Karaoke?! OH NO!

[Smooth_bass88]

This would be considered a performance.

Like, a karaoke performance? How is it NOT karaoke when the person is singing to pre-recorded music? Even if the person is standing there arbitrarily strumming random chords, 90 percent of what you're hearing is tracks.

 

[Nevada Pete]

Thanks!

I don't have a coach, indeed, they are very expensive, but also unsure which is a good or a bad one.. I hope to find a good one someday and point me to the correct direction so I don't permanently damage my voice

For the moment, I have followed many YouTube videos, mainly Ken Tamplin for some exercices, but I do admit that I often go crazy on my voice, and most of the times, I start singing without any warm up.. And for the rare times I warm up, I do it really fast. I'm just too inpatient to start singing.. But I did notice some improvements since my fear of losing my voice went away, I'm still a beginner, but can now hit my highest notes much more comfortably than before

Not planning to become a pro singer or anything, I'm already 30 so it's a bit late for that, just doing it for fun, and I always dreamed to be able to sing, but never trusted my voice and abilities to learn that, took me until my 29th birthday to take the step and learn

Sounds like your having fun! I am so glad you took that first step and started singing!

It's not likely you are going to permanently damage your voice. Your using common sense, after all. I would just say if you become horse either from singing or from an infection of some kind, have it checked out by an ear, nose and throat doc for safety sake, and don't try to sing or talk until it clears. That's about all you have to do to prevent damage as long as your not screaming, etc.

As far as bad habits, I was thinking more of just basic technique such as what are known as "plosives", which happen when you sing a "P" close to the mic incorrectly. There's a way to make that "P" sound without sending the blast of air into the microphone which is important to master. Unless you want to knock people down who are standing too close to the PA speaker!

Another one to watch out for is what they call "sibilance" which is when you make an "S" sound into the mic. You can easily tell if your doing these wrong simply by just listening to a recording of yourself singing when using a mic. I would suggest you start using a Shure SM58 to sing into, if you don't already have one.

You probably already know about these potential bad habits. Don't overlook your posture when singing. Like your mama said, stand up straight! Your breathing and breath support will come more or less naturally if you sing a lot, and you've probably already noticed that by now. There's material on the internet on how to breathe when singing, and you can start incorporating the timing of your breaths with your phrasing of the lyrics your singing. Pay attention to your articulation and your on your way, brother!

By doing what you are doing you have given yourself a truly wonderful gift, and I wish for you the very best with your singing!

 

[Nevada Pete]

The only reason I won't do Karaoke is the disgusting conditions of the microphones, which aren't usually in the best shape. After getting sick on more than one occasion with people sitting in when I perform, I keep a bottle of Listerine and a toothbrush to clean my mics off if someone else gets too close.

You never know where they've been and you might just be sucking up all manner of awesome effluvia in your effort to taint the mic.

I read somewhere about disinfectant microphone wipes made especially to deal with this problem. I don't know how effective they are. Rubbing alcohol would probably work. I definitely don't like to touch any microphone with my lips, even my own. Ultimately, same as always, in a joint like that the solution is probably that after knocking back a few shots, no germ would dare live in my mouth!

 

[NZBassman]

I won a bottle of sparkling wine at a Karaoke competition once.....
I was nervous, but then 2 drunk guys got up and tried to sing 'knocking on heavens door', then a lady got up and tried 'Proud Mary'.... both sounded atrocious, so I got up and sang 'You Really Got Me' and after some more drunk / out of tune and time singer wannabes had a go I was declared the winner!

 

[murph7489]

Once at a gig with my band, a girl in the audience wanted to sing a song..."listen to the music" by the doobie brothers. We had already played earlier that night but apparently she knew the singer and he quickly asked us and it was towards the end of the night and there was no time for a discussion so we let her do it..

