iPads vs Paper - Pros and Cons

[Shaster]

A friend of mine who lives in New Orleans, started an interesting FB discussion regarding iPads versus paper charts, versus no charts at all. Apparently he showed up on a "traditional" gig and everyone had iPads - although normally you would be laughed off the stage for either having a paper Real Book or an iPad on this type of Jazz gig. Kind of like bringing charts to a Blues gig.

 

So it got me thinking - ouch! I often use tracks when doing a solo, so I just picked up a Samsung Mini tablet to replace my dead in the water Notebook. I'd potentially like to get a larger maybe an extra large tablet for lyrics and possibly charts. I'm aware of some of the pros and perhaps some of the cons to a tablet, but am wondering about things like theft, accidents, battery life, tripping over wall warts and so on.

 

Anybody still love their paper, or is it tablet all the way?

[pogo97]

I format my lyric/chord sheets in InDesign on my computer then print them out. They're simple, clear, easy to follow, and most songs fit easily on one page.

 

In preparation for a gig -- but only if I'm working from a book and only on piano, never guitar -- I order the pages into setlists and go from there. It would be simple enough to display pdfs of these sheets on an iPad, but I don't have one and don't see the point in spending that sort of money on something that has, so far, proven unnecessary. Closest I came was one gig where I forgot my music light and a friend lent me her iPhone to use as illumination. (There's an app for that.)

 

So, in order of preference: from memory (by far preferred, but difficult sometimes in these waning years of my existence); from a binder arranged in set order. An iPad would come third, but never has and probably won't be.

[steve mac]

An tablet does seem more acceptable than a book to an audience and it is certainly a neater option. With a holder attached to the mic stand and either a black tablet or one in a black cover, I suspect most in the crowd don't even notice it. Of course by adding an Airturn pedal there is no attention drawn to it.

 

With regards to tripping on a wall wart, most if not all tablets run for hours on their battery so no problem.

 

I have always had trouble with my memory not so much with lyrics or music but with the actual set list, plus I needed a way of automatically playing BTs. So I did the research and Onsong seemed to have all the functions I needed, plus a whole lot I didn't and as that only worked on the iPad, that is the route I went.

 

Two years of solid use and I would hate to do without it. I create a new set list for each gig, which takes about five minutes, I can instantly see what songs I performed there last time. During the gig, a press of the foot and the next song is there in front of me, barely a glance and I am off and running, if I use a capo than the fret to put it on is next to the title, if using a harmonica the key for it is right there. Seldom do I have to look back at the pad during the song, certainly no one would notice.

 

I also include some witticisms as appropriate. Plus occasionally I am asked for requests and during a break I can instantly download the song and be good to go.

 

Of course ideally my memory would be better, but it's not and I need a prompt now and then.

 

 

[Notes_Norton]

I don't use a tablet, but a laptop. I find I can get to the songs quicker with a real keyboard. But it serves pretty much the same function as a tablet.

 

I'm getting older, we have about 550 songs, and it's just too much of a challenge for me to memorize that many, especially when we continue to learn new ones all the time and I make our own backing tracks - there just isn't time to memorize even if I had that much brain power.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[daddymack]

Stevemac and I were discussing this when he was here...and I guess I am still somewhat of a troglodyte/Luddite...I still print paper charts, and maintain a 'book', but I also have all of them in Word, and loaded on my netbook[and desktop PC]. My first attempt to join the 21st century with a 7" tablet proved useless; too small to read, and too slow to retieve. Eventually, I will go to a 10" tablet with scrolling software and an airturn, when and if budget and energy coincide. I categorically refuse to be enslaved to Apple, but I am certainly open to either 'droid or Win formats...

[steve mac]

I also hate being the owner of an Apple product, however Onsong is simply the best app for what I need and as it doesn't work on any other platform. To be fair neither the iPad nor the app has let me down. Now it's time for another tablet and to be sure I am going the iPad route.

 

Early days I did try my laptop, which is small, powerful and black, therefore unobtrusive, however I am an, on my feet, singer/guitarist and it had to sit on a stool and after each tune, I would have to reach over and press a key or two, thereby drawing attention to it and the fact it was there. I am sure some can make it work, but the tablet route is just so slick. I even find learning new songs easier with it, being able to instantly download lyrics, chords, tab etc into the app.

