was playing, but not reading anything. I just had to remember to turn the pages once in a while.

Thanks for the story, this is hilarious! Little did they know how much work you put in ahead of time.

[tbirdman]

I finally decided to buy the Acer Spin 713 Chromebook. I got in Ebay form the Acer recertified store with a two year warranty. It has a 13.5" screen with a 3:2 ratio which means it's 11.2 X 7.5. This is almost perfect for display a sheet of music full size. Has 10+ hours battery life, 128GB SSD storage and it's powered by an I5 10 Gen processor so it is no slouch if you want to use it for other things.

What sold me on it was.

1. Acer - reputable company
2. 2 year warranty
3. Screen 3:2 aspect ratio and reviews saying how great the screen was
4. I5 processor
5. 10+ hour battery life
6. 128 GB storage plus expandable micro SD card storage slot

It's not an Ipad Pro which I rather have, but for about 1/3 price, I'm happy. it will run most android apps so it can save multiple purposes.

[mtm]

Shameless plug: Some years ago, I was looking for an app on the iPad which would allow me to simply import PDFs and organize them into setlists. Nothing else. The existing options seemed too sophisticated for what I wanted to do and also rather expensive (sometimes requiring a subscription), so I built my own. It has found quite a few happy users over the years. Maybe it’s a viable option if you’re looking for something super super simple: https://apps.apple.com/app/easysetli...r/id1350127983

The free app has all the functionality of the full version, except for being limited to 10 songs. Full version is a small one-time purchase. It’s still compatible with iOS 9.1 so if you have an old iPad lying around, it might find a second use on stage.

My app obviously does not have many features. If you need a more sophisticated solution, I highly recommend the more professional apps such as OnSong or Bandhelper!

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

In bright sunlight nothing beats paper...

In a brisk wind, nothing beats paper and a good-sized rock. Except scissors, which beats the paper but not the rock.

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

I finally decided to buy the Acer Spin 713 Chromebook. I got in Ebay form the Acer recertified store with a two year warranty. It has a 13.5" screen with a 3:2 ratio which means it's 11.2 X 7.5. This is almost perfect for display a sheet of music full size. Has 10+ hours battery life, 128GB SSD storage and it's powered by an I5 10 Gen processor so it is no slouch if you want to use it for other things.

What sold me on it was.

1. Acer - reputable company
2. 2 year warranty
3. Screen 3:2 aspect ratio and reviews saying how great the screen was
4. I5 processor
5. 10+ hour battery life
6. 128 GB storage plus expandable micro SD card storage slot

It's not an Ipad Pro which I rather have, but for about 1/3 price, I'm happy. it will run most android apps so it can save multiple purposes.

Cost is a big factor for many of us. Your discussion on screen size and display ratio is helpful. I am going to try to find a used IPad Pro or Surface Pro for around $300. Finding an iPad at that price seems highly unlikely though. If my search fails, the Acer Spin 713 seems like the best option but still a little more money than I can afford at the moment. It may be another year of paper and a music stand! Let the search begin.

[Lost Sheep]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

In a brisk wind, nothing beats paper and a good-sized rock. Except scissors, which beats the paper but not the rock.

If using paper, using a 3-ring binder with the paper pages slipped into sheet protectors works for me. The sheet protectors are resistant to being blown around by wind and keep the (more) delicate paper from being torn and soiled.

[tbirdman]

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

Cost is a big factor for many of us. Your discussion on screen size and display ratio is helpful. I am going to try to find a used IPad Pro or Surface Pro for around $300. Finding an iPad at that price seems highly unlikely though. If my search fails, the Acer Spin 713 seems like the best option but still a little more money than I can afford at the moment. It may be another year of paper and a music stand! Let the search begin.

I couldn’t find a IPad Pro for under $500 which would be for a 6 year old model. A surface Pro could be had maybe for $300, but without the keyboard which has a large battery in it. The tablet by itself only has 4 hours of battery life. Also it’s a very old model. As being old, the batteries could be on the verge of needing to be replaced.

I spent $420 for basically a new machine with the right aspect ratio. More than I wanted to spend. They were new chrome book options at $300 but not the right screen options. The Spin 713 is more power than I need for just displaying music, so hopefully I will use it as a smaller laptop for my RV travel which I currently use a windows laptop.