Karaoke Forums

Last night I had my "premier" as a karaoke host at a REAL venue. A Tuesday night when the place has maybe 10 people in the bar all night. Last night the place was UNBELIEVABLE. A smashing success. At one time I had a 20 person rotation, and this is my FIRST NIGHT. Anyhow, at the end of the night, the owner of the place mentioned that he'd like to get some "lights", because there are 7' windows facing the street, and wants people to see the party going on inside. He even had me put my 10" color disco ball on one of the tables in the window last night. First, I don't know anything about lights, and now as far as the venue owner is concerned, Im the greatest karaoke host there is, and wants me to look into it for him. I think a mirror ball, and maybe a few twirling lights (did you notice that technical term), maybe a colored light for the mirror ball also. I know this is more in the line of dj equipment, but some of you were djs before kjs. I'm not looking to turn this into Saturday Night Fever, or anything like that, but a few lights for dancing, and atmosphere would be nice. Any suggestions, are there NEW versions of mirror balls, like starballs, moonballs, I think these are terms I've heard before. Should they be hung from the ceiling (15' ceilings), or should they be on stands? I know I'm not giving you much to go on, but if you let me know what information you need, I'll provide it.
I'd like to take the time to THANK ALL OF YOU for making my first night an OVERWHELMING SUCCESS. I like to give credit where credit is due, so again THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED ME.

Rosario Serenity Now Karaoke

I don't know much about lighting as I don't use it.

The only thing I can say from being at another venue that did use them is don't point them at the singer.

I found them very distracting when trying to see the monitor.
These were 4 colored lights on a stand about 10' tall and the lights flashed on and off as the music played.

I asked the KJ and he said they were sound activated and he really had no control over what light flashed when.

He must have had others complain as he no longer uses them.

Lone Wolf

There are 2 types of lights

Dance Lighting : Stobes or flashing twirling lights - high energey - moving and rotating multi colored spot lights.

Stage Lighting : Used for setting moods for the STAGE, usually spot light types that fade in and out with muti colored lenses.

As just mentioned - You need to be careful when adding DANCE lighting to your karaoke show ..unless EVERYONE is on the floor dancing all the time ?
Otherwise if done WRONG can be a big distraction to the singer and a TURN OFF.

There are all types of stage type lighting that you can add cheaply which can DRESS UP YOU SHOW ..but do little for ADVERTISING out the window..

I SUGGEST THAT THE OWNER JUST ADD SOME NEON TYPE LIGHTED SIGNS TO THE WINDOWS ADVERTISING "KARAOKE" AND OTHE CATCH PHRASES ETC

I know nothing of lights so I won't comment on that and good luck with pleasing the owner.

I will say congratulations on the smashing success!

I have tried lighting a few times and alays the same singers don't like them even if they are pointed away from the singers they are a distraction
besides one less thing to transport and set up

Lights rock.

I have a ton of them and they add so much to the atmosphere.

Get some!!!

Lights would make a great addition to a karaoke show. I've been planning on adding them to my show for a while now. No one in my area uses them however.

I have a strong theatre arts background, as well as roadie band experience.

A mirror ball should not be on all the time, I'll get to that in a moment.

I recommend a filtered spot light. A white light gets hot, and can be painful to the eyes. A blue is perfect, and will spotlight the singer nicely. Yellow is still too bright, red will just look wierd... maybe for halloween, and green will make your folk look like space aliens.

Here's something neat, but it is pricey:

http://www.activemusician.com/item--DJ. ... +Spotlight

Songs like "Its Raining Men", and "I Will Survive" scream MIRROR BALL. In addition, you might want to get one of the newer LED multi light shows. They are inexpensive, and add flash.

Lastly, lights are just like music, you have to make sure the lighting is appropriate for the situation. For that reason you're going to need a light control board. These can get expensive, but you need to be in as control of your light show as you are of your music show. You'll need to be able to dim the spotlight on request (or brighten ), turn the mirror ball and LED light show on and off based on the songs.

Not every singer will want a light show while they are singing, and it's probably not appropriate for certain songs like, "I left my Heart in San Fransisco." .

Hope that helps.

Congrats on your first show BTW. Let me ask you, how many email addresses, phone numbers, contact info did you collect? If the answer is none, better have a plan for next week. A jar with "YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS HERE" with a pen and paper next to it on your table will work fine.... and when people pat you on the back and tell you how great you are, then is a great time to ask them!

