Karaoke Forums

I have been sitting on the sidelines for the last 7 years, slowly I have been watching once great venues, that had thriving karaoke programs slowly die. One by one they have either closed or have been forced to accept inept KJ hosts, since they are the only one's that seem to be willing to work. Of course I have to accept the fact that I am old, and maybe my best days are behind me. I have come up with a plan and have been working towards trying to save the programs at the non-profits, where I also am a member.

Currently I am in talks with at least 4 of the 5 non profits in my area, I want to do one night at each venue, hoping to revive the crowds, I'm setting 90 days as a zone to see if my plan will work. Currently no problem in signing up venues since they are well aware of my track record of success. Their only concern is my age, and wondering if I have modernized my equipment. I have plenty of time to practice and will not start my operations until after the Labor Day Weekend. Traditionally where I live it is slow in the Summer time, and business picks up in the Fall and Winter. The only unknown I have in all of this is if there will be a second wave of lock downs due to the resurgence if the virus and new variants? I intend to keep up my shots, and hope that all that attend have been vaccinated since I usually play to an older BB crowd.

Today I am receiving my EV 50 from sweetwater, with the roller carrying case. Now I have both Bose and EV, my plan is to use the Bose for smaller venues, and use the EV 50 for the two larger halls. Naturally I intend to practice, and have been busy getting my new laptop in working order. Unlike other hosts I refuse to perform until I have learned my equipment inside and outside. That means reading all manuals and drawing upon my experience to get the best results. I want gigs on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I am also looking at doing Sunday afternoon karaoke, coupled with a potluck for food. We will see how it goes, I will try and give you updates.

P.S. Also I find watching U-Tube videos helpful if I get stumped on hardware or software issues.

I wish you the best.

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

Back in the Game!! Keep us updated.. What model of Bose do you have? Why did you go with the Ev Evolve 50 and is it the M?

The L 1 Mod M 1 S, I use it with the big B-2 base. I went with the basic Evolve 50, and also purchased the roller case to make it easier to transport, after all I'm not young anymore. I needed something with a bit more punch for larger halls, I still use the Bose for smaller bar lounges. I used my Sweetwater card for both no interest 24 months to pay it back, 71.00 a month.

P.S. I sold all of my older speakers and raised over $2,000.00 to put towards new equipment.

Congrats on getting back into the game. And congrats on getting the Evolve 50. It is truly the best speaker system I've ever owned. You're going to love it.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Well one thing is for sure, setting up the EV 50 is easier since it is more compact, lighter than the bose equipment, especially the B-2 unit. I also bought a roller case for the Bose B-2 to make transporting easier. Sorry Alan but it is so light it almost feels like a toy. I have yet to hear it, since I can only experiment, practice my new equipment while my wife is away from the house, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, at her line dancing class. Once I hear it I will know if it was money well spent?

I found out something quite curious, I do play discs and have been wanting to use the player feature on my Compuhost 3 program. I do have a built in drive on my Tough Book C-53, but it seems flimsy to use as a main player. Just for the fun of it I hooked up my old Pioneer DVR-X152 external drive, guess what it works just fine playing CDG's. So I might just be able to ditch my RSQ back up player, one thing less to hook up, trying to get away from old equipment. The Pioneer is built like a tank and I bought it 20 years ago, still plays fine?

P.S. I know what I wrote above sounds confusing. Let me explain I used to use my hard drive player with an RSQ player switching back and forth between the two using a router box. What I'm trying to do is run everything off the PC, no need to be moving back and forth between the two units. Even though the Pioneer itself is old, it will be used through one system running off the PC alone.

Well???

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Well indeed Alan, first I have to apologize for not answering sooner. My long time Tower computer came crashing down, and I just got it back today. So I have been off the grid for over a week now. As far as the EV 50 is concerned, I got sound out of it a drum roll that brought everyone out of their house in the neighborhood. I need to run some more tests. My original reason for buying it seems to hold true, it is made for larger halls, packed with people, while the Bose is better suited to smaller venues, with less of a crowd. Seems the one thing the EV does better is play well where their is plenty of bodies, the humans don't quite absorb the sound as much as with Bose.

Things are moving right ahead and I'm finishing downloading the rest of my tracks to my new Panasonic Tough Book. I'm set to start on October 1st, let see how it goes?

