Karaoke Forums

I was just looking over some recent discussions regarding how to build a library for a professional karaoke show - a topic that often appears and attracts responses from many (no one ever says go to the "archives").  Once again I encountered strong recommendations for certain brands and disparagement of others.  

Will someone please tell me how you have determined that some manufacturers are "great" and others "suck".  I raise the question because I am not always impressed by the products most preferred by the forum membership.  

And having learned how bad some tracks can be, regardless of manufacturer, I no longer mind having multiple versions to choose from.  Over time, for my own edification, I indicate in my data base which version I think is best.

The following are the criteria I use to determine which version of a song I prefer.  What do you use?

Sound quality of recording
Accuracy of tempo
Correct instrumentation/sound of intruments
Correct musical arrangement for intruments
Accuracy in use of and presentation by backup singers
Accuracy of displayed words
Timing of words/phrases (swipes?)
Is there a pan flute guide?

As just one example of why I am not impressed by any one manufacturer, but look at each track as to its own merit, I offer the case of "City of New Orleans".  I owned the Chartbuster version, and thought it was the best until I was out one night and heard a different version.  It ended up being SAVA.  While I can criticize many of the SAVA tracks I now own, I must also say that some are excellent!

The bottom line to me is that I paid very little for the entire SAVA collection, and as a result, my investment has been easily justified by the tracks I use.  What I don't use is, to me, irrelevant!  To the contrary, if a pay a lot of money for a disc, I'm less tolerant of bad tracks or tracks I don't get any use out of!

pretty simple for me... if they sound like the original or not

The one the customer likes.

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

Amen Jian!  It really does depend on the person's specific taste  :hi5:

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[shadow=white][scroll]Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.....It's about learning to dance in the rain[/scroll][/shadow]

I'm in agreement with Jian.  While the criteria I listed are used by me as a singer, as a KJ I list every version I have in a song in my catalog just in case a customer has a preference.

And I agree with Mcky57 that catalogs that use disc numbers that are devoid of the manuf ID are troublesome to me as a singer.  I don't mind singing a version of a song that isn't my favorite, but I don't want to sing a version that I totally dislike!

In a similar thread, BD insisted he knew how every original song sounded and kept only the "best" karaoke versions in his catalog.  I argued that, no one person can be that totally familiar with every song.  Furthermore, people sometimes don't remember how the original song went, in spite of how much they may believe they do.  

When you listen to an original song and compare it to several different karaoke versions, don't you ever find that each karaoke version is lacking something?  So, what do you do when several different karaoke versions can be close to but don't EXACTYLY match the oriignal!

What if the track is good musically but the manner in which the words appear throws the singer off or what if the words are just dead wrong and also throws the singer off?  Is the fact that a karaoke version is hard to follow more significant than the fact that the particular version in question might sound most like the original?

What I do Eric is list each song once in books for customers (manufacturer disc code, I agree with not using generic numbering systems) then keep a Master for myself with each one listed no matter how many repeats there are (one Master by title and one by Artist).  This way if a singer doesn't agree with my choice of what the best version is and they ask if I have it on what they're used to I can look up in the Master; if I have I'm more than happy to use the one they prefer.

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[shadow=white][scroll]Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.....It's about learning to dance in the rain[/scroll][/shadow]

But getting back to essence of my original posting...

I'm still waiting to hear how some KJ's predetermine that certain manufacturers have the best tracks and others are to be avoided?

And, to reiterate, are the most expensive discs consistently cost-justified considering not only the quality of the tracks but the actually total disc usage, as well?  

Furthermore, I realize that there may be quite different opinions about inventorying multiple tracks between those who are lugging around discs and those who are computerized.

And surely, those who are computerized can appreciate my opinion that if I buy a cheap disc which contains 15 tracks, let's say for $4.99, and I get a lot of use out of just one or two tracks, I believe I got a bargain!  The bottom line is that the two tracks I use cost me $2.50 each whether I load the whole disc or just the two used tracks onto the computer!

In all actuality there is no way to predetermine if one manufacturer is better than the other.  Some people swear by Sound Choice for everything but unfortunately that isn't the case, I have some SC tracks that blow.  

The same can be said for every disc line available.  I listen to each track I have multiple listings for and choose what I think is the best and truest to the original recording.  Whether or not everyone else agrees is a matter of personal taste and individuality, therefore the Master book with all I have available listed.

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[shadow=white][scroll]Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.....It's about learning to dance in the rain[/scroll][/shadow]

Yup, I agree with you completely about the bargains.  ESPECIALLY if you use the tracks continuously, it's one of those think smarter not harder things  :yes:

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[shadow=white][scroll]Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.....It's about learning to dance in the rain[/scroll][/shadow]

This is a trick question....  Many singers will PREFER one version or manufacturer over another, Not because it is musically superior but because that is what they are familiar with.  Many singers who have been singing for a long time started out with one KJ who had one version of a song and they got used to it ..whether it be DK , Soundchoice or others.  Nowadays singers are buying there OWN cdgs at local stores  and using them. It is what they are familiar with..... I also agree that I have had some selections on discs from ALL HITS  / SGB  / Monster ....even BACKSTAGE that I like .....Better than SOUND CHOICE .......  But in reality when compared side by side in a majority of cases the SOUNDCHOICE is actually a better RECORDING MUSICALLY .  There is not right or wrong answer but 90% of pro's will agree that from a consistency point of view Soundchoice / Pophits Monthly Series and Chartbuster for Country are the leaders in supplying quality Karaoke Tracks.

