Karaoke Forums

the moment a kj tries to sing with me, or play a farkin' musical instroment such as a tamborine, I'm angry, and usually going to be outta there!

I agree too about being a dance machine behind ya!

I'm with you all the way there!

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

I would be laughing at you as you walked out  LOL   Another nut taking Karaoke way too seriously.

_________________
I only date Karaoke singers.

IHMO, most CDG recordings lack sufficient percussion.  I've actually asked my KJ/Piano Player to play drum hits on his sythesizer/keyboard.  Especially for Bruce Springsteen.

I usually welcome someone who can play the tambourine or drum.  One of the best Karaoke places in Northern Kentucky has a group of guys who join in with drums.

_________________
I only date Karaoke singers.

I can understand a KJ playing a tambourine or some other small percussion type
instrument in the crowd to "get them going"  I don't ever think the KJ should intenionally steal the singers spotlight .  Personally I think the KJ's job is to provide the means for a great sounding Karaoke show for anyone of the paying customers who would like to sing a song , BUT also to keep entertained the rest of the NON singing customers either personally or in the way of Filler Music  / Dance Tunes  / or whatever that particuliar crowd would like - karaoke singalongs  etc etc.

you wouldn't be laughing very long. If not a physical confrontation, I'd be having a serious word with the management for hiring such a rude, obnoxious pr1ck!

Taking it SERIOUSLY?? Yeah, when you have a $45,000 investment in it, YES you take it seriously! I know many SINGERS that are more serious than some kjs... and in this case, it applies! I have more singers come in with their own cdgs, and even microphones (A Jethro Tull song)!!

You want MY opinion?

Of course you don't, but I'm having a crappy day today, so I'm gonna give it.  :roll:

I think a KJ should be able to sing atleast moderately well- in case he is needed.  Where I go....... in the tiny little bar in my hick town........ the newest KJ there always sings in rotation.  Sometimes I think he needs to back off- when there are lots of singers. Cause gosh knows I, like most people, are sitting out there thinking "Come ON..... when do I get UP again?".  I think that can make people leave actually. (yes, Dave- I take my karaoke WAY too seriously, ) When I do get to go out- I wanna sing. (alot)  Though it is nice when the KJ joins in somewhat, I've done duets with two of them, and that was kinda cool.  But if there are more than maybe- 10 singers- I think they need to step down, maybe go every 2nd or 3rd rotation.

You know what irritates the HECK out of me? That "filler" music everyone is talking about. I mean, what is UP with that? To please the crowd of listeners? Well, then they should not be hanging out at  a karaoke bar if they want radio music. There are other bars that play live music & juke boxes, & they can go to a dance club if they wanna dance.  (though it's nice when k-bars have a dance floor too) I went to a place ONCE that did that- he said it was bar rules, he threw a cd on about every 5th song or so. It was stupid. I never went back there. You go to a karaoke bar to either sing- or listen to- karaoke.

TERI JO- I'm with you. I could NEVER be a KJ, I like to sing too much. I'm a mic hog. I would literally sit up there and pout if I could not be singing too, and that would make a poor KJ. So I would never even go there.  I think I could make it fun & entertaining- that part would be cool. But I would wanna sing too often, and then I'd be one of those KJ's I don't like.

Matt- , I just read your last post- I must be one of those "serious" people, haha- I never ever go without atleast 5 or 6 of my own cdg's. I've gotten bad versions too many times when using a KJ's cdg's........ and most places don't have some of the stuff I like to do. I've never taken a mic though.

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

One of the BEST KARAOKE expereinces I know of is when I go to KJ Danny's show at Grandma's in Portland. He is a professional sax player and will accompany you with LIVE SAX if you ASK him to. I always have him do that when I sing blues. Swing or James Brown songs. It really sounds great when he plays and the crowd loves it. Its very unusual. And I take the opportunity to FEATURE HIM as he plays. But thats an unusual venue and its only done WHEN YOU ASK!

