Does Anyone Use a Tablet for Lyrics on Stage? Please Advise!

[Burlington Dave]

Did you mean prompter? Or is the band's marketing guy hiding inside a cabinet and holding up sheets? That would be cool actually.

Autocorrect error. Yes, prompter.

 

[Maguchi]

After checking out the local music scene and a good deal of introspection, I have decided to set the Wayback Machine for 1978 and get an acoustic duo act together to introduce a new generation to the joys of John Prine, Steve Goodman, early Neil Young and Bonnie Raitt ... like the acts I was part of in my halcyon college days.

So I got busy gathering up 40 years of lyric charts to put into a binder, when suddenly it occurred to me that I have almost all of these in Word files ... So it would probably be a good idea to load them onto a tablet and carry that instead of schlepping around a big 3-ring, right? Old dog, new tricks, etc. However, I need to be able to read with my olde eyes, and to view an entire page at a time. So I'm asking you fellas:

Does anyone use a tablet for lyrics and charts on stage?
What make and model?
How much does a good one cost?
What software do you recommend?

Or ... Would I be better off with old-timey paper charts that are large enough to read with my aging eyesight?

Your advice and war stories are very welcome. Enlighten me!

Sure, why not a tablet. Whatever it takes for a gig to go smoothly. I do some subbing when a "regular" guitar player can't make it and having a tablet helps. Don't have to look at it all the time, but it's nice to have it there just in case.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

Just finished typing up, organizing, printing, and putting my current catalog of songs I either know or are working on into a 3" binder. Categories are Folk, Country, Blues, and Rock. Made an alphabetical list of all titles as an index as well - total of 63 songs. If I get up and running on half of those, I will have more than enough material for three sets.

Now comes the fun part - practicing and memorizing lyrics as much as possible. God knows, I've been singing and playing some of these since the '70s! Time to get serious and learn every word. The binder is a good reference backup, but I want to be able to do most of the show from memory.

I'm contacting folks on Bandmix to find a partner or a band I can jam with. Have had a few nibbles, nothing concrete yet. This will take things to a new level. I'm jacked!

 

[TC6969]

A friend used a binder and one night, I walked by the stage and in the middle of Proud Mary, I reached up and ripped out his cheat sheet.

TOTAL VAPOR LOCK!

Never mind that he had been doing that song for over 40 years, when he lost sight of that sheet, he drew a complete blank.

If someone is learning a new song and needs a little help, that's fine, but to go on for years depending on a screen?

I don't think so.