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Hello guys:)
I have been reading a few forums where people are talking about the use of teleprompters by brand name artists, and there is much debate over weather it is professional to use a teleprompter to remember lyrics and chord changes. Also having a song book on stage is frowned upon by a lot of folks. It looks the opinion is pretty well equal in both camps (both for and against the use of memory aids or any sort of confidence monitors) Some people feel as if it cheats the audience out of a good show to be reading the lyrics while others feel as if it brings a better show to just have the memory jogger handy...I d love to hear how you guys feel about the use of such things. I'll share my opinion: I unashamedly use it all...lyrics and chord changes , backing tracks, effects, you name it. And if I could afford it I would get plastic surgery:)
...........Jeff......
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I'm with you, Jeff. I couldn't remember lyrics when I had a memory!  Regards, Bob
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IMHO.... there's no problem with an artist using a prompter....
It sure beats forgetting a first line in the 3rd verse because you were into the song and got lost in the music...... man that happened to me plenty of times.....
Yeah, no problem. Especially for the big names.... they don't want to forget their own song in front of 30,000 people or on TV.
I say use what you need and can afford.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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I concur I believe that when an artist really gets in to the music or in to the crowd forgetting the words can happen. and this is because of delivering a good show. btw have you ever seen this gadget: http://www.wolfgangtelemonitor.com/about/ I don't know if I can afford one from them (although they are really nice) I may try my hand at making one and using the ptw lyrics & chord changes along with some tracks live:)
...........Jeff......
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Barbara Streisand was a recent guest on the Tonight Show - first time on late-nite TV in decades.
Jimmy Fallon asked her why she hadn't toured for such a long time.
She gave a concert in Central Park; 150,000 in attendance, and forgot the lyrics to 3 of her songs on her set list.
She didn't tour for 27 years after that!
BTW, Fallon did a great job singing some classics with her.
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If an artist has soul and something to say I could care less. Two of our favorites Gregg Allman and Lucinda Williams use notes. Whomever that offends should IMHO chill and enjoy the music.
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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Paul McCartney uses a prompter. So does Bruce Springsteen.
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Whatever it takes to do the job properly
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Tools, just like a carpenter needs a hammer, singers sometimes need vocal tuners, and even teleprompters. Just like mixing engineers cut and paste vocals to get the perfect one; whatever it takes to put on a killer show. I don't even have a problem with someone lip syncing if they are under the weather, as you go to the show to see the entertainer in the flesh and the show; otherwise you could just sit at home and listen to the album, no one needs a teleprompter for that LOL.
My TunesPsalm 57:7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
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Use whatever it takes to deliver the best most professional performance.
Later,
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The other option.....
Make up words on the spot.... that works better if you forget the words IN a verse as opposed to the first line of the verse.
It beats standing there looking dumb and 90 percent of the audience in a club won't notice, the other 10% will say "What the? .... hey, look at that redhead!" and have another drink.
I was so good at making up words that one patron told me that if they hadn't been paying attention and knew the song, they would never have noticed my ad lib line.
As for the big stars in concert.... the fans are generally singing along so if the artist forgets the words, all they need to do is stand back and point the mic to the audience and encourage the audience to sing...... waaa laaa... instant audience participation.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 08/30/15 01:44 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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If you forget the words, do what the pros do ---- mumble  I use words and/or a music chart on a laptop. We have over 550 songs in our 'book'. The songs we play most often are memorized, the rest are partially memorized so we don't have to keep our nose in the computer for the entire song. Even the songs that are memorized can fail you from time to time. When you get into the zone and something distracts you (whether it's minor or someone coming up to make a request while you are singing) you can be shocked out of the zone and not really know where you were. Having the words/music in front of you is a good way to get back on track. I've seen symphony orchestras reading music as well as big jazz bands and no one complains. I've even been in small jazz jams where everyone has "The Real Book" in front of them. I see nothing wrong with having notes in front of you, as long as your nose isn't buried in the notes to the point where you lose contact with the audience. But that's just me, YMMV Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Wow - I used to feel the opposite about all this - but I think I've been convinced to give a try to notes and prompts - it will certainly lower the time it takes me to perform a song !
