Karaoke
Encyclopedia
(ˌkæriːˈoʊkiː; kaɽaoꜜke) is a form of interactive entertainment
or video game in which amateur
singers sing along with recorded music
(or a music video
) using a microphone
and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop
song
minus the lead vocal. Lyrics
are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol, changing color, or music video images, to guide the singer. In some countries, a karaoke box
is called a KTV. It is also a term used by recording engineers translated as "empty track" meaning there is no vocal track.
carried a karaoke-like series, Sing Along with Mitch, featuring host Mitch Miller
and a chorus, which superimposed the lyrics to their songs near the bottom of the TV screen for home audience participation. The primary difference between Karaoke and sing-along songs is the absence of the lead vocalist.
Sing-alongs (present since the beginning of singing) fundamentally changed with the introduction of new technology. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, stored audible materials began to dominate the music recording industry and revolutionized the portability and ease of use of band and instrumental music by musicians and entertainers as the demand for entertainers increased globally. This may have been attributable to the introduction of music cassette tapes, technology that arose from the need to customize music recordings and the desire for a "handy" format that would allow fast and convenient duplication of music and thereby meet the requirements of the entertainers' lifestyles and the 'footloose' character of the entertainment industry.
in Kobe
, Japan
, in 1971. After becoming popular in Japan, karaoke spread by Hideo to East
and Southeast Asia
during the 1980s and subsequently to other parts of the world.
In Japan, it has long been common to provide musical entertainment at a dinner or a party. Japanese drummer Daisuke Inoue was asked frequently by guests in the Utagoe Kissa
, where he performed, to provide a recording of his performance so that they could sing along on a company-sponsored vacation. Realizing the potential for the market, Inoue made a tape recorder that played a song for a 100-yen coin.
Instead of giving his karaoke machines away, Inoue leased them out so that stores did not have to buy new songs on their own. Originally, it was considered a somewhat expensive fad, as it lacked the live atmosphere of a real performance and 100 yen in the 1970s was the price of two typical lunches, but it caught on as a popular entertainment. Karaoke machines were initially placed in restaurants and hotel rooms; soon, new businesses called karaoke box
es, with compartmented rooms, became popular. In 2004, Daisuke Inoue was awarded the tongue-in-cheek
Ig Nobel Peace Prize for inventing karaoke, "thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other."
inventor, who developed a sing along system in 1975 and patented it in the 1980s called his sing-along system "Minus-One," now holds the patent for the device now commonly known as the "karaoke machine". Following a court battle with a Japanese company which claimed to have invented the system, del Rosario's patents were issued in 1983 and 1986, a decade after the device was supposedly invented.
Karaoke soon spread to the rest of Asia
and other countries all over the world. In-home karaoke machines soon followed but lacked success in the US and Canadian markets. When creators became aware of this problem, karaoke machines were no longer being sold strictly for the purpose of karaoke but as home theater
systems to enhance television watching to "movie theater
like quality". Home theater systems took off, and karaoke went from being the main purpose of the stereo system to a side feature.
As more music became available for karaoke machines, more people within the industry saw karaoke as a profitable form of lounge and nightclub
entertainment. It is not uncommon for some bars to have karaoke performances seven nights a week, commonly with high-end sound equipment superior to the small, stand-alone consumer versions. Dance floor
s and lighting effects are also becoming common sights in karaoke bars. Lyrics are often displayed on multiple TV screens around the bar.
Kevin Wall
is sometimes attributed with bringing Karaoke to the United States.
A basic karaoke machine consists of a music player, microphone
inputs, a means of altering the pitch
of the played music, and an audio output. Some low-end machines attempt to provide vocal suppression so that one can feed regular songs into the machine and remove the voice of the original singer; however, this is rarely effective. Most common machines are CD+G
, Laser Disc, VCD
or DVD
players with microphone inputs and an audio mixer built in. CD+G players use a special track called subcode to encode the lyrics and pictures displayed on the screen while other formats natively display both audio and video.
Most karaoke machines have technology that electronically changes the pitch of the music so that amateur singers can choose a key that is appropriate for their vocal range, while maintaining the original tempo of the song. (Old systems which used cassettes changed the pitch by altering playback speed, but none are still on the market, and their commercial use is virtually nonexistent.)
A popular game using karaoke is to type in a random number and call up a song, which participants attempt to sing. In some machines, this game is pre-programmed and may be limited to a genre so that they cannot call up an obscure national anthem that none of the participants can sing. This game has come to be called "Kamikaze Karaoke" or "Karaoke Roulette
" in some parts of the United States and Canada.
Many low-end entertainment systems have a karaoke mode that attempts to remove the vocal track from regular audio CDs, using an Out Of Phase Stereo (OOPS)
technique. This is done by center channel extraction, which exploits the fact that in most stereo recordings the vocals are in the center. This means that the voice, as part of the music, has equal volume on both stereo channels and no phase difference. To get the quasi-karaoke (mono) track, the left channel of the original audio is subtracted from the right channel. The Sega Saturn also has a "mute vocals" feature that is based on the same principle and is also able to adjust the pitch of the song to match the singer's vocal range.
This crude approach results in the often-poor performance of voice removal. Common effects are hearing the reverberation
effects on the voice track (due to stereo
reverb on the vocals not being in the center); also, other instruments (snare/bass drum, bass guitar and solo instruments) that happen to be mixed into the center get removed, degrading this approach to hardly more than a gimmick in those devices. Recent years have seen the development of new techniques based on the Fast Fourier Transform
. Although still not perfect, the results are usually much better than the old technique, because the stereo left-right comparison can be done on individual frequencies.
s, VCD
s, laserdisc
s and, currently, DVD
s. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Pioneer Electronics dominated the international karaoke music video market, producing high quality karaoke music videos (inspired by the music videos such as those on MTV
).
In 1992, Taito
introduced the X2000, which fetched music via a dial-up telephone network. Its repertoire of music and graphics was limited, but its smaller size and the advantage of continuous updates saw it gradually replace traditional machines. Karaoke machines which are connected via fiber-optic links enabling them to provide instant high-quality music and video are becoming increasingly popular.
Karaoke direct is an Internet division established in 1997 been serving the public online since 1998. They released the first karaoke player that supports MP3+G and now the KDX2000 model supporting karaoke in DIVX Format.
, called Karaoke Studio
, was released for the Nintendo Famicom
in 1985, but its limited computing ability made for a short catalog of songs and therefore reduced replay value. As a result, karaoke games were considered little more than collector's items until they saw release in higher-capacity DVD formats.
