big gig coming up

I am pleased to report that I have a really big coming up. I will be hosting karaoke at the Quad Graphics summer picnic. I expect that there will be something like 5,000 people at this event all told. Most will not be so brave as to sing, but a good many of them will have a look, since I will be located in the food tent.

My marketing side says, "Wow! That's fabulous exposure!" My sensitive side says that not everyone in the food tent will care to listen to people doing karaoke. I need to carefully control the volume so that the people who really want to hear will be able to hear, but those who really don't care to hear will ot be bothered by the music. Needless to say, I can't imagine why anyone would not want to listen to karaoke, but I will try to be respectful.

This past few weeks have been a flurry of activity for me. I consulted with a sound system guy, Bob Witte, who looked over my system and offered some valuable suggestions. Get rid of your Radio Shack mixer was the first thing on his list.

Ok, this was tough for me emotionally. I bought the mixer at a pawn shop in Grand Rapids, MI. The price was, well, within my budget at the time. This was before I knew that there was a good market for this karaoke stuff.

Also, years ago, I worked for Radio Shack. This was while I was in college. At the time, I would get defensive if anyone would malign Radio Shack products. Hearing "Trash-80" would raise my hackles. After much therapy, I have learned to deal with this.

So, Bob suggested a mixer made by Mackie. Reasonably priced, but with features that would help me adjust gains optimally. I am indebted to Bob for taking me carefully through the process of adjusting all the knobs.

Bob also directed me toward the Shure SM58 microphone. Solid piece of equipment. I now own two. Along with three mics fom Radio Shack and one wireless mic.

Since the event will be outside, I also decided that it was time to buy another set of speakers. When there are no walls to reflect the sound, it can easily get lost. Open space requires a lot more power. I will be going in with two sets of big speakers and two sets of small speakers. My little Saturn will remind one of the Beverly Hillbillies. I just hope I can get all the equipment in one trip.

I have also been beefing up my song list. I will be bringing 3,844 songs to the party. In particular, I bought a set of 5 Doo Wop CDs that I hope get some airplay. The Box Tops, the Cadillacs, the Channels, the Chantels, the Chilites, the Chimes, the Classics, the Cleftones, the Clovers, the Coasters, the Crests, the Del Vikings, the Dells, the Dixie Cups, the Dreamlovers, the Drifters, the Duprees, the Earls, the Edsels...

Wait a minute. The Edsels? What gives? This group was actually very successful. They made it on Bandstand several times and recorded that immortal, moving masterpiece "Rama Lama Ding Dong". I can't wait to hear this sung by a true aficionado of the art. Bring plenty of Kleenex.

Ok, so I got the music book. I printed up business cards. Am I forgetting anything? How about a sign. Ok... looking into that. Print up new songbooks. Will do. Wait. Business cards? How about a website for the cards to point to?

I asked around, and went with goDaddy to host a website. The price is quite reasonable, and I was moderately pleased with the site building tools that they offer. Have a look at my site. Feel free to let me know what you think: RevelatorKaraoke@gmail.com.

I just hope that the exposure from this picnic is enough to generate enough jobs so as to support my karaoke habit.

happy karaoke,
John the Revelator