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Folks who expect you to have memorized every word to every song ever written (which implies also knowing all the chords and all the melodies and all the harmonies) are delusional. That doesn't mean you don't strive to memorize songs, you're just not going to know them all. When you go to an author book reading event, for example, you don't expect them to "read" their book from memory (and it's even their own piece of work). Do you expect a preacher to quote all scripture from memory and say their sermon without a single "uh"? Do you only use computer apps written by programmers who have committed every function, procedure, and variable to memory? Must a portrait painter complete the work in one sitting and never refer to the subject being painted? We don't expect that level of perfection any where else, so why do we expect musicians to be able to just" know " the song we requested inside out and by God, they better play it the way I want to hear it?
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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my take: when you are the one on stage, do what works for YOU. No matter how you do anything, you can't please everybody, so although dissenting opinion should be considered, it should be weighed carefully against other factors of importance.
Stakes are high in any public presentation. If it looks bad to have a visual aid, it looks far worse to make mistakes or stumble for words.
Rational thinking begins with the assumption that there are no perfect solutions, so we opt for the solution that does the least damage for the highest reward.
In my opinion, the damage done in the minds of a small percentage of the audience who thinks that I'm "cheating" if I use charts is not worthy to be compared to the damage that would be done by a performance meltdown if I hit a snag, and got so flustered I couldn't even remember to mumble or use one of the other escape plans mentioned above.
And I'm a meltdown kind of guy....
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I also think there's a difference between regular bands and solo acts. If I'm "just" a guitar player, it's reasonable to know all the chords to all the songs in a 3 hour gig. Likewise, someone who is "just" the singer may be able to memorize all the lyrics.
Solo acts, especially if they use BIAB to create backing tracks, aren't limited by the knowledge of other band members, so they are more likely to accumulate a large library of songs... Like Forum members Notes Norton, Danny Campo and 90db... I'd bet they all have a very large pool of songs.
Once you get past a set list of 40 songs, and you are singing all the lyrics, playing all the chords and slamming all the solos... the likelihood of forgetting something begins to escalate exponentially.
That's why I like using a notebook pc to present the songs... it gives the performer visual cues for lyrics and chords as well as offering a playback device and full MIDI control.
I find that for me, even with all that help, its still a challenge to manage all of the special timings, intros, endings etc, and its hard to make notes about stuff like that on a chord sheet.
Multiply that times Notes Norton's 550 songs... all of which need to be played well even if he hasn't played that song in 2 years... and the idea that he is somehow "cheating" begins to look ridiculous.
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I have had the distinct pleasure and tremendous opportunity over time to sit in with some jazz groups in small intimate gigs. If I would have pulled out the fake Book it would not have been received well. So I would just Fake it. Maybe times are changin. Just sayin.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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I have had the distinct pleasure and tremendous opportunity over time to sit in with some jazz groups in small intimate gigs. If I would have pulled out the fake Book it would not have been received well. So I would just Fake it. Maybe times are changin. Just sayin. different situations suggest different tactics. When dissenting opinion is the majority opinion, I'd go with the majority. When its a mixed bag of opinions, I'd go with whatever I prefer. Bottom line, if you HAD pulled out a fake book, what's the worst that could have happened?
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When our band was learning new tunes and performing them on stage for the first time or two, I would have a cheat sheet on the floor. It had the first few words in the first sentence of the verse.
Knowing that....I could nail the verses. I glanced at them as I was approaching the point...and that's all I needed.
Speaking of people who didn't need any cheat sheets... I played with one guy and knew a few others who had a mental repertoire consisting of many hundreds of songs. He knew the key the tempo, and the words. Name a song he hadn't played in years and he'd say... Key of D.... and off we'd go and he'd nail the lyrics. I didn't play in his band for long because it was a tuxedo, country club gig kind of band.
And I thought I was doing something when I knew a complete 4 hr show with a few spares......
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 08/30/15 06:48 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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eddie1261
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The bigger problem for a lot of us as we age (include me in this sentiment) is that the teleprompter needs to be on the Jumbotron for us to read it. I see a lot of local artists using their iPad mini clipped to the mic stand and whenever I see it, I ask myself how they can see that small font? If the font is made bigger to see it, you will be flipping screens every 4 bars!!
In my case what stinks is that I need glasses to see up to 3 feet, then I see fairly well after that. Even that is starting to go. It won't be but another few years that I won't be able to drive anymore. I need to move to where I live across the street from a food store, possibly a Walmart or K-Mart type superstore where I can get everything I need and take a cab home.
So teleprompter? Sure. On the Jumbotron!
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