Karaoke Revolution
, created for the PlayStation 2
by Harmonix and released by Konami
in North America in 2003, is a console game in which a single player sings along with on-screen guidance and receives a score based on his or her pitch, timing, and rhythm. The game soon spawned several follow-ups including Karaoke Revolution Vol. 2, Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3, Karaoke Revolution Party Edition, CMT Presents Karaoke Revolution: Country and Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol. While the original Karaoke Revolution was also eventually released for the Microsoft Xbox
console in late 2004, the new online-enabled version included the ability to download additional song packs through the console's exclusive Xbox Live
service.
A similar series, SingStar
, published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, is particularly popular in the European and Australasian markets. Other music video game
titles that involve singing by the player include Boogie
and its sequel Boogie SuperStar
, Disney Sing It
, Get On Da Mic
, Guitar Hero World Tour
, High School Musical: Sing It!
, Lips
, the Rock Band series, SingSong, UltraStar
, and Xbox Music Mixer
.
karaoke VCD is now a big hit among the elderly in Hong Kong
.
MIDlet
that runs with a text file containing the words and a MIDI file with the music. This is still a budding service, and it is unclear whether it will become popular; however, some mobile karaoke providers, such as Karaokini, have begun to achieve commercial success.
Researchers have also developed karaoke games for cell phones in order to boost music database training. In 2006, the Interactive Audio Lab at Northwestern University released a game called Karaoke Callout for the Nokia Series 60 phone. The project has since then expanded into a web-based game and will be released soon as an iPhone application.
Karaoke is now available for the iPhone and other playback devices at many internet storefronts.
" their entire libraries onto their hard drives and play the songs and lyrics from the computer.
Additionally, new software permits singers to sing and listen to one another over the Internet.
There are many sites that offer Karaoke on the internet, such as Youtube
, where people can search for karaoke videos of popular songs.
Chinese
automobile
maker Geely Automobile
received much press in 2003 for being the first to equip a car, their Beauty Leopard
, with a karaoke machine as standard equipment. Europe's first commercial "karaokecab" which was a London TX4 taxi with a karaoke machine inside for occupants of the cab to use to sing whilst in the cab. The idea and installation were made by Richard Harfield of karaokeshop.com and was featured on Channel 4's Big Breakfast and several German TV stations featured the karaokecab. Granada TV also featured the cab, which is now in its 4th vehicle and operates in Bolton
, Greater Manchester as Clint's Karaoke Cab. Karaoke is often also found as a feature in aftermarket
in-car DVD players.
Karaoke is currently available in London, England in the 'Kabeoke' fleet of private hire vehicles.
format of a karaoke disc, which contains the lyrics on a specially encoded subcode track, has heretofore required special—and expensive—equipment to play. Commercial players have come down in price, though, and some unexpected devices (including the Sega Saturn
video game console
and XBMC Media Center on the Xbox 1) can decode the graphics; in fact, karaoke machines, including video and sometimes recording capability, are often popular electronics items for sale in toy stores and electronics stores.
Additionally, there is software for Windows, Pocket PC, Linux, and Macintosh PCs that can decode and display karaoke song tracks, though usually these must be ripped from the CD first, and possibly compressed.
In addition to CD+G and software-based karaoke, microphone-based karaoke players enjoy popularity mainly in North America and some Asian countries such as the Philippines. Microphone-based karaoke players only need to be connected to a TV—and in some cases to a power outlet; in other cases they run on batteries. These devices often support advanced features, such as pitch correction and special sound effects. Some companies offer karaoke content for paid download to extend the song library in microphone-based karaoke systems.
CD+G, DVD, VCD and microphone-based players are most popular for home use. Due to song selection and quality of recordings, CD+G is the most popular format for English and Spanish. It is also important to note that CD+G has limited graphical capabilities, whereas VCD and DVD usually have a moving picture or video background. VCD and DVD are the most common format for Asian singers due to music availability and largely due to the moving picture/video background.
Karamovie or Movioke
Karaoke jockey or KJ
, a karaoke box
is the most popular type of karaoke venue. A karaoke box is a small or medium-sized room containing karaoke equipment rented by the hour or half-hour, providing a more intimate atmosphere. Karaoke venues of this type are often dedicated businesses, some with multiple floors and a variety of amenities including food service, but hotels and business facilities sometimes provide karaoke boxes as well.
In some traditional Chinese restaurants
, there are so-called "mahjong-karaoke rooms" where the elderly play mahjong
while teenagers sing karaoke. The result is fewer complaints about boredom but more noise. Noise regulation
s can be an issue, especially when karaoke is brought into residential areas.
In the Philippines, karaoke machines are available for rent for use in occasions such as parties.
Violent reactions to karaoke singing have made headlines in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, with reports of killings by listeners disturbed by the singing. In the Philippines, at least a half dozen killings of people singing "My Way
" caused newspapers there to label the phenomenon "My Way killings
"; some bars refuse to allow the song, and some singers refrain from vocalizing it among strangers.
Throughout Asia, karaoke establishments are often fronts for gentlemen's clubs, where businessmen go and pay to have female hosts drink, sing, and dance with them. In China there is no difference in naming the two types of karaoke, both being called KTV, the Koreans call it NRB, and the Japanese call it piano bars.
, club
or lounge is a bar
or restaurant that provides karaoke equipment so that people can sing publicly, sometimes on a small stage. Most of these establishments allow patrons to sing for free, with the expectation that sufficient revenue will be made selling food and drink to the singers. Less commonly, the patron wishing to sing must pay a small fee for each song they sing. Both are financially beneficial for the establishment by not having to pay a professional singer or a cabaret tax which is usually applied to any entertainment of more than 1 person.
Many establishments offer karaoke on a weekly schedule, while some have shows every night. Such establishments commonly invest more in both equipment and song discs, and are often extremely popular, with an hour or more wait between a singer's opportunities to take the stage (called the rotation).
Private karaoke rooms, similar to Asia's karaoke boxes, are commonplace in communities such as Toronto
, Los Angeles
and San Francisco.
Throughout much of North America
, live band karaoke is also popular. With live band karaoke
, singers sing with a live band instead of the prerecorded backing track.
USA's Karaoke trend begin to take light as ABC's Karaoke Battle USA hits broadcast network Summer 2011, some could say that it was due to all the singing competitions such as The Voice, American Idol, X-factor or it could be due to influences from famous sitcoms such as Glee. Regardless, Karaoke is definitely gaining popularity as one of America's favorite past times. Unlike Karaoke in Asia, this recreational activity is still a growing trend and gaining popularity predominantly among the female demographics and the gay community.
Also popular among the international performing arts community in Europe, a group of Finnish producers organized an international karaoke competition called KWC (Karaoke World Championships). Their 2011 international karaoke competition has attracted ABC producers to help host America's karaoke competition in Las Vegas Nevada called Karaoke Battle USA. The competition is promised to select 1 male and 1 female contestant to represent USA in the international arena. Largely supported by the Broadway community in Times Square, Pulse Karaoke Lounge sponsored 2011's NY state karaoke finals to select individuals representing NY in the eastern finals.
