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Lisah
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 Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 2:56 pm |
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:07 pm
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That sounds like alot of things that can happen at a show! And yes, the being accused for something you did not do because of someone ignorance, is very irritating! I am going to go with SongbooksLive sometime soon. But that will only be for those that have the smartphones... as for the ones that dont... I should use a physical kiosk? A laptop set up just for them? I hesitate greatly doing that... not just because I would have buy said laptop, but because of the abuse these ignorant people would give this laptop.... I can't afford it!
I use a desktop computer at work now and have the keyboard set up on a riser.. my discard box is under that riser, out of sight.
When I was disc based, I would hide my slips before I left my table... someone would always be messing with them if I didn't.. had people go around me and reach for the slips to find out when they were next! Some were lucky not to have their fingers broken!!
_________________  SoundChoice Certification coming soon!
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ripman8
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:06 pm |
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Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:34 pm
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Location: Toronto Canada
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MtnKaraoke wrote: Lisah wrote: Then there's always those that drop off a slip on my computer... while I'm not looking, for me to find... with NO NAME on it!! Then get upset at me because they haven't been called up.
I will, however, usually wait until the current singer is finished.. applause quiets.. then announce, "whoever just dropped off a sign up, didn't put their name on it.. come see me please." This is probably the MAIN reason I switched from sign-up slips to a kiosk. About a month before CH came out with the kiosk, I was hosting a particularly busy Saturday night show. I had all my slips entered in to CH and had discarded them into a small box right next to my computer. I hit the head during a 5+ minute song and came back to my set-up and continued on. About 15 minutes later, a guy comes up to me and asks where he and his friends are in the list. I asked him if he handed me a sign-up sheet and he simply said no and walked away. I thought that was weird. 5 minutes later, my assistant comes to me with this guy in tow and tries to tell me that this guy is upset because he signed up and I won't let him sing. Turns out that he had not signed up for a song himself, but had filled out 4 sign-up slips for his friends. He had put them in my discard pile when I was away and I hadn't seen them. I pulled them from the discard pile and immediately entered the songs/singers into the queue. The wait was already over half and hour and because of this mistake, the singers would probably have to wait a total of an hour to get their chance to sing. Fast forward ten minutes and someone comes by my setup, grabs the sign-up slips in question, tears them up, throws them at me and runs for the door. A couple of that persons group had some choice words for me as they left, saying that I don't know how to run a karaoke show... That did it for me. If it wasn't already a hassle enough to get songs requests that were illegible, incorrect, incomplete and anonymously tossed onto my setup, I don't take to well to being insulted and taunted. It was a no-brainer for me to eliminate sign up sheets. Guy did that to me once, he's a great falsetto now!
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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]
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MtnKaraoke
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:10 pm |
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Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:40 pm
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Yes. Buy a used laptop for cheap on eBay. Make sure it comes with an OS license for XP or any OS after that. Also make sure it either has wifi built in or can use a usb adapter.
I found a half dozen used Panasonic Tough-Books for between 50-100 dollars. They are magnesium cased, shock-mounted hard-drives, with touch screens and waterproof keyboards. The thing is they are sloooooooow to load my list of singers at the kiosk.
After a year+ of using them, I've switched to my 2008 Toshiba laptop (also my backup). I set up the kiosk and I attached a 10 dollar usb keyboard and mouse. The singers never touch the computer itself. This system runs Vista and has way more memory as well as speed. 34 singers last night and no damage done.
I should probably mention that my main show computer acts as a hotspot for my 'showtime' network. The free (limited) software that does this without a router is called "Connectify". It only works on WIN7, but it works well and allows for smart-phone users to browse, search and sign up as well.
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Never the same show twice!
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Lisah
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:22 pm |
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:07 pm
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I guess I'll have to do the kiosk soon..  Thank you for the info _________________ SoundChoice Certification coming soon!
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birdofsong
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 6:27 pm |
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Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:25 am
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Lisah wrote: I guess I'll have to do the kiosk soon.. Thank you for the info Lisa, Chip created a fantastic Kiosk program called Songfinder. You may want to consider it when choosing.
