Karaoke Forums

I've been gigging as a mobile DJ for close to 30 years and have probably only had equipment failure (where the music went out) 3 times before I got it going again. It usually took less than 10 minutes. Not too bad for the thousands of shows I've done.

As a KJ, there's an added layer asking for trouble...video! And last night, my RF modulator that feeds the bar's big screen video (their remote hookup is via a coaxial cable) decides to short out. I have spare mics and cables and power supplies, but who would think the RF video box would suddenly short out?

I kept the music going, but all the singers had to wait about a half hour as I had to unscrew panels in my console trying to fix it. Since it was intermittent, I tried switching out the power supply thinking that was it.

Anyway, I ended up pulling down one of the flat screen TV's from over the bar and sat it on the floor of the stage tilted up 45 degrees. No one left and the show went on! (Bar said they had a ring far above average for the night!)

During that half hour I had to put the show on hold, people were relatively patient and a few offered to help. But needless to say, I was working up a feverish sweat and pretty freaked out trying to get video back up ASAP.

How about you? Has either your video or audio gone out for some reason during a show? How long was it out and what did you do?

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[font=Lucida Console]"Sing for the day, sing for the moment, sing for the time of your life!"[/font]

The WORST experience I've had was the night my power conditioner went out. Apparently, at the end of my previous show I'd pulled the plug too hard and it had unhooked from the inside!

Fortunately, this bar has bands play there and I found a regular multiplug adaptor to plug my stuff into, but if you want proof that the conditioner works, listen to your system one time without it.... yuck.

While this only took me ten minutes to resolve, the sinking feeling I got when I hit the switch and NOTHING came on was awful.

The next day, I pulled the thing out of my rack and discovered that the modular connection on the inside had come undone. An easy fix! I reinforced the plug with duct tape on the inside so I could never pull through again!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

A two unit rck mount takes a 90 degree riser. The first year I was using it I had a $500 boat club gig outside at night. In the aft was DJ. When a video board is hal way out during bootup it fries. Yup I lost $250. Since I have had a laptop backup and only needed it a couple of times. In the old DFX12 mixer I had a couple of faders go bad and replaced them . This over about a ten year period. 40 dozen mic cords replaced. When using a disc player I had to clean the optics every 2 or 3 months due to smoking. Each has its advantages but I would never go back to discs.

I use a JBL EON10 G2 for a monitor and I have used it for main in a pinch. Other than the mixer I am pretty well backed up with everything. When you are out of town doing a $500 wedding thats when the pressure is on..

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...Never tried the power conditioner, I'd like to hear the difference....MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

Here's the why:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-power-conditioner.htm

and here is a very nice one with a light module and level indicators:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--FURPLPLUSII

highly recommended!!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Thanks for the links! Any thoughts from the rest of the experts here and are they widely used? I have never really heard of a need for such a animal before.

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

First, video and audio: I have so many inputs and outputs, I can usually solve either problem simply by moving a plug.

BUT, if you relly want a sinkinging feeling, an oft overlooked item- the tray open/close button on the player.

Over the years twice I have pushed the button and it just sank into the panel- useless. If it weren't for backup players that one button would end the show. No moving part is used like that.

I've gotten so paranoid about it I now install a second button ( a heavy duty Marquardt slap button) in the top of all units.

As for Power Conditioners: Absolutely. Especially if you do shows for private venues, and places like Elks Clubs, and other halls, and a neccesity if working outside off of a generater. The thing is, you have to see specs before you buy.

Many so-called "power conditioners" are nothing more than surge protectors made with a couple of 25 cent varistors. The top conditioners maintain voltage ( evening out both surges and drops, and bringing the voltage on even if the source is high or low), frequency, will filter transients and ripple, and minimize power harmonics. The very best will include a UPS for controlled shutdown during a blackout.

A good one will not only make you sound better, more importantly will protect your equipment.

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" Disc based and loving it..."

I dunno about the impact of line conditioners in the environment I work in. A majority of the noise we get comes from EMI off neon or florescent lights and not from the plug we use in the wall. All the cable laid out are nothing but big antennas to collect it all and let the equipment sort it out.

Now I do know that line conditioners work significant magic in the audio studios at my office. We have three audio content creators who work in a primarily digital environment that benefits from the use of the conditioner. This isn't a live sound application and it's not even recording in the traditional sense. The cleanliness of the sound is an issue to ensure maximum compression can be attained with as little loss as possible. We make games for the 360 and PS3 and the specific compression schemes needed work best with sound as pure as possible.

We use the Furman line at the office and the audio director has been after me to get one for my rig telling me it will clean things up nicely. I'm inclined to go that route because we had a lightning strike not too long ago that wiped out part of the office grid and the only equipment to survive entirely intact were the 3 audio setups.

Might not make better sound for our application but it's cheap insurance against bad power.

Probably the worst thing that's happened to me as a karaoke host was back when I was disc based. A female bartender stepped on one of my players hanging up Halloween decorations around the stage. And then... she didn't call me about it so I could take care of it before karaoke night. I discovered it a half hour before we start.

I don't lose my cool often, but I was so mad at her. I blew up right in her face. And she wasn't trying to make the stage look good for karaoke. There was a band playing Halloween night and she knew one of the members. It was for them.

This bartender is gone now (for theft) but as a karaoke host I had other issues with her. I used to pin song slips with unique messages on the back stage wall, and she would take down ones she thought were offensive. In particular, one of my best female singers would sometimes insert highly suggestive and creative messages to me in between her song selections and one night I noticed they were all gone.

But that's OK I guess she's written me some more. Love ya ____!

edit: On second thought I think I'd better blank out her name.

And yeah diafel I understand what you are sayin' but it's impossible for me to take it all home unless I want to bring my van and hang out in there an extra hour. But I'm much more careful about packing up the more delicate pieces of gear after that.

Bill, something like that would make me lose my mind! Yer another reason for me to make sure all my gear comes home with me EVERY single night!

Speaking of being broke. I was subbing for my friend at a local bar. I have done this gig many a times, and a regular attending for years.

Saturday night, I was finishing up for the night with a song to close out the night. All of sudden, they power went out. I mean the entire bar and restaurant. The crowd was in the dark for a few minutes until they restored power. Of course, I never finished the song.

It was weird.

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