Karaoke

Karaoke (カラオケJapanese) isformentertainment where an amateur singer accompanies recorded music. The musicofwell-known songwhichvoice oforiginal singerabsent or reducedvolume. Lyrics may also be displayed, sometimes synchronized withmusic,help withsing-along.

Karaoke has beenpopular formentertainmenteast Asia since at least1980s,has since spreadother parts ofworld.

Origin ofword

The Japanese word stems fromwords: "kara" (空) which means 'empty' (same asKarate)"oke" whichshort'orchestra'. The words together makecontraction meaning 'empty orchestra' literally. Becausetermhalf Japanesehalf English itconsideredforeign wordusually writtenkatakana. The term karaoke can be interpreted as "virtual orchestra" because one can specifykey tomusicstart singing along withoutpresence oflive band or orchestra. InUnited States,wordoften pronounced incorrectly as care-ree-OH-kee or ker-OH-kee. The original Japanese pronunciationka-ra-uh-KEH.

History

The industry startedJapan inearly 1970s. The fad spread torestAsiathen toUnited States in1990s. Facilities such as karaoke bars or "KTV parlors" providevenue, equipmentsoftwareamateur singersentertain (or 'torture') each other.

Its popularity has spread toUnited Statesother Western countries, where some people still regardas purelymethod forintoxicatedembarrass themselves, but asnovelty has worn off many now takeslightly more seriously.

Technology

The most bare-bone karaoke machine consistsan audio input,pitch alternation switchan audio output. Some advanced machines provide vocal suppression so that one can feed regular songs intomachinefilter out or greatly suppressvoice oforiginal singer. Most common machinesaudio mixersmicrophone input built-inCD-G, Video CD, Laser Disc, or DVD players which playspecial media that encodeoriginal songone audio trackmusic onlyanother track. The video media also enabledisplay oflyrics graphically on screensync withmusic. In some countries, karaokevideo lyrics display capablitiesalso called KTV. Karaoke machines may involve technology that electronically changespitchmusic so that amateur singers can sing alongany music source by choosingkey thatappropriateindividual's vocal range. Sing-along machines that lackpitch alternating featureseldom referred as Karaoke.

MIDI applications

Some computer programs that servesimilar purpose tostandard karaoke machine have been developed that use MIDI instrumentationgenerateaccompaniment rather thanrecorded track. This hasadvantagemaking transposition technically trivialalso shrinksinformation neededprovideaccompaniment topoint where iteasytransfer them acrossInternet, even over slow connections..The standard file format used*.KAR, whichan extension ofstandard .MID MIDI disk format,can be played unaltered by MIDI player software.

Related ideas

Karaoke bar/Karaoke restaurant

A Karaoke bar (or restaurant)simplybar/restaurantkaraoke equipment, so that people can sing publicly.

Karaoke room

Some restaurants include small, private rooms ("noraebang") equippedkaraoke equipment. Each groupcustomers takes its own room, makingexperience more intimate andembarrassment less public.

Some customers have one song which theyespecially good at,whichuseshow off their singing abilities. An English translationsuchsong"number 18," whichslangKoreanmildly obscene. The term originated duringJapanese colonial periodisreference tomost popular 18 playskabuki.

In some traditional Chinese restaurants, thereso-called "mahjong-karaoke rooms" where elderly can play mahjongteenagers can enjoy karaoke. The resultless complaints about boredom but more noise.

Karaoke VCD

The takeoffVideo CDsSoutheast Asiapartly due tocheap but tolerable quality,partly due topopularitykaraoke. Many VCD playersSoutheast Asia have built-in Karaoke function. If users disablesinger's voiceletmusic alone,can play karaoke.

Inpast, there were only pop song karaoke VCDs. Nowadays, different typeskaraoke VCDavailable. Cantonese opera karaoke VCDnowbig hit among elderlyHong Kong.

Karokefilm

Karaoke has sometimes been depictedmoviestelevision shows. One example is1997 Korean movie No. 3),gangster comedy film,which some ofcharactersdepicted drunksinging off-key. A more recent exampleLostTranslation.

External links

• MIDI Karaoke Players, that play standard *.KAR archives.
• Singing as"National Sport"Korea