 

 

[Vito Corleone]

Hard to see what advantage there would be to using paper---especially if one is already creating the sheets on a computer.

 

Tablets certainly have a better/more acceptable look to the audience. My biggest fear of them is that since become part of the "rig", people becoming too dependent upon them and never memorizing lyrics or parts as they should.

[pogo97]

I've noticed that tablets can cast a rather cool glow on the singer's face. Is the background colour adjustable? Maybe you could have it cycle colours to add interest.

[daddymack]

PSYCHEDELIC!!!:eekphil:

[daddymack]

Hard to see what advantage there would be to using paper---especially if one is already creating the sheets on a computer.

 

Tablets certainly have a better/more acceptable look to the audience. My biggest fear of them is that since become part of the "rig", people becoming too dependent upon them and never memorizing lyrics or parts as they should.

 

Not everyone has a tablet...hard to believe, but there it is.

It isn't so much an advantage, as what you are used to...I've been using paper for over 4 decades...and I don't own a tablet that works well for my purposes. I tried usnig the Netbook, but even that was problematic [positioning, and as stevemac said, the typing thing...]

And I currently have a few better things to drop $400 bucks on...like food... ...but I am saving up.

[J.Paul]

 

Anybody still love their paper, or is it tablet all the way?

 

~ I do still make some of the charts on paper and then make a jpeg to send it to the tablet (it's quicker but has less options and flexibility)....

~ The main advantage for the tablet (for me) is the play time for each set, granted that a fluctuation in tempos can vary the set times but it gets you pretty close.... paper doesn't do that.

~ PLUS I can't imagine starting out as a 14 y/o with paper and having a huge book (maybe two) to carry around by the time I was 50 ..... if you start out with a tablet when, you still have the same size tablet 40 years later (or whatever we'll be using by then) with infinite amount of space....

 

[Vito Corleone]

 

Not everyone has a tablet...hard to believe, but there it is.

It isn't so much an advantage, as what you are used to...I've been using paper for over 4 decades...and I don't own a tablet that works well for my purposes. I tried usnig the Netbook, but even that was problematic [positioning, and as stevemac said, the typing thing...]

And I currently have a few better things to drop $400 bucks on...like food... ...but I am saving up.

 

Well, no one is going to argue with "I don't wanna spend $400 bucks". (Although it should be noted that there are all sorts of very good tablets available for under $100....) If you can't afford, you can't afford. No shame in that.

 

But as someone who also has used paper for 4 decades and found that it always worked just fine, I gotta say I really like not having to deal with binders and sheets of paper. It's a much cleaner look on stage, and since a lot of the stuff I need a tablet for is outdoor gigs, there's a big advantage to a tablet that is heavy enough that it doesn't blow away in the wind....

 

I wasn't used to a tablet either. Until I was.

 

 

[steve mac]

I've noticed that tablets can cast a rather cool glow on the singer's face. Is the background colour adjustable? Maybe you could have it cycle colours to add interest.

 

 

 

I tend to set mine to reverse video, ie white text on a black background which gets rid of the glow but does make it easier to read when playing a patio in bright sunshine.

[Drummer44]

I can usually display my own charts (lyrics and guitar chords) on one page on a 7" tablet. When it all won't fit on one page, a foot pedal (AirTurn, in my case) works OK when I'm on guitar... but I haven't sorted out an elegant solution to that, when I'm on the drum kit. A 10" tablet would be much better, and sometimes I "borrow" one (see next).

 

Our keys player comes from a different genre, doesn't "know" any of the songs we play when jamming or as a group... so she needs and plays from the original full-score sheet music. All seven pages, sometimes. (The max we've seen so far.) We made a big wooden sheet music "desk" to mount on her keyboard stand (using parts that would mount another keyboard, one level higher), but it was bulky (duh!) and cause her to play sorta like the corn cob approach, i.e., from left to right...

 

A 10" tablet with AirTurn fixed that reasonably well, although she's not very experienced with it yet.

