Karaoke Forums

Has anyone added either of these to a show to mix things up a little? I have the full Guitar Hero World Tour Kit and I have been toying with the idea of connecting it into my rig and making a seperate list of songs available from Guitar Hero for use with karaoke. Also for the venue I am in right now, I have had a couple of people ask me about Guitar Hero jams and I may pitch that to the owner.

-Chris

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-Chris

I contemplated going down this road when Rock Band was all the rage a few years ago. Some bars in my area even had "Guitar Hero Night", etc, but they didn't last long and were poorly attended.

I decided not to do it based on a few things.

• While Karaoke can be a spectator sport, I don't think the games are. They are fun if you are the one playing, but pretty boring if you are just watching a stranger play. Especially a beginner. It would be like trying to host a pinball, beer pong or dart tournament on stage.
  
  
• Monitors. Unless you want your "band" facing the projection wall with backs to the crowd, you need a monitor for every musician so they can face the people and act out their rock star fantasy. Even then they would need to be big. Have you ever tried to play RB/GH drums on a 17" monitor from a distance?
  
  
• Song selection. You have 40,000+ karaoke songs of all genres. How many GH/RB? A few hundred? The selection is very narrow and appeals to a specific demo.
  
  
• The equipment is fragile. The stock drums especially. We know people don't treat our equipment as their own and it's pro-gear meant to handle some abuse. A plastic guitar is just asking to be swung around & dropped, and it only takes once or twice. My kids broke their share, and they weren't drinking!
  
  
• It doesn't seem like something that needs hosting. If a bar wanted to hook up the Wii (as many do) on a Monday night that's one thing, but trying to get someone to hire me to hook up an Xbox so I can assist people in playing a game seemed like a stretch.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a gamer and love them in my living room, but I don't think they translate well over to the karaoke stage.

could open up a sh!t load of new legal issues.......maybe we should move this topic in anticipation of legal arguments...

@johnny - I thought about that hehe

@Bazza - On the spectator sport piece - That has been my primary resistance to it so far. As a gamer I also get that watching is no where near as fun as participating. I have just had a 1/2 dozen or so folks ask about it over the last year. Hardly enough to feel like I was losing business without it. But it is something I have thought about.

I have spare Guitar Hero guitars (that I have worn out) that I am taking up to my show this weekend. Give the air guitarists something to hold on to.

Besides, we have now had 4 consecutive weeks of deepest rotations ever (28-34 unique singers). No sense fixing what isn't broken. My primary pitch to the owner is going to be to add another night, maybe even two.

-Chris

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-Chris

I have a hard time justifying to myself that If I don't have singers, which is rare, I need something to take up the time I.E. filler music. I much prefer the full karaoke nights where it is pure Karaoke. I also don't have the extra space for extra equipment in my Chevy Blazer.

The guitars and drums are feeble compared to professional stuff. While the idea is interesting I would pass on it.

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