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Music Stands on Stage

#61
Music stands are for musicians.

Maybe we take the stigma away from the use of music stands by rockers by calling them rockstar stands (patent pending).

I've seen Prince and Geddy Lee using video monitors for their lyrics and obviously Sting in the entry above.

I try not to use one but I pull it out (the stand) for a few songs as I play in 4 bands and the songs with a alot of variation are tough to remember.

You can get dependent on them though.
 
#62
My 2 cents...

I play in a wedding band. Our lead singer/guitarist uses a stand all night, placed right in front of him with a small light attached to it. Our keyboardists uses one as well.

On the rare occassion, I will pull one out for a song we haven't played in quite some time. However, I've so many covers over the years that I know most by heart.

At times, it does annoy the drummer and I how "married" our singer is to his stand. He's a little OCD and ADD when he's focused on the music doesn't see much going on around him.

In his defense though we have 200+ songs we use for the weddings. Plus we're always swapping one song for the next at the request of the wedding guests. I really don't expect him to memorize over 200 sets of lyrics. However, it would be nice once in a while for him not to use the stand on a song that perhaps always play.

This is my situation. I can't say it would work for a bar band. Often, as a wedding band we're background noise or music for dancing. People aren't coming for our show. they're coming to celebrate a special day and the stars are the wedding couple.

That's probably the hardest thing IMO to get used to to be a wedding band. I'vwe had members quit because they couldn't handle not being the center of attention.

again, just my 2 cents
 
#64
Floyd Eye said:
My guitarist/singer used a stand with the lyric book on it. as hard as we tried we could not break him of this. So we started trying out lead vocalists. Magically, he does not need the book anymore.

Really, you are playing songs thousands of times and you can't remember the lyrics? I'd rather he just made **** up then have a damn stand on stage. Ever try to make a demo DVD to shop around at clubs when your singer has a friggin' stand on the stage?
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+1 gazillion.. A cover band I occasionally play with has two 'very attractive, skantily klad' female vocalists...and a big ole honkin' music stand as apparently they both suffer from lyric memorization deficity syndrome (LMDS). In the videos, they can't take their eyes off the music stand. Not sexy.

So here's the thing - a live band is a show. "100% accurate music" is a DJ. I'll take the mistake, the humorously flubbled lyric over the music stand. Please. **disclaimer** I have an iPad on my mic stand, low, so I can refresh myself if I've forgotten the tume.
 
#65
Music stands? On stage? No way.

1. Unless your are in the symphony or in church.
2. Unless you plan on nobody expecting a 'show' from your band. ie - wedding reception or dinner
3. If you need notes then put them on the floor. If you lots of notes then do some homework.
 
#66
If your band performs well and makes contact with the audience, then you use a music stand is irrelevant. I quit using one for all my club dates mostly because I can't see it anyway by Friday night. (I am a data analyst and my eyes are fried by then from digging through code and such on the computer.) So I HAVE to memorize the lyrics. I can;t read them anyway. In the church band though, I have to learn six songs in about an hour and a half. I stand in the back most of the time. The music stand helps the band sound better, 'cause i am not hittin' a bunch of clams with my charts written with a black Sharpie that could be read from a passing passenger jet :).
 
#67
bass12 said:
I think it depends on the gig. I play in a large corporate band. We'll use stands if we're playing a set that involves material we rarely play (social dance stuff, first dances at weddings, that kind of thing) but avoid using them during dance sets. Well, I should say that the frontline avoids using them during dance sets, as the horns and strings have big-band type stands. Those stands, however, are props as much as they are functional stands, so...
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As long as the singers NEVER use them. Unacceptable.

For my wedding, I had the best wedding band available in Chicago. Paid out the nose, but they made the night. One of the many ways they set themselves apart from the numerous other good wedding bands is that the band lander VOWED that none of his singers will EVER be reading from lyrics on stage. They are performers and, even for new songs or songs being played for that particular engagement only, they must memorize the lyrics, no exceptions.

Sure enough, there were 4, yes 4 lead singers (not including the instrumentalists), and no lyrics anywhere to be seen for the entire night. And we didn't just have a night of typical wedding tunes that they've played 2000 times (well, a little of that). The band took the house down and was worth every penny (and that was a lot of pennies). Not one singer stood behind a music stand glancing down at notes. Now, when I see a wedding/party band using lyrics, even just as a reminder, they look like total amateurs to me.

If it's an original band, well there's also no excuse for needing lyrics.
 
#68
I use one when rehearsing with bands for fill-in type gigs. For some reason, the other members of the bands seem to view it as professional. I guess the fact that a fill in guy would take the time to have their set list ans sheet music visible in practice made a good impression. I never use the stand live though, it seems to get in the way lol
 
#69
Depends on the setting. In a rock band it looks lame and as someone else said, it creates a barrier between you and the audience. Again, this is for a rock band. And really, if you can't at least fake your way through the song, you need to take time on your own and learn it. I've seen some younger guys playing with stands on the stage and it makes them look like a bunch of old retired guys. Image isn't anything but, it does play an important part of how well you are received by a crowd. Play in some college town with sheet music at the front of the stage and not work the crowd. Then don't wonder why there is nobody dancing or watching. A jazz gig, you probably better have your music if you don't know that tune.
 
#71
nortonrider said:
I'm a hack when it comes to sight reading, I can get by with charts.
I just prefer to learn the tunes I play.

funny, I've seen plenty of professional shows (Stones, Flecktones, Willie Nelson to name a few) and I've never seen any of them playing with sheet music in front of them.

Maybe they ain't professionals after all.
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Bro, a little advice...don't be obtuse for the sake of being obtuse. It never goes well. Obviously there are situations where sheet music is frowned upon, and in those situations don't use it or keep it hidden. But there are plenty of pro situations where it's perfectly acceptable. To deny that is to deny reality.

I play in both situations, and not once has an audience member complained that I was reading music when doing so. However, when my regular band plays by itself, only the horns read music because some of them rotate in and out due to availability, and we're more about putting on a show. It's very much a "When in Rome" situation.
 
#75
the yeti said:
if you're in an orchestra, cool.

pop band, no.
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When I saw The Who {6 times ], Roger knew what the words were. The Ox knew what to play. Pete knew what to play. When I watch Lawrence Welk, they need their music stands. Local bands at the VFW need their music stand for the words to the old tired hits we all love. Rock and roll heros don't need music stands. [except in the studio]
 
#76
I'll give up my music stand when my ability to sight-read gigs stops paying for all of my gear. ;)

Granted, I'm a hired gun jazz player. What annoys me is not the presence of music stands on stage, but the endless dead air, while players flip through their fake books searching for the next tune to play. Also, I got tired of hauling 12 pounds of books to every gig. So I tend to play "standards" gigs without a music stand.
 
#77
So, to recap, the absolutely ridiculous conventional 'wisdom' is that of you're playing a really big, important gig, especially if it's with a symphony orchestra, music stands are ok. BUT if you're play some dive bar with a cover band ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Sometimes TB is just so strange.
 
#79
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yeah, that's right - Rock on!
 

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