There are usually two microphones, a book containing the names and artists of the songs, and a remote control for the karaoke machine. The remote controls allow the users to search for songs by name, artist, or country. The song selection available typically includes those from multiple languages.
In South Korea, karaoke is very popular for all ages. According to statistics collected in 2009, there are 35,684 song rooms in Korea with an average of 1.9 million people participating each day.
The pricing varies dependent on the size and location of the room but the average cost ranges from around 10,000￦ to 20,000￦ per hour (1,000￦ = approx. $1 USD).
There are also "Coin Norebang" which translates into "Coin Song Room". The coin norebangs are usually used by teenagers and are usually located in Korean video arcades and can even be found on trains. Instead of paying hourly, the machines allow you to sing one song, upon your selection, with the insertion of a coin (the prices may vary from 200￦ to 500￦).
Most norebangs sell food and alcohol. Also, many adults in South Korea use the norebangs to sober up after drinking.
In the mid 2000s, a number of karaoke bars sprouted in Sydney with karaoke boxes frequented by Japanese students and tourists and a few locals, especially on Thursday nights and weekends. A number of clubs such as RSL, League Clubs and restaurants and bars mainly feature karaoke nights to entice more customers and to entertain guests.
In Europe and North America, karaoke tracks are almost never done by the original artist, but are re-recorded by other musicians. The world's largest creator of Karaoke tracks, Blank Productions USA, (since 1986), produces between 40 and 60 titles per month, adding to their 25,000 title library, which is licensed to manufacturers and content providers. Karaoke companies like Stingray Digital
and Chartbuster select popular songs and release soundalike tracks with lyrics synchronized, most commonly in CD+G format.
Kumyoung and TJ Media, 2 large firms based in South Korea
produces digital music (MIDI) contents and manufacture computer music players for the Asian market.
is one of the most popular karaoke contests and has been around since 2003.
The 2011 Karaoke World Championships will take place in Killarney, Ireland in September.
Karaoke has been depicted in numerous movies and television
shows, including:
holds the record for the largest number of people singing karaoke at one time, for over 80,000 people singing "Hard Rock Hallelujah
" on 26 May 2006 in Helsinki after Lordi
won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
.
The Hungary
holds the record for the longest Karaoke marathon with multiple participants for an event organised at the Honey Grill Restaurant. It lasted for 1011 hours, 1 minute, between 20 July 2011, and 31 August 2011. Each song was over 3 minutes long and the gap between songs was no longer than 30 seconds. No song was repeated in any 2 hour period.
Interactive entertainment
The phrase interactive entertainment also known as video games refers to the business of producing and distributing products and services, or the products and services, of which the entertainment value can be influenced by users through direct feedback.-Origins:Although Hal Halpin claims credit...
or video game in which amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
singers sing along with recorded music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
(or a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
) using a microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
minus the lead vocal. Lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol, changing color, or music video images, to guide the singer. In some countries, a karaoke box
Karaoke Box
A is a common type of karaoke establishment commonly found in Japan. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms containing karaoke equipment, usually rented out for time periods. A typical karaoke box establishment contains 10-20 such rooms as well as a main karaoke bar area in the front...
is called a KTV. It is also a term used by recording engineers translated as "empty track" meaning there is no vocal track.
History
The concept of creating studio recordings that lack the lead vocal has been around for nearly as long as recording itself. Many artists, amateur and professional, perform in situations where a full band/orchestra is either logistically or financially impractical, so they use a "karaoke" recording; they are, however, the original artists. (This is not to be confused with "lip synching," in which a performer mimes to a previously produced studio recording with the lead vocal intact.)1960s: Development of audio-visual-recording devices
From 1961–1966, the American TV network NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
carried a karaoke-like series, Sing Along with Mitch, featuring host Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
and a chorus, which superimposed the lyrics to their songs near the bottom of the TV screen for home audience participation. The primary difference between Karaoke and sing-along songs is the absence of the lead vocalist.
Sing-alongs (present since the beginning of singing) fundamentally changed with the introduction of new technology. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, stored audible materials began to dominate the music recording industry and revolutionized the portability and ease of use of band and instrumental music by musicians and entertainers as the demand for entertainers increased globally. This may have been attributable to the introduction of music cassette tapes, technology that arose from the need to customize music recordings and the desire for a "handy" format that would allow fast and convenient duplication of music and thereby meet the requirements of the entertainers' lifestyles and the 'footloose' character of the entertainment industry.
1971: Development of the karaoke machine
There are various disputes about who first invented the name karaoke. One claim is that the karaoke styled machine was invented by Japanese musician Daisuke InoueDaisuke Inoue
is a Japanese businessman best known as the inventor of the karaoke machine. Inoue, a musician in his youth employed in backing businesspeople who wanted to sing in bars, invented the machine as a means of allowing them to sing without live back-up...
in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, in 1971. After becoming popular in Japan, karaoke spread by Hideo to East
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
during the 1980s and subsequently to other parts of the world.
In Japan, it has long been common to provide musical entertainment at a dinner or a party. Japanese drummer Daisuke Inoue was asked frequently by guests in the Utagoe Kissa
Utagoe coffeehouse
refers to the type of coffeehouses that featured the customers' joining in singing songs together, which was very popular in Japan in ca. 1955-1975....
, where he performed, to provide a recording of his performance so that they could sing along on a company-sponsored vacation. Realizing the potential for the market, Inoue made a tape recorder that played a song for a 100-yen coin.
Instead of giving his karaoke machines away, Inoue leased them out so that stores did not have to buy new songs on their own. Originally, it was considered a somewhat expensive fad, as it lacked the live atmosphere of a real performance and 100 yen in the 1970s was the price of two typical lunches, but it caught on as a popular entertainment. Karaoke machines were initially placed in restaurants and hotel rooms; soon, new businesses called karaoke box
Karaoke Box
A is a common type of karaoke establishment commonly found in Japan. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms containing karaoke equipment, usually rented out for time periods. A typical karaoke box establishment contains 10-20 such rooms as well as a main karaoke bar area in the front...
es, with compartmented rooms, became popular. In 2004, Daisuke Inoue was awarded the tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
Ig Nobel Peace Prize for inventing karaoke, "thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other."
Filipino patent
Roberto del Rosario, a FilipinoFilipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
inventor, who developed a sing along system in 1975 and patented it in the 1980s called his sing-along system "Minus-One," now holds the patent for the device now commonly known as the "karaoke machine". Following a court battle with a Japanese company which claimed to have invented the system, del Rosario's patents were issued in 1983 and 1986, a decade after the device was supposedly invented.
