DIY Karaoke Party Ideas

Karaoke parties don’t necessarily mean you need your own expensive microphones or X Box set up. If you have a smart TV or smartphone with screen mirroring, or even a laptop, or tablet and bluetooth, you can have an epic sing-off party if you just hire a bit of equipment from Simply Sparkles Party Lights and Sound!

We have two speakers and a cordless pair of microphones – both of which can connect via bluetooth to your phone or other smart device. Upload an app like Karaoke or Smule (we found Karaoke the easiest to use and you can pay a minimal fee for add-free karaoke for a week and then unsubscribe, if it’s just for one party) or just get into YouTube karaoke channels and the world is your shower (ahem, stage).

You can go with a theme, like a decade – 60s, 80s, 90s or noughties… or Disney anthems, grand Queen revivals or Rocky Horror Picture Show dance offs. Add a smoke machine, mirror ball and disco lights and the stage atmosphere comes alive! One of our favourite parties was where we all chose a song and sang it in a specific way, e.g. with a very depressed voice or with a gnome voice, or with Russian accents…. It was hilarious!

Important tips:

1. Check your set-up before the party. Get your TV on, make sure the wifi is working, plug in the speakers and microphone controller, check the bluetooth is connected, etc. A little trouble shooting before you start will prevent any award ‘sorry we have a technical problem’ fiddly party pooper moments.
2. Think of a few songs that you think might get the party started, and be prepared to open the show, or get a friend you know will enjoy the limelight to get everyone in the mood. Even better, get everyone to sing along with two of you leading on the mics. Shared singing is a real joy and gets everyone over their initial inhibitions.
3. Switch on the mic. (seriously, this is the number one technical glitch!) There is only one button on our mics. You press it to mute between songs (to avoid nasty noises) and you press it again to turn it back on. To power off completely, you need to press the button and hold for a bit.
4. DO NOT drop the mic! No matter how cool that sounds. No matter how tempted you are. Ignore the memes, please and Just. Don’t. It’s like dropping 1000 bucks down the toilet – mics are sensitive equipment.
5. Check other music apps are switched off, closed or disabled. Some apps like Spotify might clash with the Karaoke app, causing a lot of frustration. If you need Spotify for the rest of the party, try uninstalling it on one person’s phone and keeping it on an iPad, laptop or someone else’s phone, or give yourself a minute (that really is all it takes) while everyone pours drinks, wipes away their tears of laughter about Tim’s solo, and reinstall. Just make sure you have your account password handy and it’s a speedy, seamless synch.
6. Amp up the atmosphere. Great sound really helps get everyone in the mood, but you can do more. Decorate according to your theme. Disco lights are fabulous for getting the party game on. You don’t need a lot, just create a comfy area with some space to sit, some place to stand and play air guitar, and switch on some sparkly colour that moves to the music. A disco ball is awesome for a 60s or 70s theme karaoke too.
7. Observe Karaoke Etiquette: It’s bad manners and no fun at all if one person keeps hogging the mic for ‘just’ another song, even if they are brilliant. Share! Keep dissing other people’s song choice to a minimum of good-natured teasing. People get shy enough about singing in public, so being teased can put them off altogether. Perhaps they chose the song because they find it easy to sing, in any case, not because it’s their all-time fave. Play nice!

USING THE KARAOKE APP with Simply Sparkles Speakers and your Screen mirror.

1. Set up speakers and connect to your phone: watch the video here.
2. Instead of using the chorded mic. plug in the control box for the two cordless mics.
3. Open the Karaoke app (assuming you’ve installed it and created your account) and follow the instructions in the photos. They are in order of the screens as they will appear on your phone or iPad.

You need to select ‘solo’ even if you plan on singing a duet or in a group. This does not affect the microphones. ‘Start duet’ on the app means you will duet with someone online, not at your party.

Don’t allow the camera as you won’t be looking at the phone. Again, this is part of the social media use of the app and won’t help your live party.

Selecting ‘record’ gets everything started, so just press that ignore everything else.

And… SING! Together or solo, just belt it out!

TIPS for using the mic.

• Check the mic is on, and that mute is off (press the button on the mic and watch the display – mute is a word that lights up if its on. Also check the mute is not selected on the controller (where there is a lock/unlock button next to the volume knob for each mic.),
• Check the speakers are plugged in and switched on.
• Check the microphone controller box is plugged into the speakers and switched on.
• Check and adjust the volume on the mic controller box AND on the master volume of the speaker. Ask someone to help – when you are singing, it is often not easy to hear yourself as well as everyone else can, especially if the speakers are positioned across the room, near the TV for example.
• Experiment with holding the mic at different distances from your mouth. Depending on how loud you can sing, you hold the mic closer or further away from you.
• If you move, move the mic with you – if you start doing your famous air guitar impersonation with your mic hand, your voice will suddenly disappear!
• When you finish, press the button on the mic once and check the MUTE indicator on the mic lights up. This prevents those horrible squeals and thumps when you put the mic down.
• Don’t use the mic standing directly in front of the speakers, or you will get that nasty feedback squeal.
• Check the mic is on by singing or speaking into it, NOT tapping it, which is not good for the equipment.