Karaoke Forums

I just watched one of the repeats ( They run like 3 in a night on Spike- lucky for me) of Bar Rescue.

On this show they were saving a karaoke bar. While they brought in a karaoke host to train a new host, they also put un-hosted karaoke in the same bar. The right or wrong of that aside, I have another question.

They installed a "Touch Tone" karaoke jukebox that updates itself weekly, like the regular Mega-Touch jukeboxes can. My question is two-part:

A) Do these jukeboxes display lyrics, or are they similar to the Amazon downloads?

2) If they DO display lyrics, what the heck is their source?

BTW- The host they brought in to train a new one had nothing to do with the jukebox, and was never filmed with it. He was identified as Fred someone, who owns You Be The Star Karaoke, and was touted as having the largest karaoke company in the country. I've never heard of it, but that's meaningless. Could be only working the west coast for all I know.

He seemed knowledgeable enough for the very small time he ws on screen.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

I was wondering the same thing. I'd never heard of him or his company nor had I heard of that company for providing Karaoke. My question is What versions or really??? How good are they? Are the comparable to Sound Choice Or MUSIC MAESTRO ? Do their lyrics lag behind the music or go on 30 seconds after the music has faded Like Chartbuster or does it sound like it was recorded in bass drum and have the melody line wha wha'd out like in DK? Just because something is new and up to date doesn't make it better.

http://www.touchtunes.com/experiences/karaoke/
Never heard of them either. They have a couple places up here using them, I don't ever get a chance to get out to other shows much anymore, but may have to check them out. It looks like a streaming system. It's billed to be able to be run by 'anyone' since it's all interactive with the phone apps & a jukebox (kiosk) type menu system that adds to the rotation (however they deem a proper rotation should be run I imagine). Tried to get a songlist, but they have it set up that you have to be a current user.

The host they trained didn't touch the equipment, they had a karaoke 'dj' for that in the booth. She just pumped the crowd and called their name.

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

Lon, I don't think it's a streaming system, else why would it be updated weekly? Unless, it's the source and not the jukebox that gets updated, but it didn't sound that way..

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

It looks like the source updates weekly and send out to the jukebox's. I am betting it's some sort of an online type of system where it streams or downloads - I am willing to bet streaming service. I have an email inquiry into them now. It kind of looks like it's geared more for the inhouse type systems over the mobile hosts.

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

Google result: Fred Medrano, Texas home-based, owner of ‘You Be The Star Entertainment’ also promoter & coordinator of USA karaoke competitions from coast to coast sponsored by KWCUSA (Karaoke World Championship USA) http://www.prbuzz.com/entertainment/772 ... drano.html

Owner of the largest karaoke company in the US? Possibly, but couldn’t find anything to support that claim. Self-proclaimed? Who knows? (sorry, can’t resist)

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Very dated MySpace page -

http://www.myspace.com/youbethestar

Current Facebook page -

https://www.facebook.com/YouBeTheStarEn ... nt?fref=ts

Doesn't seem to be updated very often, but if they do 20% of the shows in San Antonio as their MySpace page claims, then they probably don't have to promote much online. Karaoke is still very much a word of mouth experience.

-Chris

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-Chris

A couple of years ago, this setup was at the L.A. County Fair..

(I didn't stop and look as the wife was tired..)

Perhaps I should have stopped..

The show itself was kinda weak....

but at least NOW they're not using 8-track karaoke anymore

There is a bar about a mile from my venue that has the Touch Tunes system. Touch Tunes is the same brand as the jukebox at my bar, so the karaoke option is just an add-on product.

It really just works exactly like a juke box, and auto-updates the same way a modern juke box would. It's a hard drive networked with a remote server, simple as that. It looks just like a jukebox with a couple microphones attached, and it displays lyrics on the same LCD touch screen where you make your selection. In the case of this bar, the main unit hangs on a wall, then they have it wired up to another TV that also displays the lyrics, so you don't have to stare the wall to sing. I've also seen stand-alone units that you would place on a stage.

Even though the bar advertises that you can do karaoke "whenever you want," I've never seen anyone do karaoke there outside of the weekly contest they run on Wednesday nights. Even then, there are typically about 10-12 people in the contest, which takes about 3 hours from about 9-12 on Wednesday nights. Basically, a few of the singers do warmup songs, they jump right into the contest, which is judged by applause, then the top three get $10, $20, and $30 bar tabs.

Anyway, nothing that's going to get anywhere CLOSE to replacing a hosted show. Everyone finds it extremely awkard to walk up to the "PA" and just start singing to the bar, unanounced. Casual singers won't touch the thing, and even the hardcore singers get pretty shy.