1990s
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and other countries all over the world. In-home karaoke machines soon followed but lacked success in the US and Canadian markets. When creators became aware of this problem, karaoke machines were no longer being sold strictly for the purpose of karaoke but as home theater
Home cinema
Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home....
systems to enhance television watching to "movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
like quality". Home theater systems took off, and karaoke went from being the main purpose of the stereo system to a side feature.
As more music became available for karaoke machines, more people within the industry saw karaoke as a profitable form of lounge and nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
entertainment. It is not uncommon for some bars to have karaoke performances seven nights a week, commonly with high-end sound equipment superior to the small, stand-alone consumer versions. Dance floor
Dance floor
Dance floor may refer to:* Sprung floor, a floor to enhance performance and reduce injuries* Performance surface or marley floor, flooring suitable for dance or sport* Dance pad, a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games...
s and lighting effects are also becoming common sights in karaoke bars. Lyrics are often displayed on multiple TV screens around the bar.
Kevin Wall
Kevin Wall
Kevin Wall, born March 15, 1952 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is a producer, digital entrepreneur and environmentalist who creates and produces global events often viewed by a billion or more people...
is sometimes attributed with bringing Karaoke to the United States.
Second patent case
Another company filed a patent infringement case. It was posthumously awarded in favour of Roberto del Rosario under G.R. No. 115106, 15 March 1996 of the Philippine Supreme Court filed on 18 January 1993.Technology
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
inputs, a means of altering the pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
of the played music, and an audio output. Some low-end machines attempt to provide vocal suppression so that one can feed regular songs into the machine and remove the voice of the original singer; however, this is rarely effective. Most common machines are CD+G
CD+G
CD+G is an extension of the compact disc standard that can present low-resolution graphics alongside the audio data on the disc when played on a compatible device...
, Laser Disc, VCD
VCD
VCD is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* VCD Athletic, semi-professional football team* Video CD* Voice command device* Value change dump * Vocal cord dysfunction* Visual Communication and Design...
or DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
players with microphone inputs and an audio mixer built in. CD+G players use a special track called subcode to encode the lyrics and pictures displayed on the screen while other formats natively display both audio and video.
Most karaoke machines have technology that electronically changes the pitch of the music so that amateur singers can choose a key that is appropriate for their vocal range, while maintaining the original tempo of the song. (Old systems which used cassettes changed the pitch by altering playback speed, but none are still on the market, and their commercial use is virtually nonexistent.)
A popular game using karaoke is to type in a random number and call up a song, which participants attempt to sing. In some machines, this game is pre-programmed and may be limited to a genre so that they cannot call up an obscure national anthem that none of the participants can sing. This game has come to be called "Kamikaze Karaoke" or "Karaoke Roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
" in some parts of the United States and Canada.
Many low-end entertainment systems have a karaoke mode that attempts to remove the vocal track from regular audio CDs, using an Out Of Phase Stereo (OOPS)
Out Of Phase Stereo (OOPS)
Out Of Phase Stereo is an audio technique which manipulates the phase of a stereo audio track, to isolate or remove certain components of the stereo mix...
technique. This is done by center channel extraction, which exploits the fact that in most stereo recordings the vocals are in the center. This means that the voice, as part of the music, has equal volume on both stereo channels and no phase difference. To get the quasi-karaoke (mono) track, the left channel of the original audio is subtracted from the right channel. The Sega Saturn also has a "mute vocals" feature that is based on the same principle and is also able to adjust the pitch of the song to match the singer's vocal range.
Reverberation
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...
effects on the voice track (due to stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
reverb on the vocals not being in the center); also, other instruments (snare/bass drum, bass guitar and solo instruments) that happen to be mixed into the center get removed, degrading this approach to hardly more than a gimmick in those devices. Recent years have seen the development of new techniques based on the Fast Fourier Transform
Fast Fourier transform
A fast Fourier transform is an efficient algorithm to compute the discrete Fourier transform and its inverse. "The FFT has been called the most important numerical algorithm of our lifetime ." There are many distinct FFT algorithms involving a wide range of mathematics, from simple...
. Although still not perfect, the results are usually much better than the old technique, because the stereo left-right comparison can be done on individual frequencies.
Early age
Early karaoke machines used cassette tapes, but technological advances replaced this with CDCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s, VCD
Video CD
Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
s, laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
s and, currently, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Pioneer Electronics dominated the international karaoke music video market, producing high quality karaoke music videos (inspired by the music videos such as those on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
).
In 1992, Taito
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
introduced the X2000, which fetched music via a dial-up telephone network. Its repertoire of music and graphics was limited, but its smaller size and the advantage of continuous updates saw it gradually replace traditional machines. Karaoke machines which are connected via fiber-optic links enabling them to provide instant high-quality music and video are becoming increasingly popular.
Karaoke direct is an Internet division established in 1997 been serving the public online since 1998. They released the first karaoke player that supports MP3+G and now the KDX2000 model supporting karaoke in DIVX Format.
Karaoke video games
The earliest karaoke-based music video gameMusic video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
, called Karaoke Studio
Karaoke Studio
Karaoke Studio is a music video game designed for Nintendo's Family Computer. Physically the game acts as a subsystem designed to be inserted into the Family Computer cartridge slot...
, was released for the Nintendo Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
in 1985, but its limited computing ability made for a short catalog of songs and therefore reduced replay value. As a result, karaoke games were considered little more than collector's items until they saw release in higher-capacity DVD formats.
Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution and its many sequels are video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360, developed by Harmonix Music Systems and Blitz Games and published by Konami in its Bemani line of music games. The Original Concept for Karaoke Revolution was...
, created for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
by Harmonix and released by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
in North America in 2003, is a console game in which a single player sings along with on-screen guidance and receives a score based on his or her pitch, timing, and rhythm. The game soon spawned several follow-ups including Karaoke Revolution Vol. 2, Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3, Karaoke Revolution Party Edition, CMT Presents Karaoke Revolution: Country and Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol. While the original Karaoke Revolution was also eventually released for the Microsoft Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
console in late 2004, the new online-enabled version included the ability to download additional song packs through the console's exclusive Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
service.
A similar series, SingStar
SingStar
SingStar is a competitive music video game series for PlayStation consoles, developed by London Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. 23 English-language instalments of the series have been released for the PlayStation 2, and six versions for the PlayStation 3 have been released...
