Karaoke Forums

so some friends of mine opened a bar recently, and wanted to have a karaoke night. We purchased quite a few starter packs, and while we don't have many songs it's at least a start. i'm going to kj for the first time on thursday night and i am really starting to worry about it. is there any thing someone can point me too that would help me avoid a lot of beginners pitfalls. I know our song selection is going to suck, so there's no need to highlight that. what im concerned about is singer rotation and the right software, as I plan to run everything off of winamp. there's no singer name entry so i guess i will just do that with a pen and paper.

anyway, i need advice, the best you can offer to someone who has no idea what they are doing.

First all welcome aboard - There is so much to tell you I couldn't possibly put it all down in one post. I would use the search engine on the site to get more answers than I can give you here.

For starters:
* Keep a consistant way of doing rotation.

* Do not let anyone sing more than one song in a row.

* Most KJs shy away from bribes from a singer to let them sing more because it causes way to many headaches.

* You want to keep a good reputation by keeping a fair rotation.  No one gets bumped up in rotation for any reason ! I take that back if it's someone's birthday or anniversary I may let them sing an extra song, but make sure everyone knows why you are doing this, so you don't get complainers.

* Decide ahead of time how you will handle duets or multiple singers in a rotation. I personally tell them the duet has to go on one persons turn. When they hand you the slip you ask them which persons turn it goes on. If I have a group that sings together all the time, they get one spot in rotation.

* I set out books, pencils and slips on a table for them to fill out. You can make slips on your computer if you don't have any or if your in a pinch just cut up some paper.
* If someone is to drunk to sing and your equipment is in danger don't be afraid to tell them they can't sing. Just say " As a friend I think you've had a little to much to drink to sing. I think it is in your best interest to wait until next time."

* Complainers are a dime a dozen. Stick to your rules. Once they learn what they are and you keep it is the same for everyone, they will stop wining.
* Don't try any fancy stuff until you are comfortable with running the equipment.
* Dealing with people will probably be the biggest learning experience. You can't make everyone happy.

Geez I'm rambling. There is just so much. Any questions in particular?

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

The 2 main complains can be what Babs said about the rotation and also the volume of your vocals. Just remember its your singers that will help you make it through the night.

i'll probably have a lot more questions on thursday night, but thank you for your help. keeping a fair rotation is my primary concern as I have limited means of doing so. my secondary concern is that winamp will be insufficient, though i went down to the bar today and we tested everything, second monitor, etc...everything sounds good, so i think where I screw up will be in keeping things fair, and probably in having an artificial air about my voice when i call people up, and in thanking  them for their singing. god help me, im getting paranoid.

If you are a natural-born ham like I am, and simply like the sound of your own voice, you will be fine. You will get lots of chance to talk.

I love CompuHost for rotation, but there are simple ways of doing it on paper. I like the plain old list with tick marks by it every time somone sings in a round (or is skipped by not having a song in).

Good luck!

Some of the best advice I was given when I first started was always talk into the mic when speaking to anyone. I hope I explained that right. It keeps people entertained and avoids dead air.
If someone yells something funny from the audience, repeat it on the mic.
When there done singing there is a list of things you can say like - Let's hear it for so & so, Put your hands together for ____, show your love for ____, great job ___. Encourage applause.
If they are taking for ever to get to the stage I may start singing the jeopody theme or even cue up the music if I know it has an intro of music.

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

Going to move to karaoke forum.  Will get better responses there!

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Stop freaking out

It's amazing how far a little self confidence can go.  Also, setup in your living room or even at the bar first, check your equipment.

Also, have a decent CD ready to drop to the second anything goes wrong!

I handle over 70 songs and 30 singers a night that way. The old fashioned way. When they hand you the slip, check to make sure their name is on it. It's funny... often with someone new they will completely spell out the title and author and catalog number but forget to write their name.

Once you settle in look those names over and over and get them down. They know who you are. You need to know who they are.

If you have some time, you can build a compuhost-like system from Winamp + Samurize + Plugins.  Will do a tutorial at some point but not for tomorrow sorry

Okay, it would be totally unreasonable of you to expect that you'll pull off a flawless show the first time - Do the best you can. Don't rush. Have a friend around who can keep people a distance from you - and if they can answer some of the questions for you, let them. If you find the same questions popping up, ask and answer the question over the mic. Let people know where the books are so they're not wandering around with a dumb look on their face.  

[font=Comic Sans MS]Don't be afraid to let people know that you're hosting for the first time[/font]. However, have someone fend off the people who think they might be offering you their best hosting info.  In general most people are very forgiving.

Take a few  minutes several times during the course of the show to make announcements and give simple instructions - especially part-way through the night for those who may arrive later.

Remind people just coming in that they need to get their song requests up to you as soon as possible because the rotation could get very large very quickly and you don't want anyone left out because they were afraid to bring you a slip.


UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSES FEEDBACK, AVOID IT AT ALL COST. Some systems are very sensitive to feeding back and there's nothing worse than even a few seconds of it.

I agree with NEVER FAVORING ANYONE IN THE ROTATION. Don't let them think they can buy their way up the rotation.

Relax, enjoy the experience. And welcome! This is such a great place to get all kinds of info - even unsolicited info sometimes! .  Everyone will assume that you probably know less than nothing but don't be bothered by that. It happens to everyone.

k

Thank you Lon. When I was responding to him in the Newbie section I felt a bit alone. I'm sure he'll get better help in here.

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

Thanks guys and girls, this is really good advice, I'm feeling a bit better about everything. I keep trying fake shows, running possible scenarios in my head; someone leaves, someone complains, etc...it's making me more nervous but I feel better prepared. Anyway, if anyone can't think of anything else I'd appreciated it.

I'm still a relative noob.  But you know what?  You won't please all the people all the time - live with it.  People do leave, people do complain.  You don't need those people.

You can have the most logical, fair rotation in the world but if someone feels they should sing now, then that's their issue, not yours.  But for the most part, people come out to have a good time.

Should anything go a little wrong, so what?  You're only human, and you're new.  Have a laugh with the crowd, ask if anyone has a big hammer cos that usually fixes the problem.  If people see you trying they will appreciate how hard you are working for them, and probably take care of you

Sax and Dotties show presenter is a good plug in for winamp..and sooo easy to operate..perfect for a noob.....BTW hope it went ok..!!

first I've heard of Samurize... did a bit of research on it before answering.

I run regular winamp, with pacemaker, and the cdg plugin. That's IT!

honey one of the highlights of the trip I have missed this year would have been to see you work your patch...love you lots and its a must see when I get over there

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

I'd really appreciate some info on this setup, i went and installed samurize, just to get a grasp of what it can do, and quickly realized I would need a tutorial to do anything, nevermind configure a show hoster.