Karaoke Forums

I am just about at 7000 tracks in my library, which probably includes 5000 distinct titles. I have purchased many of the "basics", as suggested by our "established" gurus! And I have "filled in" whenever anybody has pointed to a good deal! Plus I have discs not recommended by most, that being the entire SAVA & SGB collections with several Backstage discs.

Here's what I have found:
1. Most of the SGB, SAVA and BS work well for me but I have a few really, really bad tracks that I have eliminated from my library!
2. There are many artists who I feel I don't have enough representation in my collection
3. There are some genres of music which may be under represented in my library.

Bottom line, I don't think that I am anywhere near having the mythical 2500 tracks that it takes to run a karaoke show!

So I ask for help in the following way(s):

I need, from those who might have it, a list of what they feel the clunkers are in the following collections: SGB, SAVA, Supercore, Dangerous

But most important, the following input would be extremely beneficial:
What male artists MUST be "well" represented in any karaoke library, regardless of genre
What female artists MUST be "well" represented in any karaoke library, regardless of genre
What groups MUST be "well" represented in any karaoke library, regardless of genre
What urban songs (preferably radio versions) must be in any karaoke library?
What "one hit wonders" MUST be in any karaoke library?


How important do you think "doo wop" is to a karaoke library?
How important do you think "classic" rock is to any karaoke library?
How important do you think Spanish music is to any karaoke library, today?
How important do you think downloading current tracks is to YOUR library?

Maybe, with some of this information, those of us who are trying to "fill in" and complete the "mythical" 2500 can get closer to that goal?

I am of the opnion that the very few overall must haves are included in the SGB collection (although in many cases the version is not great).

5000 Titles is going to have most of the popular hits so long as you did not specialize early on.

Beyond that you can either be a generalist or specialist.

Being a generalist you will probably not make most visitors to your show happy until you get into the 10-15k range. The problem is spoiled singers not the length of the list. A few years ago most singers were happy with lists of 2k songs.

If you specialize for YOUR singers you can get a very good songlist for your shows probably with only the addition of 500-1000 more tracks (depending on how you specialize).

IMHO, it all depends on what kinda host you are....

1. If you are gigging at the same bars(s) and get your crowd of "Regulars" you probably can make the best damn track list out of 500-1000 songs. At my 3 reg bar gigs have mostly the same singers every week and they sing the same songs every week. Last time I looked, over the last 180 days, there were around 400 different karaoke songs sang, out of my library of around 7k of songs.

2. Now if you are the KJ that does private parties, and/or jump from bar to bar, you probably will need a bit larger library than the 500-1000 songs. Not that people will actually sing anything but the 500-1000 songs cited in the last paragraph, but just to merely give the image that you have a lot of songs to impress singers/managers/owners to get more gigs. But more than likely even if you have 50k+ worth of music, people will still sing the same 500-1000 songs.

_________________
I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

Who was the manufacturer?
How long did it take to "convert" the files
How much was the converter and where did you get that?

And does anyone know how to convert SuperCDG's?

The SGB Cher disc is plagued with bad lyrics and sweeps that throw people off. The SGB version of "Gentle On My MInd" has lyrics that will bring you to your knees in laughter--"I be clinging," "My beard rests on a cold towel," etc..

For our country oldies crowd, the best deal I ever got was the MM Velvet Elvis and Doo Wop collections although I've had to replace a few from the Doo Wop. "Band of Gold" comes to mind as having wrong lyrics.

For our males, Merle, Waylon, Willie and Cash are a must (CB). It is amazing how many still very singable hits Merle Haggard had. But we also have a few strictly Beatles people and the Eagles (Zoom), Billy Joel (ZM & SC), John Mellencamp (SC) and Hootie &the Blowfish (CB) discs get used nightly.

We don't get as many female singers but Cher is probalby done the most as far as any one artist. Pink would be a newer one.

It really depends on who comes in for us--sometimes it is Elvis and Sylvia, sometimes it is Megadeath, Metallica and Goo Goo Dolls. The overlap can be awkward......

Other than by myself, the ONLY spanish songs requested at our venue are "La Bamba" and "Como La Flor." A few people do the English versions of Enrique Igesias songs. I think that is a matter of taking requests based on your venue.

We have all the CB One Hit Wonders sets and the audience loves for my boyfriend to sing from them but they don't seem to attempt too many of them, themselves. Might be a case of "I remember how SOME of it goes."