I was thinking, this is going to be a train wreck of epic proportions ha ha, not for us because we know the song cold. I was more scared for her..so we launch into the song and she freakin killed it..I mean she sang it so well I was blown away, listening to her I became part of the audience. Every note, every nuance perfect, her timing was dead on, she knew when to come in and when to let the band do their thing..It was as if she had practiced it with us for weeks. When it was over I was standing there clapping, went over to her and hugged her and told her great great job.

I think most of the time this would not turn out this way but this song, and that girl it worked to perfection..I actually felt bad for our singer..lol she out sang him on that song...I doubt he cared, he isn't that way. It was a memorable experience to say the least...

 

[libanass]

Sounds like your having fun! I am so glad you took that first step and started singing!

It's not likely you are going to permanently damage your voice. Your using common sense, after all. I would just say if you become horse either from singing or from an infection of some kind, have it checked out by an ear, nose and throat doc for safety sake, and don't try to sing or talk until it clears. That's about all you have to do to prevent damage as long as your not screaming, etc.

As far as bad habits, I was thinking more of just basic technique such as what are known as "plosives", which happen when you sing a "P" close to the mic incorrectly. There's a way to make that "P" sound without sending the blast of air into the microphone which is important to master. Unless you want to knock people down who are standing too close to the PA speaker!

Another one to watch out for is what they call "sibilance" which is when you make an "S" sound into the mic. You can easily tell if your doing these wrong simply by just listening to a recording of yourself singing when using a mic. I would suggest you start using a Shure SM58 to sing into, if you don't already have one.

You probably already know about these potential bad habits. Don't overlook your posture when singing. Like your mama said, stand up straight! Your breathing and breath support will come more or less naturally if you sing a lot, and you've probably already noticed that by now. There's material on the internet on how to breathe when singing, and you can start incorporating the timing of your breaths with your phrasing of the lyrics your singing. Pay attention to your articulation and your on your way, brother!

By doing what you are doing you have given yourself a truly wonderful gift, and I wish for you the very best with your singing!

Thanks a lot for these helpful tips! It sounds like you know what you're talking about

I'm using a Shure SM57 actually, but with a pop filter for singing, I chose this mic so I can also use it for my bass and guitar recording. I guess the SM58 is perhaps more ideal for voice recording

Posture is not that important? Because sometimes I'm tired to stand up straight and just keep singing anyway, aware that it is not ideal and worrying that I'm doing it wrong again
But you know, sometimes you're just tired and want to lay down after a while, but still want to sing a little Especially after hours of practice, there are days I practice for 4-6 hours, so I can't stand up straight for that long. Then my energy depletes and get hungry, so I go eat, and then sing again right away, which is also not recommended by many singers

Oh well.. I guess I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, everyday I wish I started singing earlier in my life.. I'm still a long way to nailing a song, I don't like my voice, and that is by far the most difficult instrument I've learned..

 

[Nevada Pete]

Thanks a lot for these helpful tips! It sounds like you know what you're talking about

I'm using a Shure SM57 actually, but with a pop filter for singing, I chose this mic so I can also use it for my bass and guitar recording. I guess the SM58 is perhaps more ideal for voice recording

Posture is not that important? Because sometimes I'm tired to stand up straight and just keep singing anyway, aware that it is not ideal and worrying that I'm doing it wrong again
But you know, sometimes you're just tired and want to lay down after a while, but still want to sing a little Especially after hours of practice, there are days I practice for 4-6 hours, so I can't stand up straight for that long. Then my energy depletes and get hungry, so I go eat, and then sing again right away, which is also not recommended by many singers

Oh well.. I guess I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, everyday I wish I started singing earlier in my life.. I'm still a long way to nailing a song, I don't like my voice, and that is by far the most difficult instrument I've learned..

Believe it or not, it doesn't matter if you like your voice, or not. This is purely a matter of being self conscious, and the sooner you get over it, the better. Remember, recording engineers in Nashville told Willy Nelson that his voice was impossible to record! What they meant was, they couldn't make Willy Nelson sound like the smooth country crooners of the day. They tried all kinds of filters, EQ, and special effects in an attempt to make Willy Nelson not sound like Willy Nelson. They couldn't do it. Willy Nelson became so fed up that he left Nashville and went to Texas! The Texan's didn't know he couldn't sing, and he became a big star there! That's what actually launched Willy Nelson's career as a singer. Do you think Willy Nelson can sing?

