Karaoke Forums

I have always conducted a fair rotation, ordered (sort of) by the way that the singer has arrived. My "Mad DJ Skillz" has me wondering....

Would it be better to arrange singers in order of BPM? Everyone sings once each round, but instead of ordered by their arrival, what about ordered by the beats per minute?

I've re-arranged rotations late in the night, clustering "dance songs" together to maximize dance time. Just wondering if the overall quality would be better if the music was arranged as a DJ would....

Anyone tried this or have thoughts on this matter?

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

It wouldn't be a show i'd be interested in going to. I go to sing, not dance - most times. If the rotation is going to be shuffled not on the order you turned in but a kj trying to play dj to match music, i'll find the next show. Not saying it couldn't work in certain types of situation, just my opinion.

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

I thought of that. I, too, wondered if the size of the rotation may become a factor.

And I think you misunderstood what I meant by maximizing dance time. What I meant was that if I did arrange the songs by the BPM, then all of the faster-paced songs that are sung would be clustered together, instead of slow song, dance song, ho-hum song, slow song, etc etc - which is pretty much what you get when you arrange the order by the time they arrived or turned in their first slip. I figure if I ended the karaoke rotation with "dance karaoke songs", I could play 1 or 2 and the dancers basically get 4 or more songs to dance to.

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I'm not a cheerleader, but I paid for my pom poms with my own money!

The variety is what I love most about karaoke. The mixing of songs that normally wouldn't get mixed.

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

kinda depends i think on the kind of show you want to have and who you want to be there. if you want to run a dj show with people who are not really singers, it could work. if you want to run a kjaroke show with good singers, running a fair rotation is the way to go.
my particular brand of show, i am there building a show for the singers. they come for that fairness and attention to them. the show you are describing is not about the singers but about the non singers which in the right place could work.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

I would never patronize a show like that either. People would hand in up tempo songs to get bumped up in the rotation instead of tyring to bribe the KJ to get bumped up.

uh-oh, Bruce implied try to bribe the kj to get bumped up.
I will never rearrange my rotation in order of bpm or just to maintain the momentum. First submission, first served regardless of song tempo.

A friend of mine sings nothing but slow songs. He will be up in arms if he sees people sing before him, being bumped because his songs are slow ballads. This could turn ugly - a possible confrontation that might be hard to handle.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

I've seen it done that way and it is the type of show that I would walk out of after getting a list of the shows that particular dj does so I know not to waste my time going to.

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

The closest we get to that is if folks have handed in multiple slips. At times will select a song in their cue to better match what is on either side of them and the vibe in the room.

Nothing will sink a show quicker than screwing with the rotation. If a singer thinks they are being missed or dumped to the bottom when they were there near the first, they will be gone, never to return.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

When you're doing karaoke, I think you need to check your "Mad DJ SKillz" at the door if you think the rotation should ever be arranged by BPM. You will piss off a lot of singers. There's nothing wrong with filler music and the occasional dance songs, but anytime you offer karaoke, karaoke performances should be at least 80% of the tracks played and if you do too much of the BPM matching and give that "dance club" feel, you're missing point. Karaoke shows have a completely different feel than dance clubs and should. You need to decide who you're trying to make happy, and trying to please everyone in one show usually results in disaster.

I like the fact that you are coming up with ideas, my specialty in business is change and being open to change. However, I think in most nooks and crannies in the world, this wouldn't work based exactly on the answers given.

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

Been there, done that. Select from multiple songs submitted by one singer to keep momentum going, until I got bogged down on “I don’t want to sing that now, save it for later. I want to sing….” So now, it’s “bring one when you sing one”. But more power to you if it works for you.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

I've done the same thing. Another reason why I quit is because people thought just because they put a stack of songs up meant they were reserved strictly for them. If someone else happens to have a song they have further down in their stack, then they are not singing it that night.

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

The closest that I have seen to favoring uptempo songs vs ballads is a place that had a house rule of no slow songs after 11 PM. It seemed to work for them and everyone knew that if they wanted to sing a ballad they better do it before 11 PM.

Well I never mix the rotation. I control the rotation break (video DJ)... I just put a new rule (in writing) that works great and makes everyone happy. If you want to move up the rotation it's $5 a singer you pass. I then buy each of those who are passed a drink. Whats and extra 6 min for a drink... Most singers wish more do it now.

Jon

I'm thinking somebody posted a story about a gal in San Diego doing this kind of thing a few years back. Her shows are packed, but I personally wouldn't enjoy it as a singer. I like to at least have a rough idea of how long I have to wait to sing.

Everyone has a different way of running a show. But………approximating the time before I sing ain’t gonna happen if I’m @ your show.

If I estimate 20 min wait, and a guy paid $5 for each singer he passed, the kj just added 4 min more on my wait-time. Then finally I’m next & another singer paid his way to be next. Another 4 min added. That’s a clear & blatant bumped. Key words here you mentioned: “Most singers” – that means not all are agreeable to this method, therefore some aren’t happy. Count me in as one of ‘em. I’ll walk & take my business elsewhere.

I agree with Timberlea. ”Nothing will sink a show quicker than screwing with the rotation”.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

I do a different twist on the dance song rotation. Most nights I play a dance break anyway, couple songs a couple times a night for a total of 4-6 songs throughout the night, so I just do the DJ dance song inside the Karaoke set to augment the karaoke dance song. Its kind of like filler music on steroids. Especially if dancers are already on the floor for a singer. Genre does not matter R&B, Rock, country, line whoever hits the floor to support singers gets a little more time. The rotation does not change other than the DJ'ed dance song gets played in the middle of a rotation. I limit it to a song or just the hook of a song but it does two things for me, like the original poster wants to do it stretches out the flow of the dancing a little and it seem to keeps the none singing suporters of a singing friend engaged. Like everything we do it all depends on the rotation size and crowd that night but I think it has helped with keeping none singers in the club longer. I discuse rotaion issues with regulars and all understand that it is all for fun and most like to sing for a bigger engaged crow in the long run.

Brian when I say "most singers" it's the non drinker's that milk their time with a coke and water all night. Really I don't care if they don't like it as they don't help my job which is to bring money in for the club...Trust me when you flop a beer in front of a guy and say that that guy bought it for 5 min of your time, thier happy....

Jon