Your Karaoke host may be skilled at setting up the sound system, but there is a limit to what they can do! If you aren’t aware of how to handle a microphone correctly (and a lot of Karaoke singers aren’t) then you are really going to struggle if you actually care about sounding good.

This article covers basic microphone technique. Following this advice and practicing until it becomes natural to you will give you a great chance of sounding as good as possible next time you are singing at a Karaoke. Once you get the microphone technique right, it’s down to your KJ to get the sound system setup correctly and, of course, let’s not forget your singing talent!

Microphones

A “Dynamic” microphone will typically be first choice for singers and Karaoke hosts. Generally they are of a sturdy construction, can handle high volume levels and are relatively inexpensive to buy (all essential features for a Karaoke mic!).

Something all singers should be aware of with these kinds of microphones is that they pick up sound better from in front of the microphone than from the rear & sides. Also, the closer the microphone is to the sound source (ie. the mouth) the louder and more dominant the bass tones will be.

Microphone Positioning

Therefore the positioning of the microphone is important when you are singing to ensure the best possible tone is produced by the mic. There are two essential elements to this:-

1) the angle at which the head of the microphone is held

2) the distance between the microphone and your mouth

The head of the microphone should be pointing towards your mouth with the microphone held at a slight downward angle, say around 30 degrees.

The distance between the microphone and your mouth must be adjusted depending on how you are singing at any particular time during a song. Positioning may need to change from phrase to phrase, or even word to word. If you are singing softly, the microphone will need to be brought in closer to your mouth, just as if you are singing loudly the microphone needs to be held further away, moving closer again as the volume subsides.

This may sound rather obvious, but there is a definite technique to it which does take practice to acquire. It can take quite a while until it comes naturally to you. Keep the microphone at the correct angle and experiment with the distance from your mouth as you sing quiet & loud phrases.

Common Mistakes

You will see many karaoke singers holding the microphone too far away or right upto (and sometimes almost in) their mouths. If the mic is too far away then you’ll either not be heard or the Karaoke host will need to add so much volume and gain to the microphone to try and hear you that you’ll just end up with feedback. If the mic is too close then the bass tones will dominate the sound resulting in an unclear, muffled, deep bass sound. So learning good microphone technique is an important skill if you want to give yourself the best chance of sounding good!

Another common problem when holding a microphone close are ‘pops’ (the loud and unpleasant popping type sound when ‘b’s and ‘p’s are pronounced) and the over-emphasis of sounds such as ‘ch’ and ’sh’, for example. Although this has much to do with singing technique too, to help reduce the effect if you find it happening during your next karaoke performance, try holding the microphone a little further away and angling it a little more to try & reduce the effect.

Sounding Good

So, have fun trying to remember all this next time you’re singing on karaoke. It might seem awkward at first thinking about this technique whilst also thinking about your singing and watching the words, but it will come naturally after a while and you will sound much better for it!