Members Telecruiser Posted June 5, 2010 Members Share Posted June 5, 2010 I am putting together a duo and as I advance in the years I am loosing my ability to memorize the words of a song as quickly as in years past. So - I was wondering if anybody make telepromter software more specifically tailored for live performance? One of the features that I thought would be nice would be for the ability to set the scrolling tempo with a tap footswitch. Also, the ability to locate a song on the fly because of a request. There may be other features that might be nice but I need something besides a notebook on a music stand. It just doesn't look good to me. Any recommendations? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted June 5, 2010 Members Share Posted June 5, 2010 If you print the words BIG and put the music stand down low it doesn't look quite as bad . Oh, and the closed back ones look a LOT less tacky than the open "folding framework" type: http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Manhasset-M48-Symphony-Music-Stand?sku=450172 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted June 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2010 If you print the words BIG and put the music stand down low it doesn't look quite as bad . Oh, and the closed back ones look a LOT less tacky than the open "folding framework" type: http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Manhasset-M48-Symphony-Music-Stand?sku=450172 Thanks, but I want to get away from the music stand and the notebook. I would like to uses a flatscreen monitor angled from the floor. What gave me this idea is I saw Eric Clapton on a televised concert using one with about a 30" monitor. Also, the ability to immediately go to a requested song without picking up and thumbing thru a notebook is very appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted June 5, 2010 Members Share Posted June 5, 2010 I saw Eric Clapton on a televised concert using one with about a 30" monitor. Also, the ability to immediately go to a requested song without picking up and thumbing thru a notebook is very appealing.I wonder what that costs - including backup gear and crew to set it up and run it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted June 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2010 I wonder what that costs - including backup gear and crew to set it up and run it . Unless I'm not seeing something all I think it takes is a laptop, software and a flatscreen monitor. I don't think it would be anymore complex than running a drum machine during a live show. Right/wrong?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blkmonday Posted June 5, 2010 Members Share Posted June 5, 2010 i have actually seen something locally around here..i saw an acoustic guy with one that he made. that was pretty much it..a basic hard drive with a flatscreen built into a box that sat on the floor and looked like a basic floor monitor. i would love one of these myself. i could swear ive seen something of the like at musiciansfriend.com at some point and they werent too pricey. im sure if you google search someone is building them. im gonna look around and see if i can find that guys number and see if he has pictures or info he can post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyGraphic Posted June 5, 2010 Members Share Posted June 5, 2010 Just make sure it is hack-proof. Kind of reminds me of the teleprompter scenes in The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Bruce Almighty! It would be REALLY cool if you could mount it inside an old empty monitor box. Would probably need some sort of fan to keep it cool too. It would also keep it from getting broken by drunks. I was thinking of having it scroll on some sort of video program? I think it might be somewhat easy to do in power point (time conuming though). Have the screens/slides change every 5 seconds or so. Or, load the lyics as jpegs or something and have an ipod play a slideshow??? Just thinking outloud (and probably not making any sense). Johnny On a side note, I stopped dead cold during one song because I started to play a solo from another song that was in the same key/tempo etc. Ultimate fail... Very high DERRR factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dk123123dk Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 I think there is software out there, I remember reading about it here on HC. It was kinda pricey, but it really seemed like it was worth the money with all the features. Short of that, you could just have Power point presentations and use a USB footswitch to change the pages. dk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lifeloverwg Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 Let me know what you find. We have been talking about implementing the same thing, although I'm not convinced that futzing with a laptop onstage would be any less distracting than a well positioned song book. Our lead singer has been using a song book the entire time the band has been together. She keeps it on a solid back stand set low and parallel to the stage, so it doesn't intrude into sight lines much. She is very good about using it just for prompts for her mid fifties mind and her stage presence keeps most people from even noticing it. But it still bugs me to see it up there even though the only people to have ever mentioned it are other musicians. I've inadvertently left the music stand at a venue twice now........ Winston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members madjack Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 There is a software called "BPM Notepad" which IIRC is shareware and is supposed to set up tempo-based text scrolling. Haven't tried it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted June 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 There is plenty of TP software out there, from the reasonably priced to $300-$400. It is more geared towards broadcast and video production. What I'm looking for is something more geared to a singer/performer if there is such a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 If you don't like the look of a song book, I suggest building yourself something to put the songbook in which looks nicer, becasue that is seriously your best option. It is uncomplicated, easy to use, difficult to screw up, almost no setup time, and incredibly cheap. Of course, you could just use powerpoint. I've done a lot of research for a client into how to pull off lyrics for live-band karaoke, and powerpoint is generally the best solution of most folks. If you put it on a monitor turned sideways, then you get a nice, long sheet to read. But that is hella complicated, and if your budget is such that $300 doesn't seem "reasonable" for the software then I suggest that you stick with a paper song book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted June 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 I found this, but at $1299 it is out of my range. www.wolfgangtelemonitor.