Outside gigs with iPad in direct sun

Chad Beattie

Chad Beattie

Experienced
Anyone have any success using an iPad with ForScore, Bandhelper, etc... outdoors in direct sun. I saw there are a few hood solutions you can buy. Wondering if anything else would work that doesn't look like your iPad is a voting booth ;)
 
I lost an iPod due to overheating. The screen went blank and wouldn't boot up anymore. The singer in my previous band used his iPad for lyrics, and it shut down on him due to the heat. He didn't have any of his lyrics printed out, and didn't have a spare iPad. This is why the only thing I use my iPad for now is mixing, and I cover it with a towel once the mix is set if we are playing in direct sunlight. I'm curious to see if anyone has been successful with providing shade for an iPad that not only made it readable, but also kept the temperature down. The main problem that I run into with our gigs being 4 hours is that the sun moves too much. That's why I just use the towel. Not at all helpful though when you need to actually look at it.
 
Dunno. Sit it on a cool pack? 35deg C is not very high to shut down for is it? Thats ambient summer temperature where i live
 
you could get a laptop cooling pad and set it on that. you'd have to figure out a power solution though. a phone charging wall wart would probably power one.
 
Thanks for all the info. At the gig yesterday the sound guy also mentioned he has had his shut down due to heat. I didn't realize that was an issue also. I did notice something too that made me feel like an idiot. I could not figure why even trying to run the mixer app on mine, I could not see it. Then I walked over to the other guys iPad (with my sun glasses off), was like, man, I can see yours just fine. Walked back over to mine, (sun glasses off), and realized, ugh.... with the glasses I was using, the screen is completely black with them on. Oops...

I will say playing outside is a learning experience as in what to try and account for. I had printed off all my music assuming I would not be able to see my iPad well enough. Ended up using the iPad has a paper weight for the music most of the time as the wind picked up pretty good. Enough to blow over music stands. I could ditch the music and just look at the iPad with my glassess off, but then had the sun directly in my eyes. And its fun trying to play when a bug lands on your neck and you are trying to swat it off. Then a second later, one is on your arm...

I don't care for trying to look at music or an iPad at all and just memorizing it. In this case we got the music the day before as the singer was sick and had to redo the entire set so the drummer could do all the vocals. I was able to spend about half an hour trying to practice it all between work and other things we had going on. Arrangements on some tunes ended up being different than the recordings. All in all, it turned out pretty good. Although a few songs we were all looking at each other going, ok, what are we doing now? But made it work given all the circumstances. Was a balmy 95 and humid.
 
The sunglass issue is a curious one. I think the screens on computers are polarized. If you are wearing sunglasses that are also polarized but in the opposite direction, then all light is blocked. Had that happen and it's a real head scratcher until you take your sunglasses off.
 
Chad Beattie said:
Thanks for all the info. At the gig yesterday the sound guy also mentioned he has had his shut down due to heat. I didn't realize that was an issue also. I did notice something too that made me feel like an idiot. I could not figure why even trying to run the mixer app on mine, I could not see it. Then I walked over to the other guys iPad (with my sun glasses off), was like, man, I can see yours just fine. Walked back over to mine, (sun glasses off), and realized, ugh.... with the glasses I was using, the screen is completely black with them on. Oops...

I will say playing outside is a learning experience as in what to try and account for. I had printed off all my music assuming I would not be able to see my iPad well enough. Ended up using the iPad has a paper weight for the music most of the time as the wind picked up pretty good. Enough to blow over music stands. I could ditch the music and just look at the iPad with my glassess off, but then had the sun directly in my eyes. And its fun trying to play when a bug lands on your neck and you are trying to swat it off. Then a second later, one is on your arm...

I don't care for trying to look at music or an iPad at all and just memorizing it. In this case we got the music the day before as the singer was sick and had to redo the entire set so the drummer could do all the vocals. I was able to spend about half an hour trying to practice it all between work and other things we had going on. Arrangements on some tunes ended up being different than the recordings. All in all, it turned out pretty good. Although a few songs we were all looking at each other going, ok, what are we doing now? But made it work given all the circumstances. Was a balmy 95 and humid.
Click to expand...
As was mentioned earlier, the best solution is to not need the charts :)
However, your challenge with the iPad is common to many other "screens" that might be in your rack, your pedal board, your MFC or other device that has anything from OLED to old style LED-backed screens.
They go into thermal shutdown over certain temps and can often be totally unreadable (and therefore worthless to you) in direct sunlight. The solution for those is to build/buy something that acts like a cover and puts the screens in the shade. You can't really avoid the thermal shutdown scenario, but shade and a judiciously placed floor fan... can minimize the potential.
 
You have to watch amps, guitars, YOURSELF, anything really, direct sunlight is a killer. After a 2 hour gig in the sun I ended up in the ER.

Also kind of unrelated but related, i keep a small container of baby powder for those really humid sticky days... works wonders on your hands and guitar neck.
 
Following up: I do use mine as mixing board and it'll easily overheat in direct sun. Once PA is dialed, I'm pretty much set-and-forget. At hottest gigs I sleep and shade the iPad, use it briefly between songs if needed, sleep & shade, rinse & repeat. No problems.

I bet there's a production guy out there somewhere surviving with an ice/shade DIY solution.
 
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merlin17 said:
There's a link to what I'm using in my message... (not for heat protection of course).
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The only link that I see is to your website. Checked that under "computer" but didn't find anything about anti-glare films. Maybe the link just doesn't show up for me for some reason.
 
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