Karaoke Forums

When a singer make a request for some changes in your board setting (when it is his/her turns to sing, or in the mid of the song) such as:

up the mic volume
turn up the hi/low on the mic channel
give me more/less efx
change the efx to .....
etc

What is your general reaction?
Is it:
I know my job; don't tell me how to do it.
Smile and do a fake move
You try as much as possible to accommodate the request.
Go out from behind your board and walk the venue to listen to mix before resetting if required.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

If they know about mixing and make a specific request, I keep my hand on the board until I'm sure the mix is what it should be as far as volume and voice versus music. Effects requests are a little different - I keep them on the low side to the point of most singers don't know they're there unless I turn them off. I have one guy who always asks for more so I'll often change settings for him. Of course there are those who always say they want more mic - I will often do a fake move until I know how loud they actually are.

I have gone to places to sing and recognize that every female sounds shrill and I tend to sound very shrill if I'm not careful so I'll ask the KJ to turn back the highs for me. Sadly, most of them get this blank look on their face. I actually had to show one KJ what I meant (after he asked me to). He had NO IDEA. No point in suffering in silence. I have my doubts as to whether he remembered that after that night because I haven't been back -- his levels were ALL set at 3:00. OUCH!

I adjust the monitor to their liking & the mains to mine.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

....this actually happens ALL the time. Here is my reaction:

I know my equipment best, and I make EVERY singer sound their best, even if it is someone I don't like. When a singer makes requests like this, I usually give them the standard head bob when they come up, then treat them just like every other singer. 98 times out of 100, the singer thinks you have complied withe their request. After all, what they are REALLY asking is "make me sound good."

For those 2% that think they know better than me, if they start their song and NOTICE that I don't have something like an overwhelming reverb on their vocal, and ask for it again, then I'll give it to em. Of course that same 2% will then complain after their performance that I made them sound crappy, but oh well.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Request: (Patron) Can you turn it up?
(Me) The vocals or music?
They are singing so it's hard to get a response, so they point at the monitor. Aaarg !


I'll adjust the monitor for the singers than go out to the audience to check the mains. Like Lon the bar is set to my liking and the monitor to the singers. They don't seem to understand what they are hearing on the stage is not exactly what the bar is hearing.

I don't run effects through the monitor so what the the singer hears is usually different from what the bar hears. (Patron) More echo. I'll agree than explain when their done singing if need be.

Than I get the random person who asks for echo everytime they come up to sing telling me they aren't that great of a singer and they need it. I always agree and even ask them if it's better after I do it or not.

It's rare but you get the random know it all telling you how to set everything. I usually just smile and move on, unless they are annoying. If they are over the top with it I'll either explain why I do what I do or tell them please don't tell me how to do my job. You can usually tell if their just trying to impress you with their knowledge (that they don't have ) or actually know what their talking about in the first sentence. I'll listen and have a conversation with a knowledgable person, but that is so rare ! Usually it's some guy that thinks he knows everything about sound because he has a stereo at home or wants to impress me with trying to sound like he knows what he's talking about.

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

It's why I like having a monitor speaker. And why I find so many lousy shows.

Hosts who adjust the music so it sounds good to them without regard to how well the singer can hear themselves are the bane of my existence. 20% of shows have monitor speakers, and 50% of the 80% have exactly no clue how to mix. They think they have good ears, but these are the same people who say dirt-cheap mics sound great.

I am sure a lot of the people say "I know my job, don't tell me what to do". But in fact, a large percentage of us don't know our job.

I try to accommodate the rare request. Now I don't get many, as I suspect most don't. I use great mics, have a decent mixer / effects / compression / equalization chain. I also make absolutely sure the vocals are on top of the mix. Last show at my service club I was told it was a lot easier to hear yourself when I am running the show. It's true -- the other guy buries the singer and doesn't even know he's doing it.

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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.

What I have a problem with is the singers that don't actually sing in the mic.
They "sing" far too quiet, usually because they're terrified, but sometimes because they have developed a terrible habit of singing too far from the mic.
The ones that really drive me nuts though are the ones that sing too far from the mic, then ask you to turn up the mic because they can't hear themselves. I try to explain to them to hold the mic closer, but then they revert to holding it down at their waste and don't understand why they can't hear themselves and ask me to turn it up again. Then they give you a dirty look if you push it and feedback happens. Arggg!
I've pretty much given up on those ones and just let them sing without pushing it and sadly, the audience can't hear them. I really have no other choice, because week in and week out I give them the same obligatory lesson and they just carry on like they did last week, having absorbed none of it.
Now THAT's frustrating!

Yep.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

You can have every piece of the top end equipment and have it all go to waist. Unfortunately in my area we get a combination of both...cheap equipment and a person that has no ear or knowledge for mixing.