The sound is also pretty subpar. The vocals actually mix surprisingly well most of the time, which I assume is a result of some well-engineered compression, but that same compression makes bad singers sound extra bad, or more like what they really sound like, which a good host could account for, but automatic compression doesn't consider. The speakers for the system are built into the jukebox, and remind me of the old Bose 303s I used to have in my home theater....great high end, great bass response, very weak in the midrange. Probably 150-200 watt PA speakers, nothing that fills the bar with great sound, just adequate.

The owner of that bar actually comes to my Saturday night karaoke gigs, and has asked me several times about hosting at his bar, but he wants a $15 an hour host, and I'm just not in that category.

Anyway, don't worry. No machine will ever replace a good host (until they perfect AI and give it some personality, then we're all F'd).

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Really? $15 per hour? I don't work for anything near that at work and I won't do karaoke at that price. Now if you want to keep the set up in place, you update the music (and books if that is what you have), I will do it for $30 per hour. Maybe $25 if I like the place! I show up at show time and walk out the door at closing of the show.

Otherwise, not gonna happen! Hire Bruce, he'd get 'er done!

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Keep in mind, all you're talking about here is to Host/MC. The Jukebox is already preset to do the rest. I used to go to a Karaoke Bar in Manhattan about 15 years ago. Back then, your average NY KJ was taking in $250-$350 for a 4 hour show. This place had the Pioneer Laser Discs set up in an Auto-Loading machine. The Hostesses and Hosts used to get paid $60 to work 6 hours (8 PM to 2 AM), and what they did was maintain the Rotation, punch in the song code for the next singer, and adjust the volume for Music and Mic as needed.

Thanks for the Link. I checked it out. None of the bars in My area that have it are even worth going to. They have Cheap Owners that don't maintain their bars and their clientele is not one that of one that the majority of karaoke Singers I hang with would ever go to.

found 4 bars in a reasonable distance to check out. 3 of the 4 near me are not safe or respectable. One however is in a bar that was in an OK area last I knew and I will be going to check it out next time I am in the area and will report in. Thanks for the link

Hmm There may be a common thread going here? Hope some others chime in.

You get what you pay for.....you also don't get what you don't pay for.....

-Chris

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-Chris

I went ONLINE to check out where I could find a place using this machine. I found 2 that are less than 5 miles from where I live. I drove over to one place, and the Bar was empty... just 1 Customer and the Bartender. This was at about 9 PM, and I didn't even walk in. I then drove to the 2nd place (2 miles away). I looked in, and there were about 6 people in the place. I decided to walk in and have a drink. I didn't ask about the Karaoke, since nobody was singing. As I was sitting there, someone approached me. He recognized me from about 15 years ago (at Karaoke), and then he mentioned the machine. He then coaxed me into singing (didn't take much).

The machine is the same machine you see now in Bars that use it as a Jukebox. The Karaoke cost $1 per song. OK... I don't usually support this, but I was bored, and decided to give it a try. The Bartender had to use a Remote Control to switch it from Jukebox to Karaoke. I then was shown how to look up songs. There was no way to tell who the Manufacturer was for the songs... no codes. I couldn't find a lot of stuff that I would have liked to have sung.... 1 example is "Honey I'm Home" (Shania Twain).

After I found something, I entered it in, and a countdown started. It said I would be up in 30 seconds. As other people entered a song selection (after putting money in the machine), it queued them up in order. The Bartender handed me a Mic, and that was it. She barely knew how to get the machine to switch from Jukebox to Karaoke, so I wasn't going to ask her things about Reverb and Key Changes. When I sang, the music was very flat. I could hear myself clearly, but not the music as well. I definitely was not impressed. At the end of one of the songs that someone else sang, I saw Sunfly in the end credits.

I don't know what they are charging the Bars to have this application added to their Jukebox, but I can see it fading out real fast. The serious Karaoke Singers won't be interested in this, and the ones who haven't really gone out to Karaoke will get bored of it very fast.

I just got back from LA and that "club". They don't use the machine at night but the sound system is not good I couldn't hear myself at all. All in all a bad install or the KJ didn't know how to use it.

REally Maybe they'll be open to hiring a professional now? Naw what am I thinking! The guy is completely tone deaf! He cannot hear the music and sounds well enough to balance out the music. I'm not making this up. He told me he was tone deal the first time I went there. AND He said all the different versions of Karaoke sound the same to him.

I don't know about other singers But I do know I prefer Sound Choice over all the rest 99 percent of the time. Occasionally a Chartbuster sometimes even a Sunfly. I've been to shows here in Flint where the Music coming out of the system is only on ONE channel. I notice it right away especially on the older stereo stuff. And if you mention it to the Host or the Owner they consider you causing a problem. Because overall In Flint We have alot of Karaoke shows. But, very few professionals.

I'm guessing that there was NOT a place to insert a customer's disc or thumb drive, correct?