Karaoke Forums

well this is fun...(9 times out of 10 the singers don't know what they think they are hearing)
yep that's respect alright......

(you blame the KJ or his/her equipment ) I never once mentioned equip....I did mention raising the vocals/music in the monitor IF needed...which in your case seems to much to ask...and I di believe that's my main complaint..i'm guessing that after 17 yrs your few customers that you have let are to afraid to open there mouth and complain at all to you seeing as they don't have a single clue as to what's going on...i'm sure you put them in there place...
and just so you know yes I did sing in a group for 15 yrs , and yes I not only wanted but NEEDED to hear myself in the monitors...but done of that means a thing because to me a singer is a singer some r just better then others but all want to enjoy themselves while up there and if that means wanting to hear just a little more vocals r music then the last guy/girl then so be it...I expect no more r less then anyone else...if you were running sound for a star I bet you would bend over backwards to please him/her....whats wrong with treating all singers like stars it's your job...and feeling like 9 out of 10 don't have a clue to whats going on is not the way to do it....my hearing is shot from hearing keyboards and drums behind me for yrs. and other's have there reasons to but why should we have to eel we have to explain that to you, just turn the knob/slide...
if you believe the house should sound good and you believe in giving the singer what they ask for within reason then wheres the problem? guessing you feel like the only people that have the right to complain r the k j's...there's always 2 sides...have a lovely day/night

Not to change the subject (or maybe I am?) but have you two read this?

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=27833

Pet peeves about KJ's? Hmmm let's go over last week Friday night shall we:
Go into bar 1 at about 9:15. Thom put in a song right then. Karaoke is supposed to start at 9. KJ was still sorta setting up. I say sorta because he would do some stuff then go sit at the bar or go to friends that were having a bday party there. Then maybe a few mins later go do something else. By this time he had one tv on showing who was singing in what order, no Thom listed. By 9:45 we got our check for the night to leave. Let the bartender know that we did not blame her but we came for karaoke so we were going down the road. A different person at the bar asked why and we let them know that karaoke was supposed to start and they said "soon" we said it was supposed to be at 9. They then asked if he had put in a song and we said yep over a half hour ago. We paid and was walking out the door when all of a sudden the kj was calling Thom up to sing. Sorry but now it's too late and we walked out.
Go to bar 2 by 10 and they also were supposed to start at 9. They did apologize for being late which helped. Thom put in a song and got called up a few mins later when they finished setting up. This particular KJ is supposed to be the bar manager too. She also drinks on the job. Things were actually going fine until about midnight when she was taking her turn to sing and said "2 more songs and we are shutting karaoke down and just doing dance music" and then she proceeded to sing and then her boyfriend/husband sang the last song. Yes as soon as the drinks were done we left.
Along with all that the KJ's around here don't bother with books and just add people in the rotation when they see them come in and then you ask for whatever song you want when it's your turn. They will take slips but it seems to sometimes throw them off. Some have you put your name on a sign in sheet and some just add you as you walk in the door.

I usually set up my equipment during the day before the performance, so all I have to do is throw the switch when I come in. I play music for an hour before my scheduled start time. I start putting singers on the board during the dj portion of the gig. If I get 10 singers prior to the start time, I cut off the music and start the karaoke. That is why usually I get singers coming in early because they know I will start early if there are enough patrons. I never drink on the job since I consider that totally unprofessional. I'm getting paid to do a job. I run a strict rotation, and always sing last before the rotation, goes round again. If too many singers are on the list I take myself off, maybe putting on a dance tune instead and then start over. I do not insert singers once the new rotation begins since I don't feel it is fair to the patrons that come in early, buy drinks and food. After all they have been supporting the venue the entire evening. The only real problem I have with other hosts is this question about inserting new people into the rotation after the new rotation has begun.

So let me ask for a clarification:

You don't care if you sound like absolute crap to everyone else, as long as you sound good to YOU on the monitor. Is that right? You would like the monitor to be set for however awful you would like, and the mains actually set for optimum sound- or as the monitor is set?

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

I agree... this is intolerable. Preferrential treatment to friends will cause most people to bolt for another show... I know *I* won't hang around in that type of show.