, published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, is particularly popular in the European and Australasian markets. Other music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
titles that involve singing by the player include Boogie
Boogie (video game)
Boogie is a music video game developed by Electronic Arts for the Wii, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS. Being touted as a party-game, it enables players to create their character, then use the Wii Remote and a microphone to sing and dance through it. Each song within the game can be performed either...
and its sequel Boogie SuperStar
Boogie Superstar
Boogie Superstar is a rhythm video game by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the game Boogie.NGamer magazine initially reported that the title would support the Wii Balance Board, writing that it was to be a "board-based dance-a-thon"; however, Electronic Arts confirmed that while the title...
, Disney Sing It
Disney Sing It
Disney Sing It is a karaoke video game and sequel to High School Musical: Sing It!. It was released on October 28, 2008 across multiple platforms...
, Get On Da Mic
Get On Da Mic
Get On Da Mic is a video game for the PlayStation 2 published by Eidos and co-developed by A2M and Highway 1 Productions. Unlike the many other singing games available for the PlayStation 2, this game focuses exclusively on Hip-Hop songs....
, Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...
, High School Musical: Sing It!
High School Musical: Sing It!
High School Musical: Sing It! is a video game for the Wii and PlayStation 2, based on the popular 2006 television movie High School Musical and its 2007 sequel High School Musical 2....
, Lips
Lips (video game)
Lips is a video game for the Xbox 360. Lips was developed by iNiS and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game features the use of motion sensitive wireless microphones and supports the use of songs already owned through a Zune or iPod. The game was released on November 18, 2008 in North...
, the Rock Band series, SingSong, UltraStar
UltraStar
UltraStar is a clone of SingStar, a music video game. UltraStar lets one or several players score points by singing along to a song or music video and match the pitch of the original song well. UltraStar displays lyrics as well as the correct notes similar to a piano roll. On top of the correct...
, and Xbox Music Mixer
Xbox Music Mixer
The Xbox Music Mixer is a multimedia accessory/utility developed by Wild Tangent and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox. The Xbox Music Mixer was released on December 1, 2003. The Xbox Music Mixer allows one to transfer certain types of music and pictures directly from a PC to the...
.
Karaoke VCDs
Many VCD players in Southeast Asia have a built-in karaoke function. On stereo recordings, one speaker will play the music with the vocal track, and the other speaker will play the music without the vocal track. So, to sing karaoke, users play the music-only track through both speakers. In the past, there were only pop-song karaoke VCDs. Nowadays, different types of karaoke VCDs are available. Cantonese operaCantonese opera
Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Cantonese culture. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. Like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing,...
karaoke VCD is now a big hit among the elderly in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Karaoke on mobile phones
In 2003, several companies started offering a karaoke service on mobile phones, using a JavaJava (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
MIDlet
MIDlet
A MIDlet is an application that uses the Mobile Information Device Profile of the Connected Limited Device Configuration for the Java ME environment...
that runs with a text file containing the words and a MIDI file with the music. This is still a budding service, and it is unclear whether it will become popular; however, some mobile karaoke providers, such as Karaokini, have begun to achieve commercial success.
Researchers have also developed karaoke games for cell phones in order to boost music database training. In 2006, the Interactive Audio Lab at Northwestern University released a game called Karaoke Callout for the Nokia Series 60 phone. The project has since then expanded into a web-based game and will be released soon as an iPhone application.
Karaoke is now available for the iPhone and other playback devices at many internet storefronts.
Karaoke on computers and the Internet
Since 2003, much software has been released for hosting karaoke shows and playing karaoke songs on a personal computer. Instead of having to carry around hundreds of CD-Gs or laserdiscs, KJs can "ripRipping
Ripping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction....
" their entire libraries onto their hard drives and play the songs and lyrics from the computer.
Additionally, new software permits singers to sing and listen to one another over the Internet.
There are many sites that offer Karaoke on the internet, such as Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, where people can search for karaoke videos of popular songs.
Karaoke in automobiles
South Korea in the 1990s had taxis with karaoke machines, or "caroke."Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
maker Geely Automobile
Geely Automobile
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is a holding company and parent of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd a private automobile manufacturer. Geely may often round out the top ten Chinese automakers....
received much press in 2003 for being the first to equip a car, their Beauty Leopard
Geely BL
The Geely BL is a coupe automobile from Chinese manufacturer, Geely Automobile. The "BL" name stands for "Beauty Leopard". The car was designed with help from Daewoo and was introduced to production in January, 2003. It is best known outside China for being the first vehicle with an in-car karaoke...
, with a karaoke machine as standard equipment. Europe's first commercial "karaokecab" which was a London TX4 taxi with a karaoke machine inside for occupants of the cab to use to sing whilst in the cab. The idea and installation were made by Richard Harfield of karaokeshop.com and was featured on Channel 4's Big Breakfast and several German TV stations featured the karaokecab. Granada TV also featured the cab, which is now in its 4th vehicle and operates in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Greater Manchester as Clint's Karaoke Cab. Karaoke is often also found as a feature in aftermarket
Aftermarket (automotive)
The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, tools, equipment and accessories for light and heavy vehicles, after the sale of the...
in-car DVD players.
Karaoke is currently available in London, England in the 'Kabeoke' fleet of private hire vehicles.
Alternative playback devices
The CD+GCD+G
CD+G is an extension of the compact disc standard that can present low-resolution graphics alongside the audio data on the disc when played on a compatible device...
format of a karaoke disc, which contains the lyrics on a specially encoded subcode track, has heretofore required special—and expensive—equipment to play. Commercial players have come down in price, though, and some unexpected devices (including the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
and XBMC Media Center on the Xbox 1) can decode the graphics; in fact, karaoke machines, including video and sometimes recording capability, are often popular electronics items for sale in toy stores and electronics stores.
Additionally, there is software for Windows, Pocket PC, Linux, and Macintosh PCs that can decode and display karaoke song tracks, though usually these must be ripped from the CD first, and possibly compressed.
In addition to CD+G and software-based karaoke, microphone-based karaoke players enjoy popularity mainly in North America and some Asian countries such as the Philippines. Microphone-based karaoke players only need to be connected to a TV—and in some cases to a power outlet; in other cases they run on batteries. These devices often support advanced features, such as pitch correction and special sound effects. Some companies offer karaoke content for paid download to extend the song library in microphone-based karaoke systems.
CD+G, DVD, VCD and microphone-based players are most popular for home use. Due to song selection and quality of recordings, CD+G is the most popular format for English and Spanish. It is also important to note that CD+G has limited graphical capabilities, whereas VCD and DVD usually have a moving picture or video background. VCD and DVD are the most common format for Asian singers due to music availability and largely due to the moving picture/video background.
Karaoke terms
Jūhachiban- (十八番. also ohako). Many karaoke singers have one song which they are especially good at and which they use to show off their singing abilities. In Japan, this is called jūhachiban in reference to Kabuki JūhachibanKabuki JuhachibanThe Kabuki Jūhachiban , or Eighteen Best Kabuki Plays, is a set of kabuki plays, strongly associated with the Ichikawa Danjūrō line of actors ever since their premieres. These works were chosen and assembled as "the eighteen" by actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII . The pieces were considered to be...
