Members rodclement Posted September 8, 2011 Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 Hey there my friend! I have used the tc helicom for a long time now, I think since 2006 or so, these are the old vsm 200 version or something, never had volume issues but they are not meant for a loud stage band so it is a good tool for a job but not all jobs. Yes, you can attach it to a boom mic stand, I don't use it that way since I move around a lot and need a free stand to play with! Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted September 8, 2011 Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 Hey Rod, how is the TC helicon monitor working for you? I remember reading some reviews that it lacked volume or something, so I wonder how it performs in live situations. In the pic you posted, can you put the mic over the monitor, or do you need a separate stand for it? I have one as well. It does a really good job. Mine is the vsm300xt version. I've used it in a number of different ways. I prefer it mounted on it's own mic stand, but I don't like hauling an extra stand around. It works pretty well mounted on your vocal boom stand, which is how I use it most often. I've also used it sitting in a chair in front of me. It doesn't work as well if you put it on the ground, at least not in loud situations. It's just not loud enough for that - it's intended to be close to your head. These days, I prefer to use a full sized monitor. In most venues, I can just use one main and use the other for a monitor. For some larger venues, I need both speakers as mains and use the TC Helicon as a monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RupertB Posted September 8, 2011 Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 Me? No. Between my solo, duo, trio, and full band gigs I've probably got north of 250 songs (lyrics & guitar parts) rolling around in my noggin and another hundred or so that I could fake my way through if needed. I do keep a notebook of lyrics sheets for songs I'd like to be able to play on request but haven't committed to memory (like those long-ass Dylan tunes). I think I've used it once this year. My duo partner is lost without his book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Bartus Posted September 8, 2011 Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 I am curious, why do you need 1000 songs? I have about 45 songs that I occasionally add to and it carries me into 3+ sets. If I need more songs I will repeat the first set song in a slightly different style. The reason for this is that 98% of the time the people that were there for the 1st set are not around for the 4th. If I get a request and I know I will do it, otherwise I just tell them I don't know the song. Touring groups have a set of songs and rarely, if at all, vary from that for the whole tour. I subscribe to that. I am another of those performers with over 1,000 songs (without cheat sheets, but with a very rare lyric flub now and again). I've also been performing an average of 4-5 gigs a week for 30+ years. It helps having a large repertoire when dealing with requests, and it keeps me interested as well. 45 songs will get you through a night, but it certainly won't get you through a life. There are just too many great songs out there.I certainly know that touring groups often stick with the same setlists, but they don't often play in the same places each week. Trust me: the 13th week in a row of the same 45 songs will get old for the regular clientele, not to mention the staff and management of the venue. Not to mention, the crowd can change drastically with each set: happy hour gives way to dinner; dinner gives way to drinkers. unless I'm playing a concert or festival, I never use a predetermined setlist. The crowd "tells" me where they want to go, and I'm flexible enough to take them there (musically speaking). There are several audience favorites I play almost every night because people want to hear those songs, and I throw as many originals in as I can. (A lot of my songs fall into the first category because I've been playing them around here for so long.) That still leaves room for new songs, requests, not-as-popular originals, and chestnuts from the old grab bag.But then, I'm a geezer. My age is showing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted September 8, 2011 Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 No problem! Actually I discovered a couple of features when I looking for the link to share it with you guys, that I didnt knew the software had. Now I can link the lyrics with an iTunes track, and play it along the scrolling lyrics, so I can leave the iPod as a backup and have the iPad doing all the job, pretty cool! Yeah, I just bought it and was playing with that. That's definitely what I'm gong to do - my iPod Touch will sit in my gig bag as a "backup band." This really takes care of one of my biggest problems, which is the time it takes between songs. If you've got dancers on the dance floor and you finish a song, in order to keep those dancers there you have to be able to launch into the next song within seconds. With my iPod Touch off to my left and my paper lyrics in front of me, this was a real challenge. With my lyrics and songs right in front of me, I ought to be able to start the next song right away, which will keep folks on the dance floor. Mission accomplished! The only downside I see is if I have to use it at high noon outdoors. The iPad sucks as an outdoor book reader... I'm not too optimistic about how well it does in direct sunlight. Have you gigged with it outdoors in the sun? Regardless, this is a kick ass application for 6 bucks or whatever the heck I just paid for it. I'm definitely impressed. I'm off to give them a good rating in iTunes. Thanks again for the tip. Damn, this forum is paying dividends already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted September 8, 2011 Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 I never use a predetermined setlist. The crowd "tells" me where they want to go, and I'm flexible enough to take them there (musically speaking). There are several audience favorites I play almost every night because people want to hear those songs, and I throw as many originals in as I can. (A lot of my songs fall into the first category because I've been playing them around here for so long.) That still leaves room for new songs, requests, not-as-popular originals, and chestnuts from the old grab bag. But then, I'm a geezer. My age is showing... Nah, that's not age, man, that's experience. I've been performing music in front of people for 38 years but I have only been doing the solo performer thing for 3 years, and I've just come to realize that the best approach is EXACTLY what you just said... being able to mod your "play list" on the fly depending on who walks in the door, as well as the reaction that you get from the crowd. Case in point was a gig I did recently. It was folks in their 50's mostly, with some 60's folks in there too, and they wanted to drink and dance. I played what I felt was a really good version of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting," and a few people got up and danced. I did "Johnny B. Goode" and