Part 3:The Karaoke – Sound
• For most of the night the FOH sound fluctuated greatly in volume, with some songs very soft and others at about the right volume.
• Too much vocal effects added to most of the songs. However this also seemed to fluctuate a bit dependant on the singer
• Vocals were set well out in front of music – my preference would have been to mix them down into the mix a bit better
• Vocals also needed to be EQ’d as some of the singers voices were quite “screechy” to the point of almost being ear piercingly painful
• In-between music was up-tempo dance type music, but was at a higher volume and a much fuller sound than the Karaoke music
• On my first song I could hardly hear the music until about halfway through the song when the fold backs were turned up
• Where the Karaoke mixing desk was located would have been very difficult to determine what the sound was like for either the FOH or On Stage mix.

The Karaoke – Summary
• This was a pleasant gig, reasonably well attended without being a big crowd, and everyone there having a good time.
• I would not travel any great distance to attend this particular Karaoke gig in preference to any other Karaoke gig that may be closer.
• I may be seen as harsh in some of my comments, but the bar was set by Tutus’ comments in his original post stating that: “I now judge every karaoke show by their standards, and unfortunately they (KARAOKE KOOL), lead the pack”. Using this statement, I have judged the Palace Karaoke gig against others around Melbourne, not just my own, and while I could list a few others that are certainly nowhere near as good as the Palace hotel gig, I could also list some that I believe to be better than it as well.
• My final comments are: The success of any Karaoke gig should be based on its longevity, and this is linked to, but not based on, my or the next person’s subjective views on quality of Sound, Song lists, Hosts, etc. There are many reasons for a gig to be successful; one I can think of off the top of my head, that is generally not commented on much, is location. I know of a couple of gigs around Melbourne that continue to exist purely based on this factor, and with nothing to do with the quality of sound, friendliness of hosts, size of songbooks, etc.
Incidentally, I would consider one of the best gigs around Melbourne is the Knox Club. It would certainly be one of the longest running, they always have a big crowd, the song list is good, the sound is good, and the hosts are some of the best going around. This does not mean though that people should be getting in their cars and driving across town to get to this gig in preference to one a lot closer to their home. Perhaps apart from gigs in the central city area, most gigs are attended by somewhere around 90% locals, and do not live off so called Karaoke Tragics that may travel lengthy distances to attend a “good” show.


Submitted by PeterM on 19-04-2009

Meet karaoke hosts and singers in the Where2sing.com forums . . .

Where2sing.com