Music stands - are they as common as I think?

[louisthebass]

I've only used one a couple of times this year doing a wedding fayre where the band I was playing for were doing a few Jazz Standards, but for the other two bands I have to rely on memory for arrangements, mainly because the spaces we played in didn't have enough room for one.

One of the singers uses an iPad attached to a mic stand and just writes key parts of the lyrics in as a prompt. A lot less intrusive for a lot of mainstream pub / club gigs (imo).

[Dan Dare]

14 hours ago, dood said:

I really like K&M gear. I use their guitar stands, the ones that hold 5 instruments, I have 2 side by side. Now, I'm not exactly stylish, but I did buy them because they matched the colour scheme in my studio. After that I realised how well made they were ha ha!!

K&M gear is fab. And you can get spares if something breaks. I have a 40 year old mic stand that is like Trigger's broom (3 new heads and 2 new handles)

[Dan Dare]

Re. the original question, if you're playing in, say, a function band with hundreds of numbers in the repertoire and you have to be able to play requests at the drop of a hat, you need charts or the dots, especially if you are working with more complex arrangements. It's a completely different ball game from playing a set that varies little from night to night.

[EssentialTension]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

... David Bowie ...

Risen from the grave like Lazarus?

[Lozz196]

Tools for the job imo, when I depped I had a script-sheet for some songs on top of my amp as reminders. if I were depping unfamiliar material regularly then I wouldn`t have a problem with it, even though I do think it looks dreadful. Far better to look dreadful in a band than sound it.

[SteveK]

The only time a music stand on stage is acceptable is if you're part of an orchestra or called to dep at the last minute. There really is no excuse for the likes of The Stones, ELO, Elton John etc. - Just LEARN THE F*****' SONG!!

[Dan Dare]

1 minute ago, SteveK said:

The only time a music stand on stage is acceptable is if you're part of an orchestra or called to dep at the last minute. There really is no excuse for the likes of The Stones, ELO, Elton John etc. - Just LEARN THE F*****' SONG!!

It's one thing to learn 40 or so relatively straightforward songs and quite another to have 500 - with complex arrangements - ready for instant recall.

[dand666]

1 minute ago, Dan Dare said:

It's one thing to learn 40 or so relatively straightforward songs and quite another to have 500 - with complex arrangements - ready for instant recall.

 

This.

As a full-time dep, like someone said on here, I just ask what the dress code is. Turn up, get the set on the night and read. So having a micstand/ipad holder for me is essential. 

[Cat Burrito]

Over the last couple of years on forums music stands seem to have become the new pick vs fingers topic. Thankfully this thread seems to lean towards a healthy common sense approach. Some forums get very silly about such things. 

[SteveK]

2 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

It's one thing to learn 40 or so relatively straightforward songs and quite another to have 500 - with complex arrangements - ready for instant recall.

OK, I'll make an allowance for those in bands that play 2 day sets. Don't think that applies to Elton John, ELO and The Stones though

[Dan Dare]

3 minutes ago, dand666 said:

 

This.

As a full-time dep, like someone said on here, I just ask what the dress code is. Turn up, get the set on the night and read. So having a micstand/ipad holder for me is essential. 

Exactly. I dep in a function band. Even the regular players read on gigs. They have to. The chart book is several inches thick. There's a world of difference between that and a band of weekend warriors playing 30 or 40 simple pop songs with 3 or 4 changes.

[Dan Dare]

3 minutes ago, SteveK said:

OK, I'll make an allowance for those in bands that play 2 day sets. Don't think that applies to Elton John, ELO and The Stones though

If they have been around for a while (as all those you quote have), they will have dozens, perhaps hundreds, of numbers, some of which they may not have played for years. They may well be using add-on/session players (brass, etc), too. And of course, memory deteriorates with age...

[SteveK]

14 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

If they have been around for a while (as all those you quote have), they will have dozens, perhaps hundreds, of numbers, some of which they may not have played for years. They may well be using add-on/session players (brass, etc), too. And of course, memory deteriorates with age...

