Karaoke Discussion Forum

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Question: I need some advice....

Justadad — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:49:15 GMT

Author: Justadad
Subject: Re: Question: I need some advice....
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:49 pm (GMT -8)

I'm WAY over the appearance issue. As I stated before, I received my phone call, got my apology, and it was exactly what I had suspected . I'm just glad someone had the balls to speak up and tell the truth.
As far as the industry goes, back in the day, not one of these artists would have even gotten a chance had AMERICA not been the one to speak up and say "IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!" Talent is talent. Remember, it was AMERICA that put every one of the artists that I listed (Except Adele) on the charts. It was the material that the artists delivered that took them off~

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad

SwingcatKurt — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:43:56 GMT

Author: SwingcatKurt
Subject: Re: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:43 pm (GMT -8)

I'm of the opinion that these owners dont "GO BAD". They were always "BAD" to begin with. You just never spotted it until these particular situations occured.
_________________
"You know that I sing the blues and I do not suffer fools.
When I'm on that silver mic, its gonna cut ya--just like a knife!!"
----THE SWINGCAT----

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Question: I need some advice....

leopard lizard — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:44:46 GMT

Author: leopard lizard
Subject: Re: Question: I need some advice....
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:44 pm (GMT -8)

Kelly Clarkson has received flak for weight gain. But she is so deciated to singing and so good I just don't notice it. In fact she is one of the few I could think of who doesn't have to act/dress like a streetwalker to be famous.

The emphasis on looks has gotten out of hand but really, dressing for a karaoke contest is like dressing for a job interview. You could be the best candidate in the world but if you don't arrive looking prepared for the position, you may not get far.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad

letitrip — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:42:12 GMT

Author: letitrip
Subject: Re: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:42 pm (GMT -8)

Here's a few I've run into:

1. Pulling all advertising for Karaoke night in order to avoid paying ASCAP/BMI/etc.

2. Finding out from the bartender that his last paycheck bounced and he still hasn't been able to get it cashed.

3. The bar only has one working toilet because someone smashed the one in the mens room 4 months ago and it's not been fixed yet.

4. The AC Duct over the center of the stage area constantly drips water, "Oh yeah, it's been doing that for years. I wouldn't put any of your stuff under there", says the owner.
_________________
DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Question: I need some advice....

letitrip — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:24:29 GMT

Author: letitrip
Subject: Re: Question: I need some advice....
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:24 pm (GMT -8)

Justadad @ Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:39 pm wrote:

Hmmmm? Ruben Stoddard, Fantasia, Clay Aiken, Adele...etc...etc. I think times have changed since then....at least I hope they have for the sake of those that were blessed with voices and not accompanying looks.

Umm Ruben ain't doin' much of anything these days. Clay Aiken's first album was a success, his second did alright but he's fallen off as well. Fantasia, had one solid album and that was it. And these are all people who had a huge head start by appearing on Idol. By way of comparisson look at how wildly successful Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson have been. Even Chris Daughtry who didn't win has a 4x platinum album on his first shot out of the gates.

If anything, judgements based on appearance have gotten worse. Since you're using American Idol as a reference, listen to what Simon says all the time. He talks about how important appearance is. Record labels do too. They need someone that not only can sing but is marketable. How many overweight women have you seen come out of Nashville since the Judds? Would Lady Gaga being doing much if she were grotesquely ugly or weighed 250lbs? How many truly ugly people are there in pop music today? Very very few. Appearance is part of the package.
_________________
DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?

leopard lizard — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:10:53 GMT

Author: leopard lizard
Subject: Re: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:10 pm (GMT -8)

Just to clarify--my last sentence was not directed at you or what you did, Rip. It was just an--"Oh yeah"-- tacked onto the end to answer of the original question. The difference between us would be I wouldn't have anything to offer in sound expertise so I would lay low on that. As far as show style, we go to lots of different styles and have fun. We don't criticize what we don't like. We just do it differently for ours and to each his own on that one.

OOOPs. Just realized my first post could be mis-interpreted--what I meant was PLEASE sit down here and show me what to do--not take your seat. That's why I asked if you minded working on your day off.

Not doing too well on clarity today.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?

letitrip — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:10:22 GMT

Author: letitrip
Subject: Re: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:10 pm (GMT -8)

leopard lizard @ Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:03 pm wrote:

Thanks for the tip. We have the Yamaha book but it is a bit much for me except small doses as I am out of my element. Maybe the other will be easier for a beginner. I do get help via email from Jerry12x, also. Anyway, boyfriend will be back at the controls soon, I'm just tying to hold our place. But probably I will persue knowing more about it, anyway.

