Fun recording with a group of ametuers.

[WRGKMC]

I'm sure you've all had parties with friends and families who are non musical or at least want to be. You can do the Karaoke thing and listen to the cows being slaughtered but that really only appeals to people who think they can sing. My ears cant tolerate bad singing any more so I cant even tolerate it in a club when you have some decent singers.

 

Something I used to do was a real hoot and people still ask me to play back the recordings from 20 years ago when we first did it.

 

First you need a mixer with several mics you can pass around. Next a video recorder. I used to use a VHS, but you could easily use a DVD or computer based recorder. It just needs to the a AV throughput.

 

Next you'd connect the AV from your receiver through the recorder to your TV, except you disconnect the audio input and substitute the mixer input.

 

From there you'd adjust the mics up loud enough so you'd hear them through the television speakers.

 

Then you channel surf to find appropriate shows people could dub in their own voices. You may have to partake and get the ball rolling. Finding a re-run where everyone knows what's being said can help allot, but you start throwing in "what the actors would like to have said" making that movie. Of course if your group is a bit older and have had a little holiday cheer you may not want the kids around if things become a bit R rated.

 

You can then switch to other stations as soon as you hit a dry spot to keep the action going. Imitation quirky voices can really liven things up. Someone may be good at cartoon voices and others may be just fine in their own voice. Comedy can grow to extremes especially if to people can start doing an Abbot and Costello routine back and forth. The key is to lip sync the best you can. You'll find even your most timid guests, (usually women) can really open up and get in on the action with a little coaxing.

 

When the event has reached its peak, rewind the recording and let people view it. Everyone loves to hear themselves recorded and since this isn't a musical performance everyone can add their little bits. At times the lip sync may wind up being perfect. The funniest stuff does come on playback however because you get to hear peoples thoughts as they narrate. After they watch the first session, the second usually gets better because "get it" and want to out do themselves.

 

I can tell you I've done this with old friends and new and it can have you laughing so hard your sides ache. I love it because it reminds me of the Spike Jones stuff I used to listen to as a kid and had a really creative imagination going.

 

If you get enough done you can simply throw it on the computer and edit the dead spots out but when things are rolling it wont matter. I'll take the old recordings out maybe a year or two later and say, "remember this" and they will enjoy it as much as they did the first time.

[Phil O'Keefe]

There are a couple of movies that my daughters and I have pretty well memorized. Sounds like that might be fun.