Published on
January 10, 2009 in
Karaoke Software.
Tags: djing, free software, karaoke, Karaoke Software, karaokenight, kj, kj as vj, linux, Mashups, setup, vj.
One of my visions is to see somebody DJ a karaoke night off turntables, mixing and scratching with synced video. It’s possible, I looked it up! The simplest way is with Serato Scratch and a $1500 Rane mixer. Ouch. But some clubs have these, so if I ever get a karaoke night at a clubby club… hmm…
Then there’s a $100 solution that doesn’t require any special hardware… Ms. Pinky / Max MSP.
Then there’s the free software / linux route: xwax. Which you can also use with Puredata using this thing. I fully expect to be in the company of tons of linux VJ nerds when I get to brazil. Maybe they can help me set it up. Woo!
xwax
(almost none of this stuff is necessary) photo by…
Running a karaoke night is cheap and easy. Here’s all you need:
- Laptop
- Songs
- Karaoke Software
- Songbooks
- Microphones and a PA
- Old computer monitor
5 & 6 barely count. You can get clunky 17″ monitors for free on craigslist or freecycle. Most venues have a PA w/ mics. Got friends who play in a band? They can help scrounge something together.
So that leaves us with a laptop, songs, karaoke software, and songbooks. I made simple guides to cover each step. Spend a little time now, and next week you’ll have a working karaoke setup.
If anything seems confusing, just find a computery friend to help. They’ll know how to do all of this stuff.
- What you need for a karaoke laptop
- How to download Karaoke songs
- The best free karaoke software for Mac, Windows, and Linux
- How to make karaoke songbooks
Next up… tips on running a karaoke night!
Published on
January 5, 2009 in
Dance Party, Karaoke Setup, Karaoke Software and Mashups.
Tags: ableton, ableton live, abletonkj, cdg, cdg2video, karaoke, Karaoke Software, kjams, Mashups, powercdgtovideo, pykaraoke, video, vj.
Mp3g is a funny combination of music file and anigif. If you want to play karaoke on your iPod / iPhone, or if you want to use DJ/VJ software to run your karaoke set (more on that later) the first step is to convert your collection to normal video files.
Here’s how–for Mac, Windows, and Linux;
Continue reading ‘How to covert karaoke files to video (Mac, Windows, Linux)’
Karafun is one of the most popular karaoke players for Windows. Here’s why it sucks:
- It’s slow and bulky
- Importing a large library crashes my karaoke laptop
- Having more than a certain number of songs in the playlist crashes it too.
- The download store uses a proprietary format (.kfn)
- Songs cost 3 euro ($4.50 once this funny currency crisis blows over).
The only fun thing about it is that it plays funny video effects behind the karaoke lyrics. But with winamp you can run your favorite visualizations from 1998 around the lyrics, so whatevs.
Unless you know somebody who has one, getting a big karaoke library will take time. But in a pinch, you could run a perfectly good karaoke night with no library, downloading songs on the fly.
The easiest way would be using a Mac with kJams and its built in store (powered by Tricerasoft). Songs are $1-$2. Just hit up each singer per song (in some places, like Brazil, most karaoke is pay-for-play).
On Windows, the options aren’t as rosy. You could use the Tricarasoft player and its built-in store. Or you could use the Tricerasoft or Buykaraokedownloads web stores with Winamp or PyKaraoke.
There’s a free option too: download using mIRC. Set up is tricky, but I made a step by step guide: Free karaoke music (using mIRC). Downloads won’t be as fast, but they’ll be fast enough. The selection will be just as good if not better–there are a few people with huge libraries sharing consistently.
The only hitch is that the wifi router at the venue will need to have UPnP turned on, or you’ll need to use your own 3g card. Make sure to test first.
Published on
January 1, 2009 in
Karaoke Setup and Karaoke Software.
Tags: advice, cdg players, free software, Karaoke Software, karaokenight, kj, kjams, linux, mac, pykaraoke, setup, winamp, windows.
I’ve got three posts on the subject. But the winners are kJams (Mac), Winamp + CDG plugin (Windows), and PyKaraoke (Linux).
If you use both Mac and Windows, t’s a tough call between kJams and Winamp. If you’re going to be actively updating your library and your song books, kJams is it.
If you want to set things up once, never think about it again, and spend your karaoke night hitting on people, use Winamp.
Now, without further ado, the verdicts:
The best karaoke software for Mac OS X: kJams
The best karaoke software for Windows: Winamp
The best karaoke software for Linux: PyKaraoke
Winamp isn’t even karaoke software. That’s probably what makes it so awesome.
Battle tested in the dormitories of our youth, on the Pentiums of yesteryear, Winamp + CDG plugin is lightning fast and un-fuckwithable. Also, everybody knows how it works, making it easy to enlist helpers (or let singers browse on their own). Here’s how to get it running…
Continue reading ‘Best karaoke software for Windows’
This is an easy post. If you want to run a karaoke night off a Mac, kJams is the best way to do it.
You’ll need to register for $40 to create playlists of more than 3 songs. In a pinch, you could always keep the playlist on slips of paper, I suppose. But the developer is a great guy so it’s money well spent.
Continue reading ‘Best Karaoke software for Mac’
The Mac karaoke player kJams is amazing, I depend on it all the time, and the guy who makes it has been extremely nice and responsive ever since I got in touch.
But, its iTunes-like interface makes the most basic part of running a karaoke night awkward and annoying. iTunes is great, but for karaoke the Winamp-style interface is better.
Continue reading ‘The one problem with kJams’
Published on
January 1, 2009 in
GETTING STARTED!, Karaoke Setup and Karaoke Software.
Tags: ableton live, abletonkj, Karaoke Software, kj, kj as vj, live, mashup, vj, vocal effects.
Coming soon… oh god, it’s so good.
