Quote:
Originally Posted by jwasbury
I can't think of any work-related task that you can do on an iPad that this statement wouldn't apply to:
Even Mr. NoStatic's usage as a "cheat sheet" (no offense bassman) for his gigs could be done with a laptop, but it would look pretty dorky clipped to his mic stand. I'd be willing to bet that most musical directors would say a laptop on stage is a no-go, unless you're a keyboard player or drummer.
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At that gig the rest of the band had laptops. An while it works, it doesn't look as good, and is more unwieldy to use. One guy still had paper books - about 5" thick worth along with multiple stand lights. That is a big difference with an iPad - no power needed at your music stand (it'll easily get through multiple gigs without charging). I've used mine both on a traditional stand and with the clip. There are two main apps I use. One is a pdf reader for charts that I get as pdfs, and the other is iRealBook, which just shows chord changes. BUT - you can transpose the charts on the fly so if a singer calls a different key you don't have to do it in your head. You can also easily edit the charts to fix mistakes or alter. For some of the gigs I do, everyone just shows up with an iPad.
I went from carrying multiple fake books and three ring binders along with stand lights (which invariably would run out of battery at the wrong time) to just the iPad. And if I'm on the network, I can pull down lyrics/chords on the fly as well. There also are apps that turn the iPad (and iPhone for that matter) into an amp, complete with preamp, effects, etc.
For musicians, it is a total game changer.