Karaoke Forums

But everyone, in my opinion, notices how well they hear themselves because they sing better. When I first started out, I found that there were a couple of places I seemed to do better at than other places. Slowly I realized they had one thing in common -- a monitor speaker. I also noticed that the low notes I sing (I am a bass-baritone) were audible and had a certain timbre and presence that other places didn't. As I learned what the differences in mics were (here, mostly) I discovered these two places had Sennheiser 835 and Shure SM58 mics.

Going back to those hosts now on occasion, I know they don't have the greatest sound. One has a halfway blown speaker, and the other is EQed all wrong. But I can still hear myself well and sing my best.

I can handle not hearing very well now, because I know what is happening. And I can handle the crappy mics, because I know not to sing "Set 'em Up Joe" or "Too Gone Too Long" at them. But it still is a lot more pleasant to sing where I can hear. And be heard.

So I guess I am saying most singers can tell the difference more than you think they can. Most of the really successful shows and hosts I have seen have good equipment. Chicken? Or Egg? I don't know, but that is my observation after having seen hundreds of different karaoke shows.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Bruce said something? I put him on my iggy list long ago.

dfwsunking stated that he hasn't hosted yet, so what you posted above may be very valid points, they don't really apply to his situation. His situation is getting his foot in the door. The rest (what you posted) comes with practice and experience. It doesn't all come down to how you market yourself either (no matter how good you are at doing this). It's comes down to whether you can "Put up or Shut up" after you've sold yourself.

It has been a long time since I have had a singer try to tell me or my hosts how to run the system. It does not happen nor do I allow it. 98% are intimidated by the quality and talent of my singers. No brag just fact...

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APPARENTLY NOT! Happy to see I have a few fanatical fans.

I'm curious... And I'm not trying to be facitious here.... How do you not "allow it." What I mean is, you can't prevent a Singer from approaching you with various demands on how they want to sound, but you can tell them (like others have said) to just Sing and let you worry about the sound. Is that what you meant by not allowing it?


When I go out, I don't usually tell the KJ what adjustments to make when I sing. I am usually OK with whatever settings they have. Also, I'm not really too electronically savy, so beyond music or mic volume, I wouldn't know what else to specify. There are 1 or 2 minor exceptions to my not telling a KJ how to set me up....
1. When I sing from my version of "MOTN" (PS 1054, track 10), I will write on the song slip that the music needs a little more volume (because I know it was recorded very low).
2. When I see that a KJ likes to run his mics on a very loud volume for everyone, if I put up a song that requires me to belt, I will suggest to the KJ that he might want to turn me down a little (because I know I can be loud... I have even held some mics at arms length and belted out to the point of feedback on rare occasion).

Actually, there was one show that I recently went to, where the KJs (co-hosts) were running their REVERB at too high of a level. Some people have stopped going to their show because of this. Since the KJ operating the machine knew me, she respected my request to turn the reverb down when I sang. I just reminded her (before I started) that she has heard me sing at other places, and she knows how loud I can get.

Most KJ think that it is their KJ'ing skill that attract customers, and equipment is less important. Have anyone try KJ'ing without any equipment? You can't, but you can still have a karaoke party without a KJ.
And don't forget, there are thousand of karaoke private rooms that run without KJ.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Not 100% on topic, but not 100% off topic either...

I do a lot of DJing as well as karaoke hosting. I know my background in this wasn't always "professional" so to speak. I didn't sart with the best gear, but it always sounded fine. But I was basically a glorified hobbyist.

But I could mix. I could beatmatch, crossfade, perfectly align a mix. I have good mic skills and can get a crowd pumping. I had a great selection of music, as I have always had varied tastes.

Now I am professional, I don't look back and cringe - I look back and see that despite the equipment I actually did a really good job, and gave everyone a good time.

FAST FORWARD:

This weekend I was on a stag party in Edinburgh. We went to a bar where the DJ had a simple 2cd+mixer setup. His power cable had been taped to the wall and plugged into a socket about 15ft away. He was setup right in the way and the cable was a trip hazard, held down by bits of duct tape.

