Opinions: Performing with a music stand

[MikeTX]

Sure Tom - another fellow asked just about the same thing in a PM, here's my reply - long-winded as usual!

Thanks, Mike

Hi,

Yes - this tablet is working out great for me. I had searched for "just the right one" and this IS! After having bought and tried two or maybe three others.

FUJITSU T-1010 Lifebook
13.3 inch touch screen (finger, not stylus)
2.1 gig processor, 2 gig memory
160 gig hard drive, DVD Writer
Vista Home Premium

I went ahead and loaded my "business copy" of Office 2007, mainly to be consistent with what I use every day.

I also downloaded and use (while performing) the Reader for Word. It has a great display mode with absolutely NO toolbars etc that maximizes the usable screen space, no Windows Title Bar even - it's very good. The Reader also auto-magically sizes your document to fit the screen.

My "song list" screen is actually just a Windows directory list, using I think it's Small Icons (maybe Medium?) because they are easy to select with your finger. I also have it set to "one click" to open, which I always do anyway, so I don't have to double-click - seems more logical to me.

It is convenient for me at gigs to plug it in while playing - it's a little brighter and I don't have to worry about the battery dying.

I had all my songs formatted (in Word) for a single printed page. This thing, when in tablet mode, is almost exactly the same size, so I did not have to completely re-vamp my sheets. I have about 50 that I use regularly, and 100-plus more. I received the thing on a Friday and used it at my Saturday gig - it was very cool.

I also found a music stand that is the exact size of the tablet, 11 tall by 9 wide, which is nice, and less visible, more low key. I wanted it to look professional, of course! (Sorry - couldn't resist...)

As I've used it for a couple of months now, I have gone in and adjusted a number of sheets to "display better". I use colors to distinguish choruses and bridges, chords, other little things like that. I've also found that you can set paper size to ridiculous larger dimensions, like 12 by 18, etc - to accommodate songs with LOTS of lyrics, and the Word Reader adjusts them to screen space very well. So, NO scrolling! Which is very cool...

I had tried the 8 or 9 inch screen tablets, but they just didn't allow enough screen space without scrolling. This 13-inch tablet / portrait orientation is perfect. And, since it also swivels into "normal notebook" orientation, and has a keyboard and mouse - that's the way I edit the songs and use the internet etc. Very versatile machine - I'm very happy with it.

It was a little over $1,300 bucks - expensive for a music book, but I decided to go ahead, and I'm glad I did - it's convenient, low-profile and professional, and exactly what I'd been scheming in my head for several years. You CAN find them for less on eBay - I wanted a new one with warranty and latest OS, AND I wanted to be able to return it (Fujitsu Direct) if it didn't suit me.

Yet, I have not added a song at a gig on break, probably will someday, but I HAVE added a song in the afternoon, just a couple of hours before playing it for the first time. This, I like a LOT!

I intend to put a "Gear Page" on my web site, and I'll include the tablet for sure.

Thanks for asking, and any more questions just fire away!

Best, Mike

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by MikeTX

Sure Tom - another fellow asked just about the same thing in a PM, here's my reply - long-winded as usual!

Thanks, Mike

Hi,

Yes - this tablet is working out great for me. I had searched for "just the right one" and this IS! After having bought and tried two or maybe three others.

FUJITSU T-1010 Lifebook
13.3 inch touch screen (finger, not stylus)
2.1 gig processor, 2 gig memory
160 gig hard drive, DVD Writer
Vista Home Premium

Very interesting. Thanks, Mike!

[Bevelman]

Mike,

Have you got a picture of the setup with the tablet. It definitely sounds very interesting. Thanks for your comprehensive reply, by the way.

[MikeTX]

Hey Gerry,

No sir, not right now, but I WILL take pics at my gig Friday and post probably Monday.

Nice to hear interest...

Mike

[tbeltrans]

This has been yet another interesting thread. There are certainly strong opinions expressed by some here supporting how they choose to perform. However, I personally believe that different people will choose different approaches to performing. Some people have very good memories, while others are less capable in that regard. Though with use, it is said that everybody can develop or at least improve their memory, I am not convinced that everybody can develop their memory to the point of keeping entire sets in their head for recall at a moment's notice, especially if you have to know a large library of songs and be able too handle requests.

For me personally at this point in my life, music is fun. I do not feel the need to force myself to do it somebody else's way. I would rather find and leverage my own strengths (without demanding that other people do it my way, since we all bring something unique to the table when "allowed" to do so), while also working on developing or improving those aspects of my own musical endeavors that I feel are worthwhile for what my goals are.

I spent almost two years on the road in a trio that played Holiday Inns and various "supper clubs" and private clubs. We always used music stands, and nobody thought anything of it. If anything, people felt that it added an air of professionalism, since this was mostly an older crowd who were used to performing musicians using music stands (i.e. big bands orchestras, etc).

