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Music Stands on Stage


LateGreats

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Originally posted by Edward

... There will be a written contract, with a strict penalty clause which will deduct 25% of fee for each and every Van Morrison > song played - 50% if it's that Brown Eyed Girl bollocks.



Will they qualify for a bonus if they play Horselips without a request? :)

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So I guess I'll pitch my tent in this thread. I use a music stand. At one point, in my last band, we had practiced and rehearsed enough that I was able to do 40 songs without one so I stopped using it. But once I knew the songs, I didn't keep rehearsing them in the car to and from work. And eventually it happened. On stage ... I totally blanked on a song. Then another gig, we get to the venue and I realized, "Holy {censored}, I can't remember the opening line to Whipping Post, all I remember is the second verse." I've also faked it through songs where I just sang the same verse three times or somesuch. And let me tell you, your fellow band members notice. F the musicians in the audience. Yeah, it kicked me in the pants and I started memorizing those same songs again during the week. But it also scared me enough that I brought the stand back on stage just in case. I forced myself not to look at it while we were playing. But it was there if I needed it.

Now I'm in a cover band and trying to ramp up on 100+ songs. You're darn tootin' I'm gonna have cheat sheets up there. When I feel like I know them well enough to go without it, I may try again. But the feeling of a deer in the headlights is not one you soon forget.

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I guess music stands on stage are okay if the songs are ordered according to your setlist. In the last band I was in, four of us sang lead and the other three all had stands. We had a setlist, but when we'd finish a song, the other guys would all be "What page is xxxx on?" What a bunch of {censored}, very unprofessional! I've never used a stand, I put the effort into learning my songs.

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We use em in practice, but never on stage. I've seen plenty of others using them over the years, but it's just not for me.

You do have to watch how much you use them at practice too because I think you can quickly grow to rely on them.

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Cheat sheets on the floor are quite a bit different than a music stand. I'll go back to what I did for a lead singer in a previous project. I set my laptop on the floor and he could click through screens with an inconspicuous mouse to see the lyrics. It takes up no more room on the stage than a small pedal board and looks no more odd on the stage floor than a floor monitor.

 

 

Yes. I know I'm responding in a thread that was dead for 2 years.

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I think it depends on the situation. I have a buddy that does a solo act.... he uses a music stand. He also has like over 300 songs in his book. He gets alot of requests for songs. The book and stand helps him deliver on those requests... and that fills his tip jar. I mean,,, how many guys do you know that can do the monster mash on halloween? That said,, the guy that writes the program that lets you plug in lyrics kereoke style on a lap top is going to get rich. lol. rat

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That said,, the guy that writes the program that lets you plug in lyrics kereoke style on a lap top is going to get rich. lol. rat


No doubt.

Our singer just went out and bought a laptop exclusively to use for lyrics (like ThudMaker described).

That'll be MUCH better than a music stand - thank god. :thu:

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It's been 2 years since I last posted, so I thought I'd chip in with an update. I no longer use my thigh-high music stand off to the side. Now I put my powered mixer on a keyboard bench off to the right side and lay my book of lyrics and chord charts on top of it. That puts it about hip high and also allows me to make adjustments to the PA as needed. A lot of the venues we play have a stage with a wall of some type around it and the mixer is at about the same height, so there is no obstruction of the audience's view.

One thing I never do is what I saw a bass player do at a gig I played last week. He set up a music stand with a light at shoulder height so that anybody looking at him from the dance floor would see only a large black glowing rectangle where his head should be. Weird...

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He set up a music stand with a light at shoulder height so that anybody looking at him from the dance floor would see only a large black glowing rectangle where his head should be. Weird...


Oh man, that's so lame it hurts to even imagine....

Put that man behind a curtain :cop:

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