Well, at least I am 3 shows down now and so far no rotation complaints. Maybe I will have a rotation riot this week just because I'm due.

When it comes to mixing, books are great and building the technical knowledge is extremely important, however it means nothing if you can't apply it to the real world. What I would suggest, in addition to (and best to be in conjunction with) the reading that Liz recommended, would be to setup your rig at home (if you can) and just play with it. Adjust the EQ's to the extremes and see how it makes things sound. If your mixer has a sweepable mid, turn up the mids all the way and slowly sweep the frequency knob back and forth and see how the audio changes. If you have a separate graphic EQ, try pushing each one up to the top and down to the bottom and listen to how that sounds. If you have compression, play with those controls and get a feel for how things change. Play with all the effects you have and at varying levels, damping settings and depths.

In the end mixing has to be done with the ears. There are two challenges. First is listening critically enough to be able to tell what it is about what you're hearing that you like or don't like. The second part is being able to adjust your mix to account for what you like and don't like (this is partially where the technical knowledge comes in, but many of the answers come only from experience and are rarely found in a book).
_________________
DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?

letitrip — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:04:04 GMT

Author: letitrip
Subject: Re: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:04 pm (GMT -8)

Liz, I'd have had no problem with it if he'd declined to hear my advice. That's why I asked. And Karaokemeister, note that the OP already had a working relationship in with the KJ in his situation too. It was all about presentation. If you go up to someone and say can I give you some advice and then all you offer them is "The vocals are hard to understand" or something like that, well then why should you listen to them, they have no more information to offer than you already started with. However, if you do as I did which is to describe what you're hearing, make sure they can hear it too and then give them an explanation for why it sounds that way and what they can do about it, well now they realize you actually know what you're talking about and are more apt to consider your advice.

In the end, as we discussed in this thread I think it comes down to a few key points. 1. How is the advice offered? Do you politely ask and not assume the person is an idiot. 2. What advice is offered? Telling someone you don't like how they chose to do something (like keeping it too dark) will never be received well, but helping someone find an answer to a problem they can hear exists will usually be well received. 3. Is the receiver of the advice humble enough to believe they can learn from someone else? For someone that thinks they know everything, or at least thinks they know more than you, there's no reason to bother offering advice, it won't be received.
_________________
DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?

leopard lizard — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:03:28 GMT

Author: leopard lizard
Subject: Re: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:03 pm (GMT -8)

Thanks for the tip. We have the Yamaha book but it is a bit much for me except small doses as I am out of my element. Maybe the other will be easier for a beginner. I do get help via email from Jerry12x, also. Anyway, boyfriend will be back at the controls soon, I'm just tying to hold our place. But probably I will persue knowing more about it, anyway.

Well, at least I am 3 shows down now and so far no rotation complaints. Maybe I will have a rotation riot this week just because I'm due.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: F*** You - Cee-lo Green

George30 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:57:47 GMT

Author: George30
Subject: Re: F*** You - Cee-lo Green
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:57 pm (GMT -8)

hi everyone..
thanks for that...
btw im new in this site and thanks for accepting me...
have a nice day and GOD BLESS...........

Make Money Online

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Question: I need some advice....

Justadad — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:39:01 GMT

Author: Justadad
Subject: Re: Question: I need some advice....
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:39 pm (GMT -8)

Hmmmm? Ruben Stoddard, Fantasia, Clay Aiken, Adele...etc...etc. I think times have changed since then....at least I hope they have for the sake of those that were blessed with voices and not accompanying looks.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?

karaokemeister — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:24:01 GMT

Author: karaokemeister
Subject: Re: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:24 pm (GMT -8)

If you get a chance, pick up this book.... It should help.

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Mixing-Techniques-Paul-White/dp/1860742831

The other books Paul White has out in the 'basic' series are also quite good... Not overly technical but enough that if you want to delve into it, it's there.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...

oceantracks — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:40:34 GMT

Author: oceantracks
Subject: Re: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:40 pm (GMT -8)

A grunge disc would be a lot of fun to work on!