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted June 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 If you don't like the look of a song book, I suggest building yourself something to put the songbook in which looks nicer, becasue that is seriously your best option. It is uncomplicated, easy to use, difficult to screw up, almost no setup time, and incredibly cheap.Of course, you could just use powerpoint. I've done a lot of research for a client into how to pull off lyrics for live-band karaoke, and powerpoint is generally the best solution of most folks. If you put it on a monitor turned sideways, then you get a nice, long sheet to read. But that is hella complicated, and if your budget is such that $300 doesn't seem "reasonable" for the software then I suggest that you stick with a paper song book. I just don't like thumbing through pages in the event of a request. To me it looks unprofessional but that's just me. I can buy standard TP software for $59, a flat screen monitor for a couple hundred. I already have the laptop. Just being able to locate a song with a couple of keystrokes makes more sense to me. I am trying to find software more geared to the stage performer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 I had a 911 situation for a halloween party at a bar a few years ago. I lost my voice completely for the first time in my life. I ended up turning my lyrics sheets into PDF files and we did karaoke with the band. It worked pretty well. If you were to get a big enough monitor you'd not have to worry about scrolling. For fast indexing you just put all the lyrics in one PDF file and give it an index so you can get to any song quickly. This would be the cheapest way to do something electronically. The idea of building a screen into a floor monitor is pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 Here is a shot from the band I did last night. The lead singer runs a laptop with power point and a wireless clicker to change screens. The monitor is built into a kustom 12" wedge (best use ever) and has a computer cable running to it. personally I appreciate the coolness of it but I would like to see the band be more energetic overall and relate better to the audience. I don't think loosing the screen would change that but maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IsildursBane Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 I just don't like thumbing through pages in the event of a request. To me it looks unprofessional but that's just me. Flipping through songs in a laptop isn't much better. People know what's going on. Folks will either look down on both or not care about either. Alphabetize the song list and put tabs in there at each letter so you can find stuff quickly. -Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted June 6, 2010 Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 Since I started doing most of the singing, in our band, I had to pick up quite a few songs that our former singer used to perform. With short notice, I first printed the lyrics, and then taped them to the back of the speakers that were stand-mounted. This sucked because I had to pull off a sheet of paper, between each song. It was wasteful and messy. So, my current system is to first type the lyrics in Excel. I separate the verses/choruses using headers and bold text. Then, I increase the print size until it fits within the boundaries of a single page. I have a tab for each song's lyrics. Then, I save the lyrics to individual PDF files. After we create our set lists, for a particular show, I then merge all PDFs into a single PDF document with the songs in the order of our set lists. At the show, I view the PDF in fullscreen mode (Ctrl+L). We have an external LCD monitor that sits on the floor/sub/stand in front of me. It's pretty low profile and does not stand out from the rest of the stuff we have across the front of the stage. A long VGA cable connects the laptop to the LCD monitor, providing us with two views of the lyrics. I bought a $30 Logitech wireless mouse to control the PDF. Left-click advances the page. Right-click goes back a page. The scroll wheel makes the song search very quick and easy. I tape my mouse to my mic stand to make it easy-to-reach. This process works great for me. Cost: The laptop was free (provided by my employer). The LCD monitor and cable were free (provided by bass player). The only real cost is my time in editing the lyrics and generating the PDFs. Pretty soon, I'll put the lyrics into a database and everything will be generated, dynamically, along with my set list generator. I love being a programmer geek/musician. mike mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted June 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted June 6, 2010 Pretty soon, I'll put the lyrics into a database and everything will be generated, dynamically, along with my set list generator. I love being a programmer geek/musician. mike mike What you should do if you are a programmer is have the list voice actuated. As soon as you introduce the next song it pops up on the screen. Now, are you a real geek or not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted June 7, 2010 Members Share Posted June 7, 2010 You just raised the bar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted June 7, 2010 Members Share Posted June 7, 2010 What you should do if you are a programmer is have the list voice actuated. As soon as you introduce the next song it pops up on the screen. Now, are you a real geek or not! ... or you could have it play the song for you while you grab a beer and chat up the ladies . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.