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Music Stands on Stage

Should musicians use a music stand on stage? [results will be displayed after you vote]

  • No

  • It doesn't matter -- use one if it helps you play better

  • Depends on the kind of band or performance

  • It's OK if you minimize the visibility of the stand

  • It's complicated -- defies a multiple choice answer like this

Results are only viewable after voting.
#221
BurningSkies said:
We've established that stands are fine for hired hitters.
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Oh, that must be why you added this irrelevant- to- the- question jibbajabba near the end. My bad, Mr Happy.

BurningSkies said:
On gig a ways back (ok ok early 90's) at a pretty famous club in NYC...our guitarist had his back up guitar stolen from the secure back stage gear storage. He was pretty angry that one of his old Kramers walked. So that night on stage in front of more than a thousand people our singer proceed to break about 6 mic stands and more than a couple vocal mics. He was trying to take out roughly the same value in their gear, since it was obviously one of their people who stole the guitar.

Not too rock to smash a music stand though.
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#223
BurningSkies said:
Feel free to be as defensive as you like. There are plenty of gigs across the world where stands are not acceptable. :)
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I know that stands are not aceptable in some places. I stated that quite some time ago, way before there was your "consensus."

Defensive? Haha. Oh, man. Look in the mirror. I was merely showing the folly of those who have a very narrow view of what actually happens outside of bar-band world, lest youngsters get an untrue view of reality from those who pretend to know everything.

You felt compelled to chirp that a consensus was reached. That's defensive!! Truth hurt your "cause," apparently.

But it's still really funny, and speaks volumes, that you told your little unrelated story of broken mic stands and stolen guitar and then have the gall to suggest that my post, which was directly related to the question, was less necessary than your jibbajabba.

No, sorry, it's not defensive in the negative sense for me to merely point out a biased guy exhibiting bully-ish behavior when someone posts something that doesn't fall into his kinda pompous, erroneously-defined world of professional musicianship. I'm not spending any more logic on you.
 
#227
tonemachine said:
I know that stands are not aceptable in some places. I stated that quite some time ago, way before there was your "consensus."

Defensive? Haha. Oh, man. Look in the mirror. I was merely showing the folly of those who have a very narrow view of what actually happens outside of bar-band world, lest youngsters get an untrue view of reality from those who pretend to know everything.

You felt compelled to chirp that a consensus was reached. That's defensive!! Truth hurt your "cause," apparently.

But it's still really funny, and speaks volumes, that you told your little unrelated story of broken mic stands and stolen guitar and then have the gall to suggest that my post, which was directly related to the question, was less necessary than your jibbajabba.

No, sorry, it's not defensive in the negative sense for me to merely point out a biased guy exhibiting bully-ish behavior when someone posts something that doesn't fall into his kinda pompous, erroneously-defined world of professional musicianship. I'm not spending any more logic on you.
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Definitely spend more time with your MS paint skills instead. Totally moves the thread along in the right direction.
 
#229
Stinsok said:
Our band has an issue with a music stand. Our female singer is about 5'2'' and it blocks her from being seen. Also, it blocks her floor monitor and she says she can't hear herself.
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Get her an iPad with OnSong on it..
smaller footprint, is almost unnoticeable... beats a book any day!
Can sync other devices, can control external monitors for other band members, has low-light option..
lots of choices!
 
#230
She has a tablet, we've discussed it. The guy responsible for the project hates music stands like I do. In this pic, she's is standing away from it but you see how intrusive it is.
 

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#232
I put depends on the band and situation. Rarely will you see even the elite's of jazz play a show without a stand, even when it's their own darn song! If it's a pop tune with just a few changes, than I prefer to not use a stand so my tight pants are more visible.

Hell, I've been on pop shows playing original music where the lead singer/writer uses a stand so she can remember her own lyrics. :roflmao:

I don't feel at all guilty about staring a cheat sheet.
 
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#233
When I saw the Happy Together Tour in 2013, the guitarist for The Turtles played for the four opening acts: Gary Lewis, Mark Lindsay, Gary Puckett, and Chuck Negron. Used a stand. When The Turtles came out, the stand vanished.

I'm certain he'd been playing those songs for weeks, but he probably didn't trust his memory. The stand was no big deal, as the band was set up upstage from the vocalists.
 
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#234
I HATE music stands on stage. If you're a gigging band, for God sakes know your material well enough to actually be able to perform it. I think it looks absolutely amateur and "straight outta the garage". There ARE exceptions. For example, a sub gig with not enough prep time, etc. In these cases, just make the stand as unobtrusive as possible. The worst examples I see are lead singers standing front and center with a stand right in front of them.
 
#235
DWBass said:
I've been in a ton of bands over the 40+ years I've been playing. I can recall 2 where the singers used music stands for lyrics. The rest didn't need them. 3 sets of music. I agree though, everyone's different and have different recall capabilities.
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I've been in two now (including the current one) where the singer's regularly got a stand.
I really would rather not have it there, but the recall issue is the reason both times.
 

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