Where I DJ on Thurs day night I play alot of Salsa, Raeggaton, Cha Cha and Mambo background music. We have a pair of CONGA drums that I put up on stage and people can come up and play congas. One of the people is an actual conga player and will accomapny the karaoke tracks(low enough to blend and not dominate the song) and the singers actually find it to be kinda cool--especially since THEY can get up and try out the congas for real(mic'd up into the sound system for real)---Kinda an INTERACTIVE Karaoke expereince. And Im always on the look out for  a sax or trumpet and piano player that might like to play along to the salsa background music. Almost like a Salsa Jam--between Karaoke songs and ONLY IF THE SINGER ASKS TO HAVE A LIVE ACCOMPANYMENT.

_________________
"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

As to Filler music---I WILL ALWAYS HAVE FILLER MUSIC. To me theres NOTHING MORE BORING than sitting listening to DEAD SILENCE for 2-3 minutes or more waiting for the next singer to meander up and get qued up. So lets figure this out---filler song=maybe 2 min each x say, 40 singers per night=80 mins of DEAD AIR SILENCE. Ill take the 80 mins of filler/dance music anytime for the energy and spontaneos dancing that it generates. EVERY TIME. If I wanted an hour and a half of silence I'll go to a monestary or mausoleum or library!

_________________
"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Hey Matt--can I bring my BIG OLD SILVER SHURE 55M ELVIS OLD SCHOOL MIC for Karaoke one night??????

_________________
"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

I think you have the right idea. In the bar I go to, the kj sings each round, she is a pretty decent singer, but I don't think that people are threatened or indimidated by it. She also has a helper who sings each round but he ins't as good as her, maybe that is why it works out.             timbo

_________________
what if I am the one whos normal and the rest of the world is all messed up?

TWO MINUTES to switch songs? You must be at a big place where you have to search for the singers who are next. I've never been to a place like that. Well, big places- yeah, but people usually know the rotation & are ready for their next time up. So, applause for the singer- new name is called- & by the time they grab the mic, their song is started.  There really wouldn't be time to play a "filler" song. I guess if it really takes that long to switch singers something like that could be useful.

The places I go, that silent time between switching usually is, like I said, taken up with applause for the prior singer (which, in hick town means... whoopin' & hollerin', stomping feet, pounding on tables etc., filler music would really be drowned out anyhow) and the next person is up pretty fast & starting.

Before you go biting my head off..... because I bite back...... I don't see anything wrong with taking up empty time. I used to frequent a place in Salem- Liberty Road Inn- maybe you've heard of it. (?) Anyhow- they recorded the singer, so as you're walking off & they're shuffling cdg's around & calling the next person up- a piece of the song you just sang is playing back. I always thought that was cool.

What I can't stand- is having people karaoke- especially on a busy night, then a KJ pulling the "Okay, how about a little Garth Brooks" (or Shania, or George Straight, Michael Jackson- whoever)  That's a load of cr4p, for people who go there for one main reason- to sing, and hear other singers.  And not pros- just other karaoke fools like yourself.

I don't see anything wrong with live musical accompaniment either, IF the person singing wants it.  My nephew, when at my house, will follow every song I sing on lead guitar, he's good at it. It would be interesting to see it done at a bar.

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

wow... liberty road inn.. used to go there back in 93-94 every weekend... I used to service that area as an entertainment consultant and had a handful of clients there... been a few years since i had the chance to swing in there... lotsa memories and even more stories from that place - tig

i can go without the filler--if its as quick as you describe--say less than a minute. But ive been to places where it literally goes SILENT for 2-3 mins while either the singer or the DJ dawdles for that long. So again Ill always have fill music-.and it goes back to that thing of WHEN AM I GOING TO SING AGAIN---WHY ALL THIS SILENCE!

I work at a fairly large place in downtown PDX and fill in at a restaruant in Oregon City and also LASER Machines can contribute to slowness, especially if you have two laser songs in a row. So yes it can take that long to get the next person up--especially if its a loud noisy night. But I play filler music to keep the GROOVE rolling.
And get the people to get up and dance and get sweaty and hot so they order MORE DRINKS and spend more $$.

Hey I was jsut down in Salem last night--ever go the the OASIS?? and theres another one just up the way from there on Commercial st. BOTH VERY NICE PLACES with KILLER SOUND SYSTEMS.

