Karaoke Forums

#1..Pretending to turn a knob/slide when we both know he's not
#2..When he can't hear the monitor IF he has 1 then says (well it sounds fine to me )..DUH
#3..Not having a clue as to how to run what equip. he has

yes i'm bored

9 out of 10 times the touching the knob without adjusting works - old sound engineer trick when doing live sound.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

hiya Lon, i guess i just don't understand the point...i thought the whole point was to please the singer...and then more then once i have overheard a k j telling a friend and laughing about how he just tricked some poor fool into thinking he turned it up and the singer never knew the differents...oh well

but having said that i have heard a few that if i were a k j i would fake a p c crash just not to hear them...

KJs with a tenor voice who EQ for their voice and leave baritones with total mud.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

What Lonnie is talking about is those singers who don't understand what they are asking for. I have singers all the time that ask me to turn up their vocal in the main mix, but I'm always going to properly mix the vocal and the music, not put it out of wack just because the singer says so. In that case, I usually turn the vocal up in the monitor, but keep it the same through the mains, and everybody is happy, but I also occationally do the "touch some sliders and knobs" act as well.

I accomodate all reasonable singer requests, but it's sometimes better to play it off and avoid an arguement when a singer makes an unreasonable request.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Exactly! Most times the singer does not know what they want. And their request is not warranted because the request they are asking is already done to excess/max - or will harm the main mix - which I won't sacrifice. In which you give a little focus on the board, give a couple of convincing twists & look back at the singer with a 'how bout that look'. Again, 9 out of 10 times they will come back with ' yeah that sounds a lot better ' thus further proving they didn't know what they wanted in the first place. If it's something I can add to their monitor, I will do that.
If the singer is just asking for something basic (ie a little extra reverb, or turn their vocals down in the monitors, or something a little more ) then I am happy to oblige & adjust accordingly.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I look at it this way...I feel I own to a degree the monitor he owns the house....no one's voice/ear's are the same giving even more of a reason to work with the singer...I don't eel it's a lot to ask but I do also agree when the monitor is with the house the house comes first...

I've done extensive live sound and studio work for many years and the Fake Knob Turn is tried and true. It usually comes after a brief "turn it up, now down, back up" exchange. I don't like taking time from the show to split hairs. FOH sounds great, the monitors are really only there so you know where you are in the song. (Bb will always be the same Bb), and yup, things sound different onstage then they do in your car. Deal with it, and have fun.

I've known several audio engineers who keep very impressive-looking rack filler units. These devices have fully functional Ins/Outs, they light up, some even have VU meters, but they don't do ANYTHING! Well, other than making the guitar player finally shut up about getting "his sound".

the singer requests more reverb ... [fake adjust knob]

the singer requests more echo ... [fake adjust knob]

the singer requests music louder ... [turn volume up and them down]

I know terrible - however, I adjust singers based on the music and their voice try to get a nice blend for them and the audience.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I didn't even know Phil "gigged" (Sp). Go get Em!

i'll repeat...UNREAL

My biggest pet peeve concerning KJ's is preferential treatment. You know, when the friends of the KJ start popping up in the rotation every 15 minutes and you're waiting 45 minutes to an hour to sing. That irritates the Hell out of me.

I have been at a show where the KJ's girlfriend sang every 3rd or 4th song. Adding insult to injury, he did duets with her and then let her sing right after. His excuse was that he was sharing his "spot" in the rotation. FYI - a KJ has no place in the rotation if you have 6 or more singers - the KJ fills time when there is a lack of participants. That's just being flat out disrespectful to the people who came there to sing.

Preferential treatment will lose the venue my business and my big mouth won't hesitate to share the experience with other 'raoke whores.

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Karaoke should be a selfish pleasure.
Check out my Facebook page "Griff's Karaoke Adventures" to see how many tunes I can do without repeating!

@Max

Ok I'm tired of listening to you.

There is No way that I would ever fake a PC crash. I haven't had a PC crash in years.

9 times out of 10 the singers don't know what they think they are hearing. what comes through the monitors is NOT usually what comes through the main speakers. The Object is to make the singer sound good to the audience. Chances are that if you are the only one bitching, then the problem is with you.

The solution for you is simple for you MAX. You think you can do better? You think you know what sounds good? then go buy some music , A sound system and get your own gig and quit bitching about what other hosts do. I'm glad you're not in my area, because you would not be tolerated at my show by myself or the crowd. people like myself and Lon, have been doing karaoke for well over a decade. We KNOW what to do to make the show sound good. If you don't want to host your own show and you don't like the way a KJ is running a show that you are at, then go to another show.

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website

i have a monitor on the stage pointing at the singer, I keep the volume all the way down.
when the singer tells me to turn it up I then bring the monitor up for only the singer to here.

great tool to use for those that just need to hear themselves.....

