This is karaoke, isn't it?

[Cave Puppy]

I was recently out to dinner with my partner at a really nice, expensive restaurant when we heard what we thought was live music coming from the barroom adjacent to the dining room. We poked our heads in to check it out, as it sounded really good, almost too good. Turns out is was two people, singing along (holding acoustic guitars) to fully pre-recorded tracks of bass, drums, electric guitar, keyboards and horns. This, to me, is karaoke, not a performance.

What if the performers pre-recorded the backing tracks themselves? Would it still be karaoke? I've had pipe dreams about doing this very thing. It would sometimes be nice to be able to perform music without the hassle and headaches associated with a whole band.

 

[Medicine Man]

I saw a popular band at a major festival lip sync and air guitar the entire show. My buddy plays in a popular, good paying party band that all the instruments are all played to a track, and if the manager thinks someone is off, he mutes the live channel and unmutes the prerecorded track for that instrument. Usually this about half the tracks or more. These other guys I know only the vocals and drums are live, and everyone else is an airguitar monkey. Reading lyrics off a pad is not where I draw the line.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

What if the performers pre-recorded the backing tracks themselves? Would it still be karaoke? I've had pipe dreams about doing this very thing. It would sometimes be nice to be able to perform music without the hassle and headaches associated with a whole band.

Yes, it would absolutely be karaoke. I’ve seen this sort of thing a bunch of times recently. Each time I shake my head and leave.

 

[two fingers]

Yes, staring at the iPad for lyrics all night is ridiculously horrible.

There are two kinds of singers.

One is a front man (or woman). This person knows the songs cold, has great stage presence, and really stays in touch with the audience. That could mean dancing all over the stage and working the crowd. Or it could just mean great presence and eye contact without ever taking one step in any direction.

The other is just a lead singer. Sure, they can sing. But they aren't putting on any kind of show. They aren't the focal point. They aren't relating to the audience in any way.

I have no use for the latter whatsoever.

 

[trevcda]

Try covering up your fret markers. You think you don't look at them, but you do.

 

[Steve Cooke]

Having a lyric monitor on the ground as a little help and glancing once in a while is one thing, and pretty common and acceptable. Standing there staring at a tablet in your hand [if that's the case] is not a good look.

 

[Fight4Bottom]

I find no equivalence between the local band singer with the iPad and the big-time singer with a prompter at his feet.
The latter has someone cueing the prompter for him. The occasional glance down to refresh the memory is unobtrusive and doesn't break the connection with the audience.
In my opinion, the local guy reaching over, swiping, hitting buttons, and looking for a long time at a device at hip or chest level is far more distracting, and makes him appear poorly rehearsed.
Just one man's opinion.

 

[alembicbones]

While I prefer the singers in my bands to perform without lyrics on an ipad, I don't fault them if they need them. No question that it is better to perform without the crutch, though. The lead singer in my originals band doesn't use lyrics anymore and her additional connection with the audience really shows.

Bones

 

[kevmac]

Singer reads lyrics on a computer tablet for ALL their songs. They've been performing those songs for over a year. Am I the only one who thinks this looks tacky on stage?

There's a thread on forgetting lyrics as one gets older that ties in with this .I sang lead in many bands and when in cover bands that did 4 sets on a Saturday night I knew every song by heart.I never used a lyric sheet.Of course my late 60s self can't quite accomplish this as easily now

 

[fhm555]

Not really. His timing is off, probably because he's too focused on his eyes instead of his ears. But I was referring to how it looks on stage. Shouldn't singers be at least partially focused on the audience?

I worked with a guy who had a computer monitor built into a small box he sat on the floor in front of his mic stand. It was tilted up so he could see it and connected to a laptop set up with the PA board, he rigged a foot switch that allowed him to scroll through lyric sheets. It was painted black and sat between a couple of floor wedges so only the band knew it’s actual purpose. He did’t stare at it while singing, so it was a situation where there was really nothing to be concerned about.
I also played with a guitarist who had a tablet mounted to a stand sitting to his left. He would look up chord charts and stare at them while we played. It worked, but it looked more than a little amateurish.

 

[Lobster11]

If you're Miley Cyrus you can just unapologetically read the lyrics from your cell phone:



To be fair, as she explains at the beginning, she rarely performs this song and didn't want to fumble it out of respect for the song and the artist. It's also likely that she decided on the song (and informed the band) earlier that same day, which she evidently has a penchant for doing.

Edits: (1) Notice that she only glances at it occasionally and otherwise is fully engaged with the audience. (2) Don't try this if you aren't Miley Cyrus.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I guess it wasn't as "classic" as he thought it was.

The saddest part was that he still made mistakes.

 

[Hasty]

Try covering up your fret markers. You think you don't look at them, but you do.

Pretty sure I don’t…



But… I do look at the lead sheet from time to time. Sometimes I’ll get the changes for a song mixed up with another and give it a quick glance to get back on track (I’m looking at you “A Train “!). My tablet is pretty small and unobtrusive so most people don’t even notice it, plus it’s about thigh level.

As long as the stand it tablet isn’t literally in the singers/leads face and they’re interacting with the crowd it doesn’t bother me a bit.

 

[Ancientangler]

You know what's worse than having an iPad for the singer? Having the singer forget the lyrics and try to fumble through the rest of the song. Yeah, they shouldn't be reading every word but a safety net is not a bad thing.

Reading every word is what I'm referring to. I should've been more clear about that in my initial post. In a previous band, my singer had a notebook on a music stand and he would scan the crowd in front of him, making really good eye contact. But in rare moments, he'd scan to the side where the notebook was. It was never really obvious to anyone that he was getting hints from paper. Very tactful.

 

[J Wilson]

Singer reads lyrics on a computer tablet for ALL their songs. They've been performing those songs for over a year. Am I the only one who thinks this looks tacky on stage?

No, and before this, I used to think those guys that would have a three-ring binder on a music stand next to the mic stand with all their lyrics were every bit as useless. For me, totally unprofessional. It's a hard opinion, but that's how I feel. I never saw any good front men that did it, and saw lots of sorry ones that did. Lazy.

Having said that, there are those of us of a certain age where remembering lyrics now that our brains aren't as pliable as they once were, need this, and hopefully for them, there's a discreet way to do this, and I understand. But otherwise for younger cats, be prepared and do it right.

 

[Gustopher]

I use a tablet for lyrics on my mic stand. It's very small and angled in a way that no one can tell that I glance at it from time to time to keep my place on certain songs. If I were only the singer and my mind wasn't preoccupied with also playing bass and the crowd, I probably wouldn't use it. I HATE forgetting lyrics and I HATE seeing it happen to other bands too, so use whatever you need to keep it going. When we are doing 4 hour shows and playing 50+ songs, I think it's pretty useful.

 

[bikeplate]

One less band youll have to go see

 

[5andFretless]

Wedding/Corporate Party band.

We are all reading music on stage. Common songs we have memorized. If you really think we have The Melody of Love, with the Polish lyrics memorized...

 

[Jay2U]

Not really. His timing is off, probably because he's too focused on his eyes instead of his ears. But I was referring to how it looks on stage. Shouldn't singers be at least partially focused on the audience?

YES!

 

[DirtDog]

Yeah, but not all singers stare at the screen 100% of the time.

It should be a safety net not a crutch. Although I think Ozzy reads lyrics directly from his teleprompter.