An SM57 is fine. More than fine, actually. It's basically the same microphone as the SM58. It just doesn't have the steel mesh ball. For quite some time, the SM57 is basically all anybody used at the big shows. To this day you will almost always see SM57's used with a Shure foam wind sock on the microphone (see picture below). This may be what you mean by "pop filter". The wind sock tends to protect the face of the microphone from physical shock (a little), and, of course, it reduces interference from wind when your outside. But it also puts a little distance between your lips and the face of the microphone and acts as a shield so you don't get so much spit (saliva), food particles, etc., inside the working areas of the mic. For this reason, using the wind sock will make the microphone last considerably longer before the diaphragm assembly needs to be replaced. After a while, the foam gets pretty funky, though (especially if the mic is used in a club and / or by a lot of different singers), so when that happens, the wind sock should be replaced. They're not expensive.

The photograph is the Shure A2WS which positively attaches to the microphone by way of a small set screw. This is the preferred device:

Take a close look at some historical photographs of concerts from the 60's and early 70's, and you'll see the SM57's on the front line with the foam wind socks. If you look closely, you will see that in some cases, the front line mics will be SM56's. That's the same mic as the SM57, but with a heavy duty shock mount. They don't make the SM56 anymore.

The steel mesh ball on the SM58 does act as a "pop filter" of sorts. There's a layer of foam underneath the steel mesh and the combination gives you some protection from "plosives". However, using the SM57 that you have now does have one big advantage for you! It will keep you honest! This is why there are still some vocalists who prefer the SM57 (myself included). It is indeed more sensitive to poor vocal technique, and for this reason, it trains you to sing properly into a microphone. Perfect. There are even people who claim that the SM57, being as how it's a little more sensitive without the steel mesh ball, subtly sounds a little better than the SM58!

If you want to own two microphones, then yes, it probably does make sense to pick up an SM58 for your second mic. Otherwise, for my money, I wouldn't bother. Good luck.

 

[libanass]

Believe it or not, it doesn't matter if you like your voice, or not. This is purely a matter of being self conscious, and the sooner you get over it, the better. Remember, recording engineers in Nashville told Willy Nelson that his voice was impossible to record! What they meant was, they couldn't make Willy Nelson sound like the smooth country crooners of the day. They tried all kinds of filters, EQ, and special effects in an attempt to make Willy Nelson not sound like Willy Nelson. They couldn't do it. Willy Nelson became so fed up that he left Nashville and went to Texas! The Texan's didn't know he couldn't sing, and he became a big star there! That's what actually launched Willy Nelson's career as a singer. Do you think Willy Nelson can sing?

An SM57 is fine. More than fine, actually. It's basically the same microphone as the SM58. It just doesn't have the steel mesh ball. For quite some time, the SM57 is basically all anybody used at the big shows. To this day you will almost always see SM57's used with a Shure foam wind sock on the microphone (see picture below). This may be what you mean by "pop filter". The wind sock tends to protect the face of the microphone from physical shock (a little), and, of course, it reduces interference from wind when your outside. But it also puts a little distance between your lips and the face of the microphone and acts as a shield so you don't get so much spit (saliva), food particles, etc., inside the working areas of the mic. For this reason, using the wind sock will make the microphone last considerably longer before the diaphragm assembly needs to be replaced. After a while, the foam gets pretty funky, though (especially if the mic is used in a club and / or by a lot of different singers), so when that happens, the wind sock should be replaced. They're not expensive.

The photograph is the Shure A2WS which positively attaches to the microphone by way of a small set screw. This is the preferred device:

Take a close look at some historical photographs of concerts from the 60's and early 70's, and you'll see the SM57's on the front line with the foam wind socks. If you look closely, you will see that in some cases, the front line mics will be SM56's. That's the same mic as the SM57, but with a heavy duty shock mount. They don't make the SM56 anymore.