I guess I need to explain, sorry I missed this post...I have zero control over the house, I can't hear the house, but I do expect the k j to have enough skill to make the house sound as good as he/she can...sometimes that is to much to expect...and sounding good depends on just what kind of equip. you have. if your using Crate speakers you really can't expect a lot..i know that going in, and some really do try but have zero knowledge of how to run what they own...I have 4 friends right now that want to be k j's and zero experience other then loving to sing..guessing that's the way most out there got started..
AGAIN...I can't hear the house but I can hear the monitor are not hear it in some cases...you get bent out of shape because I dare to ask you turn it up please? should I just act as tho your all knowing and I don't have a clue? are ALL kj's the same and are ALL singers to just not say a word? I agree there are a lot of singers out there that wanna just sing...kj's talk about screamers and I know what type your talking about but this I do know. if a singer no matter the skill can't hear themselves the will YELL until they can hear themselves...so now there not singing at all but yelling and eating the mic...why? because you don't want to turn the monitor up for them because YOU feel if YOU can hear fine then so should they...I just sang in church tonight with my 3 bro. first time in a long time and 1 just couldn't understand the fact that I NEEDED to hear myself...is that so hard to pull off? I ran karaoke twice and hated it but each time I would ask if they could hear themselves ok and if they needed anything just tell me i'll change...nothing is set and forget up there anyway...

(You would like the monitor to be set for however awful you would like)
see that doesn't make since to me...maybe you can explain it to me. if i'm singing aren't I the only one hearing that awful setting of the monitor ur talking about? as you call it?
so what does it matter to you are anyone else because they can't hear it..maybe just maybe your to lazy and don't want to stick around long enough to help ur singers sound as good as THEY want to sound...IN THE MONITOR? you act like were asking you to give blood...and that YOUR the only 1 that really knows whats going on..i'm sure you will agree that all k j's have different level's of skill...some r good some r not...no biggie...but ALL can turn a monitor up r down...it's just a matter if THEY want to are not...why I have to defend turning up a monitor to hear I will never know...again I find less and less respect for the singers...
AGAIN, YOUR in control of the house if I sound like crap it's either on you are my singing ability...but I don't know it because I CAN'T HEAR IT..

i like this it relieves stress..

Well, I don't have a Monitor when I host a show. I have my speakers placed 1 up front of my setup (aimed frontwards into the Bar area) and one behind my setup (also aimed frontwards into the Bar area, but also it's a few feet behind the Singer). With that, you can definitely hear yourself sing.

I don't know about you, but a trick I've learned to use when I can't hear myself singing out of the speakers or the monitors, is to cup one hand over my ear (like a seashell), and I can hear myself and the music together, and I know whether I need to project or pull back on the Mic.

hi cue, yea I think that set up would work for me to...when I have to hit a low note, such as in...JUST A MATTER OF TIME normally weather I can hear r not I have to put 1 finger in my ear making sure I hit the note dead on...for me when i'm that low I don't have a lotta power...it helps a lot...for me anyway....thanks for the reply

if you are hearing the main mix and you can not hear yourself (requiring the hand behind the ear, or finger in your ear (which will give you a false note)) the mix is wrong or it is too quiet for karaoke.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

The monitor setup's I have run into more often than not at shows i've been to are that the monitor is just a feed off the main speakers which could be the hesitation for some not to want to adjust the monitor as it will screw up the main mix. Having independent monitor mix is much easier to cater to the singer request.

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

If you have powered speakers you can go directly off the head phone out or control room out. If you only have only one amp you can sum you rt & lt output channels (mono) and send main to one side of the amp and send monitor to the other side of the amp. That way the hosts that feeds off the mains could make their monitor adjustable. It would have same mix, but you can at least turn it up and down without effecting the house.

i'm finding I believe it's not so much that they CAN'T but that they DON'T WANT TO..just because a k j can hear it fine has nothing to do with what I hear...I try to be as nice as I can and say please and thank you...most of the time that works out....but a lot of the time you will hear...MY GOD I can hear it fine...I just laugh..