, the 18 best kabukiKabukiis classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
plays.
Karamovie or Movioke
- Karaoke using scenes from movies. Amateur actors replace their favorite movie stars in popular movies. Usually facilitated by software or remote control muting and screen blanking/freezing. Karamovie originated in 2003.
Karaoke jockey or KJ
- A karaoke jockey plays and manages the music for a venue. The role of the KJ often includes announcing song titles and whose turn it is to use the microphone.
Hitokara
Singing karaoke alone is called hitokara (ヒトカラ, ヒト hito, "one person" or "alone" and カラ kara, "karaoke") in Japan. Recently this trend has become very popular amongst amateur singers in Japan, also India and China.Public places for karaoke
Asia
In AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, a karaoke box
Karaoke Box
A is a common type of karaoke establishment commonly found in Japan. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms containing karaoke equipment, usually rented out for time periods. A typical karaoke box establishment contains 10-20 such rooms as well as a main karaoke bar area in the front...
is the most popular type of karaoke venue. A karaoke box is a small or medium-sized room containing karaoke equipment rented by the hour or half-hour, providing a more intimate atmosphere. Karaoke venues of this type are often dedicated businesses, some with multiple floors and a variety of amenities including food service, but hotels and business facilities sometimes provide karaoke boxes as well.
In some traditional Chinese restaurants
Dim sum
Dim sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates...
, there are so-called "mahjong-karaoke rooms" where the elderly play mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
while teenagers sing karaoke. The result is fewer complaints about boredom but more noise. Noise regulation
Noise regulation
Noise regulation includes statutes or guidelines relating to sound transmission established by national, state or provincial and municipal levels of government. After the watershed passage of the United States Noise Control Act of 1972, other local and state governments passed further regulations...
s can be an issue, especially when karaoke is brought into residential areas.
In the Philippines, karaoke machines are available for rent for use in occasions such as parties.
Violent reactions to karaoke singing have made headlines in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, with reports of killings by listeners disturbed by the singing. In the Philippines, at least a half dozen killings of people singing "My Way
My Way (song)
"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the...
" caused newspapers there to label the phenomenon "My Way killings
My Way killings
The "My Way" killings are a social phenomenon in the Philippines, where the killing of karaoke singers who get into disputes about their renditions of Frank Sinatra's signature tune, "My Way", has led some bars to ban the song and other singers to abstain from singing it...
"; some bars refuse to allow the song, and some singers refrain from vocalizing it among strangers.
Throughout Asia, karaoke establishments are often fronts for gentlemen's clubs, where businessmen go and pay to have female hosts drink, sing, and dance with them. In China there is no difference in naming the two types of karaoke, both being called KTV, the Koreans call it NRB, and the Japanese call it piano bars.
North America and Europe
A karaoke bar, restaurantRestaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
or lounge is a bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
or restaurant that provides karaoke equipment so that people can sing publicly, sometimes on a small stage. Most of these establishments allow patrons to sing for free, with the expectation that sufficient revenue will be made selling food and drink to the singers. Less commonly, the patron wishing to sing must pay a small fee for each song they sing. Both are financially beneficial for the establishment by not having to pay a professional singer or a cabaret tax which is usually applied to any entertainment of more than 1 person.
Many establishments offer karaoke on a weekly schedule, while some have shows every night. Such establishments commonly invest more in both equipment and song discs, and are often extremely popular, with an hour or more wait between a singer's opportunities to take the stage (called the rotation).
Private karaoke rooms, similar to Asia's karaoke boxes, are commonplace in communities such as Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Francisco.
Throughout much of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, live band karaoke is also popular. With live band karaoke
Live band karaoke
Live Band Karaoke is a popular niche event where people sing karaoke with a live band in front of an audience. It is much like a jam session. Much like traditional karaoke, people choose a song from a list of available songs, sign up, and sing when it is their turn...
, singers sing with a live band instead of the prerecorded backing track.
USA's Karaoke trend begin to take light as ABC's Karaoke Battle USA hits broadcast network Summer 2011, some could say that it was due to all the singing competitions such as The Voice, American Idol, X-factor or it could be due to influences from famous sitcoms such as Glee. Regardless, Karaoke is definitely gaining popularity as one of America's favorite past times. Unlike Karaoke in Asia, this recreational activity is still a growing trend and gaining popularity predominantly among the female demographics and the gay community.
Also popular among the international performing arts community in Europe, a group of Finnish producers organized an international karaoke competition called KWC (Karaoke World Championships). Their 2011 international karaoke competition has attracted ABC producers to help host America's karaoke competition in Las Vegas Nevada called Karaoke Battle USA. The competition is promised to select 1 male and 1 female contestant to represent USA in the international arena. Largely supported by the Broadway community in Times Square, Pulse Karaoke Lounge sponsored 2011's NY state karaoke finals to select individuals representing NY in the eastern finals.
Karaoke in the Philippines
Many restaurants and bars in the Philippines, as well as Filipino restaurants and bars abroad, have karaoke machines to allow customers to sing.Karaoke in South Korea
South Koreans generally use another term - 노래방 (Noraebang/NRB), which translates into "Song Room". Norebangs typically have a number of private rooms ranging in size from four seats to upwards of thirty.There are usually two microphones, a book containing the names and artists of the songs, and a remote control for the karaoke machine. The remote controls allow the users to search for songs by name, artist, or country. The song selection available typically includes those from multiple languages.
In South Korea, karaoke is very popular for all ages. According to statistics collected in 2009, there are 35,684 song rooms in Korea with an average of 1.9 million people participating each day.
The pricing varies dependent on the size and location of the room but the average cost ranges from around 10,000￦ to 20,000￦ per hour (1,000￦ = approx. $1 USD).
There are also "Coin Norebang" which translates into "Coin Song Room". The coin norebangs are usually used by teenagers and are usually located in Korean video arcades and can even be found on trains. Instead of paying hourly, the machines allow you to sing one song, upon your selection, with the insertion of a coin (the prices may vary from 200￦ to 500￦).
Most norebangs sell food and alcohol. Also, many adults in South Korea use the norebangs to sober up after drinking.
