Ok here's my ideal setup as a solo musician who records his own backing tracks:

iPad attached to mic stand as a music stand with scrolling big lyrics as the MP3 plays the backing tracks.

When I learn new tunes, it can take a while for the lyrics to stick in my brain. I often use a lyrics book but punters have a habit of thinking they're funny and clever by grabbing the book. They don't tend to grab the technology!

So is there an app that allows you to set up scrolling lyrics while playing your backing track? Preferably all within the one app? I know you can display lyrics using the Apple Media Player, but size can be a problem there so it would be nice if you could display larger text, and have it scroll with the song - at least till I've learned the lyrics

I do this by using an iPad app called OnSong. It plays the backing track and shows the lyrics at the same time. You set the song length and scrolling speed. I like it because when the song is over it does not automatically start the next song. The controls are a bit small and you can't see the song time while the lyrics are up. These are small things I can live with. I looked for a long time and this is the best app I could find for this purpose.

I use OnSong as well. It's the best for this type of thing and the developer is forever trying to improve it. There are some bugs in the metronome that need to be fixed, but it's definitely made with musicians in mind.

I've found another useful app called Tuneprompter which lets you edit lyrics/timing etc. Only problem is it doesn't work with Snow Leopard on the mac so I then had to install KJams in order to export to a movie playable on apple devices. Works a treat though. Install the Producer plugin in order to edit start/end screen also

Don't know if the inventor of Emcee Pro has upgraded to the point of an App but I does work real well through the laptop & setting up a whole performance. Google Emcee Pro & if not there contact the inventor.

For the Mac, using iTunes as your player, you could try Binder 2. It mimics a ring binder with tabs on the side. You organise your lyrics into PDF files, use predictive search (or choose from binder tabs with setlists/themes) and your lyric file appears. Because you have up to two pages to view the lyrics you shouldn't have to use scrolling. It will then auto play the corresponding iTunes file for your backing. Working really well for me in rehearsal with it. Haven't gigged it yet but seems V promising. Only 7/8 Dollars or so from the Mac App store,

cheers,

Mike

My lyrics are all on my pc as word documents. Is there an easy way to convert so that i can read them on my mac or other apple device.

Damien,
I use OpenOffice, a free (for both OS's) MS Word clone that is almost identical to MS Word. You can open any Word doc in OpenOffice and then quickly convert all your stuff to PDF files (there's a built in converter).

There may be a converter in MS Word too but I don't know on that for sure. These PDFs are read only files that read on any OS with a free reader from Adobe.

But most Macs have the capability to read MS Word docs. Have you tried reading your files on a Mac? If you can't, get the free OpenOffice for Mac.

PDF files read well on ipads too. There's a cool ipad app program for 10 bucks called igigbook that I use for my gigs. (non-scrolling though). There's a bit of a learning curve using itunes, but once you get the hang of it, it's second nature.

Here's the "latest and greatest" thing I've found. My buddy and I are an acoustic duo. I use my laptop with an extended monitor for him. So, what I see, he sees.

Power Music 4:
http://www.cambronsoftware.co....-music/features.html

Although this program doesn't scroll, I have been able to get every song on 1 page with a large enough text... it does have "page turning" either by USB footswitch or space bar.


For us, this program does it all!

For the iPad, look at Songbook+ and Unrealbook apps. These are the best I've found. I use Songbook+ daily. Great app. Yes, both scrolls too.
Songbook+ also accepts midi commands to select the pdf lyrics sheets. Works great with my Tyros4.

I use OnSong and an AirTunes BT-105 bluetooth foot controller so I can scroll and switch tunes hands free. Also use a gig-easy mic stand holder. works great.

pat buckna,
so using the BT-105 lets you scroll up and down on your backtracks,select then start? Or does it just scroll up and down the lyrics?

OnSong update announced! scrolling and audio both start at the same time, yay!

Macmike,
is songbook songbook just mp3 playback? or does it support .wav?

cheers.
j.

I just checked the manual and Songbook+ only plays what's in your saved itune mp3's. As a matter of practicality though, wouldn't the size of wav files be a little bulky for memory? I think that's why most if not all apps like this play just mp3's. My ears can't tell the difference.
Anyway, I hope that helps.

Hi Mike, thanks for that. Yes wav's are bulky, but I bought the 64gb ipad, and onsong (which i was going to use) is good for wav, also my list of songs will be much less than yours. Now though, my need for midi may push me to mp3 (as high a bit rate as possible). I think you are right though, unless listening to mp3 and wav side-by-side, most people wont hear the difference. cheers. J.

Got Onsong - great app. Handy too because I can use a. Backup on my iphone -> gorrilapod up near the mic to play the backing tracks from with lyrics on screen(albeit a fraction of the size!)

Do you have Open Office on your IPAD or pc? I just read that it does not support ipad. I have all of my music on word docs as well, and do not use backing tracks. I would like to get everything on the ipad2 so I don't have to lug a 10lb book with me. So will Open Office accomplish this alone, or do I need another app such as igigbook?

Thank you,

Steve Duncan

What I do is write and edit my lyrics doc in Open Office Writer (The MS Word version of Open Office)on my PC (or Mac just the same). Then, using the File window shade in Open Office Writer, I select Export as PDF. On the next window simply click on the selected Export button. It will then ask you where to save your exported PDF file. Put it in a folder somewhere you can find later.

I have two folders on my PC for this, one for the editable versions and one for the PDF(not editable)versions. Then, when in itunes, you load the PDF file(s) into the ipad app. Then it is there for you to use. Ipad lyrics apps can read PDF files...you won't need Open Office for the ipad.

A note from experience though...When you edit the doc in Open Office, increase your margins to the max to give yourself the largest readable doc on the ipad screen as possible.
Don't worry if the alert says it's outside the printing range. You'll never need to print it out anyway once you start using an ipad lyrics app.

Another issue is should you make all your docs horizontal or vertical? This is more important than one might think. Otherwise you might have to re-edit all your docs after you've written many.
Like I had to :-(

I use horizontal for a few reasons. The ipad won't stick up high and block the crowd view, reads better on a PC screen for a few.
Igigbook won't read horizontal. That's why I use Songbook+. It does everything I want... midi, mp3's. It's the most advanced I've found.

Good luck. If you have any more questions, no problem. I've gotten this ipad viewing down pretty good...I'd never go back to laptops or paper. Cheers

Thank you so much. This is a lot (for me)to digest, so I may have a couple of delayed questions.