Karaoke Technology
Whenever you sing karaoke you use a something commonly referred to as a 'karaoke machine'. Most of the time you use special cassette tapes designed for theses machines, but you can also use regular cassette tapes or CDs. They range from expensive professional models to home units that are fun for parties and get togethers and just to practice to your singing.
Karaoke machines come with a microphone and the ability to alter the pitch of the music so that it fits into the vocal range of the singer. Many of the machines that are on the market today have ways to suppress the vocals on a regular compact disc or cassette which allows the user to be able to sing their favorite songs without having to invest in expensive tapes. Karaoke machines also act as audio mixers with a microphone input. These machines can use CD+G, Laser Disc, DVDs, and Video CD formats. The lyrics of the songs that are displayed on the screen of karaoke machines with this function use the CD+G formation.
Karaoke machines use a special electronic method that can change the pitch and key of the music they want to sing in order for users to reach the notes of the song in their own voice. Everyone cannot hit the high notes of Mariah Carey or the low notes of Trace Akins. The machine retains the original tempo and music of the song. The old karaoke machines actually used a method that altered the playback speed of the cassette tapes in order to change the pitch. This, unfortunately, also changes the music speed and tempo, making it slower or faster and distorting the overall sound. These machines are no longer produced and cannot be found in a commercial setting.
Some karaoke machines are equipped with the ability to play karaoke games. By using a random number generator, the machine can be programmed to bring up a random song for the user to sing. Depending one the machine, the songs are preprogrammed with a set genre of music - such as country or rock - which keeps the player from getting an obscure song that they wouldn't know. The game is known as 'Karaoke Roulette' or 'Kamikaze Karaoke' and is very popular in both Canada and in the United States.
Karaoke machines have come a long way from when they were first introduced on the consumer market. Today you can purchase 'low-end' machines that are able to remove the vocal tracks from normal audio CDs. The process simply takes the road that all vocal tracks are in the center of the recording and mutes it from both sides of the stereo channel. Of course the technology behind this is more complicated than this, but that is basically how it works in order to allow consumers to use the music they want to sing. While the technology has not been perfected and sometimes mutes the rest of the music more than it should, improvements are being made every day.
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