It all depends on how someone asks for me. If the bark "TURN IT UP" I just blow it off but if they ask nicely for little more mic I will give it to them unless its obvious they have no clue then I just act like like I'm giving them more.

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"Don't worry. It will feel better when it quits hurtin."

The only request I make to you kj's is:
"This is a new song for me and I don't know if I can handle it. Get ready to help me out if I'm not carrying it" by means of turning up the music. I don't have good enough hearing for that stuff. I let you guys do your jobs, and I try and have fun singing. I also look at my wife for signals if I'm loud enough. She doesn't sing but has good ears for that stuff. Then she'll give me her input of how your doing. And still we keep it to ourselves for the most part.

I've seen the kj's unsure of the sound as well, and I like the fact that they step out by the patrons to check out how it sounds. It's nice to see they care about the gig / us. I hate the ones that grip and rip, meaning they start the song and dissappear until it's over.

Not an unreasonable request at all Joe. I hate grip and rippers as well. I have KJs that work for me and in their training, even if they have experience, I stress that they need to concentrate on mixing the vocals and the music for at least the first 30 seconds of the song before they return to other things like flirting with the hot chicks or dudes at the table near by .

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"Don't worry. It will feel better when it quits hurtin."

Ok, I still consider myself a newbie and I do get requests. I have a couple semi regulars that tell me how to adjust each know on the mic channel. I get it close and when they start they give me a signal. I try to keep my ego out of it. Since I am a newbie, I try to honor the requests for both the reason of building a regular following and still learning my board. I do feel a lot more comfortable with it now then I used to and I always have my hands ready to adjust knobs on the board at the beginning of every song.

I have a print out that I tape to the lyrics monitor stand that shows people how to hold a mic and explains that if they cup it, they will get feedback. Since I put that there a few weeks ago, I have only had to straighten out a couple singers and it is so much easier during a song to point to the visual rather than talk to them during a song.

I finally got the correct vga cord (75 foot) and I think this week I will try moving my booth to the dance floor. I say try as already have most of my system set on the stage including my booth as I DJed Saturday night and left my set up.

Of course if the person is respectful, I will honor their request. If they are an axx about it, we will see.

How many others have their booth set up facing the mains?

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Hey Rip I'd love to see a copy of your print out.


That sounds like an excellent idea that just might work for me. I'd love to post pictures of what not to do, but I'm no artist.

Pretty great idea for a newbie.

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

Nah just know how to eq the mic when they cup it & you'll be fine. Cut a majority of the mids, add a little high & low. Of course you can always try to train these types of singers but 9 out of 10 times, they are going for the look.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

"The Look" is it. We have one guy who always pulls up a stool, hunches over and cups the mic and he is never going to do anything else because that is his singing "persona. "

We are also new like the King so we when we have gotten experienced karaoke hosts at our show we have actually offered to let them do their own mix. But so far we've been told we're doing fine. People are always telling me that my boyfriend really knows what he is doing and he shrugs and whispers, "I'm not doing anything, it's the mixer," so we have nothing really to get ego-ed out about. Mainly the standards in our area were low enough that just having equipment that is a bit better has made us sound better but if there was someone who really knew what they were doing that wanted to coach us it would probably be welcomed.

We do have a rare visit from an ex-professional singer who tends to complain and glare and mumble about how she sounds but as she has not taken us up on our offer of using the better mic or telling us what she likes we just shrug and endure.

The majority of "mixer" requests usually are for more EFFECTS to mask the singers voice. And that and all other requests I tackle on a case by case basis.
Usually the only adjustments are to to compression and volume/gain.

I'd still love a print out of what not to do with the mic. It would be great to have back up in explaining correct use of a mic. It would be nice if it illistrated pictures of what not to do. I'm mainly thinking of the person who holds the mic so the bottom is pointed towards the ceiling and the top angled down to the floor. Even if you say something they don't listen because they've seen rockstars do it on tv.

Some other things that bother me: holding the mic cord tight against the mic bending the cord at the base or beating on the mic to the music.

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

To me, cupping the mic is the biggest issue with singers. I don't even have to look to know they are doing it... the vocals are off, and if I get feedback it is always because of this.

I use SM58s and have the Yamaha MG166CX mixing board. Is there a way to adjust the mixer to account for cupping??

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I would love the illustration as well. I would rather teach a new singer good mic habits then accommodate their bad habits and deal with it week after week.

Unless it's something i actually can hear, i just reach up to the board and pretend to do something. 99% of the time they will look up and give me the thumbs up sign.

This proves only one thing. They know nothing about what sounds good or bad. Could be why they also go to karaoke shows that sound horrible.