Karaoke Forums

Some songs, like Hotel California have pretty long outros.  Some KJ's play the whole thing.  Some play a half minute of it and then fade it out.  Some shut the thing off as soon as the vocals are over!  As a singer, how do you like it done?  Do you leave the mic as soon as the outro starts?  As a KJ, what is your practice?  Do you fade it out?  Cut it off?   Play air guitar?  Please vote.

It really depends on how deep my rotation is. If I'm backed up pretty good, I'll usually let it play while I summon the next act and then fade it into the next song.

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FADE, FADE, and FADE.  I think karaoke versions of songs should be cut down to eliminate the long outros.  Hotel California, Runnin Down a Dream, etc. get faded at my show after I call the next singer.

It's all dependant of the night as well, if I have a dead night, I might let a long outro play a little longer.  If it's a busy night, as soon as the lyrincs are done & I fade it out & call the next singer.  Or I will utilize the long outro instead of popping the fill music up & get the applause & call up the next singer, then fade it & start the next song.

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Fade. I do a couple of songs with long outros, and I even burn them on to disk with the outro faded.

The outro for SC's Ramblin' Man is some of the best karaoke guitar playing ever, but it still doesn't make sense to  take up 2 minutes listening to it.

We usually hit the fade button.  With software like cakewalk you can trim the ending in the mp3 at any point past the graphics. I have done this with hotel california and others. Tailor the volume envelope into a gradual fade.

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one of my custom discs has "On The Turning Away", and it's got a pretty long outtro... the kj was panicked when she saw the song still had almost a minute left for the outtro. I laughed and told her to do her job... fade it out! SHe was SOOOO greatful.

Some singers don't like fading out the long ones, but when you got singers to go to, and a room of folks waiting, sheesh, fade it out!

I love singing Go Rest High On The Mountain and usually it has a very special meaning but I absolutely hate the the long instrumental before the end.

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As a non-kj, it helps me to read you guys' opinions on this.  I usually just dance until the song is over (if it's danceable enough)--not because I want to hog the stage, but because the song's not over!  But on the other hand, I understand that they do have to get the next person up there.  

One thing I did on ELP's "From the Beginning":  During the guitar solo, after all the singing is over, I--well, I didn't really _dance_, but kinda moved to the beat a little--then I went ahead and sang the refrain again--"You see it's all clear, you were meant to be here, from the beginning"--when it got to that point in the music (even tho' it's supposed to be instrumental at that point).  Hey, it's karaoke--might as well do as much singing as possible!  Why make the CD do all the work?    THEN I left the stage, as the synth solo was starting.  I wasn't sure if I should leave the stage before the song was over, but it was such a l-o-n-g outro that I figured I'd better leave the stage.  

Matt, I love "On the Turning Away"!  Never heard anyone sing it for karaoke, though!

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if it's NOT faded early, it's awkward for the singer AND audience... and the singer gets robbed of their due applause (can't hear it over the music)

I wish the KJ would leave it up to the singer... when they put the mic down, fade it out

As I've said here before, I like to dance if there's an instrumental break--heck, I gotta do SOMETHING up there!--but once I put the mic back in the stand when I was dancing in the middle of a song (it was "Magic Man" by Heart), and the kj thought I was finished and started talking!  I was going, "No, no, I'm not done yet!"  So he let the song continue--but I felt bad about confusing him.  So I just have to leave the mic in my hand while I'm dancing, although that's a little awkward at times.  

(pretend this emoticon has a mic in its hand)

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If it is an experienced singer and they know the song, they will ussually depart the stage when they are finished with their part and the outro starts.  This gives me the opportunity to ask for applause and give kudos as well as get the next person up.  
If it is someone who does not really know the song they will stand there and stare at the monitor waiting for the next words (even when it says outro).  Sometimes I will lean over to them and let them know there are not more words so they will leave the stage.  If it is fairly short I'll just let them stad there and be surpized when no more words show up.

I have had occasions where customers got mad at me for fading an outro.  They acctually thought I was cutting their song off in the middle. When I explained it to them they were then ok with it.

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I usually let it play until the next singer makes it up on the stage then I fade it out. It could be maybe 10 or 20 seconds depending. My crowd prefers it this way. It's all about what they want and they want to sing not listen to a long outro, especially on a busy night.

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Good point !

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Guys, I've partied a bit with Laura, and she DOES do that! !

*grinning at Matt's post*

One song that I like to do is "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles, and on that one--at least on Sound Choice--the SC logo comes up WHILE THERE IS STILL SINGING going on!  "You aaaaaaaaaare...a radio staaaaaar..."  I just go ahead and sing along with that.  (If people aren't familiar w/the song, they might not be able to do that.)  There's a LOT more vocals to the song after the logo comes up!  Likewise, all the "oh oh" parts in the song are prerecorded.  I sing 'em anyway.

(edited to say:  I just remembered, every time the title phrase "video killed the radio star" comes up in the song, THAT is prerecorded as well.  'Course I sing it anyway--but it means Sound Choice is only expecting us to sing maybe half of the song.  Gimme a break!  If there's singing to be done, let the karaoke person(s) do as much of it as they can.)

Also, when I did SC's version of "You Can't Always Get What You Want", I sang along with the choir at the beginning (an octave lower, heh!) even tho' that was prerecorded.   I sang along with the ending too, even attempting to do some of the high notes!  

Hey--why should I let the voices on the CD do all the work?  :)

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--I once heard a girl sing "I Hate Myself for Loving You", and she left the stage when there was still a few seconds more to go.  So the kj called the next guy up and the song was still playing--and THAT guy sang the last line, "I hate myself for loving you!"  Then that song ended and he sang his song.  It was kinda weird to hear someone finish someone else's song!

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I sing with the course too sometimes.   I hate it when I try a new song, or a different karaoke version of a song I've done, and find out all of a sudden that my favorite part to sing is prerecorded with no lyrics!   I just sing the invisible lyrics.

Me 2!  

I heard someone say the same thing about LRB's "Happy Anniversary" (Sound Choice version again).  The chorus, "Happy anniversary baby, got you on my mind" is prerecorded.  One of the 2 women who were singing it said, "That's the one part I know!"  

The other night I heard a guy sing "Take Me Home Tonight" (also Sound Choice) and Ronnie Spector's entire part was prerecorded.  (A lot of people were singing along with it anyway.)




Edited after several years , I just recently returned to this forum! Forgot to mention also that on "Der Kommissar" a la Sound Choice, most of the "uh-oh" parts are not included in the lyrics on screen. Well, OF COURSE I'm gonna sing that part! It just seems odd that they didn't include it (except for a few times near the end).

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sometimes the "background vocals" are not exactly in the BACKGROUND. It's annoying. I'll try a different version next time if one's available.

A good KJ will pick up on this and boost the singer's mic so they overpower the canned voice. Or the singer can just do it by bringing the mic closer to your mouth or projecting more.

Sometimes the background singer is singing the harmony part, letting you take the melody, and the blend can be nice...