Karaoke Forums

I play the CD by the original artist at home. Simultaneously, I start the CDG (music muted -- only the mic comes throught the Karaoke speakers). This way I can compare my voice to the original artist and I have access to the words.

I'm a bit like Kkid. I feel awkward going out on public with a song that I haven't rehearsed at all.

I start practising by finding myself a good song that I heard somewhere. Then I listen to it on my computer and write down (or download) the lyrics for my records. I keep on practising with the lyrics on screen and singing on the original vocals once I think I've got it at some level. Then I go to my living room and sing it along one of my karaoke discs (I have about 16000 songs on LD's and original DVD's and CDG's). If I don't have it, I don't practise it Well sometimes do, but I seriously try to avoid practising with the help of original recordings only.

My gear includes a Samson mixer, Alesis Microverb 4 (excellent for home use!), a Phonic compressor limiter, Vocopro DTX-5000G AV-mixer/CD+G decoder, Sony headphones (retails at $100, with which I always sing) and Shure Beta58 diversity wireless UHF mic. My players are Sony DVP-CX850D 200DVD changer and Pioneer DVL-909 combo LD/DVD-player. I also have two Sony MD-players for recordings. I also have a video projector which is nice if I have some friends over to sing or watch movies.

With all this gear I practise the song over and over again, I might also record it and listen to it. If I think it sounds good, it may just be the next song in one of the competitions I like to attend. Before competition it's of course recommended to perform the song a few times in a karaoke restaurant.

I learn new songs like this

- listen to the song on the radio (i drive an hour to work, I GOT TIME!!)
- download a copy of the song off the net in MP3+G format (just yo make sure i like the arrangment, and can actually do the song)
- Bring the karaoke version up on the screen, and attempt to match the original artist version to the lyrics and practice
- annoy the neighbors by singing the karaoke track over and over (on the karaoke system)

- perform it in public

Practice? We're karaoke singers...we don't need no stinkin' practice!!!

Seriously, though, I seldom add "new" songs to my repetoire. By new I mean new to the airwaves. I sing classic rock almost exclusivley, and I've been practicing them for 30 years!!! So, no need to practice.

There was this one time tho, before I started KJ'ing...I tried a new song, and some guy caem over and basically said I needed singing lessons. He told me to "just watch him."

So I decided to embarrass him. I downloaded his signature song and practiced it about 3000 times. Next show, I turned that song in and got a standing ovation.

I walked over to him and said, "I just did your signature song, did it better than you, and got a standing ovation? How many times have you done that?" He told me I was #1 in his life and stormed away....

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Paid2Party
"I love karaoke. Where else can you get paid to come out and party with your friends?"

Personally i get a lot of enjoyment singing a new song.The song has to appeal to me though and be compatible with my voice range.There is a song for everyone I always say to non singers who say they can,t sing.Cos there,s lots of songs I can,t sing too and wouldn,t even attempt.Then of course from time to time one might hear a song sung at karaoke that had never occurred to me to try and theres great joy found in those sort of discoveries and mastering a song one likes to sing.I feel the old brain gets a bit like a sponge with singers who like to sing and we soak up a new song pretty quick but they have to be constantly revisited as they can quickly drain out of our mind.

I will occasionally try a song a couple times before going out. Sometimes I just get the idea that I want to try a certain song, and wing it. Risky, but I've some up with a few gems that way. I do a lot of songs people never heard of, so even if it's not practiced, they don't know!

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Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans
~John Lennon~

Interesting thread- I gotta jump in and give my thoughts.

I USED to have to practice a song over-and over- and OVER, with nobody listening, until I thought I got it down as good as I was gonna get it. Then and only then would I sing it at any karaoke bar.

But that got really boring really fast. I would go out, the KJ would have alot of new stuff I didn't have but was dying to try, and I would pass it up. I was too afraid of bombing on it in public.

So......... singing my "comfie" songs every stinkin' time I went out was getting to be quite a bore. I don't go out too often, so it would be a long time before I would have a new song "down pat" enough to try.

So, of course when I hear a song I like, I either buy it as a download & burn it, or go out & buy the cd at a store, and it's played to death in my truck. Just because I love the song & can't get enough of it. I'm really bad about getting stuck on a new song/singer and playing it to death.

So by the time I get the karaoke cd I know it already.

But I have, in the last year or so, started trying songs at karaoke bars that I've never done before, and just hoped for the best. It's actually kinda nice that way, cause then if it doesn't suit me- I don't waste the money buying it for myself.

This only pertains to "new" radio stuff. Alot of what I sing is stuff I've heard all my life, and couldn't forget how to sing it if I tried, cause it's etched in my brain.

And, some stuff I'm new to, I simply sub here, and see what everyone thinks before I go wasting a bunch of time trying to perfect it, or before I sing it live at a karaoke bar. You all get to be the "guinea pigs".

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♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