Karaoke Forums

As one of the best examples of a song with a long outro, consider The Dance. by Garth Brooks.

Also, consider Billy Joel's "Longest Time".  At the end the song the phrase "oh, oh-oh-oh"  goes on and on.  There's just so many times, as I singer, I'd want to repeat that phrase!  I always wanted the KJ to fade it out so I could be "done with it" and leave the stage.  All too often I couldn't get the KJ's attention or he/she didn't understand my request to fade the song out!

So, the question is, do you always let a song play until the end, or do you typically fade the music out?

Have you ever caught "flack" from a singer for ending a song "prematurely", particularly one with a long vocal outro like "Longest Time"?

Do you encourage the audience to applaud during the outro or do you always wait till the music stops for that.  I find that audience's applause becomes awkward when a song is going on for 30 seconds or more after the singer has sung their last phrase!  People just aren't sure if they should applaud during the outro or after the song is completely over.

If you typically cut or fade a track before it is "actually over", do you ever catch "flack" from people who might be dancing?  The Dance is a song that will often get people up to dance.

Anyway, how do most of you handle long outros?

I want to get the next singer going, so i'll fade out long endings.    It's just music and no singing so why not?    Some of them are 1 minute long.  Unless people are dancing to it and the next song is one they could dance to.  Or if there are not a lot of singers, i may let it play to kill some time.    If it's busy it's getting faded out early.

I have singers that know the sing lasts forever and they will tell me before hand to fade it out.

So to answer the question, it all depends on the situation.

I think if it is a monotonous ending ( like "Someday" by Sugar Ray, or "Always something there to remind me" ) I could care less if you end it early, but I just got the Sound Choice version of Pink Floyds " Comfortably Numb " just because it has the full guitar lead at the end, great ending to a great song! A little eye contact with the singer will also let you know if it is cool to cut the song off early.

If there aren't anymore words to be sung, the song is over.  I decide if it gets faded out, not the singer.  Now if i cut out some words it would be a different story.

This is a bit contrary to some of the other statements you have made about it being all about the singer, but what the hey, it's your dime.

If it's an instrumental outro, what are they going to complain about?    Not being able to hum along?    Outro means the singing part is over.  Stand there and look like an idiot just holding the microphone for the next minute?    What are they going to do?    Make up words, start rapping to it, whistle, hum, start saying stupid stuff to their buddies...it's over, you're done, see ya next song, bye, give me the microphone and go sit down.  :O   There's more after them that want to sing, too.

Calm down Francis, make up your mind, is all about keeping your singers happy or is it all about you? I guess we know the answer to that one already.

As I stated before, some outros are an intregal part of the song, ( Comfortably Numb for example ) the outro may or may not be, just depends on the song. Karaoke is still music, and some people do want to hear the end of that particular song ( I know because I've been told ) as well as the singing. I won't even adress the rest of your post as it is futile.

vbu2c5:

What is futile about the question regarding when to encourage applause when there are long outros?

vbu2c5:

What is futile about the question regarding when to encourage applause when there are long outros?

A long outro is SoundChoice 8146, "Ramblin' Man". That is over 2 minutes of outro, but boy do they play some guitar on that track! I have hosts who decide to play it, and ones who decide to fade it.

Eric I apologize, that " futile " comment had nothing to do with your post. As I stated before some songs long outros are less important to a song than others. I used the Pink Floyd as an example because the guitar lead at the end is a key part of the song. If you had a crowd of 40 somethings or older and cut the song off early most people would notice. I know this because I used to sing to the Sunfly version which ended abruptly after the final lyrics. Several people commented as to what happened to the ending.

I used the Sugar Ray example because you do feel a bit idiotic standing up there and going " And fade away " about ten times at the end of the song. although I do agree it is a little awkward shutting down a song while there are still lyrics left even if they are repetitive. I do walk off after the lyrics are over and if people clap during the outro as you fade it out, no biggie to me. Problem is, alcohol and egos make this a hard question to answer, some people are just looking to have a reason to be pissy after a few drinks. You are never going to make everyone happy all the time.

Just don't cut off my Comfortably Numb outro and we'll be fine! Just kidding!

As a KJ if there is a song with a LOOONG musical only outro it gets FADED out  so I can get the next singer up ....It is about the singer...YOU had your song you SUNG now get off the stage and let the next singer up ... YOU can play air guitar all  the way to back to your seat  LMAO  LMAO  LMAO

Generally, with song with long/never ending outros and with cue from the singer they're done by starting to walk away from the mic, I'll fade the music down a bit, encourage a applause, call up the next singer and by the time they get up and ready to go, the song is 100% over.  Now if people are dancin', I will to...let it ride out.  In only a few instances are there song that are too long for that to even work and have to kill the ending.  I find that my people want to start clapping as soon as the singer is done singing, if you try to wait till after the music has stopped and it's been more than about 10sec, they won't get the applause that they deserve....MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
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I will allow the song to go as long as the singer remains on the stage (unless it's like Freebird or something that has a 2-3 minute outro) as some singers will do some ad-libbing of their own to the rest of the song.  If they leave once they see the ending credits (which is generally the case) then I will go ahead & ask for the applause, call the next singer while the outro is playing, then once the next singer is up, fade it out & begin their song.  If I have full dance floor may be the other exception to letting a song play out or not.

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If the outro goes on too long the poor singer is back in his seat by the time it's finished and never gets the applause he deserves.  On the flip side, we have a singer who sings a song with a 1 mn intro the KJ starts the song immediately after annoucing the singer and the intro gives him time to walk up to the stage.

Once the singer starts leaving the stage I will ask for applause call up the next singer and fade it out. Eagles Hotel California is a good example, Get the next singer up and lets keep everybody singing.

If people are dancing, the music stays on.  If the singer is done and indicates to fad or leave the stage, we'll leave it on, announce the next singer, and say they have some mood music s they come to the stage.  When they get there, we fade it out and start anew.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

if the rotation is big I will fade out call singer fade back up till next singer is ready. if the rotation is short and we are trying to fill some time i let it play out. all depends on the mood of the song..if its a snoozer its going to get faded and my mp3 player will come up instead. I hate when people have to sing a snoozer song right when the bar gets going eeergh.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

as long as there are lyrics to be sung, we let the song play, but once the lyrics are done and the outro has repeted a couple of times i will fade out and introduce the next singer.  i've never had anyone complain about this method

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All work and no play make Homer something something

If the song is the Dance and people are slow dancing, it plays.  If the next song up is slow and they are dancing, it plays.   I want to keep them on the floor even if it's a slow song.  Still means someone is having fun.    They might just be listeners, not singers.

If nobody is dancing to the Dance it gets faded out.   Why bore them more?   So it's a call that has to made for every song, as the situation dictates.

Even a rock outro can be boring.  After all it's karaoke and karaoke means singing not "10 Minute Musical Outro Night."