This is whats happening today out there use your arranger KB to record & sing to your own backing tracks,...... dances, cruise ships, block parties, festivals, NH's, etc,.. just entertain them and they love it!

You notice, the entertainer is ignored in the street performance video

He is there for ambience, just filling in the dead space..


Personally I would not want to see this kind of entertainment.. Sure I have many times supporting friends that use this method (most are female singers I know)..

This concept is karaoke...


While I am on the entertainment subject.... The reason I would "want" to see a band or solo act is musicianship as in playing with some skill..

Vocals are totally over-rated... the average singer is just that ,, average.

After 4 or 5 songs I am bored by vocals... the only saving grace to me is their ability to perform on instruments too..

Sing to a laptop...I'll pass.. if I have a choice..


Now I could sit through a couple sets with good players... A jazz guitarist that can play... great chords that get my attention

Or a piano player that does the same.... or a sax that sounds like it is singing..
That drummer that shows me what brushes are for... and a bass player that is on the same page as the drummer..

KARAOKE can be fun when have a private party, but as entertainment to replace live musicians?
Not! No, thank you!

Ask them to play a common sing along song on the fly, or add a verse and refrain when people have fun and want more.......

And the fact that the backing are played and recorded by the singers talents on an arranger etc, means nothing? vs a commercial karaoke... File.... It's a new world out there embrace it all I say and mix it up.. karaoke is a totally different animal then singing and entertaining to your own recorded custom arranged backing track music which is done world wide in the biggest venues internationally everywhere...

Donny very few if any record their own backing tracks...even with an arranger...

I create my own backing tracks with arrangers (and Band In A Box). Never once have I bought or used a commercial track. I want my tracks personalized with specific keys, arrangements, tempos, intros, modulations, number of choruses, and all the rest. “Roll” my own.

True, Fran. And even if a guy is making his own backing tracks, who would know? And would they even care anyway if they did know?

Call it what it basically is: Karaoke. Yes, I know it's out there and it takes all sorts, but I'll pass on it, too.

I used to record all of mine and never used them except for the seldom stand up show and then never more than 2 or 3. I am first and foremost a player and fair singer but times are changing so I now use whatever it takes to get the job done. That means midi karoake tracks of which I play over top of or
anything else it takes to make my crowd happy. I now play every song even if tracks are playing. They are tools. Use them.

MEL

Well, all work when make the tracs etc. is sure worth something, no doubt, and also very useable in some occasions.
But, to entertain in a live setting, wedding or at a saturday dancefloor and take requests or singalongs, even add a verse and refrain on the fly when people are in real good mood?
Show me how you do that without any: "Oh yes, just a minute or ten, I have to seek in my database first"

You have to use the right tool for the job. You don't use a hammer to drive in a screw. If you need to play a dance and they are dancing play live, but if to have too at least you have a track handy to bail you out. That's all i'm saying.

MEL

I know a half-dozen KJs in my part of the nation, none of which would even consider, or have the musical capability, to record backing tracks - THEY BUY THEM! C'mon Donny, this is just karaoke and nothing more. I agree with Fran (write that date down on your calendar, Fran).

Some of the KJs around here are pretty good singers, and thankfully, that is the case, because the other folks that want their 5 minutes in the spotlight, by and large, can't sing worth a damned. Now, this guy is really a good singer, but on the first video, no one at all was paying the least bit of attention to him. He could have been singing in his family room and got the same audience response, which was absolutely none. The second video, no way to tell. On the third one, when he was performing with a sax player, the folks sitting at their tables seemed to me swaying with the music, but that was about it. It that's the future of entertainment in this world, I, for one, am damned glad I retired while I was still on top as an OMB entertainer. For me, KJ just don't cut it.

Gary

Yes, it's k*****e, but some is better than others ...
As far as people paying attention to the performer in the first video, this is apparently a 'street fair' of some kind, and to be honest, while people may not be sitting there in rapt attention, there are some people who are dancing to his music so he is not being ignored ...

Agree with every word. And those that don't aren't judging MUSIC, they're judging 'entertainment', which could be anything from going to a dog show to watching a XXX-rated movie. I guess if that meets your criteria for 'getting the job done', then (musically) you've set a very low bar for yourself. Yep, it's karaoke alright (AND the difference between that and playing with self-made arranger tracks is, at best, a grey area). JMO.

chas

PS: I LUV being able to agree with Fran; it happens so seldom .

That's not true....many are professional musicians first that mix it up and can do so using their talents & other things using many means to do so recording tracks the benefit vs karaoke is you record WHAT YOU WANT in a song ARRANGEMENT not what a commercial company K company gives you...this way you make it your own I know I do adding parts, editing the original track, etc, etc, if you sing well and know how to play, record and edit...forget the old way of thinking,...there are so many ways to make music today open your mind and enjoy it,.....it's not going anywhere soon..

