Karaoke Forums

There is a neighborhood bar that I love to go to on Friday nights, for karaoke. The KJ is a nice dude with a terrible system. He still uses CDs and his book lists "Achy Breaky Heart" under the "New Releases" section. His equipment sucks, lots of times he can't find the song you've requested, his rotation system is usuallly whacked because the fans and/or AC blows the little request papers all over the place. Last week, I requested Irreplaceable by Beyonce, but he couldn't find that disc, so he subbed a weird country version without telling me first!!! I went through with it, feeling like an idiot. I could go on, but you get the idea.

This is the only bar that is close to my home that has karaoke, and I love the people there- bartenders and customers. Don't want to switch bars- that is not an option.

Don't want to complain against the KJ to the bar owner, either. He is a really nice guy. I have told him that maybe he could get a new computerized system (he is kind of an older dude, and probably stuck technologically speaking) and that the skipping songs/jumbled lyrics on the screen is a bummer. He says he is aware of the bad discs and will get a laptop "soon", lots of excuses about the new CDs were shipped that way.

What to do??? Can I burn my own CDs somehow- I need the lyrics, cuz I am not a good singer!!! Is there a way to get a CD with lyrics and then just hand it to him?

I really love to sing karaoke and want to find a solution.... please help!!!

Just buy your own discs.

www.karaoke.com
www.prosing.com
www.doowop.com
www.phonglekaraoke.com

to name a few.
Custom discs
www.mykaraokecdg.com.au/customer/home.php
www.selectatrack.com
http://www.chartbusterkaraoke.com/default5.aspx

just for a couple more. There are tons of places to get karaoke discs, even places like WalMart, K-Mart & Target. That Beyonce songs I see is available at almost every karaoke store i've looked at so he should have had NO trouble finding it. It's also been released by MOST manufacturers.
As far as his aging computer, cd's don't typically come 'shipped' with graphic garbles, it's usullay due to bad 'copies' of good discs or bad illegal downloaded files. Sounds like he's just blowing smoke & doesn't want to get anything new.

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It could also be that he has been using the discs he has regularly since the stone age without cleaning them and/or without cleaning his player. A lot of gunk can accumulate, particularly in a smokey bar environment.

Perhaps the discs need a good cleaning. If they are deeply scratched, they may even need polishing to reduce the scratches.

Or perhaps he needs to clean the laser on his player.

man, this helps me a lot. I wasn't sure what kind of disc to get (so that the lyrics would show up on the tv monitor for the singer). I hope he won't be offended by me bringing my own stuff.

My friends may laugh at me, though, because I am a terrible singer and now I'm gonna look like I am trying to be all that. ... oh well!

Get your own CDGs (Yes, WalMart is a great source right off the bat). Make sure you are buying discs that are clearly marked CD+G or something like that. Then take them home and mark them legibly with a sharpie with your name and phone number. Carry them in individual "envelopes" and hand them to him in that...not loose. Hopefully he will treat your CDGs well and not scratch them.

There are TONS of places to get your own music and it seems like for now that may be your only solution. Sorry to hear that your choices are limited as far as venues. Some owners don't realize the potential revenue generating power of a really good show. Are you in an area where this guy has no competition?

If it will maximize your enjoyment, don't worry about what your friends think. It's always more fun to sing the songs you really want to sing, regardless of your ability.

Also, if he is a good guy and knows his selection isn't great, he should be more than happy to let you bring your own.

First off welcome to the boards.

Secondly bringing in your own discs won't insult him I feel that it just adds flavor to the audience and even encourages the KJ to get the new songs. A KJ without a computer? That is now old school compared to the competition.

And third I see youre TX what part I'm in Austin.

Although I run off a computer, I don't see it as a negative if he's running off of discs. Some people are not tech-savy. Others are just comfortable doing it the way they've always done. For whatever reason, I don't really think it's fair to knock him for using discs.
having ssaid that, the loss of slips IS a huge negative.
If he's losing slips due to the wind from fans etc, why don't you suggest that he use a ruler or something similar as a paperweight? I sometimes have had to do that in venues for the same reasons. The ruler prevents the slips from blowing away.
And like the others, I suggest you ignore what your friends think and go ahead and buy your own discs. You'll be able to practice at home as well.
While your friends are all stuck singing songs they don't really want to sing, you'll be ahead of the back having a blast and singing what you want!

When you have your own discs to practice with at home, you will probably get better as a singer. Many KJs understand about that and know that people will bring their own version of a song that may even be in their books because many people find it easier to sing with a familiar version.

And before you know it, your friends will start buying/bringing their own discs with them to this show too.

Just one thing, if your own discs start to show garbled word-swipes on his machine, then insist that he get his machine cleaned before he ruins your discs.

Ouch! I guess you steped all over my toes being that i one of those "old School KJs" like it's a bad thing. And I betcha' I can run a show as fast as you. My singers never have to wait. Nothing against a computer but until all the laws are squared away I'm good where I am.

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No venue to big or too small. From your den to the local club or event, we have the music most requested. Great sounding system!

I still use just cdg's. I bought a new spanish disk from Walmart. When the ladies started singing the song, to my dismay the wors were carbled partway through the song. So it does happen with new cdg's. I have too much invested right now to switch to computer. I'd rather be "old school", also.

That's a matter of a dirty laser or one that's going bad more often than not.

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I've had kj's handle my discs with gloves ( a female kj that wore white gloves), and I've had another kj scatter them across the cdg player. It sounds like the only way you will get some variety, though, is to add it yourself.

When I give the kj a cdg now, I usually give it to them in a plastic sleeve with the hopes they'll return it to that sleeve when the song is over.

We buy cheap cases and if a customer hands us a naked disc we put it in a case and give the disc back to them that way.

I still run my show with CDGs. I have a single tray player, I just have the next disc out ready for the next singer. It works ok for me so far. I bought Compuhost and I can see how much better running a computer would be, I just haven't had the time to do it yet.

The other downside is I've had to replace a couple of discs due to wear or damage, that couldn't happen if I were running from a computer.

I'll continue to run shows off of cdg's from now until whenever. I use a triple tray and always have songs ready for the next singer also.

I'd venture to say that the reason to switch to computer isn't about how fast the next singer comes up at all; it is a convenience factor for the host. And yes, you can't break discs if you aren't using them. You do have to occasionally reload a disc but all in all it is a convenience thing for me...and a smaller footprint, which is very important for some of us.

Moved to the other thread

If scratches on one song on two discs in a library of 1,400+ discs, collected over 18 years is losing a library, then I guess we're out of business. .

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