For continued success you need to be able to market your show a bit. Your future gigs and continued success will depend on it. Congrats again, and Good Luck!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I'm thinking of a mirror ball with maybe white for upbeat songs, and dancing, and maybe blue, and red, for different atmosphere. I'll have to check into using this stuff, because I'd like to skin one cat at a time, and my current cat is KARAOKE.
My girlfriend and I are avid karaoke singers, and are pretty well known in our SMALL town. So naturally we had alot of email adresses, etc. Our OPENING NIGHT will be February 28th for our Mardi Gras in Wisconsin. If last night is any indicator, I hope 3 gross of beads are enough. Any way you look at it, it should a great time.
Thanks you guys, and if you can think of any other ideas about the lights, let me know.

Rosario

I hope linking to other forums is okay, if not someone can delete this.

but if you need to know ANYTHING about lighting...

http://www.djforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=67

go there and read everything by a guy named Mystic. Ignore everything else. read the guides that are stickied at the top. Search the forum and you might be able to find out what you need to know. If you post asking for suggestions, be sure to include your price range.

Just a warning, from reading around there, the bare minimum setup for a mobile dj is about a grand, and that's for something not very impressive. However, you might be able to get away with less for karaoke...

The problems with lights are the setup time. It takes long enough as it is without adding that.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Karaoke with LIGHTS but NO CDG disc player???

Bruce, don't even think of starting that discussion on this thread, I HAVE A CDG PLAYER, SCDG PLAYER, CAN PLAY DVDS, OR WHATEVER, so, If you can't contribute to the topic, please find someone else to irritate. Thank you.

Rosario

I once heard .."you can't fix stupid"

Here's a very inexpensive light package:

http://www.musictrends.com/dynamic-ligh ... 12051.html

All you need is a lighting stand and controller. For karaoke I wouldn't go all crazy with it and spend a thousand dollars... just something simple to add for certain songs, and when you play dance music.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Rosario,

Of course if you are allowed to hang them in the venue then you never have to worry about transporting them or busting a bulb during transport- which can get costly.

At one of my venues i installed my (highly-recommended manufacturer) MARTIN LIGHTS that have 1000 hour rated bulbs and I use a remote control to turn them on/off.

I used to use American DJ products that i took to gigs, but the bulbs didn't last but a couple of months due to not letting them cooldown after a gig, or the occasional bump in the road, or bump of the light, and POOF.... surprisingly nothing when turned on.

Those AMDJ bulbs were costing $15-$20 each and were rated for like 200 hours. The Martin lightbulbs are more expensive at $45 but last 1000 hours.

The BEST part about the Martin lights are that they have a built in fan which prolongs the bulb-life and the unit DOESN'T REACH reach 500 degrees!.... And they're a more respected brand among professionals.

i prefer the motion activated lights with many patterns because it's a no-brainer, and i don't have to babysit them turning them on/off for different songs.

LOOK INTO THE NEW LED LIGHTS if you want bulbs that will last FOR YEARS. I just haven't found an appropiate pattern i like.......yet. Good Luck!

I noticed in the original post you said "That the owner would like to get some lights so I guessing that he is going to pay for them and it sounds like it will be a permanent setup. If he is going to pay for them I would suggest that you help him pick out something appropriate or you just might end up like Saturday Night Fever.

Lone Wolf

I use 8 par 38 cans on stage & a couple of lighting effects on the dance floors with a 20" mirror ball & 4 pin spots on the dance floor.
You do not want a bunch of high powered blinking lights on the singer or flashing in their eyes while singing.

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Wolf, you're right, with the owner's train of thought, HE definately would love the Saturday Night Fever, but I've talked him out of it, and told him that if we had a mirror ball with changing colors hanging from the ceiling, that the people passing by could DEFINATELY see it from the street through the 7' windows. As I stated, he's taking my advise on the whole show, so I think I can pretty much disuade him from the FULL disco scene. Lonman, I see alot about these par cans. I have a few questions. If I just wanted to COLOR the wall BEHIND where I sit to run the show,would that be what I would use as UP LIGHTING. I think the cans are always on a stand, but can they just be sat on the floor, and shined on the wall kind of like a spotlight that you set out on the lawn to accent a house. Or is there some other kind of light I can use for that effect? Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

Rosario

We have a multicolor flashing satellite thing that gives great ambience to the dance floor but makes it impossible for anyone to read the books (isn't that what pool tables are for?). So if you are in a small place, be aware of placement and how it affects all areas.