Scanning is the easiest, albeit time-consuming method. I have a HP 1350 scanner/printer and the simple (?) software that comes with it permits me to scan and transfer to OCR (optical character recognition) and then to a Word document. If you want to bypass the OCR, you could probably scan directly to a jpg file, but I'm not sure of file sizes. This could take up a good portion of a smaller hard drive.

You can go to Lyrics world, select a song and copy the lyrics to word pad and save in your designated folder...about 20 seconds for a song..searched and saved..

You'll find most of the song you need right here: http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/main_index/index.html

As for scanning, most flatbed scanners come with OCR software and it can be used with any word processor software.

My Dell cost me $700, it's lightning fast and has all the bells and whistles. You may want to look into them at www.dell.com

Gary

I don't know about others here, but when utilizing a laptop in my shows in the past, it tended to draw interest away from my performance, and instead the audience's interest in what was going on in behind the laptop screen. This was particularly the case when I was playing an acoustic grand piano (piano bar lounge) and running custom backup sequences or when just using the laptop to view lyrics. The audience always appeared enamoured by the technology and less appreciative about the music, thinking that I was somehow (cheating?) as I was relying on the laptop to make me sound good, even though that of course wasn't always the case at all. Perhaps audiences have changed over the last few years, or that certain audience's have higher traditional musicianship expectations of us than others. I don't know, but this is one of the reasons I've been relunctant to the idea of adding a laptop to my act again. For some reason, because the arranger keyboard has all it's computer technology features built right in to the keyboard itself, this doesn't create the problems I had using a laptop (even just for lyrics) when doing an acoustic keyboard gig. Just my opinion based on my own personal gigging experience of course. - Scott

People tend to think the laptop is doing all the work. I've seen DJ's and Karaoke DJ's that run the whole show, lights and all from a laptop. And they have the same creditability problem. The people think they can just flip a switch and walk away, and the show will run itself.

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qqqwq@hotmail.com

Uh, what IS he actually doing? Moving a mouse?

I'm not using a laptop (yet), but have a hard drive in my kn6000 ...sometimes when I've sensed this attitude from a listener I've asked if they would like to try it .. ...I also tell them anyone can do it .... after 40 yrs of practice... ...

I think most audiences are more familiar,comfortable with, and accepting of today's technology ...

On the other hand, the fact that their 9 year old kid is D/L and playing music off the 'net feeds into the "anyone can do it" mindset ...
t.

I was going to post this tip in a seperate thread, but this'll do:

Requests can make you look and feel like an idiot - people always ask for what you don't know, and sometimes by the dozens. It's not possible to know everything and even if you learn the "most requested songs" it's almost a certainty that you won't get asked for those songs again (I learned "Lara's Theme" from Dr. Zhivago after months of repeated request, and sure enough noone asked for it again after I learned it!). So I started printing and giving out a list of 200 songs that I do know. 200 songs doesn't sound like a lot but when you print them out by song title it's actually very impressive. And I've come to find out that people just ask for songs to be involved in the act; not because they especially want to hear something in particular (except for the couple that asks for their wedding song or such).

So rather than wait for requests I now visit tables and give patrons my "song menu" and invite them to choose from the list. I do this at the beginning of a break and revisit the table just prior to going back on stage. Their first reaction is always "you know ALL of these songs?" or "that's quite a list!", and then it's suprising to see what they actually choose - it's often something I wouldn't expect. But at least I no longer suffer from the embarrassment of called-out requests that can make me look stupid... and my tips have improved!

I have done exactly this and think it is a great way to do it. I've just been wondering how far to take it. Thanks.

Scott: Once in a while, someone will come up while I'm performing and take a look at the computer screen just out of curiosity. Most of the time they see the screen saver, which is a scrolling marquee that says "Travlin' Easy."

Regardless of whether you use a laptop or not, the vast majority of the audiences don't a have a clue as to whether you're actually playing, and for that matter, singing. If I had a dollar for every time that someone came up to me to request a song while I was playing and singing I would have as much in the bank as Bill Gates. Some actually come up and begin talking with you as if you were a DJ. This, despite the fact they can see your fingers working the keys and can see you singing into the mic. Then at the end of the night, some will come up and say "Wow! That was really you playing and singing all of those songs--I thought it was the machine."

The other statement that always gets me is the lady that comes up and says "Isn't that cute. I gave my grandson one of those for Christmas last year, only it doesn't sound as good as your."

How many times has someone come up and said "Does you have any Elvis, Sinatra, etc., songs in that thing?" Usually, I'll just smile and say "Yep, just put the dollar in the slot and make your selection."

As for the books, I used to have five of them. They were 3-inch thick, ringed, binders that weighed an average of 10 pounds. That's 50 pounds of excess baggage to haul around, plus a music stand and light. The laptop weighs about 7 pounds, holds more music, easier to see, don't have to fumble through the pages to find the next song, holds the midi and MP3 files, and provides a back-up if my desktop PC fails.

I believe part of this is because the audience cannot see your fingers moving over the keys, therefore, they don't know if you're actually playing the keyboard. When I was using a pair of boards, plus had the vocal processor on the third tier of an Ultimate stand, I sat sideways to the audience, similar to the position piano players often use when performing. Then could see my fingers moving and realized that I was actually playing, and yes, it was me singing. The books were on a music stand directly between me and the audience, but I kept the stand low so I maintained eye contact with the audience. The tip jar filled just as if I were a piano player. When I switched to the single board that sits directly in front of me, the perception was that I was not playing--it was the machine doing all the work and all I did was push a few buttons.

I think the one statement that really used to p*** me off was when at the end of the job someone would come up and say "You're the best DJ we've ever had!" I used to really get upset and reply "I'M NOT A DJ--I'M A MUSICIAN AND SINGER!" Now I just smile, say thanks, and take the check.

Gary