Index for the "So you wanna be a karaoke host?" series

"So you wanna be a karaoke host?" series

I have a very popular series of blogs that cover everything an aspiring KJ needs in order to get started in the fast-paced, lucrative business of karaoke hosting. When I say "popular", I of course mean "this series would be popular if a bunch of people actually read them". Hopefully these posts will inspire you to get a real job like selling Mary Kay, or doing professional blogging.

Part 1, a generic karaoke system
This is a general description of all the parts that go into a karaoke system. This post is about concepts, theory of operation, and ideas. And, as a bonus, there is a way cool diagram with boxes. 

Part 2a: Examples of all-in-one systems
There are a number of low-end karaoke systems that come with everything you need. Should you go with such a system. Here are the pros and cons for the pros and Kahns.

Part 2b: Working dog category
This section starts with a bit about the software you need to run a karaoke show.

Aside from the computer, there are three other main components to a karaoke system: the mixer, the amp, and the speakers. They sell all these as separate components, and they sell single boxes with a mixer and an amp (a powered mixer). Or you could buy speakers with amps built in (powered or active speakers). And they also have systems with all three of these components built into one package.

In this post, there are examples of the various combinations of components, along with my sometimes insightful commentary on why one would want to go with any particular combination. 

Part 3: Formats for karaoke tunes
To play music, you either pop a CD into a CD player, or you load mp3 files into an mp3 player. When you get a CD that you want to hear on your mp3 player, you rip the CD. When you have an mp3 player and (for some crazy reason) you want to make a CD, you burn the mp3 files to the CD.

The same holds true for karaoke music, only you pop the karaoke CD into a karaoke CD player. Instead of loading mp3 files into your mp3 player, you load karaoke files into your karaoke software. When you get a karaoke CD that you want to have on your computer, you rip the CD with karaoke CD ripping software. When you want to make a karaoke CD from karaoke files, you use karaoke CD burning software.

Get the details in this post. I also talk a bit about why you don't want to bother trying to convert regular songs into karaoke songs, and how to get karaoke on your iPod.

Part 4: Microphony for karaoke
Cheap mics versus decent mics
Omnidirectional versus cardiod
Suggestions on running the mixer for karaoke
Wireless versus wired
and... a quick note on batteries for a wireless mic.

Part 5: Mixing it up
You can get a really really cheap mixer, but what features do you miss out on? Or, you can get just a cheap mixer, and still miss out on some cool features. Or you can spend a bit more. This post describes some of the things you might want to get out of a mixer.

Part 6: Karaoke system amp
Part 7: Speakers - getting those karaoke vibrations going
Part 8: Watts and RMS and Ohms, oh my!

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