Karaoke Forums

1 in 5 - that's 20%.  That equate to a little more than a few on my calculator.  A brail monitor, now that's an invention.  

I just know they're out there.  These illiterates.  If I couldn't read or write, I'd be embarrassed to ever announce it.  These people can hide very effectively in our culture but miss out on alot because of their 'fears'.  

KJs cater to a standard audience.  That is, those who can look through a book, select a song, write down particulars and bring it up to the stage.  

1)  Print size in books is a challenge to some people
2)  Getting from chair to stage is a challenge for some people
3)  Filling out a slip is a challenge for some people

I've never been to a karaoke show where I've heard or even seen a host make a concerted effort to reach out to the 'challenged'.  Wait I take that back -

4)  Singing is a challenge for some people

Croak I feel where you are coming from....  This country has some problems that need to be corrected ....  Illiteracy is one of them ..But HECK ...I'm in a BAR where addictions to ALCOHOL , CIGARETTES AND DRUGS should be more of a concern.
heck ...from some of the people  I hear sing.... HEARING IMPAIRED is a bigger problem than not being able to read.  LMAO

I think a KJ just has to be as accommodating as possible for ALL whatever challenges  the singer may have

And again, as a kj I am not going to go seek out those with special needs, 9 out of 10 times, they will come to me & THEN I will accomodate.  Usually too busy babysitting the non-special needs.

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Am I missing something here....

Karaoke - Words on screen-

Hopefully that is because the singer READS them as they sing, and some do.

Just think of it as a sort of remedial kindergarden for drunks to teach people how to read. Most of them sorta know the song.

For some people the karaoke may be their only reading for the week. God knows they are too drunk to read the roadsigns.

On the slip matter, I have sorta let many regulars know that they can turn in thier song requests verbally if I dont look to busy. Some do, some don't, but if I am just transfering the info from the slip to the lineup of singers it is faster that way. It saves on paper slips and pen theft.

Every now and then I get request slips that are written so poorly that no human should be able to read them. Booze is usually a cause. Then some people have nicknames that unless you know them look a bit odd on the slip like something is not right (one guy last night had a nickname "prkl" that all of his friends knew but for me it was a meaningless string of letters that made me go find him and get his name.

Karaoke does not necessarily mean it has to have words on a screen or anywhere else - that is just what people are used to.  True karaoke is simply music minus the main singer lead part.

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I don't think I could get away without a screen or some other way of showing the words in a karaoke show in any normal commercial setting I have been around.

It may not be part of the definition, but in common practice karaoke includes the words. Anyone run a karoke show without the words on a monitor or some other screen?

In fact most places that sell only backing tracks without synced lyrics sell them as "backing tracks" and not karaoke.

Sure not technically correct but in common practice it includes the words.

Right but that's not technically what karaoke is, it's just what most people percieve it as.  When I first started singing in clubs, there was no video screen at all, it was all on cassette & you got a hand held lyric sheet & that was it.  It wasn't until a couple years later when the LaserDisc (and cdg shortly after that) started taking the market over & replaced all cassette hosts as the words were able to be placed on the screen with a syncronized swiping motion.  
But that is a completely different thread - or was.

I've also seen karaoke discs labeled as 'backing tracks' as well.  One manu used to market their stuff as backing tracks - I believe it was either Priddis or Pocket Songs if i'm not mistaken.

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Make no mistake about it, if I couldn't read -

1st I'd miss out on these amazing discussions, and
2nd I'd have adapted to life without words by the time I was 40 wandering aimlessly through bars singing.  

People who can't read still hear, store, and recollect.  They can probably recognize changes in color too so as to follow along on the screen.  Some probably know some words which also would serve as a cue for them.  People who cannot read - still function.

I need a monitor to sing.  I get too distracted otherwise, probably ADHD.  For the record, I can't remember why I asked this question to being with.

Lipsyncing was cool.

More than happy to help if needed, but sometimes it can be....tedious. Where I work the problem is compounded by the fact our place uses a computer sign-up for customers....so even if the singer is literate, many of them still need help with the typing and "clicking". On a busy night, I usually have to go and made sure everything is running smoothly at the sign-up computer at least every other song. You'd be surprised at how many people that sing karaoke aren't good with keyboard and a mouse!:shock:

Kind of a Love-Hate relationship with our system, cause sometimes I wish the non-computer people could just hand me the slips and let me type it in for them, instead of them having to spend 10 minutes at a keyboard huntin' & peckin', because they're not quite with the technology. On some days, it's almost like we've gone one step further than we should have with that, when it comes to them signing up. I can sympathize with them, and usually don't mind helping them in most cases, though. Kind of interesting to watch some of them type "under the influence" too.

