Karaoke Forums

I just did my first singing gig last night. It went real well, except that my transitions stank. I don't like having to reach for the laptop, and MTU Hoster is a poor choice of software to run the tracks.

I can visualize using Winamp for the tracks, easily. I can even visualize using some crossfader plugin, and perhaps a track of silence for a pause. But it is difficult to anticipate the exact amount of space between songs you are going to take -- if any -- and it would be ideal to have some sort of footswitch trigger for the software, or possibly an IR remote.

Does anyone have any experience with backing track gigs and the software to run them from a computer? Or even a CD player, which I wouldn't be totally opposed to if it gave me the ability to do the crossfades and such via remote control....

Mckyj57 I just use Windows Media Player, which will play back type one SMFs (Standard MIDI Files). This probably won't help you much since I've recorded all my backing tracks here at home and onstage they're all MIDI'ed to a rack of modules.

Since I've done them all myself there is no dead air, no fade-outs, etc.

I still manage to get away from karaoke and play out two to three Fridays a month. But the band is no more and it's just me and my backing tracks.

I don't understand why Hoster is a poor choice - I would set it on automatic, go from track to track, with very few seconds in between...

k

I use my multimedia player for my backing tracks.  I usually copy the tracks to a seperate folder and number them so that they play in the order for the set list.   It is easy to insert a silent mp3 file between tracks if I need a longer pause.   I could use the "playlist" feature, but I have had issues with that looping itself during playback (probably a s/w bug).    

The bonus with the player is that it not only plays mp3s, but WAV also, which means I don't have to compress the files to mp3.   I am also able to attach an IR remote receiver to the player, but haven't used that at gigs yet.

Why would you have to keep reaching for the laptop?  Set it in auto mode & then your duration between songs.  If you want to cut out the beginning & maybe a faded long outro, you may have to design some custom tracks through a wave editor then recompile back into a karaoke format.

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ALthough I don't use HOSTER ..I understood you can create a PLAYLIST of sorts and set it up in an autoplay mode would be ideal ???  not really sure  though.

if you're doing a singing gig you may need a sound/video person to work the board and the mixing of your songs.   The problem I see in doing it by yourself is you probably have to AUTO GAIN all your mp3 files so the VOLUME is exact on all of the tracks  ( which we know is not the case with standard mp3 karaoke files)
otherwise you're reaching for adjustments on every song

if I read the info correctly siglos professional might be a better choice for backing gigs as it is suppose to be able to cut silence from the tracks. Give them feedback and maybe they'll incorporate auto play as well.

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

Hoster is just not a good choice because it has no fade options -- I would have to play the full coda from any track, which is what I want to avoid. Sure I could preset that, by recording a custom track, but I can easily envision changing that on the fly to do announcements, etc.

Winamp or any other media player with an autofade or crossfade plugin is a much better choice. Now that I think about it, the auto-fade option on CompuHost might make that an option.

After looking around this morning a bit, I found some PC Remote control options and selected StreamZap as what I will try first. $30.00 including shipping buys me something which is supposed to have built-in definitions for Windows Media Player and Winamp. It also is supposed to allow you to record macros for controlling applications. Ideally I would have a footswitch to control all this, but suspect I won't find much except what Bill mentions. Getting that far into MIDI is probably not in the cards right now, but maybe someday.

I am going to be on my eastern trip for 3 weeks, and will have a chance to play with CompuHost, which has auto-fade, and with Winamp and various fader plugins. We will see where I get to when I come back and do my next gig on the 29th.

Not yet.  Rumor has it (plus a snapshot of a Hoster 4 playlist screen in their forum)crossfade/fadeout is coming in the next release of Hoster 4 along with a tempo changer, recording capability, customizeable audio clips/graphic shots to be sent to the singer screen.

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

Woohoo..>Thanks for the heads-up. Coming soon, isn't it?
K

Why don't you make a compilation CD and use that?  You could use it in the computer.