what's most versatile, best app for lyrics?

a friend told me about OnSong

is this the ONE to get?
or are there others i can and should consider?

sorry if this is not really an "arranger" question
but thought some guys here may be using ipads and may be able to help

I haven't heard of On Song, I use unReal book. With it you simply save your lyrics as a PDF with your lyrics instead of lead sheets. You may have read about it at another thread but in case you didn't here's the link:

unReal Book
Check out you tube. Search for on songapp. Pretty cool app by the looks of it.

OnSong is okay (I own that one too, as well as Good Reader and FilePro)...but doesn't have the same oomph that UB has, but it DOES have one thing in it's favor...it loads and reads natively the old ChoPro format of text file....

These are the ones that have the line of lyric with the chord embedded above the line...it even scrolls the page of text in time with a metronome too if you want...BUT if cannot load or play MIDI data....which is why I don't use it...there are other threads about why this is so...and as your OP is not directly related I will leave it there

Dennis

I've used everyone of them. There are none that come close to unreal Book.

The only other one I use occasionally for a totally different application wich I like for other reasons is Gig Book. But Unreal Book is untouchable and cheap!!!!

My all time favorite general document display app is GoodReader because it supports
just about every file type format out there, and for its highly customizable page cropping features.
That said, for specifically displaying individual leadsheet song sheets and/or lyrics in PDF format and creating gig song set lists, I prefer UnRealbook. For searching and quickly calling up a specific song in my large fakebook collection, I like to use iGigbook.
-Scott

What happened to memorization?

You mean in a similar way to you seeming to always insist any arranger you are looking to buy has lyrics reading capability, otherwise it's a "deal-breaker" as you put it

Save that for the pros from the Italian neighborhood in Jersey!

Mikey, You've made some great recommendations thru the years and unReal book has to be right at the top. imho, has to be the single best app and most useful that I have on the iPad.

Anyone can do it if you apply yourself.. makes for a much better stage presence performance

Like Mikey, i too have used just about all the ones that have come along. I now have two on my Ipad - UnReal Books and Good Reader. I like Good Reader because of it's simplicity and ease of use. It also reads just about any kind of files. Both of the them cost well under $5.00.

Deane

those here that prefer unrealbooks
you've used onsong, latest version?

what do you like about unreal books that onsong lacks?
seems unreal ONLY opens pdf's
i think onstage opens more types?

i'm between these 2.

again, i want lyrics only, with chords, chords above, edite chords, transpose on fly, etc, NO SHEET music

thanks

At least with an iPad I look rich, that means im real busy to most clients. It gives them a perception that they hired the best. When the music starts it all takes care of itself anyway! Get the iPad, you wont regret it. Dont work hard, work smart.

No iPad, No lyrics, No charts necessary for me ....weened myself off those things many many years ago..
Been doing this too long on stage...just play & sing & let your eyes & your heart & soul touch your audience...
works every time..

Then WHY is having a lyrics reader on any keyboard of yours so important to you (this seems to be a theme in comments you have made when reviewing keyboards you are looking to buy)? I don't understand how on the one hand the arranger MUST have lyrics read function, but on the other you continually say you don't use lyrics or charts or anything...

Plus your rep would be quite limited...Even the BEST performers I know only have about 100+ songs they can do totally from memory and with no faking or fudging...

I am sure that ALL of us here, if we are ONLY doing the same 60 songs day in day out would never need charts...but I bet I could throw ANY number of songs at you and you would not be able to do them...

This is the beauty of this chart reader system, my rep is about 780 songs!! Of course I do NOT do them all the time, as in each of my 3-4 hour gigs I only get through about 65-75, but it means that no two gigs are the same when it comes to a songlist!!! Not only makes it far more interesting for the punters, but far more interesting for me..

But then again when all you have to remember is a handful of songs for your little NH 1 hour "giglets" I suppose you would not need much, especially when you don't actually do much in the way of live keys work, and you are using mostly backing tracks and providing only vocals...different strokes I guess!!

Again I am a singer using many means to back myself up depending on the gig, live KB style play, SMF, or what ever.....playing, backing tracks that I custom record, Mp3, & karaoke tracks, etc, etc,....it's all good, ..I only use a lyric reader in a KB in very rare case for an obscure request when I don't have my laptop for 1hr NH shows.. but 75% of my dancing gigs are 3 or 4hrs..I wouldn't want to hear 4hrs of arranger KB music for today's dance audiences. BUT, If people need to use charts, lyrics as a crutch to get the job done so be it,... enjoy how you play, I do.

Cool, just as you use your backing tracks as YOUR crutch...yep totally understandable...

I hope this pi$$ing match ends here ...

What a totally useless and silly post this is.....man you REALLY should learn what a pissing contest is!!!

Comments (no pissing here) were to merely highlight the fact that someone bags out other forum members for using something that he himself uses!! The fact that he uses what could also be described as "crutches" as he put it, seems to be missing in the comments made......I never used that term at all, only in reference to the posts made...

If your sensibilities are affected go somewhere else!!!

Call it a crutch..but I need lyric read on my keyboards..Yes, I prefer and use SMF's with the lyrics..I change them up with tools available on my boards, including markers...

I could not possibly learn lyrics to the base 3,000 SMF's I use...Sure the basic 300 or so of my preferred SMF's..I know portions of the words, but I want to perform with the correct lyrics and not fudge in the words

I will even record ...arranger songs I play as midi files, so I can enter lyrics...

NO Lyric read is always a deal breaker for me on any keyboard..

"Chairman of the Board", Frank Sinatra often had a teleprompter monitor in view off stage to conveniently glance at song lyrics.

Scott ... you could really say 'always' ... at least for his last 30 years or so ... we saw him in Providence in the mid- 80's and we could actually read the teleprompter from where we were sitting ... even his 'ad-libs' were written ...

miden ... I really don't think mine was the ONLY silly post on this thread ...
and I will go or stay WHERE I please WHEN I please, thank you ...

I found this post as I was searching for info on fakebooks for my ipad (version 3). Just wondering what method Scott and others are using to get their fakebooks onto the ipad. (I use unRealbook to display my files).
Thanks,
Deaton

I use iTunes to transfer PDFs to the iPad/unreal book, pretty simple drag and drop.

Hi Deaton,
Though I predominantly only rely on lyrics and chords automatically displayed on my Tyros' LCD screen
when the associated song title is selected via Registration buttons 1-8,
If I need a lead sheet to be displayed on my iPad,
My fav ipad app for individual PDF song display is still UnRealbbok.
For storing an "entire" PDF Fakebook with the ability to search and
quickly display an individual song from it, I use and recommend iGigbook.

Scott

Donny, your're just being a jerk posting that on this thread. If you don't use sheets yourself well say that once maybe but don't go on and on in a derogetary manner .... Hey wait on I see you say you do use them in rare circumstances .... so then they are a crutch for you too? Given your obvious position on this there's no real need for you to be posting on this thread ( or any threads related to lyric sheets and charts ) at all thank you.

There have been plenty of major musicians and singers that have used sheet music and lyric sheets/teleprompters over the years. If you are putting yourself above them all then you're just not being real.