I am starting to get the recording thing down and the quality of the recordings have been improving quite a bit over time. For example, check out the recordings for Sunday nights karaoke at Dalva or Monday at the Lookout. There is a lot of timing and juggling of priorities involved and there are a lot of subtleties. Here are some of them:

• how much reverb to add
• keeping the volumes from creeping into the clipping zone
• vocal levels vs music levels for each singer/mic
• mute/unmute unused mics to minimize/add noise
• how much compression to add to each mic in use to either
  • fill out the voice
  • or compliment the singers dynamic range
• add or reduce the singers mid-range
• keep the volumes in the room as well as for the singers in check
• separate EQ-ing and levels for the recordings vs the room
• label each recording for the website
• mark which recordings go on the site and which don’t
• keep track of who is waiting and who has left for the night
• MC the event
• Keep the crowd going, dance and have fun
• figure out who is next based on
  • how long have they waited
  • have they had a chance to sing yet
  • is their group happy with how often they have been called
  • how many people are in the queue and will everyone even get to sing
  • personalities
  • special needs like is it their birthday, need to catch BART etc.
  • have they sung in a group sing

I could go on…there is a lot to keep track of… and then to do all that while people are talking to me, I am drinking booze, and then there is the most important part of my job
flirting with the girls!

I will be adding the ability to log into kjpaul.com so you can manage which songs are available and in what order they play etc.. You will be able to rate songs and although you won’t be able to see how a song is rated, it will effect which songs make it to the best of pages etc. that I will be adding… It will be a couple of months…so be patient. Even more big improvements are coming!