As I pointed out in a brief earlier post in this thread, piano players in piano bars, restaurants, and clubs routinely use fakebooks and/or sheet music. My goal is currently to develop a VOCABULARY, rather than a memorized repertoire so that I can open a fakebook to a tune (ANY tune that is requested) and make a halfway decent rendition of it on the spot. I worked with musicians who could do that. This involves playing "real" songs that people know, have withstood the test of time, and provide familiar melodies that people can hum and/or sing along to. In my experience, people in audiences readily warm up to that which they know, and then you can have the occasional original tune.

We all have different approaches to this, and each of us respecting another's approach as equally valid to our own is (in my opinion) preferable to putting another down for not doing it our way. My own professional experience simply does not support the idea that music stands are "verboten" or somehow reflect poorly on the capabilities of the musician.

Tony

[MikeTX]

Excellent points, and approach, Tony.

I absolutely CAN memorize - gosh, I probably do over a hundred songs without sheets. I just choose to NOT limit myself to ONLY those songs. Using sheets (now a tablet) simply allows me more freedom to perform MORE great songs.

Mike

[Brent Hutto]

I guarantee you most people would rather ask for their favorite song and have you play it from a sheet than ask for their favorite song and you say "No, I don't know that one".

[Marshall]

Haven't read all this.

But I'd say it's in how you use it. Reading off chord sheets and not looking up, can make the performer appear amateurish. Audiences aren't as entertained by someone who acts amateurish as someone who acts professional.

That being said, there are many professionals who use music stands. But their eyes and heads aren't buried in concentration on the page. I've seen Pierce Pettis in concert, and he used a music stand. But the stand was down low (waist high) and laying almost perfectly horizontal. It did not block any of the audience's view of him. And he could glance down at the sheet, or his fretboard, or the girl in the front row. Didn't make much difference. He always protrayed command of his musicianship and presentation.

[fitness1]

I never do it unless I have to......certain settings (like a Wedding Ceremony) where I'm playing somewhere out of sight and I absolutely need to stay focused on music and lyrics that I may have just learned recently for that specific performance, I may opt for it. I can probably do 300 tunes pretty well without anything in front of me and another 150-200 with a little refresher (the years get in the way sometimes)
There are certainly different reasons to use a music stand.....totally acceptable and expected in the classical setting.....at an Open Mic where the performer is only playing 3 songs.....it would definitely turn me off.
Kind of both ends of the spectrum there.

[Chicago Sandy]

Originally Posted by DaveG

I don't really have an opinion one way or the other, but I thought I would point out that Bruce Springsteen uses a teleprompter. A

So do the Who. I've had seats behind and above the stage for both them and the Boss, and was able to read the prompters (down by the floor wedges).

[engr_scotty]

Originally Posted by MikeTX

Yes - this tablet is working out great for me. I had searched for "just the right one" and this IS! After having bought and tried two or maybe three others.

FUJITSU T-1010 Lifebook

What are your thoughts on something like the "Kindle" book reader...? Much smaller than a tablet, it's a text-only device, "electronic ink" display looks incredible...display may be too small for music. What are your thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons.../dp/B000FI73MA

Maybe if there was enough interest, someone would introduce a music version of Kindle...

[MikeTX]

Hey Scotty,

I greatly WISHED those would work, alas not enough screen display space for me.

Having to SCROLL, even with some kind of footswitches, is too much of a hassle. I tried two different 8- and 9-inch tablets, not enough, and an even smaller HP Ipaq 211 slightly larger than an iPhone screen - nope.

I first searched for a 12.1 inch tablet screen, then found a couple of 13.3 inch in the same case size, and the Toshiba seemed a better overall computer, and value.

For me.

Thanks for the interest,
Mike

[Adam20540]

Originally Posted by MikeTX

I also downloaded and use (while performing) the Reader for Word.

Mike, many thanks for explaining your setup in such great detail When you say ''Reader for Word'', are you talking about the ReaderWorks Standard? If not, could you point me to the download page of the Reader your referring to.
Thanks,

Adam

[MikeTX]

Hi Adam - glad it was of interest...

I don't have the exact link right here, but I'm sure I just went to Microsoft's site and searched for Word Reader or Reader For Word. I don't even remember how or why I even THOUGHT of it. Maybe because the new machine didn't come with full Office, and I was scrounging around...

You'll find it!

Best luck! Mike

[Matximus]

Originally Posted by patrickgm60

Well; there's the answer.

Seriously, some folks are blessed with better memories than others. I see it in my work - judges, attorneys, mediators, businesspeople, etc. doing similar work - some taking or reading copious notes, others "winging" it. I haven't found a link between "notelessness" and competence/incompetence, as there probably isn't one.

Actors, standup comics, magicians, etc. are expected to have the material memorized at public performances; however, that expectation has simply not transferred to most forms of musical performance. The last thing we forumites, most of whom are amateurs, need to do is saddle each other with another obstacle to enjoyable playing and listening.

Don't buy it. There should be obstacles to playing and listening- that's what makes it worthwhile and keeps out the riff raff. Playing and singing (and sounding good) is hard. Takes practice, practice, practice. If you don't have the chops yet to rock it out from memory than you ain't ready to take the stage.