[Flipeoke]

Congrats! Glad to hear it went well...

The volume of the songs will vary, this is normal, however, if you are using Hoster, you can use the normalize feature when importing you discs, this will keep the volume of songs consistant.

Secondly, there will always be that one person, who will not sing into the mic, or sing softly. The only advice I can give is, talk to that person, explain to them how to sing into the mic. I had one girl who was very shy, and never sang into the mic, and was always very quiet. Now that she's been singing at my show for over a year, she's more confident, and I find I don't need to turn her mic up any more than the other singers. Feel free to compliment your singers, especially on the side, when he/she requests the next song. I can definately say that this has helped my shy singers sing louder, with more confidence. Only give vocal coaching if they ask for it, but do explain the benefits of good mic use. Of course if they are, as Simon Cowell would say, 'The world's worst singer' don't lie and tell them they are great, but do find something positive to say. The worst attempt at a song I've ever heard, I said to the singer, 'Not bad, it could use a some work, that's a great song, but its a tough song to sing.' I have found that those asking for help and tips, usually are the ones with the potential to become better. If asked, tell them so.

As far as feedback, good planning on speaker placement, can help reduce this. Also good quality mics, can help reduce this also.

There is no way to crossfade between the two programs. There are things you can do to have continuous music. For instance, I have a sondcard with multiple outputs, and use a program for my music which allows you to set the output. So Hoster plays thru the default output (front) and my filler music program I have set to play thru the 'rear' output. I simply feed each of these thru separate mixer channels. My music program is constantly playing music, so when needed, I can just fade in the music channel on the mixer. This requires you have a sound card with multiple outputs and a music program which allows you to choose your output.

One other way to fill dead air is to talk. This is the hardest thing to learn, but, will get better as you become more comfortable on the mic. Announcements, such as tip your bartenders and waitresses, or special events coming up. You may also want to make announcements about your service, such as 'If you would like to sing a song, just fill out a request slip with name, song name/number, we have books up here at the DJ booth, we are here every Fri. and Sat. from 11pm-4am, and are also available for private parties, come and talk to me for more info, and now coming up to the mic is....'

While the was more necessary when loading discs into players, and has become less necessary with Hoster (thanks MTU!) it is still helpful to be able to multitask. Being able to speak and make announcements while looking up a song, or searching on Hoster for a song, clicking play, etc...

Hopefully this has helped out some...good luck and Congrats again on a successful show.

Flip