I think I have posted this elsewhere, but I have decided not to KJ, but rather DJ instead. Much of it has to do with personal preference, also I just think it's easier. First of all you only have to setup half the equipment, and if necessary you can place everything in a smaller area. Also you don't have to keep constantly adjusting your setup for each different singer. You just set up your sound and then adjust the volume through the evening. Most important you don't have to deal with the rotation, people getting a drink, food, or in the bath room trying to locate them.

Being a DJ requires different skill sets, you have to have a knowledge of all music styles, be able to read the crowd and plan on what to play next. All in all I am more comfortable doing DJ, it is something new in my area, which is already flush with KJ's all competing for the same shrinking karaoke pie. So far I have signed up 3 non-profit venues for Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

P.S. I call what I'm doing DPN aka Dance Party Night, except for Wednesday it is Hump Day Dance Party Night.

Do you know how to be a DJ? Do you know about beat matching? Syncing songs? Do you have a DJ controller? Headphones? Or, are you just going to play a song and when it finishes, start another song. If so, that is not DJ'ing. It takes some skill to be a real DJ. So, if you're only going to play songs one after another, that is called playing music... not being a DJ.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Will they know the difference, I pulled it off so far? I have been doing it for over 25 years. Now I have EV 50 it will make me look like a star, right? I have been told I am already better than a guy who tired to pass himself off as a professional DJ, who asked $200.00 a gig. It boils down to what you have to compare me to.

P.S. By the way I'm not taking his business since he was run out of town.

Being a DJ requires a knowledge of beat matching, syncing tracks and having a controller, 2 channel mixer, and a good set of headphones.

I doubt you have any of that. So, just because you decide to play music, doesn't make you a real professional DJ. Anyone can just play music.... But I wouldn't consider you a DJ in the true sense of the word.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Shows what you know.

I was DJing when I only had my old hard drive player, and getting plenty of gigs. Now that I have new modern equipment, and both an extensive song, and music video library, I think I can match any show.

I'm going to give you a little tip Alan, once you don't need these gigs to live on, then artistic wise you can do pretty much what you want. I don't care if I lose a job, because I can always go on to the next one. If there is no next one then no problem, I go on vacation.


P.S. The bottom line Alan is this, for 25 years I have been paid as a DJ. If they are paying me I must be one, since all you believe in is money.

MR.SCOTT little scale

Alan

Money
Money
Money
Money
Money
Money
Money.

So I have been taking money under false pretenses, no one has ever asked for their money back? They always tipped me? Should I give them a refund, or are they all suckers?

Another day another assignment, we will see how well the show goes tonight and tomorrow night. Should be an interesting weekend. Still haven't gotten a Sunday afternoon gig, but I am working on it. Let you know Sunday how things went.

I was going to wait until Sunday, but I can share with you what happened last night at my first DPN aka Dance Party Night. This was held at the Moose Lodge, we shifted gears and went from karaoke to just DJ, it went well. We didn't have any karaoke singers, because I got the word out. There were a couple of line dance classes, some people from the local dance studios, and yes some singers to dance also. The hall was filled, though not packed after all this was just the first week. It is something new, and I guessed right some are tired of karaoke every night, and want a change.

This is my favorite venue for such an event, the acoustics are outstanding, and the dance floor is the second largest in the area 100 feet across and 120 feet deep. I supplied the music using the EV-50 like I planned for the huge hall. I had once again to run everything at about 1/3 of what I could crank it up to, even at that low setting a couple of songs were too loud and I had to use my slider to adjust the volume. Again I interfaced my Yamaha mixer to the PC and got nothing but compliments on the show. They especially loved my Music Videos, of which I have a large collection.

Well One down, one to go, and then Wednesday, three gigs in less than one week.

P.S. The Boomers are retiring and also dying, what I saw more of last night were Gen Xer's , and some Mills. These groups do drink other than just sip water. From what I understand the bar did very well for the night.

Sounds like the community found a new place to have fun. Glad your EV-50 fit the bill for this venue. Hopefully the word will go around to bring more people in to enjoy the dancing. Glad to hear the bar did well so I'm assuming the servers did well too! Keep it up LR and congrats on your new venue!