I just find there is no sense to what people prefer, so the discussion about what is 'best' doesn't even apply in most situations. They will bring in a song on a SGB disc and sing off it, even if I offer the same song on S/C.  It is all what people are accustomed to.  Depending on the person, I may 'switch' their version and give them a better one - some just roll with it, say, "Wow, that's a great version..." and others will make a million excuses about why they didn't sing the song well..."It's a different version."  Often the actual quality of the disc has nothing to do with it - it is all what people are accustomed to, and a lot of the time it isn't the 'best' version.

Several songs come to mind re: this issue. I have (GROAN) several different versions of "Picture" and when people request it, I always pull the best one, which is the one closest to the original recording. The other is "Man of Constant Sorrow" - I have a Karaoke Bay version of it which is just horrible but has the lowest # in the book so most often that is what people put on their slip.  I always substitute the MM for it because it just a better version.

People are appreciative of that, for sure ... I know I am at times asked to "use the best version" and in my mind, what makes people feel comfortable is the version that is closest to that done by the professional.

Karen,

I have to totally agree with what you said.  It's what they are accustomed to.  Don't matter on the quality.  I have a song by s/c which is very good, but I had it only by another manu for a long time.  I have a lady that loves the song and sings it every time she comes in.  She learned on the old version, I tried to substitute the s/c ver to let her try it, it is much better....she didn't like it and wanted me to go back to the other version.  Now, she always asks for the older version.  Keep the customer happy....MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
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my fiance gets nervous at other venues if they have different versions than I do. She's learned and practiced on the ones I've had. And yeah, she will tell me when a version I have "sucks". ! That's how I got the SC version of a Helen Reddy song when before I just had it on THM.

That's one reason I absolutely LOVE custom discs. I'm not about to go and get a whole spotlight for one song that was a complaint! But I have NO problems buying it at $4 a song from a reputable manu.

One of my customers in Oregon just adored the Backstage Billy Joel disc... now almost all those songs are inferior of other versions I have, but he was USED to those... so he SANG off those!

Jam was absolutely correct. I personally prefer the Pioneer version of some Bon Jovi songs, where Tig loved the DK ones! Cause it was what he was used to... what he learned on, and I learned on the Pioneer ones!

I only have a collection of around 500 CDGs (which I have to get on computer before I get any further into this... another topic) but one thing I've learned is that there is no one brand that always gets it right.

What I look for basically, along with accuracy,  are tracks that are mixed for a full PA.

If there is one brand that seems to be getting it mostly right on new stuff that's charting today, I'd say it's CB. I can confidently buy that brand. SC... well that's what I was told was the best choice when I was starting out, but I think that they are really mixed more for smaller non-sub systems. They're consistently muddy with a lot of mid-bass, but not the authorative   low bass that make my 18" subs really start talking and gets people to the dance floor.

But there are gems in even the bargain brands. My best version of Radiohead's "Creep" is Backstage. My best "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" (sung by the oldest singer in my young house gig) ... Legends.

One thing I've learned though... it's all about them. The singers. It's not about me. I started out with just a Supercore starter set, and that still gets used a lot because that's what they are used to for those songs. It's actually not a bad little set, with the best versions I've got of "Bust A Move"(way better than SC on this one), "The Middle", "In Da Club', "Like A Stone"...

This is an issue I still struggle with at times. Unless the sound quality really sucks I can make any cd sound good. It is becoming more rare but we occasionally get a stranger in that needs a different version. We immediately stop and go on to their next request or ask for another request on the fly.

I do have some popular songs that I have dups. In the book they are presented thusly.

Patsy Cline Crazy(SC) or Patsy Cline Crazy(CB)

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while sc is the expected industry standard, I was most unimpressed with their whiter shade of pale (procul harem) thought it would be better than the cb version...how wrong I was...
its gotta be a customer preference thang. I was asked to judge at a karaoke comp. They insisted I sang. They only had sunfly, and I loathe sunfly tracks. With the exception of one song that I have to use a sf disc on I never sing with sf backing.
So I refused

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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."

Ditto that!  But it does ultimately fall on what the singer prefers.  
We started out with Pioneer lasers back in 92, our die hard original customers prefer those versions over anything else, the newer customers laugh at the videos & have never 'seen a disc that big' thinking i'm playing an LP  LMAO .  I tried to phase the videos out, but got so much flack that I still use them nightly.

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I go by track record of the company quality overall.  Sound Choice is my number one pick, however if they get one wrong which they do on occasion, I start listening to sample clips of other manus to replace said version.



Most of the major manus are all about the same cost now days right around the $17.99 mark.



I have seen some diamonds in the rough on some of the NuTech discs & same with Music Maestro discs I own & I can't STAND either as a whole.

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For months the only version of Sexyback available was an awful one on SF. And everyone... male and female... wanted to sing it. It was this huge dance hit. It was torture for me. In this case I had no problems getting the singers  to switch over to the BH version, which I got as soon as it came out.

U + Ur Hand... the ladies still prefer the SF version over what I think is superior on CB. But SF is OK on this cut, and it's all up to them...

dead right Bill, the customer is all that matters. Luckily I dont have to worry. I select what is right for me cos I am the only one using I will say I do use SF for the ballad of lucy jordan cos its the only one avail. But I shudder at the tinny midi sound

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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."