These bands will spend months doing photo shoots for a tour, working on and approving stage sets for the tour, finding musicians, rehearsing lighting cues, rehearsing costume changes etc... You know what's coming, don't you?

[lowdown]

52 minutes ago, dand666 said:

 

This.

As a full-time dep, like someone said on here, I just ask what the dress code is. Turn up, get the set on the night and read. So having a micstand/ipad holder for me is essential. 

Another 'This Is This'.

Good reading chops, good ears and a good music stand for full time freelancing/depping. 'What Clothes?' is the only major concern. That can be quite alarming and frightening at times compared to the set list.

[bassace]

And if the gig is outdoors don’t forget the clothes pegs!

[chris_b]

29 minutes ago, bassace said:

And if the gig is outdoors don’t forget the clothes pegs!

Yep. All my charts are in plastic pages in folders but I always carry 2 bulldog clips and gaffa.

[Froggy]

I play in a classic rock covers band, so, as others have said, 30 to 40 songs per gig that ard pretty simple to play. I won't have a stand on stage, even though I'm never without one in rehearsals.  Personally I don't like them, I even told one of our guitarists that he'd be sacked when he wanted to use one. It annoys me that our singer has to have the lyrics on a tablet, but I make allowances because it's really noticeable if he forgets the words. I feel it just doesn't look like a rock band if there are music stands everywhere. 

 

That said, I can fully understand people using them when they need them, depping or function bands for example, and I'd certainly not complain if I went to see a band who were otherwise excellent but using them. 

[Passinwind]

Many people around here just use a tablet these days. But yeah, I've been using a stand on most of my gigs for the last 15 years or so. For instance, I can't think of anyone in the big band I play in who can memorize all the charts in our book, or even probably more than a few at most.

[AlexDelores]

I play and sing in an acoustic duo. Mainly indie pop stuff and I use a stand just in the corner for lyrics. I used to be really against them when I was younger but now I prefer to have them there rather than forget the words (I’m useless at remembering lyrics no matter how much I practice). We also have quite a lot of songs that we don’t play regular but pop up as requests from time to time so handy to have them in a folder.

never seems to put any punters off. It’s usually the music that does that 😂

[leftybassman392]

As with the previous thread on this subject, this thread kind of highlights the difference between the typical weekend warrior and the typical working professional. No criticism implied btw (and of course the boundaries are often a bit blurred), just that priorities tend to be different in the different spheres of activity.

[stingrayPete1977]

What we learnt last time was that most of the people that use a stand or are in a band where stands are used are too busy out playing gigs to care, the dancing audiences enjoying themselves do a good job of blocking the view of the stage area from the middle aged rocker that declares the stands terrible because he has played for forty years without one, yeah and that was when the most recent song in your set was written! 

Edited December 29, 2017 by stingrayPete1977

[Woodinblack]

On 27/12/2017 at 21:23, grandad said:

Perhaps a music stand thread with pictures might be in order - a controversial suggestion perhaps given that some BCers always express horror at their mention.

Indeed - there were a large group of people who when confronted with a band with a music stand would not only leave the pub in annoyance at the indignation, but would then take off and nuke the planet from space, as it would be the only way to be sure.

Personally wouldn't use one as I think they look bad with a rock or covers band, but I have no objections to anyone else doing it. Certainly noticable when they do though for whatever reason. But I can't judge, I use an iPad stand on the microphone stand that holds the iPad (mine is the mixer and the synths, but the singer has the lyrics on his). For some reason that looks different.

 

 

[martthebass]

I think, as others have alluded to, that it depends on the circumstances.  For example, I have known bands not taken on by agents (for club work) due to having a music stand on stage at the audition.  Generally, for standard rock/pop genre I don't think it looks good to have a music stand on stage...

[bassace]

Last time I saw The Who, Pete Townshend was using an iPad on a mic stand. I think it was for chords but he should know them by now, shouldn’t he?

[Woodinblack]

Just now, bassace said:

Last time I saw The Who, Pete Townshend was using an iPad on a mic stand. I think it was for chords but he should know them by now, shouldn’t he?

Why? I cant remember things I did 40 years ago!