Karaoke Forums

There are many threads on rotation but the next important thing in relation to that is the amount of time between singers.

At one of my regular gigs I've got my regulars trained when I call them they better be close to picking up the mic. However I done one of those 4 in the afternoon can you do tonight (at a strange bar) last weekend . Didnt know any of the singers and they were used to a slow pace. I play fill but it still drives me nuts when people take their sweet time getting up to the stage. By the time you get an unfamiliar crowd trained with a fast paced system it is time to go home. It doesnt bother me until the rotation gets to 15 or so...

Here are some tricks I use.... After calling the next singer up  and the fill has played for a certain time ( this varies with the number in rotation)  I'll stop the fill music and start the count down (where is Bob at?). . The ones with a habit of ly gagging I dont fade to fill. Ill let the singer know that the whole bar is sitting there waiting on them. When the rotation is 20 or more I start the song at about 30-45 seconds if the singer gripes Ill tell them on mic that we are working on a tight sched and there are alot of singers waiting.(any discussion I have with any singer is on mic esp if they are trying to be a hard (@$%&#!) and have actually stopped in the middle of a  song to do it)

I have actually done shows with young crowds where there wasnt a 10 second delay between singers for hours. I was tired at the end.... Anyway those are some I use off the top of my head . Does anybody do anything else that flat works with transient or unfamiliar crowds?..

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where I go on wed nights the problem I see with the ly gaggers or whatever is if they dont get up quick people start dancing to the fill music then all of a sudden theres another 5 min wait added to the rotation.

when I do my KJ show I go out into the crowd while the current singer is sining and find the next person up and let them know to be prepared or make sure I make eye contact with them so they know.

start of a good thread thanks
michael

mix music

whats that mean? ....Mat

I use fill music but it only needs to be turned up loud enough not to be dead air.  If people start dancing to the fill, then they will need to sit down when the singer starts - or dance to the singer.  
If the singer called isn't up in an allotted time (usually 30 seconds - 45 max for people in the very back), they get a going once, going twice - next singer.  If they come up after I call the next singer, then they will wait a couple more turns.  If it happens on the second time, then they are pulled from rotation altogether.  
If this isn't your regular club, but you are just filling in, then there really isn't MUCH you can do to change how they are used to the way it normally is run.  
If it's going to be a regular club for you, then make sure you have rules posted in your books & somewhere near your station as well & run the show how you normally would, if it means being a hard a$$ then so be it!  You'll either get the respect or you'll be booted.  If the customers are that hard to deal with, it might be best just to move on.

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yep, I basically agree with Lonman. I'll call out a name, have some background music kinda low, unless the person is walking up to the mic... so then I might jam it out for a few seconds to get everyone's attention...

if after ten seconds I'll repeat the name... and then it's going, going... they're OUTTA here, and on to the next singer!

I do the fill music as well, but I find that it isn't as much of a problem since I went computer based everyone of my regulars pretty much know when the person in the rotation in front of them is almost done to start moving.  When I used to do disks people would take their sweet time because they knew that I had to que up the song anyway.

I generally call the next five singers in a row.  That way they have plenty of advanced notice.  I've been to shows where they just call the next singer and maybe the one after where people may not catch their name especially if they are not paying close attention or have had a lot of singing juice.  At my shows, there is almost no chance that someone wouldn't know they were coming up soon since I am basically telling them over and over to get ready for about 15 miutes ahead of time.  Plenty of time to go make room for a new drink, have a cig, get a fresh cocktail and still be ready when your turn comes.  

I do play fill music between singers (some generic trance stuff, heavy techno beat) and when I call your name as being up I had better see some movement or it's going...going...gone!

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

Sometimes I will start the songs intro and that gets them moving. If there still  stuck in 2nd gear I start wailing on there song and suddenly stop playing it. The crowd lets out a loud sigh and the offending singer is shamed into hustling their butt up. cruel and unusual punishment butt someones got to keep these jokers in line.......

I tend to call the next 3 singers.  They have plenty of notice that way.  I play fill music between singers and I call the singer right away.  If I don't see movement by someone to the stage I call them again in about 10-15 seconds.  I call again at about 30 seconds and start the going, going, gone bit.  If they come up shortly after the next singer I'll give them a gentle tongue lashing and put them up shortly (usually in the new #3 spot).  If they don't come up they go to the end of the rotation.  If they don't come up the second time I pull them completely from the rotation for the night.