Karaoke in Taiwan
In Taiwan, karaoke bars similar to those in Japan and Korea are called KTV, short for karaoke television. The biggest KTV chain in Taiwan is Cashbox KTV.Karaoke in Australia
In Australia, karaoke was gradually popularised in the late 1980s. A number of Filipino migrants brought with them their own 'minus-one' music from cassette music tapes and video tapes purchased mainly in the Philippines. A number of Philippine-imported karaoke units with two cassette drives were used in private households. Video TV tapes, mainly consisted of popular and contemporary songs rendered by Filipino artists, and with a mix of English and Tagalog songs were soon used. Projected lyrics on TV screens became very common as the main source of karaoke renditions. These tapes were soon replaced by CD+Gs, but a plug-n-play karaoke microphone that housed a factory built-in songchip loaded with hundreds of karaoke songs quickly became a favourite. This unit would usually be purchased in the Philippines and brought into Australia, becoming a common household item and is popularly used during gatherings.In the mid 2000s, a number of karaoke bars sprouted in Sydney with karaoke boxes frequented by Japanese students and tourists and a few locals, especially on Thursday nights and weekends. A number of clubs such as RSL, League Clubs and restaurants and bars mainly feature karaoke nights to entice more customers and to entertain guests.
Karaoke production methods
Karaoke is very popular in Asia, and many artists distribute a karaoke track at the same time the song is released. The most common form of karaoke nowadays is released in MIDI format with on-screen lyrics on a DVD background video.In Europe and North America, karaoke tracks are almost never done by the original artist, but are re-recorded by other musicians. The world's largest creator of Karaoke tracks, Blank Productions USA, (since 1986), produces between 40 and 60 titles per month, adding to their 25,000 title library, which is licensed to manufacturers and content providers. Karaoke companies like Stingray Digital
Stingray Digital
Stingray Digital is a privately held Canadian media and entertainment company based in Montreal, Quebec. Stingray Digital specializes in digital media including interactive music broadcasting and distribution....
and Chartbuster select popular songs and release soundalike tracks with lyrics synchronized, most commonly in CD+G format.
Kumyoung and TJ Media, 2 large firms based in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
produces digital music (MIDI) contents and manufacture computer music players for the Asian market.
Karaoke contest
Since the rise of karaoke around the world, karaoke contests have been a phenomenon that has entered main stream culture. It gives non-professional singers the opportunity to showcase their talent, win prizes, and at times allow these singers the opportunity to travel around the world. Contest participants are usually rated 50% by customer votes and 50% by judger's votes. Judging may vary depending on the venue and the level of competition. Karaoke World ChampionshipKaraoke World Championships
-Participating Countries:* * Austria* Azerbaijan Republic* * China* Denmark* Estonia* Faroe Islands* Finland* France* Germany* Ghana* Greece* Hong Kong/China* Hungary* Indonesia* Ireland* Jordan* Kenya* Kuwait* Lebanon* Macao/China...
is one of the most popular karaoke contests and has been around since 2003.
The 2011 Karaoke World Championships will take place in Killarney, Ireland in September.
Karaoke in popular culture
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows, including:
- Films:
- 1989 film When Harry Met Sally features a scene where Billy CrystalBilly CrystalWilliam Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
and Meg RyanMeg RyanMargaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
's characters sing "The Surrey with the Fringe on TopThe Surrey With the Fringe On Top"The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is a show tune from the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! It is the second song of the show, following the opening number, "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'."...
" from Oklahoma!Oklahoma!Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance... - 1989 film Black Rain
- At the start of the 1994 film Ladybird, LadybirdLadybird, Ladybird (film)Ladybird, Ladybird is a 1994 British drama film directed by Ken Loach.It is a drama-documentary about a British woman's dispute with Social Services over the care and custody of her four children. The title comes from a traditional nursery verse...
- 1996 comedyComedy filmComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
The Cable GuyThe Cable GuyThe Cable Guy is a 1996 black comedy film, directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. The film also features Leslie Mann, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson... - 1997 romantic comedyRomantic comedy filmRomantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
My Best Friend's WeddingMy Best Friend's WeddingMy Best Friend's Wedding is a 1997 romantic comedy film directed by P. J. Hogan. It stars Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney, Rupert Everett, and Philip Bosco.The film received mostly positive reviews from critics... - 1997 KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n gangsterGangsterA gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
comedy No. 3No. 3No. 3 is a South Korean gangster comedy film starring Han Suk-kyu as the titular no. 3 man of a gangster organization who's aspiring to rise up the ranks and become the leader of his own gang. It was writer-director Song Nung-han's debut film.... - 1998 film OrgazmoOrgazmoOrgazmo is a 1997 comedy film written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the animated series South Park, and directed by Parker.-Plot:...
A man is depicted singing karaoke in a sushi bar while no one else is listening, three goons come in and vandalise the bar, in the process knocking over the karaoke machine, the singer then picks it all back up and continues singing. - Karaoke is central to the 2000 movie DuetsDuetsAn original motion picture soundtrack CD was released on September 12, 2000 by Hollywood Records. The CD contained twelve tracks including the original music composed for the film by David Newman....
, which features a father and daughter competing in karaoke contests - In the 2001 film Jackpot, an aspiring singer tours karaoke bars hoping to catch his big break as a countryCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
star - 2001 film Rush Hour 2Rush Hour 2Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 martial arts action comedy film. This is the second installment in the Rush Hour film series. A sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour, the film stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker who respectively reprise their roles as Inspector Lee and Los Angeles police detective James Carter...
includes a karaoke performance by Chris TuckerChris TuckerChristopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:...
, where he upstages a tone-deaf local in Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
by singing Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get EnoughDon't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a single by American recording artist Michael Jackson. Released under Epic Records on July 28, 1979, the song is the first single from Jackson's fifth studio album, entitled Off the Wall. Written by Jackson, it is in the key of B major and in common time...
" - 2003 film Lost in TranslationLost in Translation (film)Lost in Translation is a 2003 American film written and directed by Sofia Coppola; her second feature film after The Virgin Suicides and it stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson...
features Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson singing in a Tokyo karaoke box - Karaoke is the central theme of The Karaoke KingThe Karaoke KingThe Karaoke King is a 2007 comedy film directed by Dan Mackler and JJ Ruscella. The film is loosely based on William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar.-Plot:...
, a 2006 independent film - Karaoke 2009 Malaysian indie film starring Zahiril Adzim
- 2006 film High School MusicalHigh School Musical (film series)The High School Musical film series consists of three Disney musical films directed by Kenny Ortega and created by Peter Barsocchini. It stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. The original film was released simply as a Disney Channel...
- 2009 film (500) Days of Summer
- 1989 film When Harry Met Sally features a scene where Billy Crystal
- Television shows:
- American television show How I Met Your MotherHow I Met Your MotherHow I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
- American television show Doogie Howser, M.D.Doogie Howser, M.D.Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....
