Karaoke Forums

Okay, we've all heard it before; well, rather, not heard it.  The karaoke singer that sings too quietly.  I just don't know what to do.  Last night for instance, quiet female singer, I turn her up, she pulls the microphone away.  I turn the music down she sings quieter.  Argh.  Tell her to put the microphone all the way up to her mouth, she says yuk.  She might as well put my 58 down and sing into a cucumber.

Just venting I guess...  What can we do; you know?  The audience says turn her up, she says to turn her down.  My mixer and gain levels are at maximum safe level.  Argh again.  How much longer is this song...  Sad thing is, some of these singers could be really good.  Oh well, pat her on the back... give some encouragement... build her confidence... tell her to drink more.  Hmm... Drink beer, sing song, drink more beer.

Just some random babbling... thanx for listening.  Thawts, comments?

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---wallyd

and there is absolutely nothing more you can do about that. Just one of those things you have to deal with. After you have told/shown him/her the right mic technique, and they don't use it, toughies!

I always wish for the monitor speaker that allows me to hear how I sound to the crowd.  If you had one of those, you could tell her to listen carefully to the monitor speaker and use her own judgement.

Just my two cents.

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I only date Karaoke singers.

Some singers are just SHY and TIMID , there is really nothing you can do.  Chances are if you have a monitor and they HEAR themselves they will probably back away even MORE .  All you can do is instruct them on some proper mic techniques and hope for  the best.  The problem is the CROWD always blames the KJ ..like we are keeping them low on purposes or something .   Thats why whenever something like that happens I'll grab the mic when the singer is done and make my WAY TO GO announcement with the same mic so everyone knows that it works  LOL

Some singers are just SHY and TIMID , there is really nothing you can do.  Chances are if you have a monitor and they HEAR themselves they will probably back away even MORE .  All you can do is instruct them on some proper mic techniques and hope for  the best.  The problem is the CROWD always blames the KJ ..like we are keeping them low on purposes or something .   Thats why whenever something like that happens I'll grab the mic when the singer is done and make my WAY TO GO announcement with the same mic so everyone knows that it works  LOL

yeah, except for the fact that after you have the mic turned up way loud to compensate, then they yell out "WHOOOOOO" and look at you when they hear gawd awful feedback!  LMAO

 That is so true!  the famous beer in hand, singing the song in the language of "Drunkenese" ever so quietly and then the infamous WHOOOOO!  I wish I could be that cool!

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---wallyd

That's what compressors & limiters are for  :whistle:

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

I think you may have missed my point, JAM.  The idea is for the singer to take responsibility for how their voice mixes with the music.  If they don't take advantage of it, it's their problem.  But at least you have given them what they need to decide for themselves.

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I only date Karaoke singers.

I agree - Dave  :hi5:

Just mix it for normal levels. If they CHOOSE to sing so quietly they cant be heard then its THEIR choice. But theres no reason to overdrvie amps, or create feed back and then have them do the super loud WOOOOOO because THEY cant or wont sing at a reasonalble normal level or cant  or wont hold a mic close enough to let the gear do its work. Coaching can help too but if they wont listen to you there's nothing more you can do. That goes for SCREAMERS too who sing SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO loud taht you have to turn off the mics COMPLETELY!! And then thier STILL TOO LOUD for the music!

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Would turning off or way down help?  I think that some people think they are to loud. Without the monitors, they won't be able to hear themselves.

Random thoughts?

Hmmm........ I find a few shots of JD usually does the trick. Or, if you don't want to go that route...... Tequila seems to work too.  :yes:

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♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

And there are those who hold the mic way down and near his pant pionting to the sky. The best compressor cant help him.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

One thing I tend to do is to take the mains down a bit, than give the vocals a bit of an increase.  It seems to make the quiet singers a bit more comfortable if the mains are a bit lower.

One of my regulars is like that.  She has a good voice but is so shy about hearing it that she may as well not even sing.  It is usually a female that has this problem.  Sometimes I'll kid with them and say,"Ok get it up close to your mouth. It won't hurt you.  I'm sure you hear that from your boyfriend all the time."  That usually get's them laughing and a little more relaxed.

Sometimes after an episode like this I'll give a quick lesson on how to use the mic and often throw in a little humor like, "Ya know, it just occured to me.  This mic thing has us sexes all messed up.  Just watch.  Normally it's the guy who has his hands all over the mic and almost at times engulfs it.  While it the ladies that hold it as far down to the base as possible and holds it at arms length like it's going to blow up."  This usually get's the guys red faced and the girls get a good laugh at it. At least then the audience knows it's not because you don't know how to run a mixer.

Kelly

I wish I had paid more attention to this post when I first read it, because, wouldn't you know it, I had my first quiet singer and made myself a nervous wreck trying to get the adjustments right to accomidate her.  Now, when I was first singing, I was a quiet singer, but I don't recall thinking (or acting) as though it  was the KJ's fault ( I knew I was a quiet singer), but you would have thought I had personally insulted her when she was done.  She got all huffy and said she was done.... Soo much for driving myself nuts to accomidate her...... But I am at this moment looking at monitors to see if this may help....

I now feel soooo bad for all the KJs I might have drove nuts with my quiet singing...

Hopefully the KJ is using monitors........

If so, try turning the singers voice way down just in the monitors and leave the background music up.....Maybe they will try to compensate by singing louder.

Another trick is to suggest they sing a duet with another person...Lots of times the shy mouse will sing louder then because they feel the audience can't tell who is who....After a few of those they may begin to sing louder solo.

I've taken the step where I stood out in front of them and showed encouragement by gestering......a thumbs up with one hand and palm upwards with the other while nodding my head.....At least it showed the audience what the problem was and usually their friends would then cheer "louder!".

If they are really stuborn after all that, then the next time they turned in a slip I will say, "Look, I really like your voice but no one can hear it cause you won't speak up. I can't keep allowing you to sing unless you help me out by singing louder."

Often times the problem with a quiet singer is that they aren't holding the mic close enough to their mouths.  (Yes, it's usually women)

Often if they are holding the mic at waist level, I'll tell them something like "Breasts are nice to look at but they don't make much noise so put the mic closer to your mouth!"  Usually they chuckle, relax and finish the song just fine.  

However, if it is a case of a soft singer and the mic is where it should be, I turn the monitor OFF (to prevent feedback) and crank the gain on the mic as high as it takes to hear them.  Sure, sometimes you get the big WOOO at the end, but like Lonnie said, that's what the compressor/limiter is for!

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

hit the nail on the head.  i usually turn the monitor down so the singer doesn't feel like he/she is blaring, while i put more power to the mains.  that way the audience can hear the singer.  have to be real careful about your FX signal, though.  you can get serious feedback.. just play with it and find out what works best.