Karaoke Forums

I've had some great karaoke shows in my basement, and although I can record to cassette, the quality is lacking.  I'd like create quality recordings for my friends so we can have a good laugh when we're sober.    
I have a RSQ Triple Tray, a Yamaha mixer, and Yamaha PA speakers.  From reading the forums, it sounds like Audacity or other recording software is the answer, but the only laptop I have is my business laptop.  I can't really download anything onto it, so I'm wondering if there's an external solution to this problem.  
I have an old Phillips CD Recorder also, but the recordings I've made have been distorted or inaudible---no in between.  
I really want something good that's not going to cost me an arm and a leg.  I don't have a ton of room down there in my kj corner, so I was hoping the laptop was the way to go.  Any suggestions? Looking for a solution under $300.  
Thanks in advance for your help--love the forums!

You could get something like
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i- ... 1_786.html
Only problem is with these is the smaller ones often only allow you to record 2 tracks at a time, this one doesn't state.  Which means you would need to record your music first then record your vocals - which isn't that big of a deal, you can always print up the words & sing from the sheet.
Advantages to multi-track systems is if you mess up a line, you don't have to go back & re-record the entire song, you can just 'punch in' your vocals at the beginning of the error & fix it.  You can also harmonize with yourself.  This particular unit also has built in effects so you do all your mixing internally then feed the output to the computer & record it to hard drive.

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Audacity will work on just about any computer.  Try garage sales, Good Will, or 2nd hand stores, you should be able to find something for under $100.  Just make sure it can get Win98 installed on it, and at least 128MB ram.

Then hook it to the sound system, install audacity, and you have a recording system.

Didn't I read a while back about someone using a DVD-R to record off the 'tape out' of his mixer??  I've seen some lately between $110 and $200.

That will work, only downfall is if the mix isn't right, or you mess up, that's your final product & you have to redo it.  With a separate multi tracker or the computer program like Krystal or Mackie Tracktion, you can redo vocals in sections without having to redo entire songs, provided you want to have a good recording to begin with.  If you just want to record for fun whatever the results may be, then yes just hook a recorder to the line out of the mixer.

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HEHE don't mess up!!!

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ROBDOG *WOOF WOOF*

Thanks for all your feedback.  What would be the difference between recording to a DVD-R and a CD-R regarding audio quality?  Could I get the same effect w/ a CD recorder?
Also, I'm looking on ebay at some of the Roland Boss recorders and considering a used 1180 if I can get it cheaply. Any comments on that piece of equipment?

You can also buy an external drive to hold your Audacity and other audio programs and also the recorded files....You then Burn the final product using laptop burner......That way nothing unrelated to company business gets left on the laptop....They will never know.

...........And the external drive is forever yours to use on any computer.

...........And a decent external drive is also cheap.

There would be no huge audible difference between the dvd/r & cd/r.  That Boss unit is very nice, but like stated, it only records 2 tracks at a time - it will playback up to 10.  So basically once your music is down, you go back & record your vocals while the music is playing.

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I would use a digital multi track.

You can get very creative and record mutiple back up vocals and such and also make your music track seperate so that you can adjust levels in mix down.

You can hook up to a computer for a digaital mix down and record to cd.

This unit is only $300 and is pretty nice, 40 gig hard drive maeans you can record a good number of tracks before you would need to dump the internal HD.

http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl~waGroup1datarq~[waGroup1datarq]~eqint_KeyIDdata~39589~itemNumber~[item_number]~UID~2006062202165326~disp_IMG~Y~catgroup~%5BcatGroup%5D

I like to record myself singing in a controlled environment, and I like trying to work on my voice.  But when we're having a bunch of drunk friends over, I want to just keep the recording going because you never know what's going to unfold.  Later I'd like to edit the recording and just keep the good stuff and funny stuff.  
I have the Yamaha mixer (EMX 212S) set up with the RSQ triple tray player coming in on one channel, plus 4 mics coming in on 4 other channels, and I'm sending the mixed output to a pair of Yamaha PA speakers.  The sound is great and probably even too much for the basement.  
Can I hook up the mixer directly to the Tascam AND my speakers so that the entire combined output (karaoke background music + 1-4 singers) is being recorded at once and also playing through the speakers?
Or am I truly ignorant and have no idea what I'm talking about???

[quote="syd10s @ Sat Sep 30, 2006 4:55 am"]I like to record myself singing in a controlled environment, and I like trying to work on my voice.  But when we're having a bunch of drunk friends over, I want to just keep the recording going because you never know what's going to unfold.  Later I'd like to edit the recording and just keep the good stuff and funny stuff.  
I have the Yamaha mixer (EMX 212S) set up with the RSQ triple tray player coming in on one channel, plus 4 mics coming in on 4 other channels, and I'm sending the mixed output to a pair of Yamaha PA speakers.  The sound is great and probably even too much for the basement.  
Can I hook up the mixer directly to the Tascam AND my speakers so that the entire combined output (karaoke background music + 1-4 singers) is being recorded at once and also playing through the speakers?
quote]

Whoa!  Just hook your recording device up to the 'Rec Out' jacks on your mixer!  That's what they're there for ... unless this cough medicine is way more powerful than I thought

Thanks--yeah, I know it was a stupid question, but the info regarding the Tascam (record music first, then go back and record voice) was confusing me, and I thought there was a twist I wasn't getting.  
So I can still get the Tascam, use the Record Outputs into the Tascam inputs and record onto the hard drive.  Then I can upload it to my home PC (a huge desktop, not a laptop) and edit using a software like Audacity, then burn to CD.

I want to thank everyone for the feedback; this forum is INVALUABLE for a novice like me.  We're having an 80's party in a few weeks and I want to be able to record the evening's events. I'll probably wind up getting the Tascam that was suggested.

If you already have a decently fast desktop, you can add a pro soundcard like the Delta 44 or Maya 44 for less than 150 bucks, then your mixer will properly interface with your desktop for both playing and recording....then simply add another cheap hard drive unless you have plenty of room on existing drives.

With the PC you could then eliminate the CDG player and place all your CDG's on hard drive, or keep the player connected to the mixer. With the PC, you can then host shows by using free software to both play and record the events in super high quality.

The Tascam is a great device, but with the PC you can actually do more lots cheaper and then have all your music on the computer and avoid swapping disks, and also record/burn/store/play almost limitlessly.

I have the boss, and it works fine as a two-track recorder.

The problem with it is it's designed to emulate a studio, the way they break down a song to be recorded... first the bass or drums, then add in each instrument while they play back the recorded ones. Not to dispute Lonnie's 10 track statement, but there's a BIT more to the ability of the the BOSS recorder. It's got the ability to go 100 tracks I think, with virtual type tracks (pre set up drums, etc.). I've only listened to the instruction vcr on this... so I don't have the details in front of me. But Lonnie's right in that only ten tracks are able to be played at one time with what you adjust... you can mix that.

Cool Edit Pro 2 (Which is Adobe now, right?) does have the ability to multitrack yourself on the computer... only problem is, I've not figured out when you sing into the mic, how to have a playable back on the mix of your voice at the same time.

Your PC Can do both the recording and editing. You do not need any extarnal recording devies. Just get a soundcard.

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

Yep.......

Double Yep...

Skip the Tascam, and install Audacity on your PC first to make sure it will run good.  Then buy a decent sound card for your PC, and you are done.

Audacity=FREE
Decent Sound Card=$50-$200