As far as new, it is really something I do mainly to keep myself interested. So I do a lot of research into the charts, previewing for "singability" on You Tube, etc. New is not the priority at our venue so I am pretty selective but have found that just having some in the books gives the impression that we are on top of things and paying attention--it helps to keep new people who might venture in and say we are the first they have found to have new stuff, etc. It gives people permission to experiment beyond what they think every one else expects them to do. It is sort of like chipping away to get the door open but it does seem to work after a while. And every now and then you hit Pay Dirt with someone like The Zac Brown Band who have managed to break through the oldies barrier. But again, new gets a smaller piece of the budget than "classic" because of where we are at the moment.

(Sort of off subject but one of my indulgences is if there is room on a Custom I am getting from Selectatrack I allow myself one choice from the list of what the most popular requests in the U.K. are. I randomly sample the music and pick one that I like and then see what I bought on You Tube and learn it. My latest is "Pencil Full of Lead" by Paulo Nutini. I'm wondering how long it will take for people to be tormented by hearing that one over and over again over here.)

LeopardLizard:

Thanks for a wonderful reply.

Unfortunately, most of my "Cher" is SGB. I do have a good amount of "Pink". I have very little Metallica and probably need to get more. I am short on Mellencamp, Megadeth and Hootie, but they're not popular around me. But maybe I should get some more Mellecamp?

Your idea of previewing songs on YouTube is a great one and new to me. On my own, I would never have thought of it since I don't venture into YouTube!

As to SBI and Selecatrack, don't you think they're are quite pricey?

Thanks again!

[quote="tovmod @ Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:42 pm"]LeopardLizard:


As to SBI and Selecatrack, don't you think they're are quite pricey?]

There are times I think, "For $20-30 more I could have just bought an entire Sound Choice Brick," but when I go Selectatrack I am usually filling requests so most every song is a wanted one that will get done. I go back and forth weighing buying a request on a disc and getting other songs with it but then wait--we already have half of them, etc. So I try to figure out how to get the most bang for my buck each time.

The other reason I would buy from Selectatrack is they have some rarities that can't be had otherwise. It isn't my main source of songs.

Sorry to get off topic, but I've seen that deal on eBay, but haven't gone for it yet because I wasn't sure how to rip it to mp3+g and don't feel up to running them from another player or playback software.

What converter did you use and how did it work for you?

The SGB Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd & South Park discs are awesome. (although the appropriateness of the South Park is dependent on your venue and crowd) I don't have the Cher disc; thanks for the warning. I know the SGB Weird Al disc is awful.

Priddis #9085 is the best collection of female classic country I've ever seen on a single disc. When I hosted a dive bar in West Phoenix with an older crowd and was still disc-based, I used to pull and leave this one out as I knew it would be hit all night.

The Singing Machine #5102 is by far the best $2 I've spent on old-school hip-hop.

Karaoke Bay "Planet Pop" (35502) is a great two-disc set if you can find it.

I really like the Dangerous versions of The Who - Baba O'Riley & Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart. I only have couple dangerous discs, I rarely see them for sale around here.

I really like the SAVA Hank Williams (Sr.) disc. In fact, I like their classic country versions a lot. Their pop on the other hand: wretched!

What artists and genres you need are really dependent on your venue & crowd.

I work a pretty crazy place with a very young demographic.
That said, these artists are some of my top more recent artists that I need a large selection of:
Lady GaGa (QH), Kings Of Leon (QH), Britney Spears (QH), Taylor Swift (get those at WalMart on her label, in the country music NOT the karaoke section), Pink (QH), Evanesence (All Star)

Since I have a very young crowd, current pop/rock/hip-hop/alternative is very important, current country & Spanish, not so much.

As for Spanish, in my current venue I only really need it once a year for a big Christmas party, but I'm glad I have it. It previous venues it was very important; that's why I have it. Now days I just buy bargain Spanish discs to keep growing the section.

