Karaoke Forums

Hi... newbie poster/lurker and whatnot, but got interested in this discussion. I myself have over 3K songs (started as a "karaoke collection hobby" and went a little overboard as we are not KJs ). Just so the family and friends would know what we have, I started keeping track of them in an Excel spreadsheet. Seems to work the easiest with its sort features. Anyway, to make a loooong story shorter:

We had a friend over one evening for a party and he took one look at my printed off book and decided he was going into business for himself. At the time, he had nearly the same number of tracks as we did, but he went on a major spending spree and bought a KJ computer off eBay along with speakers, mixing board, mics, stands, etc. and now owns a nice-sounding system. Even built his own portable KJ booth. This KJ computer came pre-loaded with over 5.000 songs and very few dupes. None of those 5K were on disc. The manufacturer of the computer stated in big bold letters on the auction that NO SC DISCS would be included. He also stated that SC informed him they would sue if there had been any on it. Apparantly, Sound Choice made it blatantly clear that their discs are not to be copied onto any format even if you are making backups and religiously paying your ASCAP fees. Needless to say, I got suckered into doing his KJ book for him. Used the same format as mine, but he was very specific about wanting the SC discs known as well as keeping the songs on the KJ computer in the same numbering system as they were on the hard drive. So now what you see is this:

Linda Davis................Love Didn't Do It....... MM6064-09
Linda Davis................Walk Away................SD34-13
Linda Ronstadt...........Blue Bayou................128-08
Linda Ronstadt...........Blue Bayou................DKG7-11
Linda Ronstadt...........Faithless Love............SAVA3-19
Linda Ronstadt...........High Sierra................MM6103-15
Linda Ronstadt...........How Do I Make You....SC338-07

Is it just me, or is that not a tad confusing?? For a long time when he first started KJ'ing, people would bring him slips with just the numbers on it (i.e. 6064-09 instead of MM6064-09) and then he'd be lost since there could be a multitude of 6064-09. The person who built the computer programmed them in like that, so finding the right songs consists of entering EVERYTHING you see above. What a hassle! Another place I go bolds the best version of the duplicate (for some reason he finds TT to be the "best"). I can see wanting to choose between the best version and everything, but in the format above, can you tell which would be the best out of "Blue Bayou"? Oh well, just adding my 2 cents

~Deb

according to kjpro, there are over 231,000 songs (and there are several brands that aren't even IN kjpro)... so it's highly POSSIBLE... but some of these are several versions of the same brand of lasers and dvds and vcds.

I'm not saying that having 70K of songs is impossible... its just in my experience most people don't go that heavily into it. The longest running show I know only has 24K!

Yes all discs are legit. As I said I use a Computer based hosting system so no need to lug those bulky discs wherever I go. Actually The bulk of my disc collection was bought on E-Bay. I Check every other day or so for large lots of karaoke discs. Believe it or not you can build up your selection rather easily this way. The last lot I bought was 280 discs. With around 70 being spotlight series. Frequently I have duplicate discs which I trade to others for discs I dont have.
I have a running gimmick at my shows. If you can name a song I don't have I will buy you a Beer. However If I have it be prepared to sing it.
The criteria is that the song must have had radio air play Between 1970 and today. I have only bought 1 beer thus far. 70,000 songs is not overkill...it is a means of staying ahead of the competition. Another way is my system. I use peavey sp2,s for mains with a cs3000h in stereo, 2-sp218x subs with a cs800s bridged to each, 31 band stereo eq kosmos,
And that is just the start, I use sm58,s and akg wireless mics.

Trust me ... more songs + Better equiptment = Shutting down the competition.

Sounds like jealosy Knightshow!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW I am in Ft Madison Iowa. Feel free to come check out a show if you are ever in the area.

There is a show in Mobile, Alabama (and she's on this forum accasionally) that claims to have 45,000 tracks in her main catalog, and smaller sets for kids shows, etc.

I have to admit that 70,000 tracks seems a bit like overkill, especially with 40,000 duplicates.

[/quote="Debauchery"]<snip>The manufacturer of the computer stated in big bold letters on the auction that NO SC DISCS would be included. He also stated that SC informed him they would sue if there had been any on it. Apparantly, Sound Choice made it blatantly clear that their discs are not to be copied onto any format even if you are making backups and religiously paying your ASCAP fees.[/quote]
Sound Choice has always held this stance however, they've not sued anyone for using computer based hosting or making backups that I'm aware of. Even though USC Title 17 allows for transference of the media to another format for personal use it's unclear regarding business use and hasn't been 'tested' in court. I do know that there have been charges levied in the past for distribution of product that was copied (outright piracy). You didn't say, but I'm assuming that he got discs with the computer - if not then it's likely that it's the piracy side they are threatening and not the transfering of media. BTW, it's the lack of discs that kept me from buying a CAVS-99 w/ 30,000 tracks on it. Price was right but I don't get discs w/ the player and they won't answer my questions regarding the legalities (licensing paid to permit installation w/o media, etc).