I'm not upset about anything, I was, as posted, asking for a clarification, which you seem to have provided:

You would like the monitor (s) to be set up to YOUR specifications, whether good or bad- because that is what you hear best- and you want the mains- since you hear them less- set up professionally for the best possible sound for the house.

Is that about right?

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

This whole sub-thread about monitor mixes is exactly why I don't like setting up my KJ stand on stage or behind the speakers. There is a reason when the sound boards or out on the audience area at a concert. I want to hear what the audience hears and I want to be able to see the expression on a singers face so I can adjust based on that.

Unfortunately, I have only had one long term gig in 3 years where the lay out of the bar allowed me to do this.

-Chris

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-Chris

well it's kinda sorta right..you use the words...GOOD ARE BAD if the monitor is set to where I can hear..there is no BAD...for me anyway, yes you may have to change the mix for the next singer but isn't that what running is sound is all about? and that is what your doing...if you were running sound for a band and the lead singer tells you that he can't hear himself in the monitor mix, what do you do? guessing you don't flip him off and smile and say deal with it I know what i'm doing... are pretend your turning a knob when your not....no, you do whatever it takes so that he can hear...why is he not asking to much yet most kj's feel that if they something they get a .. I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING look...
once again, the house is yours you set it the way YOU want to if that's professional are not is really depending on your own skills and ears..

guessing I was wrong in my thinking, ya'll may be right in thinking that most don't have a clue as to what's going on...sad..

Max, for two weeks you've been running hosts down with this thread. Over and over you have explained to us how we are there to serve the singers/customers. We should bend over backwards to make them happy. It doesn't matter if we think it sounds good as long as the singer thinks it sounds good.

In my humble opinion, your type is the kind that makes us like our jobs less than we should. Nothing turns me off more when I'm gigging then some know-it-all who comes up to the stage and right away begins barking orders. "I've been in a band" or "Crank my reverb up to the max" or "People are here to hear me sing, make it loud".

We all know we are there for the customer/singers. At least the majority of KJs know and I would say probably every KJ on this forum. Doesn't mean we are slaves or that we are to be treated like the hired help. It all starts with either demanding, or being nice and suggesting it. Whether you want to hear this or not, when you approach a host at a bar and start making demands or telling us with a snotty attitude about some experience you had with a KJ that left a bad taste in your mouth and you don't want to deal with it again tonight, you've just put up an invisible shield. Now of course depending who you are talking to, it will be dealt with differently. Sometimes you won't even know as most of us will swallow our pride and deal with the situation as a professional.

But,,,,,,, it doesn't mean we are to be treated with a lack of dignity and respect and that is EXACTLY how you come off! Perhaps you are nice when you have requests, perhaps you aren't, or perhaps it depends on your mood. Regardless, you will have more success dealing with DJs/KJs if you make an assumption starting out,,,,,,,, that they know what they are doing instead of starting out with the assumption that they are only there because they like to sing and don't have a clue, or that they are out there to get you!

Will I take into advisement singer's requests for sound adjustments? Absolutely! Even those that act like the vision I have of you making requests. But I won't have a good impression of you and in my mind I will be rolling my eyes or gritting my teeth every time I see you approach my booth.

Maybe you act totally different at shows then the impression you are leaving us hosts on this board. I know I act a little different here, I lay out what is on my mind but as in my other job, when I'm hosting, I use professionalism and at a higher level then here on the forum. Hopefully, that is the case with you.