The system sounded terrible. And the "lightshow" was ONE moonflower sat on a table that was also holding his CD/mixer. And a pint of lager.

All of the above is a collection of sins in my mind. The venue had a sign up with this guys photo, saying "Every Saturday" or such, so he certainly wasn't new. But his demeanor, attitude, way he had setup and so on showed he was incompetant.

I asked for a song "Keep On Movin'" by Five. You US guys probably don't know it, but voer here - wherever I play (London, Birmingham, Manchester, heck even the odd DJ gig abroad) it gets a crowd up. It's cheezy but a "party pleaser".

"I don't have any Five" (Five were a boyband with 3 top 10 albums and about 3 number 1 singles).
"None?"
"No"
"But that's a real anthem?"
"Maybe where you're from pal. Get lost"

WTF? A DJ telling someone to get lost for requesting a song that not only was one the top selling band's album, but also their greatest hits, and pretty much every major compilation that year, as well as all the "101 party hits" type albums!

So then I listened to his selection... Jumping from genre to genre all over the place, no real rhyme or reason for one song after the next. Moreover, he at least twice just let a CD go from one track to the next. Not a pre-mix, but a standard "Now 71" type off the shelf CD. With the 4 second gap!!!

Top it all off, towards the end of the night, he got a mic out and just started singing along to the CD. Not like karaoke, just him randomly singing.

At the start of th night, my friends were like "Dude, 99% of the people in here don't care. You care cos you'er a DJ, let it go", but by the end, pretty much everyone was "WTF is with this?"

It annoys me because I spend a lot of money and moreover time on getting my gear, selection, mixing, ambiance, lighting, etc right. And then some idiot like this feels he can call himself a DJ? Pfffft!

Cueball again a communications problem. If somebody is singing Doors and and says gimme a little extra verb there is no problem. But if a singer is standing there with the mic next his belly button and somebody says turn the mic up I will tell them go teach him how to use a flippin mic. I take pride in knowing my regs and adjusting EQ or whatever. When I have time I am the old sound man but even with average settings my system is above average.

That is another reason I am shying away from a stage monitor. Singers complain about how they sound without hearing FOH.

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The boyfriend has a version of Mack the Knife that starts off quietly and builds to a huge crescendo. He always warns the KJ about it and advises them not to turn it up in the beginning. He always gets a "ummm." Then the song starts off light, the KJ cranks it up, heads for the bathroom, mid-song the volume doubles, people are holding their ears......happens every time.

You can use any exception to disprove any rule if you so like. Of course, with that understanding, there aren't any rules... just exceptions.

As to Karaoke rooms.... I was at one... It's a whole different atmosphere. But... the one ingredient that remains is the comradarie. It doesn't appear that people rent rooms by themselves.... they do so in groups. And they have different size rooms that rent for different prices.

So, perhaps, karaoke is not about the equipment....and is not about the KJ.... but MOSTLY is about good friends and good times?

And of course... if it were in fact about the equipment and the KJ... no one would purchase karaoke players for home use, other than people who have to practice before they go out to the REAL KARAOKE SHOW!

For those that want how to learn EFX listen to Statue Of A Fool. Start off with no EFX and at the end EFX are at max. Also the mic gain is increased at the right intervals Listen to the original THe EFX applied are plate with verbs delayed by an exact amount and the dlay is reduced gradually. Also chorus is is used sparingly at the beginning but max at the end with more vocals. It can be done live with practice.

statue

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I'm beginning to regret having started this post in the first place. Contrary to what some of you may believe, I'm not some spoiled pompous (@$%&#!) who just expects the planets to align and the world to fall at my feet simply by virtue of me acquiring my gear and wanting to be a karaoke DJ.
What I do expect is if someone else wants the same opportunity I'm pursuing he should get in line just like I did and talk to the manager and not randomly bust out karaoke when he was only hired to DJ. My irritation is probably a mute point anyway since as evidenced by the lack of participation, the bartender's dislike over his ploy, and most importantly the fact the manager wasn't even there, he's going to have to go the proper route if he wants to try it again.
I know I don't have a gig yet but I still believe that once I'm given that opportunity, I will walk the walk, and be just as good and hopefully better in terms of entertainment factor, sound quality, and crowd attraction that of many of the other karaoke shows I've seen around here. Call it arrogant if you want. Of course there's no way of knowing for sure until I actually start and I realize that too but I expect my commitment and charisma to carry me through.
For the people who know me personally (none here), they know I have the charisma, the personality and intelligence to make it work which is why they encouraged me to embark on this even before I got my gear. What they also recognize is I intend to bring things to the show that other KJ's around here don't. I'm confident they'll be quite positive because I've done them before just as part of my regular karaoke performances and everyone enjoys them. I can take the same fun things and incorporate them into the show and make it that much better. There's a bar in Dallas where the bartender buys me a beer just to hear me sing At a Medium Pace by Adam Sandler. At another bar, the KJ frequently hounds me to come participate because he recognizes how much the audience enjoys me as well and how much better the show is as a result. Truth is, I used to hate karaoke when I was introduced to it in Taiwan in '92. My epiphany came when two years ago, a woman flashed me when I was goaded into singing Do ya think I'm sexy by Rod Stewart.
I stepped into this venture totally committed, and have no intentions of half-assing anything. I don't rely on one strong suit to cover some perceived deficiency either. At the end of the day it's really marketing and I intend to market the hell out of what I do.
With regards to my request to the karaoke DJ, the changes I requested were all on the mixer which I happen to have the same one. I knew before I even approached him he was using the cathedral reverb. Changing it to medium hall is just a slight turn one or two clicks to the left, nothing more, all very easy to configure and set back. Does anywhere here really think cathedral reverb is good for a fast-paced hard-rock song anyway? I think a good KJ is constantly making adjustments rather than setting once and walk away. He just have just as easily have pretended to make the adjustments as well but feel free to pin me as the (@$%&#!)...
A collective thanks for the encouragement, criticism, and constructive advice. I intend to use all three.

Don't regret having started this thread. It is important to fully understand where others are coming from - makes it easy in the future to weed through the posts and find those with whom you share a common ethic. Some you can just skip right over and you can save yourself a lot of time.

It sounds like you'll do just fine - it is a constant struggle in this business to bring the bar back up to where it should be. Like many other things in this world now, the quality has dropped and there has been some sort of 'dumbing down' of the population that let's it all be okay. It isn't, and like you I struggle with attaining a quality that resets the height of the bar. Why not have something really good? We just have to persevere and when we get the opportunity, we need to be ready to prove our point.

Come to Greeley. You are hired. Sometimes I am brass and blunt but that comes with old age. Good luck on your venture and I wish you all the best. You will find most here are willing to share their knowledge and advise. ollie...

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You may not like the fact that we called you on it... but the moment you made such specific instructions on a similar system, I think it's pretty brash.

And for someone that just joined the site, you're quick to take offense.

On this site, you state something publicly, you're GOING to get some people that agree with you, disagree with you, agree to disagree, and you're going to get statements that may make you glow with pride, or turn beet red with irritation.

Sorry your first experience on here was so brutal. Many people here don't bite. Some nibble a bit, but smack 'em on the nose with a rolled up newspaper!

Thanks. My fifth grade teacher Gretchen Truesdell is originally from Greeley and from what I've just determined teaches in Kersey now. I'm going to have to shoot her an email. Anyway, I look forward to tapping into your sound engineering knowledge as I'm sure that once I get rolling I will be making some adjustments myself.

I have forgotten many things but Lonnie and others here will give you sound advise. An engineer will tend to make a big project out of a simple task when all is need is some logical practical experience..

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You're from my area. Is the host's name Al? He just had to do the same.....

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

No. His name is Dave. I guess it's becoming a more of a problem than the digital KJ's around here are willing to admit.