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Some interesting articles about MIDI Karaoke

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MIDI Formats – SMF and .KAR

The Standard MIDI File Format - SMF

MIDI messages are very easy to collect and put in a file system on your computer. The standard MIDI file is also known ad SMF. Its specifications were created by the MMA, MIDI Manufacturers Association. The MIDI files are made with the help of a computer sequencing software or even a MIDI instrument/workstation. These tools help organize the sounds independently. Each track has its own MIDI channel or an instrument patch. You can even connect your instruments and then name the track after it as long as it complies with the General MIDI standard. Also, the SMF file is created of a header chunk plus more track chunks. There are also three SMF formats. The Format-0 has one single track. This means that is you use this MIDI file in a karaoke performance, it will be a single song performance. The Format-1 can have a different number of tracks but you can also adjust it for the single song performances. The Format-2 can have many tracks but every one of them is a single performance of one song. An interesting fact is that the sequencers don’t usually support the Format 2.

The MIDI Karaoke File - format - .KAR

MIDI-Karaoke has the file extension - ".kar". Some people call this format the "unofficial" extension of the MIDI files. This Midi Karaoke file is used to add the lyrics to a standard MIDI file. The lyrics are synchronized with the whole song and the PC is turned into a karaoke machine.

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The Karaoke Machine
The standard karaoke machine is made of one music player, microphone input and audio input. The low-end machines are providing vocal suppression. This means you have to feed the machine with regular songs and then suppress the original voice. For a long time, these karaoke players were very effective. But the majority of the karaoke machines are Laser Disc, CD+G, VCD or DVD player that have microphone input. The machine uses a specific track named subcode so that it can encode all the lyrics or pictures. They display video and audio in the same time. The old karaoke players used cassettes and the playback was altered manually. These ones are no longer available.
The more advanced karaoke players that use the MIDI technology and that are able to change electronically the pitches of the music. In this way, the karaoke amateur singer will sing along with a key more appropriate to his vocal capabilities. There is also a popular karaoke game where you can type a number and a song will appear. Some karaoke machines using this system are limited to s specific number of songs or a specific musical genre. This kind of player was called Kamikaze Roulette or Kamikaze Karaoke in US.

Some entertainment systems use a karaoke mode which removes the vocal part from the regular audio CD. It is called karaoke center removal. There are also karaoke machines, like the Sega Saturn, that can adjust automatically the song’s pitch in order to match your vocal range

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The MIDI interface
            The Musical Instrument Digital Interface, popularly called MIDI, is a protocol used in the industry. It was defined in 1982. This standard is enabling electronic music instruments like computers, keyboard controllers, or some other equipment to control, communicate, and even get synchronized with each other. For example, MIDI allows the computer to control the drum machine and synthesizers. MIDI is simply transmitting the pitches and the musical notes’ intensity or the control signals of parameters like vibrato, volume, cues and the clock signals that are setting the tempo. This electronic protocol has rapidly spread throughout the musical industry. In karaoke, MIDI is highly important.
            Many music formats used for karaoke are based on the MIDI files byte stream. This is because the MIDI file formats are quite compact. For example, small files that only have 10 KiB will give out a full music minute or even more. The cool MIDI synthesizer can also be built in the operating system, in the sound card or some other embedded device or synthesizer. The MIDI files will storage the information on the note you are playing and then it will give it in the same note.
            This is why the Midi technology is very useful for applications like karaoke software, ringtones or video games. But you should know that the MIDI based mobile ringtones can sound much more different on the handset in comparison to the PC. It all depends on how modern the software synthesizer is. The best the synthesizer is, the more accurate the song is. Because for many years the synthesizers were not that efficient, the notion “MIDI sound” tends to refer to a poor quality sound.

