Karaoke Forums

Had to share the TIME this Sunday again with a "live band". I've been hosting Karaoke on the outside Patio for the last few weeks starting at 4pm until ?.
This week they also had a 6 piece band set up playing classic and southern rock.
The patio was JAM PACKED due to the bands following. I think the band was TRULY impressed with the sound and most of the singers that sang while they took their breaks ( I know not the Ideal Karaoke show ).

I don't undersatnd why KARAOKE gets a bad rap sometime -- I agree their is nothing like the EXCITEMENT of a LIVE band and the sound is hard to duplicate with even the best Karaoke systems. ( not the quality of the sound but the FEEL )

I think the band being there added to the KARAOKE if that makes sense...seems like many of the usual singers (plus some in the bands following) had some of that EXCITMENT to sing when the band took their breaks.....

funny note--- After the band finished and packed up they hung out on the patio for awhile -- due to SOUND ordinaces Karaoke was OVER and I played some LOW KEY music. The lead singer of the band came up and BEGGED to sing Sweet Home Alabama via Karaoke ( just to impress some girl )

Lonnie / Letitrip
Why do some bands not have SOUND GUYS ???? -- This bands sound was horrible
overpowering Guitar, muddy and hardly audible vocals and too much effects.
The musians themselves I'm sure were GREAT but they needed someone to mix the sound. Love KARAOKE !!!

We have done many benefits and was sandwiched in between 3-6 piece bands. Most bands do not look down on karaoke, I have had several listen, look at my rack and sing on my system.

They too have their smaller setups with less watts for smaller bars. Last weekend one of my old buddies offered me the use of his 3000 watt system if I needed it. Other than wattage we can compete with most bands. One of my friends had open mic on Sun afts and band members would play solos and actually audition folks for their band.

I have all the local bands on myspace page and even some out of state. The gap between karaoke, DJ's and bands is not as big as you think and gets smaller all the time. We are entertainers and share common goals and interests.

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I agree - I don't think the BAND themselves gives karaoke a bad rapp..just the masses who think ALL karaoke singers are bad .

Example - Yesterday during the 1st break a singers gets up and sings - Can't You See by Marshall Tucker (Sound Choice) which is a great version. The singer did a great job and overall sounded AWESOME. mediocre response from the crowd.
During the 2nd set the band does the same song. As previously stated overall sound from the band was MUDDY and the 2nd set they over compensated for the loud guitar and now you could hardly hear it. BUT THE CROWD GOES CRAZY

Go figure

this week I Did karaoke at our county fair (5 shows 5 days). I also had a solo banjo player , 4 rock bands doing songs from the 50s to modern country, and a 3 piece bluegrass band. all were really impressed with my 5000 watt system.none acted like karaoke wasn't good enough ect.

some bands "think" they are good enough to know what the sound is like. few are.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

The only difference between a band singer and a karaoke singer is that, one get paid to sing and the other pay to sing.

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Yes, the sound guy thing is an issue. I've heard what may be great bands but lead was screaming loud with no other sound but grinding dirty sound, bass was overpowering, bass drum wasn't mic'd.... I'm not sure why people get so excited by that kind of sound but they seem to. (Band followers are a loyal bunch and their love and respect for the players often overshadows their knowledge of music and sound, I guess). Hubby's band has a HUGE system for large venues and a smaller, more compact one for small venues (where the walls would be pushed down by the bigger system). Don't usually have the sound guy accompany to the small shows because I'm there and dial them in, but sound guy does a fantastic job for them.

This weekend they played with Sublime on Friday night - S guys come in all full of self-importance, looking down on everybody else until first song by hubby's band, and the bass player for S comes running out to the FOH and stands there and grooves, raving about hubby's band. Kind of like bands and karaoke, I guess - lots of time band people have been blown away by karaoke singers -- in fact, at times there is no comparison between the two - unless band dudes are leads, they can't keep up with the chops of some of our singers.

Karen how many watts does his band run in a smaller venue, say 100-125 seating cap?

Sub also?

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I can't count the number of times people have been at my show to audition singers for their band.

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"Don't worry. It will feel better when it quits hurtin."

Lot's of bands simply can't afford sound guys.

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You know, I really have no idea. I'd have to ask. When I don't have to move equipment, run any cords, etc., but only have to do a sound check and set levels, I really don't pay attention. My bad!

I guess it's about 2500 watts, no subs. These are small local bars...don't do them anymore, or at least it's been a while. But anytime it matters, sound dude and big system are put in place.

It's all in how you look at it. My last band the sound guy got an equal split of whatever we made. As far as we were concerned, he was as much of a member of the band as the instrumentalists, and expected to be at all practices and gigs to help setup and run the PA.

When you work it that way, how can you NOT afford a sound guy. The band sound benefits even if it's a coffehouse gig with a room the size of a closet.

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When a band of 5 are only making $500 for the night, that doesn't leave much to the sound guy - who often needs to bring in the PA of his own. I know I only worked with one band that actually owned their own PA. I get $200 minimum to run sound flat rate - more depending whether I needed more equipment than I own.

