Talent contest in work - tech help needed

bainbridge · 7 Jul 2018 at 10:28

Hi GD

We're organising a karaoke contest in work and have a budget of £300 but want as much of this as possible to go on prizes, so need to keep the cost of equipment to a minimum.

So far we have mustered:

A little Marshall 10w guitar amp
An old laptop
There is a 32inch flatscreen tv on the wall we can connect to.
We can NOT connect to the company network so will need to tether to a mobile.

This is what we want to do:

Have the laptop down in front of the performers playing YouTube videos with lyrics AND these lyrics being displayed on the wall TV for people to sing along to.

Purchase a couple of microphones (USB?) which the performers use that are somehow connected so their voices can be combined with the music from the YouTube videos and played through the Marshall amp.

Hiring karaoke equipment won't leave enough money for prizes.

Is this doable?

What software and wires will we need?

Is there a better way?

Thanks

jsmoke · 7 Jul 2018 at 10:58

Classy stuff bro.

Adam · 7 Jul 2018 at 11:39

Forced fun, you can’t beat it within the work based arena.

peterwalkley · 7 Jul 2018 at 11:44

Karaoke: Japan's revenge on the world for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

jsmoke · 7 Jul 2018 at 12:00

Don't think a guitar amp will accept a USB connection not sure cal so if you can have multiple mics going through the amp.

Probably better off hiring something tbh.

bainbridge · 7 Jul 2018 at 12:04

Moses said:
I’d be considering tablet apps (plus amp and mics) or DVDs if you have a player at work.

That's an idea, we have an old dvd player and screen thing in a box at home that looks like a laptop.

The reason for YouTube is whatever the request is we'll be able to play it.

The main problem is made mixing the voice output with the music and running it out to the amp.

Any ideas?

jon86 · 7 Jul 2018 at 13:55

It's really bizarre that your company has given you such a small budget and added the restriction of not being able to use the company network. The word miserly comes to mind.

Moses said:
Just have the 0.000000014% of people at your workplace who are actually keen on the idea go to a karaoke bar after work.

This.

bainbridge · 7 Jul 2018 at 14:30

Moses said:
Surely just have two sound outputs. One speaker for the tablet/dvd player/whatever, another for the mics (either directly or via a laptop). Bodge it. Or maybe a laptop with USB mics and a DVD drive... play the DVD and have the mic sound as well... all out of the headphone jack.

Also get some stupid, cheap props. Some wigs, an inflatable guitar, etc. Points for style.

I think you're right Moses. Last summer was easier because we did a lip sync battle so only needed the one output. I have a bluetooth speaker which is surprisingly loud and we could run the YouTube music to that from the laptop via a 3.5mm jack.

For the audience we could run a vga to hdmi lead to the wallmounted TV from the laptop.

For the singing we can simply run the mic into the amp, but that limits us to only 1 mic which isn't ideal because many people won't perform on their own but will join in with friends.

Any ideas on how to run 2 mics into one amp input?

Yes we've got plenty of props

Last year we bought life-size cardboard cutouts of Beyonce and Ed Sheeran too but these were auctioned off afterwards for charity.

Any help with the mic problem will be much appreciated.

Monkeynut · 7 Jul 2018 at 14:47

Maybe get some of those 99p USB soundcards off ebay and plug them into a hub and the laptop? use the laptop to mix the sounds together.

Diddums · 7 Jul 2018 at 16:22

bainbridge said:
Hi GD

We're organising a karaoke contest in work and have a budget of £300 but want as much of this as possible to go on prizes, so need to keep the cost of equipment to a minimum.

So far we have mustered:

A little Marshall 10w guitar amp

An old laptop

There is a 32inch flatscreen tv on the wall we can connect to.

We can NOT connect to the company network so will need to tether to a mobile.

This is what we want to do:

Have the laptop down in front of the performers playing YouTube videos with lyrics AND these lyrics being displayed on the wall TV for people to sing along to.

Purchase a couple of microphones (USB?) which the performers use that are somehow connected so their voices can be combined with the music from the YouTube videos and played through the Marshall amp.

Hiring karaoke equipment won't leave enough money for prizes.

Is this doable?

What software and wires will we need?

Is there a better way?

Thanks

Luckily karaoke is a fairly niche thing so the resale value of stuff is peanuts, I'd suggest checking Gumtree, Freecycle, local Facebook groups, etc. Gotta be tons of stuff lying in attics.

jsmoke · 7 Jul 2018 at 16:32

Try a charity shop for equipment, ghettoblaster, amp, speakers etc.

bainbridge · 7 Jul 2018 at 18:15

Monkeynut said:
Maybe get some of those 99p USB soundcards off ebay and plug them into a hub and the laptop? use the laptop to mix the sounds together.

Great idea, one of those with a stereo 3.5mm splitter should enable 2 mics to be used and we can run the output to the amp with an adapter.