- American television show FriendsFriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
Monica sings karaoke at Mike's piano bar. She mistakenly thinks they admire her singing skills, but in fact, they are staring at her very see-through shirt. - American television show Desperate HousewivesDesperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
- CharmedCharmedCharmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
episode Sense and Sense Ability, from the fifth season of the series, featured Rose McGowanRose McGowanRose Arianna McGowan is an actress and singer. She is known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB Television Network supernatural drama series Charmed. She played Ann-Margret alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis Presley in the CBS mini-series Elvis...
(as Paige) singing "Fever" at Paige's latest boyfriend's piano bar. (Earlier in the show, she lost her voice when she was up on stage.) - Several episodes of American television series AngelAngel (TV series)Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
feature the demonic karaoke bar Caritas, whose proprietor Lorne (Andy HallettAndy HallettAndrew Alcott "Andy" Hallett was an American singer and actor best known for playing the part of Lorne in the television series Angel. He used his singing talents often on the show, and performed two songs on the series' 2005 soundtrack album, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never.-Early life:Andrew Alcott...
) can read the destiny of the person singing. - All of American actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
David BoreanazDavid BoreanazDavid Boreanaz is an American actor, television producer, and director, known for his role as Angel on the supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and as Special Agent Seeley Booth on the television crime drama Bones....
's major television roles have involved his character being assaulted (in particular, being shot at) in a karaoke bar. - Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of CrispsTwo Pints of Lager and a Packet of CrispsTwo Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps was a BBC sitcom created and written by Susan Nickson. It is set in the town of Runcorn in Cheshire, England, and initially revolves around the lives of five twenty-somethings, played by Ralf Little , Sheridan Smith , Will Mellor , Natalie Casey and...
featured Donna singing "Chick Chick Chicken", which was made for the BBC by Zoom Entertainments, a karaoke producer based in Hull, UK. - One episode of the American show HeroesHeroes (TV series)Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
. - Don't Forget the Lyrics, a game show in which contestants have to sing 10 songs correctly to win $1,000,000.
- Mai HiME, the titular character Mai TokihaMai Tokihais a character from the My-HiME and My-Otome anime and manga series. She is voiced by Mai Nakahara in Japanese and Carol-Anne Day in English.- Common characteristics :Mai is depicted with short orange hair and a rather large bust...
is a huge fan and the series features an episode with some of the various characters singing as well. - Azumanga DaiohAzumanga Daiohis a Japanese comedy manga by Kiyohiko Azuma. It was serialized by MediaWorks in the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh from 1999 to 2002 and collected in four bound volumes...
, during the episode where the characters celebrate Christmas, there is a part where they go to a karaoke club. Osaka sings Time Pavement and Sakaki sings Shin wa Shoujo parashuuto. - In the second season episode of Beverly Hills 90210, called Cardio Funk, the Peach Pit unsuccessfully ventured into karaoke, when Jim Walsh convinced Peach Pit owner Nat to buy a karaoke machine.
- GleeGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
had an episode whereby the main character Will Shuster sings karaoke with April Rhodes. Karaoke versions of the GleeGlee (TV series)Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
soundtrack are available on digital downloads. - In episode 7 of Dream HighDream HighDream High is a South Korean television drama series broadcast by Korean Broadcasting System in 2011. It features Suzy, Taecyeon, IU, Wooyoung, Ham Eun Jung and Kim Soo-hyun. It aired on the 3 January 2011 and finished on the 28 February 2011 after 16 successful episodes. This drama is popular...
, Pilsuk and Jason go to a noraebang (Korean karaoke room). - Up All NightUp All Night (TV series)Up All Night is an American television comedy series created by Emily Spivey that premiered on NBC on September 14, 2011, at 10 p.m. , before assuming its regular time slot on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at 8 p.m....
had an episode where Reagan and Chris are at a bar singing and getting drunk.
- American television show How I Met Your Mother
- Music Videos:
- The video for Tenacious DTenacious DTenacious D is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass, the band has released two albums – Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny...
's TributeTribute (song)"Tribute" is a tribute to "The Greatest Song in the World" and is the first single of Tenacious D's self-titled debut album. It was released July 16, 2002....
features Jack BlackJack BlackJack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
and Kyle GassKyle GassKyle Richard Gass , also known as KG or Kage, is an American rock musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He is a member of the bands Tenacious D and Trainwreck. In Tenacious D , Gass plays lead guitar and sings backup vocals, and also plays the role of Black's comic foil in most of their comedy...
recording the song inside a karaoke box, though Black rigs the box to put in his own background music. - Selena Gomez And The Scene's music video for their sixth single, "Love You Like A Love Song" takes place in a Japanese karaoke bar.
- The video for Tenacious D
World records
FinlandFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
holds the record for the largest number of people singing karaoke at one time, for over 80,000 people singing "Hard Rock Hallelujah
Hard Rock Hallelujah
"Hard Rock Hallelujah" is a song by the Finnish heavy metal band Lordi, which won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with 292 points. It was also Finland's first placement in the top five. It was voted as the most popular Finnish Eurovision entry in the forty years the country has participated...
" on 26 May 2006 in Helsinki after Lordi
Lordi
Lordi is a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1996 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume-designer, Mr. Lordi. The band is known for wearing monster masks and using pyrotechnics during concerts...
won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...
.
The Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
holds the record for the longest Karaoke marathon with multiple participants for an event organised at the Honey Grill Restaurant. It lasted for 1011 hours, 1 minute, between 20 July 2011, and 31 August 2011. Each song was over 3 minutes long and the gap between songs was no longer than 30 seconds. No song was repeated in any 2 hour period.
See also
- Same Language SubtitlingSame language subtitlingSame language subtitling refers to the practice of subtitling programs on TV in the same language as the audio. This method of subtitling is used by national television broadcasters in India such as Doordarshan...
- Subtitling
- Closed CaptioningClosed captioningClosed captioning is the process of displaying text on a television, video screen or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information to individuals who wish to access it...
- SurtitlesSurtitlesSurtitles, also known as supertitles, are translated or transcribed lyrics/dialogue projected above a stage or displayed on a screen, commonly used in opera or other musical performances. The word "surtitle" comes from the French language "sur", meaning "over" or "on", and the English language word...
- Live band karaokeLive band karaokeLive Band Karaoke is a popular niche event where people sing karaoke with a live band in front of an audience. It is much like a jam session. Much like traditional karaoke, people choose a song from a list of available songs, sign up, and sing when it is their turn...
- Powerpoint-KaraokePowerpoint-KaraokePowerpoint-Karaoke is a spin-off from the traditional Karaoke, however instead of singing songs, the participants must present an impromptu presentation based on a random presentation, projected on a screen, to an audience...
- Utagoe KissaUtagoe coffeehouserefers to the type of coffeehouses that featured the customers' joining in singing songs together, which was very popular in Japan in ca. 1955-1975....
- List of English words of Japanese origin
External links
- http://kariokebar.com