The steel mesh ball on the SM58 does act as a "pop filter" of sorts. There's a layer of foam underneath the steel mesh and the combination gives you some protection from "plosives". However, using the SM57 that you have now does have one big advantage for you! It will keep you honest! This is why there are still some vocalists who prefer the SM57 (myself included). It is indeed more sensitive to poor vocal technique, and for this reason, it trains you to sing properly into a microphone. Perfect. There are even people who claim that the SM57, being as how it's a little more sensitive without the steel mesh ball, subtly sounds a little better than the SM58!

If you want to own two microphones, then yes, it probably does make sense to pick up an SM58 for your second mic. Otherwise, for my money, I wouldn't bother. Good luck.

That's the same wind sock foam I am using on my SM57 indeed!
Good to know that it will keep me "honest", if there is anything, I don't want to learn the easy way and hide my mistakes, and would like to be able to judge myself as much as possible and improve on the slightest details. I have come to the point where I can listen to myself 10 months ago, and have a big laugh But I'm still not satisfied enough to even call myself a singer yet.. Sometimes I see singers being rejected, when I find them to sing much better than me. So my goal, is to step over that level, not sure how many years it would take.

Now, I'm not really using the mic for casual singing, but only for recording/hearing myself, it is quite difficult to get a nice compressed tone, but I guess I'm still lacking some techniques too.
Most of the times, I am on my acoustic guitar practicing scales and singing a few covers

I'll probably invest back in speakers and a mixer so I could sing trough the mic more often and hear myself directly, especially that the house is empty now, so it's a bit more comfortable
Do you think I could use my old Gallien Krueger 4x10 amp as a speaker? It's not being used anyway... but if it can save me from buying speakers for a while..

If there is a reason why I started singing that late in my life, it's because I am not comfortable singing with someone around in the house. I think a lot of pre-singers struggle with the same issue. I usually don't gain confidence with something until I completely nail it, and to be able to do it in front of people.
It happened with playing bass, it took time and lots of practice, but at least, you can keep a bass unplugged or plug through earphones and disturb no one, and it is not as embarrassing as someone exploring their own voice.. The first few months/years can be pretty humiliating..

I found that you need to let loose and raise the volume a bit, articulate and sing with the heart, otherwise, if you're scared and want to keep a low volume, you end up straining your voice somehow, because of a fear of being "heard" and "judged".. And the singing gets surprisingly worse It's easier to start when you're all alone, knowing that nobody else can hear and judge you (some people can be judging a**holes )

I am guessing you're a singer? Are you a vocal coach too?
I think that today I'm ready for a vocal coach.. Just gotta find a good one.

 

[Nevada Pete]

That's the same wind sock foam I am using on my SM57 indeed!
Good to know that it will keep me "honest", if there is anything, I don't want to learn the easy way and hide my mistakes, and would like to be able to judge myself as much as possible and improve on the slightest details. I have come to the point where I can listen to myself 10 months ago, and have a big laugh But I'm still not satisfied enough to even call myself a singer yet.. Sometimes I see singers being rejected, when I find them to sing much better than me. So my goal, is to step over that level, not sure how many years it would take.

Now, I'm not really using the mic for casual singing, but only for recording/hearing myself, it is quite difficult to get a nice compressed tone, but I guess I'm still lacking some techniques too.
Most of the times, I am on my acoustic guitar practicing scales and singing a few covers

I'll probably invest back in speakers and a mixer so I could sing trough the mic more often and hear myself directly, especially that the house is empty now, so it's a bit more comfortable
Do you think I could use my old Gallien Krueger 4x10 amp as a speaker? It's not being used anyway... but if it can save me from buying speakers for a while..