Hey go down to the OASIS----I left some copys of the Karaoke Mag In Seattle I write for.

Do you ever come up to PDX to go singing??

_________________
"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Oasis... another place I used to frequent...  man... gonna have to make a salem run and go bar hoppin ... - tig

Man what kind of places are you going that there are 2-3 minutes between singers?  Jees, even using 1 player & cueing a laser disc after playing a laser disc, the most it will take is 45 seconds - and that's on the long side.  

But I have always used "transition" music ... ie..song ends, background music fades up, call next singer, make a quick announcement for the bar or whatever, singer gets up & ready, music goes down, singers song starts.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It takes ABSOLUTELY no time away from the singers & like stated, keeps an energy going so there is no dead air.  
I also laugh at the statement "there would be no time for transition music".  Well sure there is.  Even if you have 2 players & 1 cued up, unless you are cattle calling your customers ... ie..making sure they know they are up & have them ready to grab the mic as soon as the previous singer leaves (these types of shows are irratating too), then there is always a 5-15 second dead period that a singer is walking up to stage.  Don't take ANY time for a host to have a cd/mp3 or an I-Pod on shuffle play, hooked up to the mixer & turn that fader up as the singer is taking their time to the stage.

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

I swear to GOD I actaully went into a couple places where there was THAT MUCH DEAD AIR SILENCE! Actually TIMED IT ON MY WATCH!!  But yoru right about the fade to background tune--call them up, announce--fade to quiet and start singer then applaud, positive comment then back to fade in backgground music. Transition is a much more accurate word  of the funciton of "BACKGROUND" music. Background would be more if there were no one there and just needed some music to keep the place from being SILENT ealry in the evening. SO LETS READJUST OUR DEFINITION TO TRANSITION MUSIC!!


LONMAN HAS SPOKEN!!!!  

I BOW BEFORE HIS WORDS!!  :worship:

_________________
"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

TIG- I bet I've met you before, or atleast we saw each other singing at one time or another. I used to literally HAUNT the Liberty Road Inn...... starting in 1993- 1999, when I lived in Salem & Keizer. That was always my favorite karaoke place. They had excellent sound then,  & a great dance floor.  I used to live out south of there, so it was close to home too.

The Oasis..... hmmmm, I think so. I don't think there's any places in Salem that does karaoke that I haven't been to. (It's been a while though)  Even karaoke'd at the Kyoto Restaraunt on Lancaster. (lollllllll........ DON'T waste your time there) It was a 50 cent juke box type thing.  Chinese food restaurant, so you heard alot of Elvis & Garth Brooks, .

I usually only go here in Canby- though I know there's much better out there. They have NO dance floor, and a really crummy sound system.  I've been to Conners in Wilsonville, and a place called Tacho's in Oregon City.

ONE of these days I WILL make it to Portland to karaoke. Lol, maybe all dang weekend. I'm sure it's much better up there.

_________________
♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

Not really.  Karaoke is about the singer on stage getting their 15 minutes of fame one song at a time (or about 3 1/2 minutes at a time).  When the KJ starts singing backup or doing other things that take away from the singer it's where I draw the line.  I'm not talking about him saying 'Want me to harmonize' or if you ask.  I'm saying in the middle of a song where you do well but most other people screw up he picks up a mic turned up louder than yours and sings over you.  Or turns the effects from way too high to 'canyon' and back repeatedly in the middle of you singing because he thinks it's 'cool'.

If they play percussion instruments during the song and it's not distracting then it would be ok but dancing like a fool making everyone pay attention to him instead of the singer - reducing you to background music - is unacceptable as well.

If I take karaoke too seriously then so be it, but it's about the singer - NOT the KJ.  There are exceptions admittedly, but the crowd usually goes to those shows because of the differences - ie the guys that play percussion, piano, sing backup, etc.  I might like those kinds of shows but if they are a part of the show as an 'enhancement' instead of taking away from the singer on stage.

Now THAT sounds like FUN!  I think Charmin should bring her family and we all meet at Grandma's and whoop it up.

I wanna be Ray Charles.

_________________
I only date Karaoke singers.