TH

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: The Future?

jerry12x — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:38:53 GMT

Author: jerry12x
Subject: Re: The Future?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:38 pm (GMT -8)

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad

jerry12x — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:36:53 GMT

Author: jerry12x
Subject: Re: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:36 pm (GMT -8)

Well I work Friday nights in an English country pub.
An eating house till 9pm.
It is lovely.
Great atmosphere.
I am happy to work there.

Except for two things.

The karaoke is never advertised.
Hence I am going to take my own A frame.

You will wait far too long at the bar to get served.
The landlord and landlady will be sat at the bar but
never help out when they see too many people waiting for a drink.
I know a bunch that stopped coming because of the wait.
I once waited 15 min.
They have a high staff turnover and often the barmaid is
a new girl who has never worked in a bar before.
Believe me. To a drinker, that is hell.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: The Future?

leopard lizard — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:31:56 GMT

Author: leopard lizard
Subject: Re: The Future?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:31 pm (GMT -8)

Well--I TRIED using the smilies so you'd know I was just joking. What panties?

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad

leopard lizard — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:26:54 GMT

Author: leopard lizard
Subject: Re: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:26 pm (GMT -8)

Got an "audition" night at a new place. It was a dream setting with a real stage, decent size dance floor, extremely clean and comfortable seating. The owner said to give himd a month lead time to advertise. (My mistake that I trusted them and didn't paper the town with flyers.) In the meantime, he hired a bartender to be in charge of entertainment and the fellow preferred live bands and evidently only promoted their nights and not us.

The bartender had listed the show as starting at 6 pm which we thought was too early but decided to see how it went and argue later. The boyfriend showed up extra early as it was a new place to set up. The bar owner yelled at him for propping open the door so he could carry in the heavy stuff. The boyfriend had called ahead to ask if there would be a sturdy table to use and the bartender had said yes. But the bar owner didn't want him using their tables unless we had rubber feet on all our equipment. Luckily we did plus table covers. Then the bar owner said that 6 was too early and he didn't want us to start until 9. Oh.

There had been next to no advertising and we weren't on any of the posters the bartender put up inside or even on the sign out front (have since ordered our own banners for such cases). We had called alot of people but only a few of ours showed up as it was a ways away from our other show. No one else came. We carried on anyway and once the bartender saw we weren't going to be "Hokey Okey" he started calling people and we got a few more that had a good time singing from our Headbangers and modern songs. We got compliments on our system, our selection, our show and regrets that more hadn't been done to promote us. The bartender said that most other shows they had run through there had been dull and he hoped we got picked up. But we hadn't brought in any money and didn't. We later learned the owner has been running off the clientele by only having conservative news shows on the TV and berating anyone who disagreed, not letting people cheer for the sports team of their choice, etc.

I did a followup on the chance that we could try again and we would advertise this time but it was really, "Don't call us, we'll call you, time." But someone else gave us the lowdown on the troubles this place is having due to the owner and recommended a better place in the same town so I will hit that this week.

The saga continues.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...

jclaydon — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:04:10 GMT

Author: jclaydon
Subject: Re: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:04 pm (GMT -8)

good songs.. I would take any of them.. BUt especially the full version of WKRP..

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...

Lonman — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:59:11 GMT

Author: Lonman
Subject: Re: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:59 pm (GMT -8)

Hopefully a new 'Grunge' disc can be worked in there somewhere. Tons of untapped music.
_________________
Lonnie
Visit Lonman on Facebook & MySpace - lonmanpro for both & my main site via the WWW button!
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Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...

oceantracks — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:58:20 GMT

Author: oceantracks
Subject: Re: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:58 pm (GMT -8)

"Free" was also done by All Star Karaoke a few months ago...

TH

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?

leopard lizard — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:57:04 GMT

Author: leopard lizard
Subject: Re: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:57 pm (GMT -8)

Ah, now if you came to our show, I would say, please sit down--or do you mind working on your day off?

We have up to 13 KJs/retired KJs who visit our show and a few do not hesitate to offer advice. One doesn't like that we have the place darkened for our dance lights and he turns up the house lights every time he comes. Another says we didn't have enough of this or that artist in our books. I ordered the songs for him and he did one and no one else has touched them.

The best one was I got scoffed at for having a request list out. I was told new songs cost too much and if people can't find something to sing in HIS 2000 songs then there is something wrong with them. I will have to admit that when a fellow went through every Zac Brown song we had that same night and got cheers at the first few chords I couldn't help but say, "THAT'S why you buy new songs!"

