Karaoke Forums

Air Guitar! that was my thing for quite a while. Don't do it much any more. I think I could do it better than that guy on the vid.

I dont play AIR GUITAR. I play an AIR BASS, preferably an AIR-UPRIGHT. Lon's seen me do it when I sang THE WALKIN BLUES at his show and Matt and Charmin too! Dont think Flipper has seen my "Walkin Air Bass" yet.

ITS ALL IN THE RYTHEM BABY!!

As far as mic stands---they are ESSENTIAL for me. One I use my hands alot while singing. So holding a mic really handicaps my perfromance that way. Also I have permanent nerve damage in my hands from my diabetes so I DROP THE MIC SOMETIMES!!

(I WOULD BE ARRESTED FOR FELONY MIC DROPPING AT WHATS HIS NAMES SHOW IN SALINA)

But I always ask the KJ if he has a mic stand. Makes no sense to me when they dont have one. And really detracts from a show when there isnt one. I also prefer the heavy metal base ones. Its kinda in the catagory of not having a CDG reader for the puter systems. And the reason always is its too much trouble to have one.

Oh well just one more reason to NOT RETURN TO a given show.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

My air guitar got nicked at a gig once, I saw some lunatic playing it on a TV show a few weeks ago, I'm certain it was my one, same action & everything..
For some of the singers I have had , a mic stand could have been put to better use as a weapon

Stand twirling and mic swinging are among the cheesier antics performed by singers and can be potentially damaging to audience members', as well as to a venue. I use a mic stand as the mood suits me, and provide two pro quality "clutch" stands which are heavy and adjust height easily by clenching the release with your hand. These are awesome for karaoke as singer heights change with every song, however not so awesome when a drunken rockstar is swinging it about and activates the clutch. The once innocent mic stand becomes an ingenious ninja weapon. Even if these theatrics improve a singers performance (which I seriously doubt) they are risky both to your health and finances. My equipment is top quality and I work hard at mixing every song. That being said...

No mic or mic stand twirling
No heckling
No holding drinks over my board (5 foot martini perimeter)
No political soap box speech-making
and
No comedy routines

I offer mic stands for my singers, but they aren't allowed to swing them around.

I also offer Air Guitar lessons. $60/hour, you choose your style: Rock, Metal, Bluegrass, Classical or straight Acoustic, and you get to keep your Air Guitar after the lesson.

A couple shows in my area have stands and I personally appreciate it...I like having it available if I want it. At those shows, I've never seen someone dumb enough to swing the stand...I don't think I've even seen stand leaners, although now that I bought one for home use I may become one . The worst I've ever seen was twirling mics by the cords...and that made me cringe. I think it's usually the same few people doing it, and the KJ usually grabs it from them. I can't imagine how you stop a stand twirler! YIKES! Maybe start making announcements that anyone lifting the mic stand off the floor will no longer be allowed on the stage for the night...might work. If people can't respect your equipment though, you might have to find an alternative.

We got rid of the microphone stands back in year one. They are more of a hassle than anything.

I use stands at my shows more of a convienence thing. but with four different types of mic's tey are needed I have 2 condenser , 3dynamics, and 1 retro style. also i have my emcee mic on a stand so i don't have to handle it while running the show. also i can mic about anything with this set up . one night i miked one of those halloween talking skeletons. dave

That would be so great if someone came out with that...I know a few bands that would appreciate that too!! Imagine how much money someone could make on that idea.... I like the deposit idea that was mentioned earlier too...that would stop a lot of people in their tracks!!

I'm finding that when I sing (assuming that's what one can call it) I need something to grab onto, or hold onto.. Not sure why, but I do feel a need to grab onto some type of anchor. The heavier the weight of the base the better in this case... Too bad they don't make them out've lead... It'd be tougher to tip and drag around.. I have tripod bases, and have dumb-bells on all three legs (besides the dumbbell singing)... I suppose ankle weights or anything to weigh a stand down isn't a bad idea..IMHO, especially a boom arm that can go flying during the tougher notes !

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

That sounds like most guys.

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Since I got a mic stand at home, I've discovered I really like to grab onto it too...especially when I'm really into a powerful song. I wonder what makes people do that I'm not very familar with types of mic stands and their accessories, but I think you have a good idea...maybe a really heavy base coupled with free weights of some sort would work too (maybe those round ones with the hole in the middle would work).

I don't know what it is about that song, but it tends to break things. I have been through five (yes, FIVE!) mic stands so far this year. Two of those I can attribute to that SPECIFIC song. One of the other one's was Paradise City. Can't say that I get many people swinging them around like a bow staff, but they will constantly lossen and tighten the base. Eventually this wears on the threads, and it snaps off. Most of the time this happens when someone steps on the base and leans with the stand. SNAP!

This being said, I have to admit that I will always have mic stands at my shows. It gives the singer more options. They can play with other props, or go the rockstar route with the stand. Since we use wireless microphones, some people need something for their hands to be doing, since we are sans mic cable.

I have noticed, as some people have mentioned, that there is always someone who can't figure out how to put the mic back into the stand. This is usually followed by a loud thumping noise over my speakers!

Hi PirateMike - I'm not sure if this will help, but when I was having trouble with twist clutches on my mic stands breaking from to much use I swithed to buying Ultimate stands from Musician Friend (Guitar Center). Now I just bring them in once a year with the receipt and they replace them for FREE. So if a patron breaks your stand you just bring it in and they replace it - no questions asked and no cost to you.

I actually use the Ultimate tripod stands with the push and release clutch now. I've never had one snap off at the base, but the clutch does wear out.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

5 stands - wow? I have the tripods for over 10 years 7 nights a week & they get bounced, used as guitars, pulled down once even thrown down (he got booted) & these are still in great shape. I have found that the heavy round base stands tend to get loose & the threads strip out after time, these are what I used to use before going to the tripods.



THis is where a good compressor/limiter combo on the main outputs come in very handy.

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Hmmmm......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS6-b7CONDI

I like the round-base stands, because then I can sing just like Dean.

Well, at least I can rotate the stand around like he does.