Need recommendation and advice...

[Harryoke]

Thanks guys!

As to the slip issue...many of my singers dont use slips. Yes it can be annoying, but, it is my job to keep things moving. I found that the more rules you impose on people, the more they resent it...so I do appreciate the ones who fill out slips then stick to the program, BUT, the reality is, I work in an alcohol fueled environment where common sense, ability and the skills of reading and writing dont always work. Rather than get frustrated and buck it, I go with the flow. This works better for me, and the singers seem to appreciate it. After doing it for 10 years this way, they keep coming back, LOL.

There is always that singer that changes the song when they come up. I would rather have a rotation full of singers who told me what they were singing when they came up than have people change it after I took the time to queue it up. Would rather work hard once than to do it twice, LOL. Yes, there are those that would penalize a singer for doing that, but by not doing it, and busting my butt to get the singers changed out, I feel as though I have earned loyalty from my following, and carved a little customer service niche out that other shows arent offering.

Discs or hoster, I can find a song and queue it in a 10th of the time that the customer can, LOL. I found in the time it took for me to explain procedure, argue or penalize a singer, I could have just fixed the song and got them singing faster. That is the route I take for now.

Thanks again guys!

[billyo]

Originally Posted by Harryoke

Thanks guys!

As to the slip issue...many of my singers dont use slips. Yes it can be annoying, but, it is my job to keep things moving. I found that the more rules you impose on people, the more they resent it...so I do appreciate the ones who fill out slips then stick to the program, BUT, the reality is, I work in an alcohol fueled environment where common sense, ability and the skills of reading and writing dont always work. Rather than get frustrated and buck it, I go with the flow. This works better for me, and the singers seem to appreciate it. After doing it for 10 years this way, they keep coming back, LOL.

There is always that singer that changes the song when they come up. I would rather have a rotation full of singers who told me what they were singing when they came up than have people change it after I took the time to queue it up. Would rather work hard once than to do it twice, LOL. Yes, there are those that would penalize a singer for doing that, but by not doing it, and busting my butt to get the singers changed out, I feel as though I have earned loyalty from my following, and carved a little customer service niche out that other shows arent offering.

Discs or hoster, I can find a song and queue it in a 10th of the time that the customer can, LOL. I found in the time it took for me to explain procedure, argue or penalize a singer, I could have just fixed the song and got them singing faster. That is the route I take for now.

Thanks again guys!

please dont take this the wrong way,this is not in any means a critizicism of your show.this is just for the sake of conversation, lets say you have someone singing, and you have people lined up that are ready to sing some with song slips and some without how do you go about putting them on your playlist, and with that much people around you isn't that kinda distracting to the singer..please dont take this the wrong way

[Harryoke]

I never take anything the wrong way unless it is intended with malice, LOL! If we dont talk , how do we learn, right??

The way I deal with it, is I do not and probably will not rely on a computerized rotation or play list. I had over 40 singers last night, and used Hoster, so this got put to the test. I keep my rotation on a legal pad next to me, in ink. I put as many songs on the playlist as I can...the people who let me know what song they want by telling me or using a slip. Slips do not hold their place in the rotation, the list on the legal pad does. That never gets lost, blown away or crashes.

Last night, there were a lot of people changing their songs, or letting me know last minute. I merely put their songs at the bottom of the Hoster rotation system (keeping the rotation on the legal pad accurate, in the correct order of singing). I kept the playlist sorted from top to bottom, then when things got really busy or the singers changed their songs, I would just play the song from the bottom of the playlist on Hoster, which then does not show the next singer. As I got to a field of several singers that were queued in the proper order, I would drag the playlist to that point in Hoster. Far less confusing that way, and keeps the show moving.

These policies and how you handle it depend on how many singers you get I suppose. If I had 7-10 singers a night, I would have more time to be anal about rules, but then again, there would not be that much attention to downtime. 10-20 singers, your time gets taxed, and people get more antsy about when their turn is. 30-40 singers or more, you just try to keep things moving, keep people happy, stay fair, eliminate downtime where possible and not demand too much of the customers who are drinking and not studying
"my rules", LOL.

Even with that chaos, I can keep the show moving as fast as it takes for the singer to grab the mic. If I can keep them communicating, I can still queue the songs fast enough that no one notices.