If there is a reason why I started singing that late in my life, it's because I am not comfortable singing with someone around in the house. I think a lot of pre-singers struggle with the same issue. I usually don't gain confidence with something until I completely nail it, and to be able to do it in front of people.
It happened with playing bass, it took time and lots of practice, but at least, you can keep a bass unplugged or plug through earphones and disturb no one, and it is not as embarrassing as someone exploring their own voice.. The first few months/years can be pretty humiliating..

I found that you need to let loose and raise the volume a bit, articulate and sing with the heart, otherwise, if you're scared and want to keep a low volume, you end up straining your voice somehow, because of a fear of being "heard" and "judged".. And the singing gets surprisingly worse It's easier to start when you're all alone, knowing that nobody else can hear and judge you (some people can be judging a**holes )

I am guessing you're a singer? Are you a vocal coach too?
I think that today I'm ready for a vocal coach.. Just gotta find a good one.

I will answer this with a private message.

 

[Jimmy4string]

Last night's Karoake foray was ok.
Some highlights -
the cute girl sitting next to me at the table actually surprised us all and sang quite well.
She did my all time least favorite song "Killing me softly" -Fugee style. My compliment to her was "I actually hate that song and you did so well i enjoyed if for once".
My friend did a duet with his GF of "Don't go breaking my heart" which was so awful and cheesey I threatened to tape it for later blackmail
Anyway my friend had a great birthday so I am glad he is happy

 

[Paulabass]

Karaoke was invented to make drunkenly insulting of people politically OK. If they had a parade of disabled people, and you hurled insults you would be driven out into the cold. How about an ugly girl/guy night, where you can grimmace at how unfortunate some people are?
So instead you go to Karaoke. It's just a freak show with beer. You didn't go to see a great performance, you went voluntarily to witness awfulness. And react to it.
If bad p.a. systems had been invented in Roman times, I'm sure people would have gone to the colosseum for Karaoke.

 

[BwanaDust]

Very smart.
You literally dip the toothbrush in Listerine and scrub the grille?

When I was touring back in the late eighties/early nineties, our stage manager/monitor guy would clean off our mics with Listerine before every show. And we didn't share them with opening acts. To tell the truth, lately I've been just keeping alcohol wipes handy. But I've used Listerine at jam nights that where I was part of the host band. Usually, I just point wannabe singers to the guitarist or keyboardist's mic. Depending on who I'm doing the gig with.

 

[BwanaDust]

I read somewhere about disinfectant microphone wipes made especially to deal with this problem. I don't know how effective they are. Rubbing alcohol would probably work. I definitely don't like to touch any microphone with my lips, even my own. Ultimately, same as always, in a joint like that the solution is probably that after knocking back a few shots, no germ would dare live in my mouth!

Well, I'm always real close to the mic. I come from the school that believes in controlling volume before you hit the pickup. I remember back when I was starting out, I read an article about Linda Rondstadt's producer and how he cut a hole in the foam windscreen they used to use on U87/67s and told her to make sure to keep the tip of her nose in the hole when she sang.

So, that's why I'm really adverse to having anyone else come near my mics and if they do, I have to completely douche it.

Of course, I have occasional problems when I am closing my eyes while playing. I've given myself a fat lip more than a few times, by not bothering to open them before approaching the mic!

 

[Nevada Pete]

Well, I'm always real close to the mic. I come from the school that believes in controlling volume before you hit the pickup. I remember back when I was starting out, I read an article about Linda Rondstadt's producer and how he cut a hole in the foam windscreen they used to use on U87/67s and told her to make sure to keep the tip of her nose in the hole when she sang.

So, that's why I'm really adverse to having anyone else come near my mics and if they do, I have to completely douche it.

Of course, I have occasional problems when I am closing my eyes while playing. I've given myself a fat lip more than a few times, by not bothering to open them before approaching the mic!

I totally agree with you about getting right up on the mic, especially on stage. It avoids bleed through from the amplified instruments and from the drums when singing. And as everybody knows, there's a sweet proximity effect when you sing right up close and personal to a Shure SM57-SM58 that greatly enhances the amplified sound of vocals. Of course, this is one of the major reasons these microphones have become the undisputed industry standard for live sound. I used to like to use a gate on each of the front line mics so they wouldn't mess up my instrument mix when nobody was singing into them. There's a few tricks to doing this, one of them being you may have to manually take the gate off a mic before somebody starts singing into it again.

