Karaoke Forums

Stopped into a small bar at lunchtime today. In speaking to the bartender she mentioned she is pushing for KARAOKE there on Tuesday nights as the place is PACKED with 20somethings. I started to look around and honestly don't know where I would set up if ever offered this gig.

They have a DARTBOARD in one corner,,, a pool Table in another end and a fireplace in the 3rd corner. The 4th corner is around the bar a not an option.

In a venue this small is working with 1 speaker ever an option ????
How about 2 speakers running mono nect to one another pointing away from each other ? Just curious what others do in VERY TIGHT VENUES

Well, I did a fill-in gig once for a fellow KJ, and his working area was very tight too. I couldn't find enough room to use both of my speakers, so I only used one. I have one of those connection plugs that is one piece. It has a Left and Right 1/4 inch stereo plug (for the back of my Amp/Mixer) on one end, and an attachment for a single 1/4 inch plug (for my speaker), so I get stereo coming out of one speaker.

A fix I have for this is my table height. Normally it's at about my waist but, if need be, I can raise it up and fit both of my PR 15's underneath. Works well enough for a small space. Sure, the bodies can soak up a bit of volume but with a good EQ you can make adjustments to that. Just my 2 cents.

Mark

Setting up karaoke in front of a dart bard could be the ultimate Gong Show.

Ive done some house parties in some smallish rooms that only had space to set up a single speaker and they worked fine sound quality wise.

Remember a lot of the raw karaoke tracks are not actually in stereo but are in mono anyway.

Actually not sure which tracks you are using, every track I have are all stereo recorded, some are more obvious than others as they try to duplicate the original recordings more, but all have some sort of stereo recording - even the cheaper brands.
For that small of a space, i'd personally pass because of the space limits, but one speaker - i'd opt for a 15" to compensate for the loss of the other speaker & add a little more low frequency - one speaker should work fine, not ideal. Even a couple of smaller cabs with one small sub strategically placed might be an option.

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I just finished a year at a really small place - bar only seated maybe 45 people at the most. I was on an end wall under a large flat screen. I set up on one restaurant table, stood two SM350s on stands on either side of me, and I was crammed in there. Very little room, had to keep the volume down...PEople didn't seem to mind because of the "intimate" atmosphere. Not my favorite gig and I was very surprised when they asked me to do it in the first place.

I generally stay away from bars that are too small not because of the space issues but because I know that they'll never be able to physically get enough people in there to justify paying me fee. So I'd either have to go in for less or the gig wouldn't last very long and the bar owner would not be happy. Neither is a good option in my book so I'd rather just pass on the gig. Some places simply aren't big enough to support Karaoke.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

I agree with this 100%, but did not want to be the first to bring it up. Small bars on the general do not work.

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We made my small room work by running the show from 7 to 11 and the majority of people came in and eat meals, then drinks for the rest of the night. When people stopped eating like they had been. the financial sense of it disappeared...

I played a small, neighborhood tavern a few years ago. The owner put a
piece of plywood on top of the pool table for my equipment that evening.
The event was advertised two weeks in advance and the owner told the
usual pool shooters that the table was not going to be available that night.
They took a "break," (pun intended) sang with us and had a good time anyway.

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"Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid."

I know a KJ who plays the local Houlihan's in the bar area with one of those thin tall Bose speakers. Sound is nothing special, but he's had the gig for years now and it pays him top dollar. The space is so cramped he'd be hard pressed to get anything much bigger in.

I make my living in very small bars. I still use ove 5000 watts and blow the place up.

Liquid, your photo puts things in perspective. If you think that is a very small bar, we have two different perspectives. In my opinion, THAT would (at the least) be a medium to large bar. When I'm thinking (small), I'm thinking some corner bar, seating at the bar for maybe 20 max, and maybe a few stools scattered around the place for people to sit, maybe a pool table, dart board, and a jukebox. The photo you displayed looks like some type of franchise sports bar, not some corner privately owned BAR. What's your idea of a LARGE place?

Rosario
Serenity Now Karaoke

Hard to tell exactly by the pic but I totaly agree--It could be why there are so many arguments on here . That to me is a MEDIUM venue.

The place I am talking about would be about 2/3 that size.

Tony and Lon. whether the place PAYS enough or the show can stay longevity isn't my concern (right now) It was more to discuss for me and others -- The best way to handle space constraints and very small venues.

You're all mentioning room for the equipment of your table and speakers. I'm curious to know if in these small venues if you use your monitor? Maybe a way to conserve space would be to use one of the bar wall mounted tvs if that's possible, instead of your monitor on the floor taking up room?? Also, it sounds like there's no room for an energetic singer who is animated, not that I need that space.

Joe
In this particuliar place , I would attempt to use one of the many walll mounted flatscreens just for the reason of space savings. ALTHOUGH if I take my LCD off of the rolling stand and put it back on its table top stand --I could fit it right next to me on the table. hmmmmmmmm

Ultimately it does come down to making sacrifices when you want to fit in a certain space. With big budgets you can always have smaller rigs for smaller venues, however most of us do not have that luxury. Using the bar's LCD's instead your own, going without lights, singers monitor, etc are all things that need to be considered. Also, how big is your footprint. Can you skinny down your rack/table/etc by maybe not bringing as much or changing it's configuration?

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Currently I have a VERY SMALL FOOT PRINT. I taylor my "rig" to the current job at hand. My steady FRIDAY night gig and hopefully my Sunday afternoon gig outside both are on the SMALL SIDE. Using a Yamaha EMX512 powered mixer which my laptop sits nicely on top of and my exteral hardrive next to it with my wireless receiver and I could set up on a bar high top table without a problem.

I do have (2) skb mixer/combo cases at home that I am contemplating racking one of them up with a MIXER and QSC GX5 amp for the added power over my Yamaha.
Still a small footprint compared to many other KJ's.

We are in a small place but I held off posting as the soultion there probably isn't practical for this situation--but in our case the speakers are mounted up on the wall and we just plug into them. Also use the bar's TVs as lyrics monitors. The stage is so small that if there is a duet or group song, they have to use the cordless mics and step down onto the dance floor.

No, doesn't pay the big bucks but it is how we are getting our start/experience. And we've had some strange experiences.