Karaoke Forums

Great feedback people.

Can one's opinion be wrong? A belief, qualified by a lack of certainty? Hmm ...

Party ... yes, my #1 focus. Without it, there would be no point to my shows.

To use an analogy, I like to think of the sound as an engine, the KJ a driver, song selection - fuel, and good drinks, stimulating visuals (big screen graphics, lights, etc.) as all the cool accessories to my vehicle. What would you rather drive, a beat up old Geo Metro, or a suped up Cadillac Escalade. Which do you think people are going to have more fun in? Tailgate parties in Metros just aren't sexy. Especially when those around you are in Dodge Ram pickup trucks and RVs.

The engine breaks down, you're a dead duck on the side of the road, regardless of your choice of vehicles, accessories, blah blah ad nauseum. So, change the oil every 3000 miles, schedule tune ups regularly, gas it up with premium fuel, and keep those tires properly inflated - you'll get a lot more miles out of your rig (gig).

There are KJs out there that don't even realise they are illegal. I have gone to shows where the KJ would brag about the amount of songs they have and I would ask how they built their library. They'll tell you without hesitation they bought them from some guy on ebay etc... When I ask if they are worried about them being illegal, they just look at me like a deer in head lights. I don't think quality of a show has anything to do with their library being illegal. It's a sad thing to think people are so under educated they don't even know when they've done something illegal.

It's not like they are buying out of someones trunk. You can buy illegal libraries from music stores, ebay, online stores. People think it's legal because they can buy them so easily. This is what frustrates me.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

It's all about having a good time and what makes that possible for you.

Having good equipment at a show is icing on the cake to me. I much rather go to a friendly place with a KJ that runs a good show with mediocre equipment then go to a place that has excellent equipment with unfriendly people and a bad host. I don't need top of the line equipment when I go out for karaoke to have a good time. If I had to prioritize what's important to have a good time at a show it would be -
by priority:

Friendly atmosphere (KJ and patrons)
Fair rotation (with no bribes allowed !)
Good sound system
A KJ that paid attention to mix
Good selection of songs
Close to home
Good drink prices
Good service by the bartenders

Icing on the Cake:
An excellent sound system
Excellent singers or entertaining singers that sang songs I liked
A KJ that worked the crowd to get everyone laughing and joining in
Dirt cheap drinks with an excellent staff
A huge song selection from the best manufacturers

I have never gone to a show where all of these things were present. So to me it depends on your priorities.

Show killers by priority:
An egotistical KJ that thinks the show is all about them ( cutting people down, singing all the time, hitting on the oposite sex, mic hog with coversation just to hear themselves talk)
Unfair rotation and bribe taking
Bragging about an illegal library
An overly crowded bar with rude people

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I believe different places require different requirements as far as equipment. Maybe your area isn't as equipment minded and don't worry about it as much as say Seattle where there are a lot of places with decent equipment & people who know how to use it. I do agree that the bar & crowds do play a factor, but singers that want to sound their best will choose the places with better sounding equipment....I don't think anyone here said anyone has to have the best equipment, just equipment that don't sound like a tin can or no bass, like the Passport systems. To me they sound like a home karaoke all in one system, no real good sound. Maybe for a living room sized club it would be fine. Anyway, I don't go sing to sound like crap with someone that doesn't give a crap about mixing or helping adjust a singer to sound good...the best equipment in the world wouldn't help these kj's, but then again these types of kj's that don't care about adjusting typically have crap equipment to begin with. The ones that take karaoke seriously usually tend to have better equipment & try to learn how to use it along with making adjustments to every singer.

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

I like that analogy. If given the choice to party in a Metro or an Escalade, definitely choose the Escalade everytime. Same with karaoke, sing over a crappy little system that makes everyone sound like an echo chamber or sing on the system that's going to help everyone shine...at least to their best extent!

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

Ttown - see that makes sense to me. It depends on what you have available in your area too.

I went to a show down the road once. He had an excellent sound system, but had no monitor. Okay I could deal with that even though it was horribly hard to sing without being able to hear myself. He was nice enough with a good library and quality of songs. The problem was he never mixed a single person. He set his board and left it for the night. He also took 30 minute breaks playing music. He had a ton of singers, but still would play music breaks? I was so discusted that someone could run a show and not even adjust people's volume, at the very least, I never went back. The other pitfalls were, a blah crowd that never clapped and those music breaks.

He had a lot of positives to his show, but the negatives out weighed them. He had a good library of songs, a good sound system and a nice personality, but that isn't all it takes. Okay I could deal with no monitor, a crappy crowd and even the unneeded breaks, but to completely ignore mix. It was the last straw.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

You all make some good points but the fact of the matter is the women make the difference in a good or not so good karaoke show.

Lots of women = good time.

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Kevin

Unless the women are ugly and can't sing then they ruin the show.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Thanks TTown.

Your response reveals that, in your opinion, your area has people who focus on the sound and will go elsewhere if they don't like what they hear. Which, is the type of information that I indicated in my last post would probably be worth hearing more about.

Most shows I have attended locally and most shows I have hosted are in very small venues. So, if nothing else, that enables the Passport to fill the place with sound. In fact, I 've never had to push the Passport but on one occasion, and it frankly didn't do so well; the place was bigger than I had realized!

As to mixing, I mix ever song for every singer and constantly get thanked for my attentiveness.

There a four shows around here that utilize the Passport, other than mine. TTown wonders how the size of the venue may impact the Passport? In a recent thread that I had started, I asked about the legal occupancy where most of us had shows. There were very few responses. My guess is that the occupancy here in Florida for the typical venue is smaller than in most other places.

When I was last in St Louis, Laura (a forum member) who lives there met up with my wife and I. We went to two different karaoke venues. One was typical of what we are use to in Florida as to size. The other was like a barn. There were 8' tables, butted up against one another, running the length of the entire room. There are places I have sung at in Florida that I could fit into the stage area of that place.

And while even Mckyj57 attests to the low quality sound systems in Broward County, Florida, I don't believe that even our locals would compare the Passport to a home system. Many of those attending the "Rat Pack" show where a Fender is in use, have home systems of their own. And the packed show that Mckyj57 attended at Trotters Inn has at best, a fair, sound system and is the average size of our typical venues!

BTW. I don't know what anyone else has experienced with Rat Pack shows, but around here they all come with their own discs, mostly Pocket Songs is what they prefer!

See now that's a priority to you.

One of my gigs started out with all men. Sometimes I'd be the only girl in the bar besides the bartender. Many nights my rotation was 99% men. I worked hard to encourage girls to attend because I know men come to bars to see girls. Over time it evened out, but it took a lot of work. I find you need a mix of everything. People feel comfortable when they see others like them in the bar. Young, old, women and men

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

In my home room female singers outnumber males two to one. And sometimes it's greater than that.

That gives the whole bar a male-female ratio of around 50%. It's a big factor in why the room has been so steady for almost three years. It is never lost on me as something that's very important if the group is mostly young and unmarried.

Babs. You are exactly right. I was tongue-in-cheek when I said that although there is some truth to it at certain places.

The point is, each karaoke-goer goes for different reasons and it will depend on their perspective as to what makes a good show for them.

Maybe those men that started out where you are the only female were coming to see you?

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Kevin

Remember the Sammy Kershaw song, "She Don't Know She's Beautiful?" Babs, they were all coming to see you.

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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.

Mcky - that is so sweet of you to say. I'd say alcohol and a dark room help.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I've been to karaoke at lesbian bars. Trust me, that ain't always true.