[Harryoke]

PART 2...distraction to the singer: I generally try to set my stage up with a clear stage for the singer, then a route for those who need me. For example, last night I set up against the wall stage right. Singers have stage left with TV, monitor etc..., and anyone who needed to address me, would come up the right side, away from the singer. Occasionally hard heads walk up in front of the singer, but that happens no matter how you set up.

Again, chaos depends on how many singers. 10 singers, you never have that many people needing you. 20 or more, you get inundated with the "when am I up" people. 30-40 or more...it is just damage control, LOL!

[hwheeler43]

I use a white board and place the singers by a number as they come in. When I add their song to the list I right click and add their number to the right of their name. That way if I have 10 or 40 singers it does not matter. I keep the numbers in order and all flows smoothly. If it is an extremely busy night and a new singer comes in late and say we are on singer number 5 out of say 35, I will make the new singer number 8.5. Whatever number a singer gets they stay with that number for the rest of the night.

[billyo]

i have regular singers and they know how i run my show, i pretty much stay with my rotation, if their names are already on the playlist, when i call for their names, that's when when they give me the slip with next song they wanted to sing,( it's easier for me to keep track on playlist rotation that way ) and for those who asked about their turn, i usually show them my playlist and show them where they are at on the rotation, and if i get " i'm going home in a few minutes excuse " ( most of the time they just wanna impress some ladies ) i usually tell them to come early next time.. and most of the time they will stay at the duration of the show.

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by Harryoke

I still am not 100% comfortable with having my library in the KMA format alone,

Last night, there were a lot of people changing their songs, or letting me know last minute.

Hey Harry,
We all develope different ways to handle our playlists. I do not supply slips and pens. My books are numberless, I don't use any numbers. I do not keep a paper list or use a note board or even a program (notepad or wordpad) to keep a list. The playlist in Hoster keeps my rotation and my list, here's how I do it.

Once I am set up I enter everybodies request on the Hoster playlist, this sets my rotation for the night (of course I add folks as they come in ). When a singer is finished I have trained them to wait and tell me their next song after I get the next singer started, which will be entered at the bottom of the list. If I know they will sing again but get distacted (pretty girls do it every time) and they don't give me a song, I just pick one from thier singer database list and enter it on the playlist to keep them in the rotation. (If they are not in your databse yet you can move the played song to the bottom of the playlist to hold their place in rotation BUT it will not show the time they will sing since the track has already played. I don't do this but it works. )

Also I run my show in manual mode and do not let Hoster delete a song from the playlist, I stop every song and delete them manually. This way if I need to remember the singers name to say "Good Job" it's right there in front of me. Also it keeps their name until I get their next song entered on the playlist. I just enter their next song, copy and paste the name to the new song, then delete the old one and carry on. (Once the singers are in the singer database, I don't cut & paste their names, I just select them from the Singers drop down menu before I enter their song on the playlist. )

Changing a song is NEVER a big deal to me. I just stay on the mic (tip your servers ect...) and pull up the new song in the search window, enter it on the playlist, move it below their old choice and hit play! I can get this done is seconds. Once they start singing, I cut their name from the old song, paste it to the new song then delete the old one and carry on.

If I call somebody and they do not come up, I just call the next singer, select their song and hit play. This will keep the folks who do not show up at the top of your playlist. If they don't show up within an hour they get deleted and loose the slot. If they were driving somebody home, in the bathroom or the such, I will move them from the top into the "next" postion below the present singer. Moving somebody that did not come up to the bottom of the list interupts the rotaion. I find it is much better to keep them at the top and run your show below them until they are back in the rotation or deleted.

I hope this helps.

I'll be entertaining (guitar & tracks) at The Parker House in Cresent City Sat. Nov. 29 if you have the night off.

Jim

[Harryoke]

GREAT suggestions!

Nov 29...unfortunately I will be in Orlando that night, but keep me in the loop on any other area dates, or good old nights off!!

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by Harryoke

GREAT suggestions!

Nov 29...unfortunately I will be in Orlando that night, but keep me in the loop on any other area dates, or good old nights off!!

Well I guess I'll have to come see you then. I'll be in Florida for Thanksgiving week, what nights are you at Fins? I'll check your web site.

See ya next week sometime.

Are you working Thanksgiving night?

Jim

[Harryoke]

Karaoke at Fins Tu and Th, DJ on We...will more than likely be working Thanksgiving day...that is usually a hopping nite!!

I will keep my eye out for ya!