These are the songs I rarely get through two nights without:
Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (SC, but the Radio Starz / AmeriSing anthologies are GREAT!)
Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline (I use NuTech, no complaints!)
Billy Joel - Piano Man (SC)
Garth Brooks - Friends In Low Paces (CKC)
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Disney's Artist Karaoke - MUST HAVE!)
Monkees - Daydream Believer (Supercore)
Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup (Supercore)
Buckcherry - Crazy (@$%&#!) (SC, but I used Rebel Sync before and it was fine)
Cranberries - Zombie (CB)
Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats (Karaoke Kurrents)
Aqua - Barbie Girl (Legends)
Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back (Karaoke Bay)
Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow - Picture (All Star, though the Supercore version is great)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge (SGB)
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart (DK - expect it to be sang like Dan Band!)

The most important thing is to talk to your people about their taste in music and TAKE NOTES! Then adjust your library accordingly, watching for good deals on music.

there are 350,000+ karaoke songs. Its impossible to be able to answer every request... even if you instantly download. The songs are not always available yet, or are out of print.

I keep good notes on songs that are requested, that I don't have. I make a judgment call as to whether it's worth dropping a few bucks on and try and get the song.

"Party in the USA" has become a standard... as I knew it would.

_________________
Good music, good friends, howling good times!

DanDan

Good stuff

Thanks for your effort and input. I will be looking for at least three of the discs you suggested, immediately!

It was Chartbusters Essentials Volumes 1-6
Doesn't take long to rip and convert them I don't remember the exact time but I don't think is was long
I got the SCDG converter from Roxbox you can find it at http://roxbox.net/ it was $39.00
To convert them you just run the program telling it where to store the music just as any other ripper. It converts the SCDG to MP3+G only thing I didn't like was the fact it only rips at 128 where I usually rip at 192.

_________________
I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

See the above post, let me know if you need more info

_________________
I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

Sweet, thanks!

I've also been looking into the NuTech Vol 1-3 SCDGs, as I see those often for cheap on eBay. The Ox, a central Phoenix dive I used to host at recently got a SCDG player and has those discs and I like most of the versions I heard from those discs. As inexpensive as SCDGs seem to be on eBay, $40 to convert them to mp3+g seems like a great investment.

NOPE, that's all I/we need. And for $39 for the software you can't go wrong knowing that it works.
BTW, when I was ripping my first tracks I didn't realize that I was using a bit rate below 100. And even after I realized it, I never went back to find/correct those tracks. Meanwhile, I know I have since used those tracks many times and I have yet to "hear" a problem! So while I too now rip at 192, 128 isn't the end of the world for me!

Much Thanks

Anybody have these? Are they decent quality tracks?

I agree if you already have a show, you can build as requested. If you use digital you can download on the fly or even make lists of requests and order customs discs when you get enough requests. ALTHOUGH I do NOT offer the service - playing customer discs is a way to get away with NOT HAVING EVERYTHING RIGHT AWAY.

There is no MAGIC number of discs, like suggested once you know your crowd and venue you can pick and choose what you order. -- HINT: Don't go out and buy every song someone requests. If they are a regular at your show --SURE BUY IT
In the past I went and bought some ODD requests to never have the singer show up again . When buying some older releases ..shop around you can get some good deals on discs this days

You are mistaken, the disks are fine......that is how Cher sounds....

I just received the set yesterday and have ripped 2 1/2 discs:

1. Ripping is a slow process with the software I am using because the tracks are multiplex. My software warns you that to eliminate the vocals requires an election that will take some time to do so
2. Many of the assigned track names are problematic
a. Randomly, several tracks are all capitalized, which poses a problem for the conventions used by my song catalog software in recognizing dups
b. Incomplete track information - characters missing
c. Wrong artist or title information
d. Information that lacks apostrophe's in every single case
e. Artists are all First Name, first,,,, so if your database is Last Name, first, you have 3700 tracks to correct, AS I DO

As to the quality, well, I like SGB so you can't go by me I guess. I have found a few tracks that aren't so good, but most work for me. One consistently true complaint is that the duets make no clear distinction as to when one voice is finished and another starts.

TIPS FOR RIPPING:

a. If you do not specify your own track label, the software defaults to the label "SCDG" followed by the track number. I selected NU1, NU2 and NU3 for my disc numbers, if for no other reason than to allow me to be able to distinguish "on the fly" one disc from the other should I, for example, perform a search of my data base by disc #

b, You have several options on how to format the track label. For examples, you could select DISC#/TRACK#/ARTIST/TITLE or ARTIST/TITLE

If you intend to convert every track label to Last Name, first, then pick a convention that starts with ARTIST/TITLE. I chose to include disc and track numbers based upon other considerations, and placed those fields at the end!