Wow....it feels good to post again!

Which is partly the reason i'd never go to a kiosk only for my requests - many don't want the hassle of a computer.  I've taken polls - after serious consideration (after i've read about some that use them) & out of all the responses I got (over 250 responses in one months time) I had 3 that said they would be happy with a kiosk only request station, most responses were they want to be able to take the time to look through books & write up their slips - i'd say more than half of our singer ask for their slips back to keep in their posession.

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I totally agree with Lonman. The vast majority of my customers like to peruse the book and find something. If they don't feel like looking through the book for a common song, they just have to ask me, and I'll tell them if I have it or not (I almost always do have it). Just having a book there gets some people to try songs they never would have thought of before.

I had an acquaintance of mine who developed a pretty good touch screen kiosk for karaoke, but you pretty much had to know what you were looking for to use it. It was slick, but wouldn't work well for me. I also have quite a few regulars for whom I keep stacks of slips-- a couple who have upwards of 60-100. I just hand them theirs when they walk in, and they give them to me in the order they want them. I'm computerized AND use paper slips- the best of both worlds.

YEP

I bought a laptop with me one night that ONLY had the song titles and artists names in a very searchable database.

... people took one look at that and asked where the books were!

ALL night LONG that was the case. I'd kindly point out the laptop, and they'd look at it and go "ugghh!!"

I'm with you guys, karaoke crowds aren't ready for kiosks.  I've seen places use them in tandem with books and that's probably the way to go.  People like options.

A singing platform?  That would be interesting.  Sometime I'd like to go to a karaoke show at which the platform sings.    That would be weird if you were up there on the platform while it was singing and you felt the vibrations under your feet...  LOL

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I love being a mom!

I believe I have more hearing impaired people then reading or sight challenged. I try to get the monitor louder for these people, but sometimes it is hard to get the monitor settings loud enough before they start singing. If I'm not farmiliar with the song and how loud it will start it takes a few seconds. I feel bad because i know they need to hear the music before they start singing. It isn't easy balancing a level where the monitor is 3x as loud as the mains. I have to make sure I'm not blasting out the crowd while trying to accomidate the singer.  :D

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

CroakDog and Lonman: DOn't know if you're familiar with Ed Barrett - he's probably more in my area ... He was one of the pioneers with setting up his laptops with his own software on them for finding songs. I dropped in to see him one night and he directed me to the laptop to choose a song. Simple enough but omigod, I work on a computer all day long...last thing i want to do is look at a computer to find a song! Never mind that I can't remember a single song I sing when I sit in front of a computer. I'm with those of you who say books are more effective.  I keep slips for regs, too, but people who may never have sung before really enjoy perusing the books...and whomever said it, that people might try something they've never tried before just by looking at the book, I agree. Happens all the time. (Of course if a book is in poor repair or incomplete, that's quite another story)

K

Put me down for a book user, if I had to go to a computer to look up my song, I would admittedly sit a chair in front of & hog the computer all night.  That to me is part of karaoke to be able to look up songs & peruse...especially if it's a new venue.

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

Me 2!  Sometimes I have no idea what I'm going to sing until I look in the books and see what they have.

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I love being a mom!

Luckily, we have karaoke books they can look at before they have to sign up on the computer. From what I've seen, it would turn into a TOTAL nightmare if we didn't use books and they had to look it up in the system to find out what we had! One of the most frustrating things about it, especially for the "not-as-literate" people, is that, during a song search, if you don't spell the words exactly right, and add the correct punctuation (commas, apostrophes, etc.), then you're out of luck finding a song or artist in the computer. Happens to the customers who spell well, too. I have to tell people all the time that it's all "Y's" in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Unfortunately the system was designed by someone who doesn't run karaoke.....but it could be worse I guess, so I shouldn't gripe that much.

That is one of the things I find amazing. MTU Hoster is terrible in search for just that reason -- it doesn't allow keyword search, you have to get it exactly right.

But even with Compuhost, which allows you to do partial strings so that you can do "elvis jail" to pretty much nail what you want, people who are not used to computers still will just type "elvis", returning a list of 200 songs. Or given a long song title like "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" will insist on typing the whole thing out instead of just "hark the". Even when I teach them how to do it different they just revert right back. It is a mental block.