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Applications of MIDI and file formats

After the year of 1980, when the MIDI standard was published, many music formats were developed. Many of them were based and used the MIDI byte stream. The good thing is that the file formats are short and very compact. For example, a small file that has 10 KiB will be able to produce one full music minute and sometimes even more. This happens because the files are storing the instructions about how to recreate that sound using MIDI synthesizer and not the waveform that was used to produce it.
The MIDI synthesizers can be built into the operating system, sound cards, embedded devices or different types of software based synthesizers. These file formats are storing the information about the note the sound is played on and some other types of information like the pitch or the velocity of the note.
This is great for applications like a mobile phone ringtone, video games or many others. Still, it is not good to use this system in more sophisticated applications because it does not guarantee the accurate waveform that you may want. This is because the sounds are recorded and then replayed using the MIDI file system. For example, if you use the Microsoft MIDI Synthesizer that is in every Windows OS, the sound will sound similar. But if that MIDI bytestream gets played on a different synthesizer with another OS, it will sound very different. Also, there are sound card synthesizers that do not reproduce sounds from other synthesizers.

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Karaoke beginnings

Karaoke comes from the Japanese word “kara” and “orchestra”. Some people with a poor English pronunciation spell the word "kareoke". It is a form of live entertainment that requires an amateur singer to perform along a recorded song or music video in front of an audience. The amateur singer is using a microphone and he sings along. Usually, the genre of the songs played on karaoke music night is pop. The karaoke system means that the lyrics are shown on the screen and a moving symbol is showing the singer how the lyrics are integrated with the music. As the singer sings his song, the lyrics change their color. In many countries, there are even karaoke music videos that have lyrics and an option to get disabled the original voices on the track. This karaoke video is named KTV.
The history of karaoke goes back in time, singe they first started recording sounds. There are many cases when it is hard if not impossible to get a band or an orchestra. Here is where the karaoke comes in hands by replacing the band. Karaoke does not mean playback or "lip syncing" because the singer can actually hear his own voice when he sings.
Right now there are many disputes about how has invented the karaoke. But there is a common conception that it was invented by Daisuke Inoue, a musician from Japan in 1971. It was a huge success and it spread out to the Asia continent and afterwards in America and Europe.

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The history of MIDI

MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and it is a musical industry protocol created in1982. This protocol allows the musical instruments to get connected to each other using a computer.
In 1970s, the electronic musical instruments and devices were becoming quite affordable. But devices that came from different manufacturers were not compatible with each other. Some of them couldn’t even get interconnected because of the various standards. So it was the need for a different system that would reunite all the instruments from different producers. In 1981, Dave Smith, an audio engineer from Sequential Circuits, Inc. designed an interesting digital standard used for the musical instruments. He send his discovery to the Audio Engineering Society and the system was called MIDI. The Engineering Society published the specifications in the month of August 1983.
From then on, the MIDI technology became a standard and the MMA (MIDI Manufacturers Association) was also born. The Association also published the standard in USA and also Japan. Free downloads were also offered on the site of MMA and a lot of MIDI specifications and links. But they removed those after a short while in the hope that people would buy the documentations. Today, a big part of the documentation can be found on free websites on the internet. After 1980 MIDI helped bring down the synthesizers wall when many performances on keyboard were done by huge analog synthesizers or electric pianos. But with the MIDI standard, used also in karaoke playing, all the instruments are now controlled by a single keyboard.

Music and Technology

Musical technology has come a long way in recent years. With the invention of MP3 players and the ever increasing advances for mobile phones, we are able to listen and enjoy music in an easier, more portable way. Devices are small and compact, storing more music than we would have dreamt of not so many years ago. The days of carrying cassette tapes or CDs and a portable player are long gone.
With advances in portable music players comes the world of downloading. There is a variety of musical genres to be found on download websites. It is easy to find what you want from a huge selection of artists, with a small charge per track. It is also possible to download free karaoke and MIDI songs, for your enjoyment. Those unfamiliar to this or a little technologically fearful need not worry, this is easily learnt and you will soon be able to download your favourite tracks, to listen to on the move or relaxing at home.
Free MIDI files range from Bossa Nova to Shrek’s Hallelujah, there’s even Christmas songs; the choice is endless. So whether you’re into world music, pop music or movie theme songs, there is something for everyone. Karaoke songs and even a karaoke player can also be downloaded free, for even more fun with music. So if you prefer to sing along to your favourite track, rather than just listen to it, this is probably for you. Again, there is so much choice available and you can search through hundreds of artists and tracks. So don’t delay, start downloading and enjoy.

