Karaoke Forums

I have debated doing key changes but I'm not sure, as a singer, what that would actually entail. I know there are songs I avoid because I won't be able to even approximate the notes, but I would never know how much to adjust. Is there, like, an Idiot's Guide to Key Changing or something?

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

KEY? Nightly. Karaoke enthusiasts know all about it and will specifically ask for "a half step down", etc. Compuhost even remembers the key change in a singers history so they only have to ask once.

TEMPO? Very rarely. In fact the only time I can remember using it is when a very elderly person is having trouble keeping up. Like the 90 year old Grandpa singing a standard at the family reunion. Nobody has ever asked for a temp change on a slip, ever.

It's called trial and error. Most Key-changers go up or down by (up to) 6 steps. Each step is equal to half of a note. Up 2 or down 2 would be a whole note. Keep in mind, that if there are background singers in the song, they will sound different as you have the key altered. The lower you go on the key-change, the more the background singers may sound like a 45 record played at the 33 speed. The higher you go, the more those background singers may sound like The Chipmunks.

If you are singing a song, and you feel it's just a slight strain for you to hit those notes comfortably, try taking it down 1. If you still feel uncomfortable, the next time you try that song, take it down 2.

Now this next thing is a little more difficult to do. Sometimes, if a song is too high for you, you can try having the key raised 5 or 6 (2 1/2 to 3 notes), and sing in a lower octave. Likewise if you feel a song is too low for you to sing. Lower the key even more, and try singing it in a higher octave.

If you have a setup at home (with a key-changer), you can practice a bit until you find your key.

I know it exists but, I don't think I've ever experienced or witnessed a tempo change being done to a karaoke song.

This is very helpful, Cue. Thanks. I have a coworker who suggested "just sing it in a lower key" and I'm like "but I am not a locksmith what key huh?"

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

Ditto on the tempo not used often.

The one that really gets a lot of action at my "Drunk" bars is the CDG sync.
I get drunks that are always a full line behind the words on the screen. A quick one line advance of the graphics and the drunk is right back on time. The rest of the bar watching the screen is going Huh? but the drunk is caught up.

I think most karaoke singers don't know about the key-changer. I stopped hosting karaoke several years ago, and never changed the tempo. I tried to educate people about the key changer, if i thought the song was to high or low for them. I would only suggest to them and never do it without them knowing. What MRMAROG said about not letting them know does't seem right to me. No wonder they tell him that they can only sing it right at his shows because when thy go somewhere else, they are playing the song in the original key. Of course there are singers who don't want to hear that they need to alter the key to make it easier for them, but i think the majority would accept the host suggestion

I had one older guy a lot of years ago, who always sang Robbie Williams, Angels, which was far to high for him, so one night after he had sang it i said to him, the next time you sing that song i will knock it down a couple of notches. His reply was. I don't want you to alter the key i like it as it is. So i said "fair play to you, if that's how you like it". I thought that's what Karaoke is all about, people getting up and having a go. I personally alter about thirty or forty songs, that i sing. Beatles down two, Tom Jones down two, Diana Ross up two, and as was mentioned earlier i go up five with Adele, and sing i t an octave down. Some of the songs i drop down a couple, i can sing o/k, as they are, but why struggle when you can just drop it down a little. Of course i have the advantage of having all my karaoke songs on a hard drive and can have a practice at home first. Thanks.

Nanci Griffith sings one of John Prine's songs called "The Speed Of The Sound Of Lonliness"... It's a song I like to sing from time to time, but NOT in it's normal tempo... I have to speed it up ten.... yep 10 full notches... and it's still almost too slow for me...

I've also been known (rarely) to subtly (sp) speed up, or slow down a song as someone is singing... but only with "fun" people. Some of the looks I get from the singers and the laughs from the audience are priceless. Try it sometime, especially with a well-known song... Speed it up a notch every 5 or 6 seconds, beginning somewhere in the middle of the song... Especially fun if you're dealing with a duet or trio...

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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]

That is exactly why I don't tell them. Frankly I and the rest of the customers prefer the singer to be able hit the notes.

Bsically if something is too high, start by dropping 1 key. If it's still too high, go down 2 (that is about the lowest i'd go without starting to garble the audio too much). If it's STILL too high, then go the opposite and RAISE the key 1 up and sing lower, and again if it's too low raise up another (again 2 is about the max) - IF you can't find your happy medium in any of those settings, the song is not a good choice for you and you should drop it from the repotoire. I do know 1 guy that has sung Old Man River and had me DROP it 4 keys and nailed it. Another gal sings Rockin Around The Christmas Tree and raises it 5 keys and does very well because she'll sing it lower so it actually sound correct.

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Some DK songs were done lower than they should have been, so they have to be raised, usually 2, to make them sound right. I, like Chris, have had to start lowering songs I have done for 20 years. Damn this aging thing!! I have people ask me to lower the key for them, all the time. I use Karma. There are a few songs that I had to lower the tempo. For me, SF's version of Still Got The Blues, and SBI's version of Scenes From An Italian Restaurant are a bit too fast. They need to be slowed down a touch.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I have one who asked me specifically whether I can change the key and what increment it used. This was when I used Compuhost. I know JustKaraoke's key changer uses half steps. In fact he is supposed to attend my Friday show this week.

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

As a singer, I like to transpose songs both up and down on occasion. Sometimes to better fit my vocal range, but mostly because I prefer the song in a different key signature. Last night I sang Disco Inferno in Eb minor, that's three semitones higher than the original key. The KJ forgot to neutralise the key when I finished, so the next singer performed Achy Breaky Heart in C major. He sounded superb.

As a singer I have requested both key and tempo changes. I hang with a group of very talented singers and a few of them regularly change the key (mosly down, but one lady goes up). I know of nobody, other than myself, who has changed the tempo. I have asthma and recently had trouble keeping up with Wedding Bell Blues (ran out of breath), so next time I tried I had the KJ slow down the tempo a bit. It was just enough to get me over the hump.

I do tell the crowd that key and tempo is changeable two or three times a night. If I hear some one so far off on timing I will advance the lyric time to help out, but it's rare.

Oh ya, the computer will change the Key more them your mp-3 can stand. after 2 sem's to will sound like crap.

I've used key change once. Literally only once.

Tempo not at all.

Tempo not so much unless you play with instruments to accompany the music. But a Key Changer... always. Especially if it's available in "Half Steps"

If the song I'm singing isn't Sinatra, Elvis, Morrison, Dean Martin or any of the old crooners, mostly gone now, I typically have the KJ lower my key by two half steps. Virtually all of the newer songs are so high, a baritone just can't sing them. It has been frustrating trying to find songs in my range that aren't ancient. The good news is that I love to sing the crooner songs of long ago and have a hard time finding a venue that has old enough regulars to appreciate the music. The key adjuster is a must for me and works well for up to 3 maybe 4 half steps. Any more and there is a problem with distortion and the backup singers, if any, sound weird.

I have some, but not a lot.
I used to have more when more people used my request slips instead of just coming up.
Now I have folders for a lot of my regulars (I use VDJ so no singer history yet).

What I have done is have VDJ change up the tempo to "help" me beat mix two songs together.
If I don't catch it before they start it can cause some dirty looks my way!

Joe