Well, I was fair game. I usually do everything related to the show except the actual running of the show which my boyfriend does. He got a new job that required training out of town on 4 of our karaoke nights so he was able to set up our sytem at home before he left and I drew pictures, took notes, read the manuals and have been running our shows by myself the past few weeks. I KNOW I do not have the sound down although another set of karaoke hosts visiting said it was fine (thankyou Yamaha mixer).

But the "too dark" complainer went to town on me, although I left myself open by telling them to give me signals if I had it too loud. I got feedback once because one in his party has an extremely soft singing voice and they kept sending someone up to say she couldn't be heard. But when it was his turn to sing and I offered to let him do his own mix he said he wasn't going to help and I was on my own. Hard for me to get too rattled, however, as any night I don't blow up something or set it on fire is good in my book. (We are still disc with two players worth of wires to wrangle, etc.)

On the flip side, if I were visitng a show in our area, I would probably feel like a spy if I didn't introduce myself as a fellow host but I wouldn't do anything past be a regular customer/singer past that.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...

oceantracks — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:44:43 GMT

Author: oceantracks
Subject: Re: Hey To All, Dropping in Again... Some Questions For You...
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:44 pm (GMT -8)

Thanks guys, these are great lists.

I'll most likely be doing Reba's "Turn on the Radio" this week or next for a new country album.

Also, I am avaliable for custom tracks if maybe several of you decide on a title and want to "go in together" for getting something done that's a possibility. Anyone interested can contact me at send me an email.

I'll go through the list, and let everyone know if we can get any of these in production soon.

Thanks
Tom

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?

karaokemeister — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:36:39 GMT

Author: karaokemeister
Subject: Re: Do you offer friendly advice to new KJs?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:36 pm (GMT -8)

The difference being you already had a working relationship with that person.

Doing it blindly.... well, different story.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: RE: Stole a competitor show

karaokemeister — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:34:59 GMT

Author: karaokemeister
Subject: Re: Stole a competitor show
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:34 pm (GMT -8)

jerry12x @ Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:45 pm wrote:

Sevarin @ Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:28 pm wrote:

While I think there is nothing wrong with the business approach and while I understand your point that as long as you're not trying to bash someone else and/or undercut it is just business, it's just not me.

Not me either.

I should add one other thing. If you do this, it should be every place you want to do karaoke - not just one person's shows.

In other words, putting the word out that you are available with current pricing (blindly) to the venues out there I don't see anything wrong with it.

Targeting a venue, or KJ's shows IS as much a problem as saying you'll do it for less.

And let's be honest - dropping off a card saying, 'If you're ever interested in making a change or you're not happy give me a call and we can talk.' is a far cry from doing something underhanded or unethical.

Karaoke Discussion Forum :: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad

theCheese — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:25:32 GMT

Author: theCheese
Subject: Venue Nightmares: When club owners go bad
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:25 pm (GMT -8)

I was kind of rambling on in a response in another thread and started mentioning reasons i've left venues for greener pastures.. and thought i'd start a new thread.

Over the years, i've had many gigs where the venue/management/owners just seemed like they didn't give a crap anymore.

As entertainment, it's my job to draw in a crowd and keep them entertained and drinking.. but in 'hell bars' it's hard to hold a crowd no matter what you do.

Here are a few things i've run into over the years.. some of them more than once!

1. AC goes out and club owner either refuses to fix it, or is slow to fix it. Common when the AC dies about late July or early August and they don't feel justified fixing AC just for 'a week or two of hot weather left'.

2. Constantly running out of a particular brand of beer or liquor. Maybe I can see this happening once, but come on.. how do you run out of Bud Light? If you sold X number of cases last Wednesday, order more.

3. Doorman/Security doing a poor job keeping riff raff out of the club.. or refusing to bar troublemakers/instigators because they're a personal friend of the management.

Usually something happens on the weekend (when you're not there) like a fight or something.. you try to assure your following that the place is only like that on weekends but all they hear is 'fight club'.

4. Place is a general dump. Bathrooms look like the outhouse at the beginning of Slumdog Millionaire, tables and or floors are sticky, place is just overall funky.

Over the years i've had several venues where my regular following would tell me, "Man.. i'd like to come out Tuesday nights, but I don't know about that place!"

People come out to have a good time and cut loose.. not sweat their asses off and pay $4 for warm beers while they sit in a club that smells like sewage.

I don't care how awesome your sound system or library is.

So let's hear your hell stories with seedy club owners!