What it the best way(s) to get lead sheets
and lyrics installed on a laptop computer
for ready access in live performance.

My laptop is running Windows XP.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas or opinions
will be most appreciated.

Merrill

Just copy the lyrics to MS Word, put them all in the same folder under their respective titles, then they can be instantly accessed.

Cheers,

Gary

When you add a song in MS Word, go into Properties and select the Title, Artist and Genre. Then you can sort your songs under any of these properties, as needed.
DonM

Hi Merrill
Your post says LEAD SHEET and lyrics. I scanned 1500 or more into my laptop. For midi's,I use MidiNotate to scroll the lead sheet with lyrics. You can play any parts you want through the laptop, or mute the parts and play as you wish.

Bernie

Band In A Box is good for this. There are vast numbers of songs already available for this program. It is easy to enter any song you please. The built-in songfinder file functions are pretty good and, I hear, improved in the 2005 version. The lead-sheet display mode is very easy to read. The BIAB file can be converted to JPEG for display in other programs.

Douglas Wolfe
.

Gary, Don M, Bernie & Douglas:

Thank you for your help.

I have procured MidiNotate and have BIAB
2005 on order.

Your responses are most appreciated.

Merrill

With the MusicPad Pro: http://freehandsystems.com/products.html

I'm able to directly IMPORT: BIAB, MS Word, ChordPro, and 'any other' printable music or text documents into the MusicPad Pro unit for viewing. It takes only 3-4 seconds to import each song doc this way.

The MusicPad Pro offers many features not possible using a laptop. Because files are converted to .fh (freehand) format, you can store a combination of BIAB, Word, ChordPro created songs all in ONE database for quick retrival & display. You can even store a song doc to include separate pages (lyrics) created in Word or Chordpro, with another page which includes the leadsheet of that same song orignally created by another software program. You can also add rehearsal marks & notes, and optionally hide these if you choose. I'm begining to really appreciate the many hidden benefits of the MusicPad Pro. I'll post a review of this device as soon as I find the time.

Scott

Hi Scott
I am glad you are enjoying your new toy.Other than Midi files, which MidiNotate does an excellent job on,and which I upgraded to Composer for editing,most of my files are scanned into Paperport.This means I had to organize them into categories,etc. The main advantage,as I see it, is you can create your playlists and you are ready to go,including scrolling. By what you are saying, I could convert my Paperport scans to your format.

That has got to be the ultimate. You can justify the price. I really can't,but I don't have to, necessarily.

Good Luck,
Bernie

Hi, Scott!

Thank you for your input here.

How do you use, or plan to use, this six pound device in live play with your keyboard? Will it stay on a keyboard music rack? Will it require a separate stand?
Does the foot-pedal page changer work well?
I have visual impairment. Does the zoom-in feature provide magnification with the zoom?
Is the power and other cabling to the device
useable and practical with your keyboard?
Is it better than a laptop for our use?
At this stage of your trial does it appear that this will be a real keeper for you?

Merrill