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

hi rip..well as I have said many times before when I do ask to be turned up r whatever the case may be I do say please, THAT is showing respect I feel.. you can like are dislike me I could care less...I also have stated that there are many so-called karaoke singers much better then I am...I know most of the kj's here and I know there back ground and how they started...I do know a could sound when I hear one and I do know if he/she doesn't know what an eq is then I pretty much know the results going in, no biggie they can learn just like everyone else...I don't have a lack of respect just because of that...infact I pretty much respect them all and I also get a long with all of them, many times I don't get up to sing when I go to there karaoke mainly because I just don't enjoy singing very much anymore for 1 reason r the other...
BUT....when someone starts a thread about pet peeves about karaoke singers then I start one about the k j's somehow you must feel that's being unfair to you are the rest of the kj's just because I have an opinion...how is it that a k j can bad mouth singers yet a singer can't say a word about the k j without kj's getting up in arms about it...
I stand by everything I have said wheather you like it are not and even if you eel I think I know everything are not..I DO NOT KNOW IT ALL but I do know when I can't hear...and I do say please so not to come across as a know it all r a prick..if I come across that way here I don't mean to but for you to think that every kj out there knows what they are doing is pretty sad to...no more then me thinking that all singers know what there doing...differents being I know that there is a lot more to the job then just owning a few speakers and an amp but there are plenty around here doing karaoke that don't have a clue...where as I have found from this forum that most/not all feel it's the singer that doesn't have a clue...and as far as coming across as a know it all read some of the threads pertaining to so called karaoke singers from the k j point of view...then you will see there is not a lot of respect...I can only speak of what I know just as you can..in my area it's 1 way and it could be different in yours...
soooo if I say COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE VOCAL'S UP IN THE MONITOR..r whatever the case may be again I don't feel that's a lot to ask...DO YOU?
now if you feel every person getting up there doesn't have a clue as to what there doing and ONLY YOU DO..then I can see where u may be offended..

(Max, for two weeks you've been running hosts down with this thread. Over and over you have explained to us how we are there to serve the singers/customers. We should bend over backwards to make them happy. It doesn't matter if we think it sounds good as long as the singer thinks it sounds good.)

other then you saying I have been running the host down, I stand by what you said above...what part of that do YOU not agree with?

(It doesn't matter if we think it sounds good as long as the singer thinks it sounds good.)

I have also mentions many times i'm speaking of monitor only...and DO YOU not agree with that? ...just because YOU think it sounds good doesn't help me one bit, you hearing it perfect again doesn't help me..i just can't grasp where this is such a big deal...
I promise you if you read all threads there will be many more on how bad r whatever the karaoke singers are verses the kj's...and it seems when a thread is started ya'll can't deal with it are except it..not saying all kj's r the same...

(In my humble opinion, your type is the kind that makes us like our jobs less than we should. Nothing turns me off more when I'm gigging then some know-it-all who comes up to the stage and right away begins barking orders. "I've been in a band" or "Crank my reverb up to the max" or "People are here to hear me sing, make it loud".)

on that I would agree, I found most k j's in this area use way to much reverb already,
I certainly don't know it all r close to it...and I don't come across that way...I could careless if they know I was in a band are not there are tons of BAD bands out there...
again I talk of monitor only...

(Doesn't mean we are slaves or that we are to be treated like the hired help)

hmmmmm sorry but you are the hired help...but I know what your talking about...
so you feel ASKING to turn up r down something means we are treating you like a slave? interesting..

again, I will say if you were being hired to run sound for a band and that was your job you wouldn't be going to them telling them that I will do this are that IF YOU SAY PLEASE..no, you do your job..granted 30 r 40 different singers is a lot harder then any band but still should be treated with the same respect, YOU ask for respect yet everything I read on here shows most/not all have none...JMO...
to me it's YOU that comes across as a know it all...the IF YOU ASK ME NICELY I MAY GRANT YOUR WISH..
now having said that i'm pretty sure your not that way at your shows, atleast I hope not..
when I go to karaoke I don't sing a lot but I do listen a lot and I have my own opinion as most do, not that that makes me right and I do hear a lot that people complain are not complain about.. I never know who I follow are am head of but to me that's the number 1 pet peeves of most people I know...YOU DO NOT MESS WITH THE ROTATION , they will walk out in a heart beat...I find that funny...I have also found that most so called karaoke singers take singing much more serious the people that did it for a living...nothing wrong with that I find it interesting...I also feel more singers should learn more about what they are looking for as far as sound ...granted that makes your job a nightmare...
I was at a karaoke contest last night and his sound was excellent, and the people that I was with kept saying to me..omg I have never sounded so good...a few around here have the same equip. but just don't know how to use it...I feel both sides have something to learn...I also think it would help all in the end..but I could be wrong...all this is JMO...