Karaoke Software

Ever since people realized they could speak, they also realized they could sing, too. This is a very nice means of expressing your feelings, of showing your experiences and thoughts to other people. People sing when they are alone or with friends, when they are sad or happy, they sing because they want to express themselves. And vocal talent is not compulsory. All of us sing in the shower and we don’t care if our voice is not perfect, but it’s sometimes false. We sing because we feel fine doing it. Some people, especially in Japan, USA or other western states enjoy going in clubs and performing in the so-called “karaoke nights”. They enjoy it very much, from children to old people.

Karaoke comes from the Japanese words kara meaning "empty," and ōkesutora meaning "orchestra" and is a form of interactive entertainment or video game. Normal people, not only singers, that is amateurs sing along with recorded music in front of a microphone and an audience. Usually they sing very popular songs, hits that are well-known so that everybody knows the melodic sound and sometimes even the lyrics. The only problem is that they lack the vocal. Those who sing can watch the lyrics on a video screen. Sometimes the lyrics change colour as the song progresses and sometimes the background shows the video of that particular song in order to help the singer perform better. You can do that in special clubs or at home, alone or together with friends.

All you need is that karaoke box or karaoke software on your computer that can help you have fun at home. There are situations when even professional singers use this kind of software, for example when they are invited in a TV show where it’s hard to be accompanied by a whole orchestra. So they go there with a karaoke recording of the songs, that is they sing live, the voice is theirs, but the background music is already recorded. It’s different from what they call "lip syncing" where the whole soundtrack is recorded and the artist only moves the lips, mimes the words.

The karaoke machines are very popular and they are sold in toy-stores or stores for electronic devices. Usually these karaoke boxes have a limited number of recorded soundtracks. You may choose only from these songs. Sometimes they may offer video image, too, but not always.

The karaoke software used on your personal computer at home may have additional, more perfected features: you can transform a normal soundtrack from a CD or from an audio file in a karaoke soundtrack, without the lead vocal. Presently there is karaoke software compatible with different operating systems: Windows, Pocket PC, Linux, and Macintosh PCs.

The area where karaoke singing is the most popular is: North America and some Asian countries such as the Philippines. Karaoke software always uses a microphone and all you have to do is to be connected to a TV, karaoke box or a power outlet to have fun. Some of these devices often support advanced features, such as pitch correction and special sound effects. Some computer companies offer their karaoke content and software for paid download.

CD+G, DVD, VCD and microphone-based players are usually used at home, and not in the clubs. Due to song selection and quality of recordings, CD+G is the most popular format for English and Spanish. Also the CD+G has limited graphical capabilities, whereas VCD and DVD usually have a moving picture or video background. Asian singers prefer VCD and DVD format due to music availability and mostly due to the moving picture/video background.




KaraFun is a new brand in karaoke software and it has many unique features: multiple audio tracks, full screen display on a secondary monitor, TV or projector, full Unicode support. It also introduces the new KFN format.

You can even change the key and speed of the song, and to set the volume of the microphone due to the control window. There is another option that allows you to mute additional audio tracks automatically as soon as the microphone is used (Auto guide cancel).



The editor is programmed to let you easily create animated MP3 karaoke (KFN), and karaoke presets for KAR, KOK, LRC and CDG files.
KaraFun is now one of the most famous karaoke software programmes and has won awards for its power, musicality and ease of use! It is also available in several languages, not only English and Spanish like most of them, has no ads, spyware or viruses. Plus, it’s free!

On the opposite side there’s PowerPoint-Karaoke, a programme that is derived from the traditional Karaoke, but the main difference is that instead of singing songs, the participants must read a random PPT presentation. The presentations can be taken from a limited of preset PPT presentations already prepared. This is considered a training game that helps the participants improve and check their rhetorical presentation skills with a flair for dialogue. PowerPoint-Karaoke first appeared in January 2006 in Berlin, and was created by Zentrale Intelligenz Agentur, an agency of writers and artists in Berlin. Some consider it a possibility to improve people’s rhetorical abilities. But other people think it’s a parody which highlights the absurdity of many business presentations.




Here is a Top Shareware for karaoke lovers:

· Karaoke Maker
· vanBasco.s MIDI Player
· Easy Karaoke Player
· WinKaraoke
· PowerKaraoke Plus
· Karaoke Sound Tools
· Karaoke Mixer
· PowerKaraoke
· K Media Center
· Karaoke Dream

And a Top Freeware for you, still about karaoke:

· Karaoke 5
· vanBasco Karaoke Player
· Karaoke Anything
· KaraFun
· Karaoke Manager
· FolksKaraoke
· OkyFly PC Karaoke
· SongReader Full
· A2 Media Player Pro
· karaoke camstar

Have fun!