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Birdofsong
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Lisah
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 6:48 pm |
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:07 pm
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birdofsong wrote: Lisah wrote: I guess I'll have to do the kiosk soon.. Thank you for the info Lisa, Chip created a fantastic Kiosk program called Songfinder. You may want to consider it when choosing. I will look at it... where do I find it? I'm gonna figure out where I'm going to put the kiosk first.. and how it's gonna travel My bosses son does my setups... and not well  I wish I could still do it myself! _________________ SoundChoice Certification coming soon!
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Smoothedge69
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:05 pm |
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Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:55 am
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johnny reverb wrote: [quote="RLC??? Sorry for the confusion. Books are less common these days than 10 years ago. I attribute the decline in book printing to pirates. Those that do print books often have guidelines in them. -Chris[/quote] Ok, another cup of coffee and some fresh air, reread your post and it was clearer to me what you meant. Thanks Chris.[/quote] "Books??? I don't need no stinkin' books".......I got over a hundred thousand songs........just come up and ask me for a song".......ever hear that one?......  no song slips either[/quote] I don't get why you people are so opposed to people who don't use books. When I lived in NY, the show I used to go to didn't use books. The system and disks were owned by the venue, and were updated regularly, and the owner hired two guys to run the shows. All the disks were original, and he had tons of them. They wouldn't use books. You would go up to the host, tell him what you wanted to sing, and he would write it in a notebook. He had the ONLY book, which is how he looked up the numbers. If he didn't have the song he would tell you. Let me tell you, when the time comes that I have a decent collection, I won't be using books either. I hate books. They get nasty, ruined, covered in beer. It's a large waste of paper and printer ink. I would rather have one book for the people to use. It would be centralized. Meanwhile, I would I would keep my INVENTORY LIST on my computer, and use that to find the song numbers they request. It's neater, easier, and much less wasteful.
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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE
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Bazza
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:36 pm |
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Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:00 am
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Smoothedge69 wrote: When I lived in NY, the show I used to go to didn't use books. I hear ya. I am in NY, and while I still print a few books every 3-4 months, at my regular gigs most just come up and ask. And as much of a gadget/tech geek as I am, there is still a place for books. Not everyone has a smartphone to search on-line or the technical acumen to use a Kiosk (I know, they are easy...but to some, just the idea is foreign). Cmon, there are people in my bars that are baffled by the Jukebox! In my experience, books are used by the "You'll never get me to sing" portion of the crowd. The wallflowers who came in with friends, never intending to sing...but they sat at their table in the corner drinking & looking through the book, until they finally got the courage to try.
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Smoothedge69
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:41 pm |
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Bazza wrote: Smoothedge69 wrote: When I lived in NY, the show I used to go to didn't use books. I hear ya. I am in NY, and while I still print a few books every 3-4 months, at my regular gigs most just come up and ask. And as much of a gadget/tech geek as I am, there is still a place for books. Not everyone has a smartphone to search on-line or the technical acumen to use a Kiosk (I know, they are easy...but to some, just the idea is foreign). Cmon, there are people in my bars that are baffled by the Jukebox! In my experience, books are used by the "You'll never get me to sing" portion of the crowd. The wallflowers who came in with friends, never intending to sing...but they sat at their table in the corner drinking & looking through the book, until they finally got the courage to try. I love those people because they can surprise you. Some of them are awful, but others are amazing, and you wonder why they never got up to sing before.
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Bazza
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:46 pm |
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Smoothedge69 wrote: I love those people because they can surprise you. Some of them are awful, but others are amazing, and you wonder why they never got up to sing before. Exactly. And I firmly believe that in the majority of the cases, if they hadn't had a book they wouldn't have done it. Because standing up, walking over to the kiosk and searching is too much of a commitment. Remember, they weren't going to sing anyway. 