the freaking dance floor overflowed. People were running to get to the dance floor. OK, 70's music, no, 50's music, YES. So then I started cranking out the 50's tunes and aside from the fact that I took too long between songs, it went over great. But then I ran out of 50's music and started doing 60's music, and I lost some people. And when I ran out of 60's music, I lost everyone on the dance floor. That's one of them thar "learning experiences" I do believe. I spent the next day making lists of 50's and 60's songs I want to learn. But I also play at an eatery where we get everything from families with 5 year old kids to old couples in their 70's. And everything in between can wander in. So having the ability to match the music to the crowd is, to me, making the step from "good" to "pro." And I don't yet have enough material to do it, but that's going to be my goal. I'm really stoked about this new forum. I finally feel like there's a music forum online that is totally relevant to what I'm doing. I won't bash any other forums or sites by name, but there are some places where asking a newbie question will get you made fun of. I'm an educator by trade and I love to learn new things. I only wish this forum had been around 3 years ago, because it would have saved me a lot of time and money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted September 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 I'm really stoked about this new forum. I finally feel like there's a music forum online that is totally relevant to what I'm doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted September 8, 2011 Members Share Posted September 8, 2011 Here's a guy who's pretty good, but this is the only time I've seen him use a music stand and lyrics. I can't say that I blame him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted September 9, 2011 Members Share Posted September 9, 2011 I'd say that link is "broken" but really it's not there to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted September 9, 2011 Members Share Posted September 9, 2011 Right Richard. I wanted to always know enough tunes to cover requests because I started taking them years ago out of boredom. Now, I've only learned a handful of covers in the last 10 years because I was bored with the gig and I figured I had enough. Then, I started doing songs I love and my own..About 50/50..Started that about 5 years ago until my last cover gig. I think if I start doing gigs again really just for the practice and extra cash I'll do a combination of my stuff, stuff I love and requests:) why not.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rodclement Posted September 9, 2011 Members Share Posted September 9, 2011 I wish I had the ability to memorize songs like that! It would make my life so much easier! I can learn a song on the fly if someone shows me the structure and what key it's in but for the life of me I can't memorize lyrics...I miss my original music days when an album would be your set for 6 months, 3/4 nights a week...12/15 songs a night...easy work... Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Christhee68 Posted September 10, 2011 Members Share Posted September 10, 2011 Let me try again:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3PRmu0tr6k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted September 10, 2011 Members Share Posted September 10, 2011 Let me try again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3PRmu0tr6k That's pretty funny, actually. I could see doing something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted September 10, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 10, 2011 I wish I had the ability to memorize songs like that! It would make my life so much easier! I can learn a song on the fly if someone shows me the structure and what key it's in but for the life of me I can't memorize lyrics...I miss my original music days when an album would be your set for 6 months, 3/4 nights a week...12/15 songs a night...easy work...Rod First, I'm like you, as I get older the memory gets more out of shape and that is what it is about; getting your memory back in shape. Memorization is a learned process and it takes work. One of the things I did for a while was take Ginko Biloba(s?). It made a big difference for me. I learned Marty Robbins, "Big Iron" in a day, all seven verses! But because things are tight and it is not cheap (even though my daughter works at GNC) I stopped taking it. I don't like cheat sheets. I work much better without having to refer to them. But that's just the way it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurdy Posted September 10, 2011 Members Share Posted September 10, 2011 I suppose a relevant question would be--if you insist on using written lyrics on stage--are there ways to keep them somewhat inconspicous so that the audience will not necessarily notice? The big guys use teleprompters, but that isn't an option for the rest of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EightString Posted September 10, 2011 Members Share Posted September 10, 2011 I suppose a relevant question would be--if you insist on using written lyrics on stage--are there ways to keep them somewhat inconspicous so that the audience will not necessarily notice? The big guys use teleprompters, but that isn't an option for the rest of us. I mentioned before, I normally don't use cheat sheets, but sometimes for those last-minute fill in gigs (dude, our singer is sick, can you sing for us tonight?), the band hiring me might have some material in their setlist that I can sing, but that I just never learned the lyrics to those songs. In those cases, I now use an iPad, mounted unobtrusively on my mic stand at a little above waist level. This is MUCH smaller and less clunky looking than a music stand with a bunch of papers to flip through. No one really notices or cares if I glance down at my iPad once in a while during a song, and to make it even more useful, I keep the current setlist on screen when I don't need a cheat sheet. Oddly enough, there ARE teleprompter/lyrics apps that will scroll through each song's lyrics at a preset speed for each song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted September 10, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 10, 2011 The big guys use teleprompters, but that isn't an option for the rest of us. I have thought about purchasing a monitor screen for a few hundred bucks and running it off of a laptop or iPad. What I would need to find is some inexpensive telepromter software to run on it. I would set it up on the floor out in front of me angled up like an audio monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DonH81 Posted September 13, 2011 Members Share Posted September 13, 2011 I use to have a hard time remembering all the lyrics and always had my lyric book set up in front of me (my guitarist calls it my "woobie"). When we started playing with tracks I spent so much time prgramming each song that they got drilled into my head. Now I hardly ever need to look at it. An unexpected benefit to all those hours of programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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