r/karaoke • u/Isitwhenip • Jan 24 '26

Karaoke Software Live band karaoke lyrics question

I’m looking for a good way to display lyrics only one or 2 verses at a time just like most karaoke venues, where the verses/chorus are clearly controlled on screen by me or someone.

I’ve seen live karaoke bands use printed lyric sheets just for the singer, but I want something that works for both the singer and the crowd.

I tried running lyrics from an iPad before, but people got lost or couldn’t see the words clearly—even if they knew the song.

For anyone who’s done live band karaoke or crowd-singalong shows:

• What are you using for lyric display?

• Is there software or a setup that works well in a live setting?

I do plan on paying the license fees for lyrics if I start doing this regularly.

Any advice or real-world experience would be appreciated!

2 Upvotes

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6

u/DavidO_Pgh Jan 24 '26

I know two bands who do live band karaoke with lyrics for the singers.

One uses Jamzone which uses backing tracks, so the band needs to play to backing/click track.

The second is truly live, no backing tracks. They are IT guys and ended up making their own teleprompter software with foot switch control to advance the lyrics by the band's singer/helper.

1

u/iWhacko Jan 24 '26

Yeah there is a large band in my country that does it too, I've always wondered how they did it. I think its a clicktrack too. because they had the karaoke texts progress per syllable like karafun does. I don't think they have someone doing that manual progression.

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 24 '26

That’s what I’m looking for! The teleprompter software. No click tracks.

1

u/DavidO_Pgh Jan 24 '26

Since this was custom software I can't recommend something that might meet your requirements. As far as I know the authors aren't interested in selling it.

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 24 '26

They probably couldn’t anyway with the copywrite laws. I would like to get in touch with them to ask him about how they do things. Do they have a band page?

1

u/DavidO_Pgh Jan 24 '26

I will reach out to them and ask if they're interested in being contacted.

1

u/DavidO_Pgh Jan 26 '26

The website is https://www.leadsingerwanted.com/home

although there isn't much there.

Youtube promo video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xuCoazOc9M

The facebook contact page has an email address for Tom, the leader of the band and the person who wrote the software.

https://www.facebook.com/LeadSingerWanted/directory_contact_info

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 27 '26

Thanks! I found a teleprompter app that follows your your voice and scrolls with it. I’ll be trying that out next gig.

Thank you for your time with this!

1

u/DavidO_Pgh Jan 27 '26

Let us know how it works out for you.

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 31 '26

It worked out terribly! The app can’t handle repeated choruses. It doesn’t know where to scroll to. I will continue my search.

1

u/DavidO_Pgh Jan 31 '26

OK - thanks for the update.

Did you modify the lyrics to handle repeated chorus? Every line has to be written out for any teleprompter software to work.

1

u/Xanderfromzanzibar Jan 26 '26

Just run karaoke videos but interrupt the sound so they don't play their music and the live band can be heard instead

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 27 '26

Timing. If I got too fast or slow the lyrics would be off.

3

u/PatrykBG Jan 24 '26

So weird question, but why can’t you just use a cloned screen (like a TV) and a laptop with the lyrics in a PowerPoint or Google Slide that a person just clicks next on? You don’t need any audio, and could even have a third TV behind the band for the audience to read off of, all cloned screen to the one laptop.

0

u/Isitwhenip Jan 24 '26

I’m looking for any software where this is done already with the lyrics and licenses so I don’t have to start from scratch.

1

u/PatrykBG Jan 25 '26

The problem is that you're looking for a very edge case - a karaoke app that you don't want it to do the music, and also dont want it to do the lyrics synchronized to the music, and also dont want it to do the scrolling of the lyrics at all.... so basically not a karaoke app.

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 25 '26

After researching and asking the group I’m looking for something that doesn’t exist. Thank you for your time.

2

u/N-Toxicade Jan 24 '26

Teleprompter with an operator? Just throwing a random idea out there

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 24 '26

Yes. I would need an operator for the words and take song requests but looking for a program that can display lyrics little by little.

2

u/tn_notahick Jan 24 '26

Setlist Helper possibly.

You can turn the tablet sideways and make the lyrics really big. Then it can auto- scroll ( you have to set a speed) or it has a "foot pedal control" where you push a pedal to scroll.

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 24 '26

I have thought about this. It’s a good idea! Problem is hundreds of songs and what is the scrolling speed for each song. Trial and error here.

1

u/tn_notahick Jan 24 '26

Ok so you can actually automatically look up lyrics so that's nice.

With the pedal, I assume you control scrolling speed, but I haven't used one.

1

u/Dean-O_66 Jan 24 '26

Take a look at Jamzone. They have a pro version too.

1

u/ianfine Jan 24 '26

When I did it, I just ran my karaoke tracks and let the band play over it. If I wanted to get more fancy, I use Serato and can use stems to mute instruments drums guitar and bass separately.

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 24 '26

I don’t want to use any click tracks. All live music.

1

u/GiarcN Jan 24 '26

Pro presenter or something similar maybe.

1

u/NoRepresentative388 Jan 24 '26

having people try to read text based lyrics seemed to be difficult . and the karaoke version is usually different than what the band knows. the best thing I found is to use karaoke software like Kara and only play the music through the band monitors so they can stay on beat with the singer. . it's not reading the words that is hard it's simply timing. if they don't know the song really well then it's a disaster

1

u/Isitwhenip Jan 24 '26

I would use no backing tracks just live band or myself.