You already know all of this, I'm sure (no pun intended). But maybe somebody might get something out of it. Obviously, without getting right up on the mic there will be no proximity effect, and on a live Rock stage, for example, without singing right in close to the mic the voice is quickly drowned out anyway. The Shure A2WS wind screen thingy provides minimal clearance from the lips on an SM57 and will not degrade the proximity effect. It does tend to absorb funky #$%$# from whomever sang through it last, and thus, the popularity of the SM58's steel mesh ball.

That's a great story about cutting a hole in those old foam Neumann wind screens. They still make em, but I don't think anybody uses them in studio anymore. Back when I started doing sessions they used to use ladies stockings stretched into hoops in front of their expensive U87's. The U47's, 67's and 87's all have a beautiful proximity effect, but it isn't utilized as much as it used to be back when Frank and the gang were recording. I got a 545S literally shoved down my throat when some jerk hit my mic stand with his arm in a club in San Francisco just when I had my mouth open. The stage was only about five inches off the ground, and we totally packed the place. Such is the price of success.

 

[BwanaDust]

I totally agree with you about getting right up on the mic, especially on stage. It avoids bleed through from the amplified instruments and from the drums when singing. And as everybody knows, there's a sweet proximity effect when you sing right up close and personal to a Shure SM57-SM58 that greatly enhances the amplified sound of vocals. Of course, this is one of the major reasons these microphones have become the undisputed industry standard for live sound. I used to like to use a gate on each of the front line mics so they wouldn't mess up my instrument mix when nobody was singing into them. There's a few tricks to doing this, one of them being you may have to manually take the gate off a mic before somebody starts singing into it again.

You already know all of this, I'm sure (no pun intended). But maybe somebody might get something out of it. Obviously, without getting right up on the mic there will be no proximity effect, and on a live Rock stage, for example, without singing right in close to the mic the voice is quickly drowned out anyway. The Shure A2WS wind screen thingy provides minimal clearance from the lips on an SM57 and will not degrade the proximity effect. It does tend to absorb funky #$%$# from whomever sang through it last, and thus, the popularity of the SM58's steel mesh ball.

That's a great story about cutting a hole in those old foam Neumann wind screens. They still make em, but I don't think anybody uses them in studio anymore. Back when I started doing sessions they used to use ladies stockings stretched into hoops in front of their expensive U87's. The U47's, 67's and 87's all have a beautiful proximity effect, but it isn't utilized as much as it used to be back when Frank and the gang were recording. I got a 545S literally shoved down my throat when some jerk hit my mic stand with his arm in a club in San Francisco just when I had my mouth open. The stage was only about five inches off the ground, and we totally packed the place. Such is the price of success.

The perils of performance! Getting back to the off topic subject of distance from the mic. My biggest pet peeve and one that I continually admonish new students about is the idea that you need to pull away from the mic for dynamics. That may look good from a hack-performer's POV, but it just sounds awful. I'm glad I do my part with each new group of singers that comes through the school I work at. We do a big pop performance 2-3 hours each year and when I see one who holds their mic down by their chest so you can see them smiling, or pulls the mic way back when they sing louder, we have a few words, they realize the error of their ways and we move on... Actually, the voice teachers (I am running sound for the live shows) have started teaching their students before they get on stage, so I don't have to do so many corrections.

For those who say the mic would break up if you kept your mouth too close to the capsule when singing, I have been doing it for forty years and have never had a problem with mics breaking up, as long as the gain is set correctly.