 

Ours are Android, and the apps we use are SongBook (me) and MobilSheets (her). Our source material is on a home desktop, both tablets, backed up on various hard drvies, and on DropBox.

 

Another big advantage that apps like SongBook have is instant key transformations; way faster than I can do it in my head. Useful especially when a sit-in vocalist needs a change... Another is that a simple clamp mount on a mic stand, my kit rack, or her keyboard stand takes up much less space than a music stand heavy-duty enough to hold the weight of our paper books. And we don't have to pack that stuff, so there's a weight and space savings for loading, too.

 

-D44

[Notes_Norton]

Before ThnkPad laptops, I used paper. I had a ring binder with about 500 songs in it. It was big, heavy, and even with index cards time consuming to get the next chart up.

 

I have an iPad but I find the laptop more convenient. I'll never go back to paper. The only advantage to paper is that it doesn't crash or need electricity.

 

I use ThinkPads because they are built like tanks (I still use a 2002 model), and black so they don't stand out. I use a laptop dedicated to music only (no office, e-mail or whatever) and I use Windows because if all else fails, I can get a replacement immediately and repairs in a day. I also bring a spare.

 

Since 2002 I've had 3 occasions to break out the spare, and one of those 3 was just a precaution as the hard drive started chattering. Being a PC, I got it replaced the next day (Apple makes good machines, but nobody around here carries replacement parts).

 

Working with the laptop is easy (easier than either a tablet or book for me):

 

Alt+F4 closes the current chart and typing a few keys in Windows Explorer brings the chart up whether it's in Wordpad (for words) or Encore (for music). It's fast.

 

I created a keyboard shortcut to bring Explorer back in case I accidentally close it (Ctrl+Alt+Z), otherwise it's always open. And if I want to do a few songs in a row, I can open them all up in order and then just Alt+F4 to close the one on top. Even faster.

 

I find it much quicker than the tablet, having the keyboard always up and ready, not in the way of any screen real estate, and the tactile feedback helps me type without looking. It fits on a music stand too.

 

Of course, there is more than one best way to do this, and what's best for me might not be good for you.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[Shaster]

Stevemac and I were discussing this when he was here...and I guess I am still somewhat of a troglodyte/Luddite...I still print paper charts' date=' and maintain a 'book', but I also have all of them in Word, and loaded on my netbook[and desktop PC']. My first attempt to join the 21st century with a 7" tablet proved useless; too small to read, and too slow to retieve. Eventually, I will go to a 10" tablet with scrolling software and an airturn, when and if budget and energy coincide. I categorically refuse to be enslaved to Apple, but I am certainly open to either 'droid or Win formats...

 

Interesting responses thus far. Nobody seems to have problems with audience members with sticky figures - good to know. I hear you when you say that the 7" tabs are small. I still lament the switch from 9.5" x 12.5" extra thick stock to 8.5" x 11" paper. The former was easier to read and chart, but printers and most copiers gave rise to the smaller standard.

 

Yep, I just dug up an old chart of Fagen's The New Frontier on the larger size paper. Sure is easy to read, and the chart is still in great shape - and I wrote in in 1984! Only the masking tape binding has dried up.

 

I might be looking at a 12" tablet, but then I think about the cost, and the fact that most of the gigs I need lyrics or music on are low paying band gigs. I've got my solo stuff memorized and when I add a new tune, I just memorize it as well.

 

I'm returning the 7" tablet that I just bought, and am currently trying out an 8". It still fits (barely) in a sports jacket pocket and it works okay for sequences, which is what I wanted it for.

 

So... the 10" or 12" might have to wait - perhaps a very long time.

[msmooth]

I got OnSong a while back but never got to using it. This week (after reading these posts) I dug out the iPad and started messing with it. It is going slowly, but I have "most" of my trio's songs loaded into it. I am now in the process of editing them to get them "just right". After I get my trio stuff loaded, I am going to load my personal acoustic notebook of songs into it.

 

I used it the other night at rehearsal, but I think I will hold off using it at a gig until I can get a foot pedal for it. My wife was surprised that I am using it, as she says I am an Apple hater. I really am not, I just am not an Apple "kool aid" drinker. Now she wants to get the app for her iPad and possibly use it too. Can anyone give me advice or suggestions about using one iPad to control another one?