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It's all good!

Guilty as well, with another addition:

I sometimes set as they request before the song ( if I happen to know that particular singer), have them test the mic until it sounds the way they think it should, then reset when the song starts.

If they notice (rarely), I tell them to try singing off the bar monitor instead of the stand- which means they move and hear through the mains- and then come back and tell me how good it sounds...

However, fooling around like this only works if you actually know how to mix.

I requested a key drop for a song at a show and the kj just added more bass- idiot...that one's hard to miss....

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Am I the only singer who actually gets confused if the monitor is too loud? Maybe it's because I'm just a karaoke singer, but I get the hearing-your-own-voice-on-an-answering-machine feeling if I can hear too much of myself, and then I stop singing like myself.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

This I would not feel is an unreasonable request by a singer if you wanted adjustment to the monitors for more less vocal - or to turn it down overall (I can separate the monitor mix from the overall mix). Some singers ARE intimidated by the monitors because they actually can hear themselves and tend to back off the mics. When I turn the vocals in the monitors down, they will usually tend to sing louder at that point.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

sooooo someone can start a topic about pet peeve's of singers and YOU say nothing yet let a singer say something about a k j and YOU get bent out of shape...

(but having said that i have heard a few that if i were a k j i would fake a p c crash just not to hear them...) \
that was meant as a joke kinda like you response..
YOU STATE 9 out of 10 singers yet YOU don't know that at all...your just guessing at a number..YOUR response shows just how little respect YOU have for the singers that make YOU a living...if YOU had read my comments you would have seen I was clearly talking about the monitor NOT the house...that would fall in the statement where I said the HOUSE belongs to the k j...guessing YOU missed that...if YOU think for 1 second that 9 out of 10 singers can't tell when the music is to loud r the vocals aren't loud enough there your sadly mistaken...they know what they hear r in this case don't hear most anyway.. and I feel it's up to YOU to make then happy within reason..again speaking of monitor only...now some could careless they just want to sing and for others to hear them which is fine but there are others that just may know a little bit about music, i'm sure no where near as much as you pretend to know but enough to know if they can hear there vocals are not...give your singers a little more credit, they just may surprise you...
guessing YOU feel it's out of line for a singer to dare ask you to turn up r down the vocals/music...how dare them...the nerve...there JUST karaoke singers after all...I have had more music equip. then you will ever own i'm guessing...I do know what sounds good and what doesn't thru years of doing it and singing and I believe are so called karaoke singers and don't have a clue to whats going on those same singers help you get paid every week..show THEM respect. YOU run sound that's it...you feel that sounding good in the house is all that's needed when infact the people that r up singing can't hear the house yet they want to sound good TO THEM NOT to you...


(The Object is to make the singer sound good to the audience.)
If a person can't sing your not going to wave a magic wand and make them sing better, they just can't sing, period. BUT most do feel/believe they can sing and they want to hear themselves, if they sound bad to themselves betting they will find another place where just maybe they can hear themselves and feel there singing good...
I could care less what the house sounds like I CAN'T HEAR THE HOUSE. but I do care what the monitor sounds like...that's not to much to ask...
i'm guessing by running karaoke for over 10 yrs then no way do you have any complaints are anyone asking you to turn anything up r down...I guess i'm standing up for the low down karaoke singers that know nothing about music...the very ones paying your check...guessing you don't feel there's room for the singers to complain, just the k j about the singers...

and i'll let Lonman speak for himself...
(This I would not feel is an unreasonable request by a singer if you wanted adjustment to the monitors for more less vocal - or to turn it down overall (I can separate the monitor mix from the overall mix). Some singers ARE intimidated by the monitors because they actually can hear themselves and tend to back off the mics. When I turn the vocals in the monitors down, they will usually tend to sing louder at that point.

get off your high horse..

Boy, you are a miserable little pile of smegma.

I respect my singers a LOT. that is why they always comeback to my show. they know that they are not professionals and don't expect everything to be perfect. although from the sound of your statements so far, you act like you're some lofty professional singer and you blame the KJ or his/her equipment for everything that you don't hear correctly, when the simple fact of the matter is that you just don't know what you're asking for or hearing. Most KJ's will do their best to make you sound good in the main mix and we will make the monitors send what you need. if you lack the training to hear what you need, that is not our fault.

guessing at a number? it's an estimate based on years of experience. 17 years to be specific.

Also, I didn't speak for Lon. I just commented that he knows what he is doing and doesn't need input from a jack (@$%&#!) like you.

Sounds to me like no one can do anything right for you. so my opinion is that a Little piss ant like you should just stay away from karaoke. you're more trouble than you're worth.

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website