[/quote="Debauchery"]<snip>Is it just me, or is that not a tad confusing?? For a long time when he first started KJ'ing, people would bring him slips with just the numbers on it (i.e. 6064-09 instead of MM6064-09) and then he'd be lost since there could be a multitude of 6064-09. The person who built the computer programmed them in like that, so finding the right songs consists of entering EVERYTHING you see above. What a hassle! Another place I go bolds the best version of the duplicate (for some reason he finds TT to be the "best"). I can see wanting to choose between the best version and everything, but in the format above, can you tell which would be the best out of "Blue Bayou"? Oh well, just adding my 2 cents[/quote]
Yes, it is confusing. However, you'll find that it's extremely rare for a company to duplicate the numbering scheme from another company. If possible I'd start working through the tracks on the computer to make them a little less confusing and easy to work with. BTW, I wouldn't consider Top Tunes the best version for much of what I have - however, I guess it's all dependent on what you're comparing it with. BTW, I'll be going to a new numbering scheme soon which won't be using disc numbers but I'll include the disc manufacturer so that people can select the version they're most comfortable with. I'll also NOT list duplicates of the same song if they're from the same manufacturer. IOW, if it's in my Foundation set and also on another disc I have from SC then I'll list it only once. As for which is 'best'? It's subjective. I first sang 'What A Wonderful World' from an All Hits 8001 disc. I prefer that version to the SC even though the SC version has a better quality backing track.

With the program I use you need NO disc numbers. Just Title and Artist.
My Songbooks have all Dupelicates removed. The program uses an access database with a search bar. Example : Someone wants to sing Friends in low places I would type " friend garth" And all songs I have with that string will come up. If they want the sc ver. I just click on it input thier name and they are added to a que.

thanks for answering my questions ranger. It just seems like WAYyyy too many, but if it works for you, that's terrific.

meister, if you buy the machine from CAVSUSA, they will send you the documentation that you have the legal right to those songs.

However, my biggest problem with their format is that it's so proprietary. I don't know if there's a way to back up those songs that come preloaded. I do know there's a way to convert them to cdg... so you could realistically (but it would be a pain) convert them to cdg and then convert to a backup.

oy!

I use mp3+g in a zipped file. Easy to convert and easy to rip from disc.
Not to mention zips are aesy to encrypt. Around here I have already had to prove I had the originals once. I keep them in my Equiptment trailer just in case.

I have built 3 systems for others, so if anyone needs advice on how to host from a computer let me know. It isnt as hard as you might think.

Btw Cavs sucks in my opinion. I know some who like it, but me thinks it is just beacuse they don't know there is more user friendly applications available.

FYI As far as backups for cavs or other comp basede formats, all you need is an extra external hard drive.

hooks up to the serial port?

He had considered a CAVS also, but settled on something called a KJ2500 (anyone ever heard of it?) And as I said in my earlier post, no discs were included in the purchase.



I suggested he rename them, just because I got tired of typing in all that unnecessary number-jumble. But he was pretty set on keeping things just the way he got them (he's quirky like that in most things.) If it were my machine, however, I would have been though all 7K songs a LONG time ago and re-numbered them along with deleting the dupes. But that's just me. I am picky like that.

IIRC, USB port on the CAVS. You could also pull the drive and use a disk duplicating software package (drivecopy, etc) to backup the information.

Then they've corrected something when I first investigated CAVS. It was entirely proprietary then... and wouldn't allow for the use of a backup hard drive then.

Sorry, I meant when using cavs program on a pc. You are right, You cannot back up when using a Cavs machine.

Sorry for the confusion

I should have clarified. I'm not sure on the older CAVS-99 (but IIRC it also used a USB port), but the newer CAVS-199 uses a USB 2.0 port. From the cavsusa website under optional equipment:

[/quote="CAVSUSA"]VII. Optional devices

Following is the list of optional devices for JB-199:
A. External disc drive(s) - USB 2.0 connection

Two external disc drives can be connected to JB-199 using USB 2.0 connections. As shown in the User's Manual (Section: How to connect), connect and power up the disc drives. It is recommended to reboot JB-199 after the disc drives have been connected.

Plextor CDR or DVDR drives are recommended for compatibility with CD+G and JB-199. Contact CAVS Tech Support for the list of Plextor models that are currently supported.

When using the disc drives in conjunction with JB-199, always OPEN/CLOSE the disc drive by using the remote control of JB-199. From the initial welcome screen, press JB/CD button to switch from JUKE mode to DISC mode. Press OPEN/CLOSE button on the remote control to open or close the disc drive tray.

When inserting a disc into the disc drive, wait a few seconds for JB-199 to load the disc. Two disc drives may not be necessary as JB-199 stores the song data ahead of its play. When playing a song from disc, there is a display of rotating disc on the TV screen indicating the status of the disc drive. When this display closes, you can take out the disc from the tray without interrupting the play. The time it takes to store a song is approximately 50% of the total play time. For example, for a CD+G song of 3 minutes, the data storing completes within 1 minute and 30 seconds after which you can take out the disc for another.

B. External hard drive - USB 2.0 connection

One external hard drive can be connected to JB-199 using USB 2.0 connection. As shown in the User's Manual (Section: How to connect), connect and power up the disc drive. It is recommended to reboot JB-199 after the external hard drive connection.

The song data inside the external hard drive must be of same structure as the internal hard drive of JB-199. The songs of the external drive will be called by JB-199 using its own song number plus the Disc 2 number. Disc 2 number can be found under MENU - 1.Jukebox.

C. VGA Monitor - 15 pin D-sub connection

One VGA monitor can be connected to JB-199 using 15 pin D-sub connector As shown in the User's Manual (Section: How to connect), connect and power up the monitor.

D. Key board and Mouse - Mini-din

One keyboard and one mouse can be connected to JB-199 using mini-din connectors. As shown in the User's Manual (Section: How to connect), plug and play.[/quote]