 

I set it up to have a black background with white letters after reading a post here. Thanks for the tip This makes it easier to see in low light and bright light situations. I think I am going to like it.

[Pine Apple Slim]

When learning songs with my new band, I take notes on paper because it's faster than trying to edit the IPad on the fly at rehearsal. Then I take my notes home and get the songs "just right" like the band plays them in Onsong. So far after 2 rehearsals I have about 20 out of 30 songs "correct" in the IPad. I mean correct as this band plays them, right key and chord changes. The leader has a book but he hasn't offered me any charts. So I just play along and take notes and edit the pad the same day while my notes are fresh.

 

Just about all the charts are available on the net but the key is liable to be different, or the chords are interpreted a slightly different way.

 

 

 

funny thing is by the time I get everything "correct" in the IPad I've just about memorized the song.

 

But the leader has prob 500 charts so it's gonna come in handy in the long run.

 

this week I'm taking a recorder. I'm stupid not to think of that right off.

 

[daddymack]

I believe you could use the iPad as an audio recorder as well with the right app....

[Voltan]

Every time I use my ipad, I wind up standing looking at the thing instead of paying attention to the audience and interacting with them... I guess I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants and see where we end up when we get there... So far it works for me.

[steve mac]

I sort of agree Voltan, I was the same when I first started and had to train myself to nearly glance at the song as it appeared and then look away. It took a while, but now it's second nature.

[Notes_Norton]

The problem with having music in front of you is that if you rely too much on it, you will never memorize the piece.

 

The advantage is that if you have a lapse of memory, the cure is right in front of you.

 

I tend to try only to glance at the music. When the song is new, I look at it a lot, and when we've done it enough, as long as I've trained myself not to read but only to glance, it gets memorized - eventually not needing the glance unless I get a big distraction during the song (while sax is in my mouth, audience member saying, "My wife's birthday it today, can you play happy birthday to KLDDATH@#&% )

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[Voltan]

Maslows hierarchy of guidance... It works! Steve, I understand what ya say, but how do you get the next tune to magically appear in the list? I used to be so anal about song lists, set lists, order of tunes... Now I literally don't think about what I'm going to play until I step up to the mic... Ok, I get ideas from talking folks before the show... Little bits of conversation stir a line of lyrics that seem to fit current life situations and one thing flows into the next...

[Voltan]

I do understand that everyone's head wurx differently.... Memory is a funny, individual thing... My memory functions much like watching a video of an event... Or reading the Krebs citric acid cycle from a page in my botany text at Marshall in 1977... Or all the love letters my wife has written me since she was 11... ( I was only 13 so it's not that creepy, kids)... I recant our first conversation, picking out the smallest detail of her flowered dress, or shoes that she was wearing... And she still blushes... So, the iPad argument is unfair for me without at least some clue as to my wiring...

[daddymack]

Funny, I was discussing this recently with someone [outside the forums] who started using the tablet approach several months ago. He does a duo with his wife, he plays and sings harmony, she is the lead vocalist. He admitted that at first, he was totally fascinated with the screen, the page scroll, the airturn page change...and now, he doesn't look at it at all....but his wife is still heavily reliant on it, even though she knows the lyrics. So I think it really is a combination of brain wiring, familiarity with the music, and self confidence...and a bit of je ne sais quoi....

WE had a pre-gig reheasal with the band on Sunday, and our harmonica player/vocalist has been using an iPad now for a ouple of years...and I chided him on the fact that I could prompt him on his lyrics faster than he could read them off the screen...arguably, in a gig situation, I would not prompt him unless he let a verse go by...but still, I think memorization is better than the tool. I also kid him because he is 6 months older than I am, and accuse him of being on the verge of 'oldtimers syndrome'.

Me? I'll make up lyrics or mumble something that sounds like it rhymes rather than let a verse slip by ....

 

I also totally get what Notes was saying about distractions...it used to be wimminz flashing flesh, now it is people asking for requests, sometimes in the middle of a song.