I don't understand the frictional negativity by others when singing to custom made by you backing tracks is concerned, smf or mp3, or anything thats NOT arranger Styles??.. etc, arranger keyboard playing isn't the holy grail never will be either....after all playing an arrange is only controlling Midi files/styles over and over again anyways...no body cares they just want to enjoy themselves when they hear good music and that can be accomplished in so many ways today.....why always the negative friction ?.....once us old timer players, wooden organ playing, accordionistics era dinosaurs are gone this friction and lack of musical creation support will disappear for sure...I am glad I dabbled in it all thru out my life so far with an open mind to it all...who the hell are we to judge anyone?

have a nice day..

agreed larry exactly,...arrangers, BIAB, multitracking etc, they all do a great job if you have the talent to do so,..then you can sing or play on top also.

The easiest way to make a living singing in the hotels in sunny(!) Blackpool is as a solo act playing the cabaret slot at two or three hotels a night with your banking tracks / lyrics on a iPad, small mixer with fx, your own radio mic. All in a small briefcase, one powerblock, one output to the house p.a. 10 minute setup, posh shirt / dress under the overcoat and off you go.

My friend and I (keys / drums / vocals) are usually the band stood at the bar!

Some of the acts really are worth the money, can read and work an audience and react to the environment well. Others really are no better than well rehearsed karaoke.

It's the nature of the game. Some of the smaller hotels cannot afford anything else these days.

I've had the opposite reaction from the crowd. When playing midi accordion with a ketron sd3 (no midifiles/mp3s), I had a request for an ethnic song I didn't know. The requestor said "c'mon Im sure you have it in your computer there"..I was insulted they assumed I was playing along with fully recorded tracks. Another musician told me my best friend used cd's to play with . I know for a fact he never did nor did he use mp3s or midifiles. He was just good with his arranger.

I get the same thing sometimes. It irks me to think my many years of work were wasted thanks to the automated music today. I suppose you can't blame people when they see it everyday with wannabe's.

I get that all the time. People think I have everything recorded and I'm just playing tracks, not live. they say do you have my song in there?. I have learned to take it as a complement that they think I'm good enough to sound like the original artist. It
no longer bothers me. I feel proud to point to my head and say no it's all up here.

MEL

As long as more is coming out than any human being could possibly be playing, they're always going to think that.....and they're not completely wrong. As a musician and lifelong geek, I like tinkering around with arrangers at home, but as one who gets bored easily, I'm usually back on my organ very quickly and may not touch any of my arrangers for months at a time. As far as being an audience member, I'm strictly a "what you see is what you hear" guy. Seeing the human behind every instrument is part of the entertainment package for me. But that's just me.

chas

Yes Bernie I agree the appreciation for the talent of the real player has certainly diminished to a point of non recognition and just getting worse every day, look around your out there in teh trenches playing ....everyone is on the phone and couldn't care one bit what the hell your doing, just by the unknowledgeable questions by your audience like "hey where do you get those tapes" "can you do this song I you must have it in there" etc, .....makes you say to yourself what the heck am I wasting my time for when no one cares but me? .....Now I just make the love of playing & singing something to allow ME to be happy FIRST and if anyone else enjoys it so be it....people are people you cant change them.

You can do all the work you want in making your own tracks or buy them. I edit pro made midi tracks and sing/play along on tunes you just can't do on an Arranger. People don't care or even know whats going on.
First time I saw such a thing it was a guy I knew to be a good guitar player and singer. Sitting behind what looked like a piano with a curtain on the front he sang all kinds of stuff. I went to say hello and behind the curtain he had three things on a table.
A drink, an ashtray, and a CD player !!!
A long time ago a good musician friend gave up his keyboard and went out as the "Singing DJ " Jerry Tolve, look him up on YouTube. Made his own tracks on a computer and he's a good singer. Still doing it to this day in upscale restaurants in North Jersey.
Sadly it really doesn't matter and comes down to what make you preform and feel better.

I agree. Fran NAILED it....for those of us who place musicianship in higher regard than entertaining ability.

I also see Donny's side. He is a "dyed in the wool" entertainer. He's good at it and gets a lot of personal satisfaction from doing things that way.

Is it for me? NO F*****G WAY!. But that's just me.

Different strokes, for sure. Frankly, I wish I had the ability to entertain, sometimes.

Harry Connick, Jr. is a medium level jazz player and a really good entertainer. He has thoughtfully talked about the advantages of being one-or both...even implied that it's easy to ignore your "chops" when you concentrate on both.

We each need to find our place on the continuum and do the best we can.


Russ