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For the small bar gigs that hubby did in the past, we wouldn't bring the sound guy out...but all of us are versed in sound and since I know all the music, who is soloing, etc., etc., I can sit in and do the job, quite handily I guess. However, yes, when you're out doing a big show, it is vitally important to have a good sound guy. My husband's band has an EXCELLENT sound guy, has been in the biz for years, and he always gets paid and paid well because he makes them sound amazingly good. We often rent him out to other bands who may be playing on the same bill.

It's kind of like the solid gold Cadillac on the top of Mt. Everest to me - if you have a great band but no sound tech to complement it, you'll never win people over with your shows.

Thats' what I was thinking. When I was in a band we always had a sound person. At the time I knew nothing about their importance. It bothered me part of my money went to him. Now I'm thinking we should have given him a raise.



Bands and Karaoke:

My experience with doing a gig with a band is different. I have a good relationship with the bands that play at the bar. They even come in time to time to sing a song. The problem lies with having karaoke and a band on the same night. The band has their crowd I have mine. The people that come to hear the band don't want karaoke and the karaoke people don't want a band, so the bar is split into 2 groups that resent one another being there.

Now if the band is outside and I'm inside and we can both do our thing all night without having to stop for the other to play it's okay.

I've run into band singers who think they're to good for karaoke. They are all high and mighty until they hear some of the talent that sings. Then they try to sing and get as much applause if not less. A new respect is found.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

The sad truth is, with a lot of bands, you have 4-5 really good instrumentalists, and a singer who is "so so". It's that way with many bluegrass bands, it's all about the music being played, not the singer.

So yeah, I would think many band singers would not shine at karaoke as much as they'd think they would.

I dunno, I'm kinda funny about the karaoke vs. bands thing. Some people may think this a wierd statement, but I don't like to tell band people "oh yeah, I karaoke"... recently, while at an open mic night where I was playing guitar and singing, my sister told a group of people "She does karaoke a lot too"... and I was jabbing her in the ribs with my elbow to get her to shut up. It embarrased me. My brother did the same thing, playing at a park 2 weekends ago.. and I finally told them, I like to keep the two sides seperate from the other and not advertise that "Charmin likes to karaoke".

Is that..... dumb, or what? Cause I love to karaoke, always will.

... women! Never could figure them out...

Back to the topic.... we have a local place that is karaoke some nights, bands other nights..... I can't even IMAGINE on the same night, I don't think that would go over well. But maybe, who knows?

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Lot's of bands can't afford NOT to have a sound man. sorry couldn't resist.

On a serious note, I personally won't play in a band that doesn't have a sound tech. I own all the PA and lighting and I pay a sound tech a 1/2 cut to mix for us, which seems fair as I do the setup and dial things in, the sound tech basically just has to play "fader jockey" and hit the FX cue's.

On a side note, I have a friend who is an avid Karaoke person and rarely misses an opportunity to sing. A few years ago I let him come up and actually sing a song with the band, he did alright, ( he seemed a little perplexed when the harmonies came in)but to this day he thanks me and tells me how exciting it was to perform with the band and how he could feel the energy. (I told him that it wasn't energy he felt, that was a full stack Marshall.)

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

Lonman, my husband's band owns all their own equipment - some of it is my karaoke castoffs (like when I switched to active speakers - amps and speakers and subs are now part of the band equipment)....We have a 14-foot trailer and all the equipment is in it.

I do kind of resent that the sound guy gets paid the bull's share even from the small gigs but we made a pact when we started off on this journey that the drummer and we wouldn't expect anything until the money started rolling in -- and it has, with the addition of an amazing manager. So sooner or later I'll get my share for buying and driving the trailer for them.

We occasionally have 'big' people in the business drop by our shows now and I'm so relieved not to be in control of the board when that happens. Leave it to a pro.

Wow, 2500 with no sub in a small bar? That's a lot right? If I count the continuous out of everything I have, 2 mains, 1 monitor, 1 sub it only adds up to 2050 and I rarely get to crank it up fully. It's more than enough for the room I play in.

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Nowhere NEAR cranked up - but that's the smallest system we use. The other is massive, and it would be silly to try and put that much gear into a room that size. The big system can hold its own in pretty well any environment. We use a 24-channel board for big gigs, 16-channel for smaller ones. Loud yes, but not cranked...I like clarity. SM58s across the front. Nice sound. I was just going to check and see if we've got any video posted using just the small system but I think we only have video from bigger venues. I will get video on Saturday - we'll be outside on a small patio and I have a feeling it's going to be ear splitting if they bring in the 'big boys.' I use my powered SM350s and sub on that patio and have to watch the volume. Mmmhhh...

hummm...Im trying to decide if i could run one stack on each side (my "small system") for $250 a night..for $200 i would probably find a karaoke show to do. I haul in way to much stuff to work that cheap. Karaoke is 1/3 the gear so i would hate to take a sound gig for that, only to get a call for a $300 karaoke night. On the flip side I think after a few more shows runnin the board the actual show may be less work than karaoke , just more time.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas