Karaoke Forums

Hi there,
I am a newbie to the site and I'm hoping someone has some good advice or can steer me in the right direction. I'm having a wedding in August in a remote area, and I would like to rent a machine for some low-key entertainment.

Does anyone know anything about "Nationwide Karaoke"? They have a low-cost midi machine (which I'm not interested in), and an "elite" machine that has songs pre-loaded in it. That one sounds good because it seems like no one would have to man cds the whole time.

Has anyone had any experience with this company?
Thanks!

You probably won't find many who've had rental experience, as this community is mainly made up of professional karaoke hosts who own their own music libraries and sound gear.

It doesn't sound like you get amplification, just the music, a deck and 2 microphones to plug into your own home stereo. Hopefully they will send you all the right cables.

If you have a karaoke host playing at a bar in your town, you might ask what they would charge to do a private party. It'll probably be more than $69, but that way you can be a guest, know that the sound gear will be adequate, not have to mess with hooking it up, and probably have more than 1000 songs.

Good luck!

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

DangerousDan is giving very sound advice. I was a wedding photographer for most of the 80s. It's your wedding, it will not be perfect but it deserves to be special. I vote for having a pro do it unless your budget just won't allow it.

One budget saving possibility is that your friends or relatives that sing might do it for you as a favor if they have suitable equipment. They also may know someone that they can recommend to do it within your budget. I have attended wonderful weddings that had freinds and relatives doing special money saving things for the bride and groom. Examples: Aunts that decorate the church, sisters and freinds that cook food and act as caters, brothers that make the video, cousins that shoot the pictures, stepmothers that take over as directors, even the uncle that has a classic car to drive the bride and groom to the airport. Will some of these people do less that a professional job, Yes of course. I think the wedding bussiness is driven by those who want perfection in a very imperfect world. If you are not bridezilla and funds are limited, some friends and family with special talents and willing to help in even a few areas can be a great budget saver. Sometimes all you have to do in this world is ask. Also don't forget to tap the grooms freinds and family.

Jim_n_TN

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Don't burn your old house before you build a new one.

Note---20 years later, will you still be watching a video of someone trying to get the machine to play? Check on line, I bet you can find someone to host for you. Expect to pay $400 or more but you never know.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I think she wanted to know, if anyone is familiar with the company.....for me the answer is "no"
what resources do you have available......pa system.....two channel stereo, "non' surround sound speakers......TV?
I've used similiar midi-file systems, and for $49 delivered, with 7 to 9 thousand titles included.......I'd do it......"sounds too good to be true", and I'd wonder if you'd get your $200 deposit back.
sure midi isn't as good as regular cdg or mp3+G, and the words might not quite be right, but it's still very fun, especially if most people there, aren't karaoke fanatics.......
"sounds too good to be true for 49 bucks."
somebody has to man the controls, and it will take some working with the unit(practice) to make it (the fun) happen from start to finish
what's your budget for music/entertainment, and how much room do you have?

Well, I've been to weddings where the party was nothing more than an iPod hooked up to a cheap stereo set up. Everyone griped about the music, no volume, crappy sound out of a couple of seven inch speakers. A karaoke set up like that would be ten times worse. Do yourself a favor (and you guests) and hire a professional KJ.

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"Anything worth doing, is worth OVERDOING"... - Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

I understood what she wanted Johnny. I also understand I don't want to encourage her to go for this machine,,, as others have stated, chances are it will be a bad experience and weddings and receptions are not the place for a bad experience.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Thank you guys so much for your feedback.
I think I'm going to see if I can find someone local who can host, and as a backup, I may order this machine ahead of time and see what it is really like.

I need it for the "after-party" for my wedding, so it isn't going to be a part of the main festivities and I think you guys are 100% right that I want my guests to have a good time and I don't want to have to watch the controls the whole night.

The three things I thought this system had going for it were:

1) The price
2) The venue has a "performance space" for the after-party that a lot of professional bands play, so I think the sound system to hook this into is probably pretty good.
3) My friends and I have spent a lot of time in those private karaoke rooms that you rent for a few hours, so most of them have some experience running a simple karaoke system.

Thanks again for your advice!

1. As I said.....be leary of the price + deposit.......you may end up buying the machine
2. Being able to hook up to the house system is great, but someone, willing to "work", that knows how to run the house equiptment is vital.
3. In my experience, karaoke doesn't work well at weddings.....even a skilled kj can only get in about 15 songs per hour....do the math.......stick to "dancing", and like you said....karaoke for the "after party".......just my opinion
4. A dj(kj) usually will not charge much more to add karaoke, and he should give you a better price, if he doesn't have to set up most of his own equiptment.
5. People don't hesitate to pay thousands for photography, but balk at paying 800 bucks for the music. Look at the equiptment a dj(kj) hauls in compared to a photographer......there's more preparation for the music at your wedding than meets the eye. People remember the food, drink, and music, but to most, the photographer will be an annoyance..... ...he'll still cost you 4 to 1 over the music......just my opinions, just trying to help, and yes I recommend a professional for the entertainment......but it seemed you were bent on doing this yourself...whatever your reasons.... ....best of luck............I'm outta her.....

Went to site to check it out. Looks like they are using the magicmike system which will disapoint you completely. I say find someone you can afford or a friend who can do it as a wedding gift or something like that.

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

O gawd! i just went to the site for nationwide and does that stuff suck. High Quality MIDI files? Give me a break. Use your home stereo? NOT!!! You will overpower your speakers. They cannot handle vocal feed and music. Then they say "amplifier" is just another word for "powered speaker"? WOW. I listened to the video supposedly done at a Meijers store....craaaaaaaptacular! BTW, where are you at tallulahs? Maybe if we are near each other, I have some basic equipment that will sound better.

Yeah..after really considering your advice, I think I found a local kj in Upstate NY who we will hire. It really isn't worth having the party fizzle out due to a bad system, and I started to worry about getting my deposit back.

So once again, thank you so much for the advice.

Good luck, if he is nearby, check out one of his shows. I'd do it for you but the gas money would kill you!

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

I do parties with 14,000 songs and cd recordings for 150.00 flat rate in southern california. 4hours. just to give you an example. Sterling

Wow that's pretty cheap, I start my rates at $400 & work up from there depending on different variables involved.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

$250 here. Want the laser light and fog? $50 more. 4 hours then overtime.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

so how much for New York?......