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!
Why do I need a laptop?
To do a karaoke night you need a two-screen setup (one for your playlist, one for the lyrics). This is really easy to do on laptops, just plug in an old 17″ monitor or a projector. Many laptops will even let you plug into a TV. On desktops it’s more complicated.
Can it be a really old laptop?
Yes. A really old (say, 6 year-old) Windows laptop will work fine. An old Mac laptop will be more annoying, but probably workable.
Do I need anything else?
You’ll want between 20 and 50 gigs free for karaoke (10 minimum) so if you don’t have that space, you have two options:
1) Get an external USB hard drive. A portable one that works off USB power is best (like $70). If you have an old laptop without USB 2.0, get a USB 2.0 PC card. ($20).
2) Upgrade your laptop’s hard drive. If you have $100 and a computer-savvy friend, this is a much better option (more reasons here). On Macbooks (and new Macbook Pro’s) it’s really easy… other computers, a toss up.
Once you have your laptop, it’s time to download some karaoke music and install a karaoke player.
A
Sometimes you’ll get a big karaoke collection with a pre-made songbook. This is definitely the easiest way to get started.
But once you start downloading more songs, you’ll need a way to make your own books. Here are two quick guides to making songbooks.
On Windows, your book will be somewhat ugly and wasteful of paper without further fiddling. But this is definitely the best way to start.
The quick and dirty way to make a karaoke song book on Windows or Linux
The easiest way to make a karaoke song book on a Mac
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.
Sometimes people in Asia get stabbed or shot for singing badly or hogging the mic, reports the New York Times: Karaoke Killing.
According to the Guardian:
Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” has reportedly generated so many outbursts of hostility that some bars in the Philippines now do not offer it on the karaoke menu anymore. In Thailand this year, a gunman shot eight people dead after tiring of their endless renditions of a John Denver tune.
I wonder what country has the thugginest karaoke bars?
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’