If the singers generally ly gag around I let them know to speed it up or I make it worse.  I play really bad music as filler and make them wait through it.  A couple really bad songs and they start coming up REAL quick.  If not I switch to comedy routines (George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, John Valby, Eddie Izzard, Moms Mabley, etc) and if that doesn't work I switch to some speeches by Jello Biafra, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, etc.

Ok, I don't do that but I do put on something that's not too easy to dance to so the singers speed up.  I have a pretty good selection of blues - some of which even has hip-hop in sections that's pretty good listening, but not too good for dancing.  Often that's enough to speed the singers up.

I tried to annouce the next 3 singers due up but always someone does hear the first part of the announement and then I have 3 people standing by the mic saying ..DUH did you call my name ? .......  So know I have the DRY ERASE BOARD which not only helps me with the rotation it lets the singers know who they follow and such.   I start the filler music and make the next singer announcement and if I see that they are not heading to the mic I 'll say I GUESS BOB HAS LEFT AND OUR NEXT SINGERS IS ....   Bob gets up real fast.......If i get a singer who is not a regular and TOO drunk and has made me wait MORE THAN once.... They don't get called to sing again.....

I use Sax-n-Dottys (computer Based) and find that next up singer gets to see their name on the TV for the lenth of the current song. Usally gets them to be close to the mike when the current singer to finishes. Sometimes there waiting for me finish announcments. If i didnt have the PC then A whiteboard would work too!!
Djpauly

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"There is a Law of the Universe:   CHEAP...   FAST...   GOOD...   pick any two."

that works fine if you tap into the house TV's, but a lot of times when i play it is just my TV and mine alone

From a singers perspective, I WISH our local KJ either had the digital on screen "who's on deck" or perhaps did the "next three up" technic.  It can be tough when the room is loud and crowded and after the song ends, he says "Tim to the stage".  That can sound like Jim, Kim, Lynn...you don't know if you should start heading to the stage, try to look at the KJ (if you're close enough) to make eye contact and just stay seated...it's tough to know when it's your time.  

Ok, I know this is "off topic"...but...can I post that I HATE when the KJ plays a lot of "fill music"....or "The Electric Slide"....or "Stroke it" for line dancing....  I stopped going to a place that did that.  They were lucky to get three singers per half hour with all the sideshow action.  My new venue, JB's in Elgin Illlinois, skips the CD playing and dance routines and gets the rotation going so there's always SOMEONE singing on stage, which I think is a lot more fun.  Plus I thought the point of karaoke was singing...not line dancing.  Thanks for allowing my off topic rant!

The fill music issue isn't off-topic at all.  At one of the places I go to, the KJ plays fill music between singers and it drives me crazy because it often goes for several minutes, and what's more, the volume is at least as loud as the karaoke.  It makes the fill music seem like the main attraction.  Meanwhile I've been waiting for the karaoke singer to finish so that I can talk to the people seated next to me without having to shout at the top of my lungs and then that damn fill music blasts.

Sorry.  Pet peeve.

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Reward: nine yen in drawer.

I'm glad I'm not alone in my dislike of out of control "fill" music...

that's not FILL music when it goes on for several minutes.

That's someone trying to be a DJ, and satisfy the crowd with standard music.

And it usually upsets BOTH camps... the camp that likes DJ music, and the one that likes KARAOKE music.

speaking personally, if you go to a karaoke show, there should be as little DJ music as possible.

2 things I hate are.

1. Gaps between singers are too long; kj should aimed for gap of less than 30 sec.

2.Fill musics that is too long and LOUD; sometime louder and last longer than the karaoke singing.

I head for the door when this happen

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

I've always been of the opinion that the fill music should last no longer than for the next singer to come to the stage and grab a mic.

If it lasts longer than that then the show should be marketed as a karaoke dance show and not karaoke only.  Keep in mind if a KJ has to take a break for some reason and puts on filler music for a few minutes once per night I don't have so much of an issue.  But keep doing it between every singer and I'm gone...