 

[Nevada Pete]

The perils of performance! Getting back to the off topic subject of distance from the mic. My biggest pet peeve and one that I continually admonish new students about is the idea that you need to pull away from the mic for dynamics. That may look good from a hack-performer's POV, but it just sounds awful. I'm glad I do my part with each new group of singers that comes through the school I work at. We do a big pop performance 2-3 hours each year and when I see one who holds their mic down by their chest so you can see them smiling, or pulls the mic way back when they sing louder, we have a few words, they realize the error of their ways and we move on... Actually, the voice teachers (I am running sound for the live shows) have started teaching their students before they get on stage, so I don't have to do so many corrections.

For those who say the mic would break up if you kept your mouth too close to the capsule when singing, I have been doing it for forty years and have never had a problem with mics breaking up, as long as the gain is set correctly.

That's what compressors are for! Sometimes I wonder when I see a vocalist pulling the mic back on a loud passage if I'm listening to the live performance, or is the vocalist lip syncing. Because as you say, it sounds awful to actually do that.

I do tend to work the mic some, but not to the extent that it would be that noticeable to the audience for the reasons you mention. You can't move the microphone very far from your lips without loosing the body of your amplified voice.

Shure SM series microphones are virtually indestructible, and the proof of this is that there is arguably no better microphone than an SM57 for micing up a snare drum. The capsule in the SM57 is essentially the same as in the SM58, and there's no way that microphone is going to "break up" from singing into it. Or screaming into it, for that matter. As you say, that kind of break up is solely a matter of improper gain structire, i.e., ordinarily not properly padding down the microphone pre-amplifiers in the sound board.

It's encouraging that our youth can now learn this stuff from experts such as yourself in a school scenario. Maybe they will get out there and re-enliven the music business.

 

[Bassball Fever]

The perils of performance! Getting back to the off topic subject of distance from the mic. My biggest pet peeve and one that I continually admonish new students about is the idea that you need to pull away from the mic for dynamics. That may look good from a hack-performer's POV, but it just sounds awful. I'm glad I do my part with each new group of singers that comes through the school I work at. We do a big pop performance 2-3 hours each year and when I see one who holds their mic down by their chest so you can see them smiling, or pulls the mic way back when they sing louder, we have a few words, they realize the error of their ways and we move on... Actually, the voice teachers (I am running sound for the live shows) have started teaching their students before they get on stage, so I don't have to do so many corrections.

For those who say the mic would break up if you kept your mouth too close to the capsule when singing, I have been doing it for forty years and have never had a problem with mics breaking up, as long as the gain is set correctly.

I used to have this talk with singers when I ran sound. I finally came down one time and had the singer close his eyes and give me a note for as long as he could. Soon after he started, I moved the mic a little bit. He stopped and opened his eyes. He was shocked at how little the mic moved. He stopped moving the mic so much.

 

[Jimmy4string]

An odd thing. Now that I have openly professed my dislike of Karaoke I find myself at the karaoke more often. Are my friends monitoring this forum?!
Saturday began at the karaoke bar in a awful place. I am not sure why but every time my pal Steph drags me here there is always, always one long table with drunken frat\sorority kids that act as a cloud of jackassery the likes are rarley equaled. This time was no different complete with mic stealing guy that had to be on every song even though he was so terrible, OH so terrible. I have no idea why these guys always seem to try and murder rap songs every time too.
I was like "one more from these guys and I am running screamin into the streets of Austin". Thankfully the dude running it switched up and tried to shame the kids from getting on stage and stealing the mic from people.
A surprising breath of fresh air was my bookish friend Dulce nailing Prince's "kiss" complete with choreography. My jaw was dropped. Then her girlfriend Olivia did a song from the play "rent" take me out tonight (or some such i really don't know rent). Equally as amazing. Anyway that is the coffee report ( i really have had too much this morning).

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

AI have no idea why these guys always seem to try and murder rap songs every time too.[/ATTACH]

Murder rap songs? Isn't that just like beating a dead horse?

 

[Jimmy4string]

@Fredrik E. Nilsen in this case YES and YES!
Oh yeah and add to the fun one of the guys jumped up on a chair and was humping the wall. Really amazing what alcohol does to the human condition.