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Smoothedge69
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:16 pm |
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Bazza wrote: Smoothedge69 wrote: I love those people because they can surprise you. Some of them are awful, but others are amazing, and you wonder why they never got up to sing before. Exactly. And I firmly believe that in the majority of the cases, if they hadn't had a book they wouldn't have done it. Because standing up, walking over to the kiosk and searching is too much of a commitment. Remember, they weren't going to sing anyway. Good point.
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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE
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PyleDriver
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 2:42 am |
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Location: Occupied Mexico aka Rio Grand Valley, S.Texas
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A songbook is the power of suggestion. Many times singers don't have a clue. With a book, now there's thousands of ideas.
Jon
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Lonman
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 2:48 am |
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Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2001 3:57 pm
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I tell you what, books are a great thing because of those singers that come in that are used to just asking, I refer them to a book (or my phone books) and they OFTEN find something they normally don't sing saying they never even knew it was available on karaoke and wouldn't have thought of it because they weren't necessarily thinking of it at the time they were asking.
_________________ LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!
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Lonman
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 2:48 am |
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Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2001 3:57 pm
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PyleDriver wrote: A songbook is the power of suggestion. Many times singers don't have a clue. With a book, now there's thousands of ideas.
Jon Yep! _________________ LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!
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johnny reverb
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 7:17 am |
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A Kj who doesn't have some way for a customer to browse some kind of fairly extensive song list......doesn't have a clue........ it's just not an argument, except for someone trying to be contrary.......just like the, a pirate's gotta eat too, argument we're getting on here....... this dude cant be for real, and I can't believe anybody is arguing with him......lmao.......and you guys think I say some silly sh!t on here....... 
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TroyVnd27
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:20 am |
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I had a KJ come into one of my bars during the day and bad mouthed me. Two things he said was "We use a computer, we don't mess with a CAVS player". Little did he know was I also use a computer and the CAVS player only serves as a backup and to play disks.
The second thing he said was "We don't use songbooks. We have every song. Books are for karaoke people who don't have that many songs". But, I do have PLENTY of songs (about 11,000 unique titles updated monthly) and I certainly would not incur the expense of producing books if the majority of the customers didn't want books to browse through. I have my books on-line, I offer that "No-Slip or Trip" feature where my regulars don't have to put in a request slip, but I still have to shuffle my 15 books around because the customer's want them. Heck, the first thing many of them do when they walk in the door, even before they get a drink or take their jacket off, is grab a book for their table if they see one.
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PyleDriver
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:41 am |
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I think the main reason those KJ's don't have books is that it's WORK! Work to make, work to update, and work to keep clean...Everything else is their excuse for being lazy. Customers love books, it's part of doing karaoke...
Jon
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Cueball
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:47 am |
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Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2001 6:55 pm
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TroyVnd27 wrote:
The second thing he said was "We don't use songbooks. We have every song.
Gotta LUV the KJ who says they have EVERY SONG. I've yet to go to one of their shows, and find that to be true. Just last week, I went to a KJ's show where he boasted that. The 1st song I gave him, I asked for the Quick Hitz/FastTrax version of "Knee Deep," and he put up the CB version. When I made a comment about that not being the version I asked for, he said, "Oh, I don't have that version."
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Earl
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:29 am |
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Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 4:50 pm
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Yep... I use books, and slips too... It's the way the majority of my clientele (who span several generations) want it, so that's the way it will be.
Agreed... it's expensive.. Matter of fact, my latest book printing gave me a case of sticker shock when the price went from just under $12 to over $17 each. At six or eight books every three to four months, that's quite a hike.
I'll be looking for a new print service, but in the meantime, I'll simply consider it one of the costs of doing business.
As for a kiosk?? I don't see one in my future. Like others have said, there's something comforting in being able to sit at the table and browse through a book. Many a karaoke virgin have lost their "purity" at my shows through just such a process.
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Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)
[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]
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Lonman
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:51 am |
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Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2001 3:57 pm
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PyleDriver wrote: I think the main reason those KJ's don't have books is that it's WORK! Work to make, work to update, and work to keep clean...Everything else is their excuse for being lazy. Customers love books, it's part of doing karaoke...
Jon Agree! _________________ LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!
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