A World of Music

Music has come a long way in the last twenty years. There have been so many technological advances to help us listen to our favourite songs; we have so much choice.
Of course some people will remember vinyl and may even still use them today. However cassette tapes became a great substitute, especially when portable players were manufactured. CDs followed and were so easy to play, with no need for all that rewinding or fast forwarding, becoming so popular that cassettes have all but died out. Currently, we have MP3 players and mobile phones to play our favourite tracks on. It is very easy to download music from huge selections on the internet.
A large portion of the population chooses to download music to listen to on small, portable devices. It is also possible to download free karaoke songs with lyrics and free MIDI files. MIDI or Musical Instrument Digital Interface was developed in 1982 and enables electronic musical instruments to communicate with each other. Most popular music is written and performed using MIDI equipped keyboards. Even film and TV scores are usually created in this way and with digital advances, the sound is extremely realistic. A popular choice at the moment seems to be the Shrek, Hallelujah MIDI but there is a wealth of free files to download, including Christmas MIDI.
With the help of suitable MIDI software it is possible to use it to learn and create music as well as just listening to it. Even mobile phones make use of this medium as ring tones are often produced using a built in synthesiser. So, why not take the opportunity to download your free MIDI songs today.

Written by Sheryl Thompson 2009

Karaoke has become an increasingly popular pastime for many people today. In fact, a National Karaoke Week exists and is usually held on the last week of April, each year. Also, the 9th Annual National Karaoke Contest is currently taking place in Nevada, USA. Wherever you live, there is always something on offer, be it large national contests and events, or a simple night out with friends at a local venue.
Karaoke has come a long way since its development in Japan in 1971. Its popularity soon grew, spreading across Asia, then to the rest of the world in the 1990’s. Early karaoke machines used cassette tapes, but subsequent advances meant that CDs and DVDs replaced those. These days however, you don’t even need a machine as you can download a free karaoke player online, with just the click of a button. There is also such a wide choice of free karaoke songs with lyrics, together with a huge selection of free MIDI songs on offer too. It’s easy to browse through the artists or search within a website to find exactly what you are looking for. Then, all that’s left to do is sing.
Whatever your musical ability or your financial circumstances, karaoke is an enjoyable and entertaining thing to do. Whether you stay at home with the family, go out with friends or enter the big contests, it’s all fun. If you don’t have the confidence to sing a song, it can be just as amusing to watch someone else do it. So there’s no excuse, get out the karaoke.

Written by Sheryl Thompson 2009

Instrumental Karaoke
Instrumental Karaoke is different from normal Karaoke music as it does not have any lyrics. Its’ mostly meant for professional artists as there is no lyrics appearing written before hand on the screen. As such anyone who is not that much experienced in performing live Karaoke rarely opts for Instrumental Karaoke. In Instrumental Karaoke, as only instrumental karaoke songs, it allows the performer to give his own twist to the lyrics, but in such a manner that the lyrics and music fall in sync. However no vocals can be recorded over the Karaoke instrumentals, and the performer has to sing the song with the aim to give the audience same feeling, as they would have if they had heard it in the original form the original singer.

Instrumental Karaoke is not just available off the shelf, but also available for sale online as well as free online downloads. Instrumental Karaoke usually consists only of instrumentals of a song. While in pure instrumental music there is no voice or chorus, the voices including lead and chorus are removed from the song tracks with the help of machines and software. As such the karaoke instrumentals are not similar to pure instrumental music, with makers taking care to avoid copyright issues, because if there is any similarity then they will be forced to pay royalty. As with songs, Karaoke instrumentals are also available for songs in all variety of languages including Hindi, English, Japanese, Chinese and others; under various categories including hip-hop, rock, rap, devotional, special occasion and even festival related.

Karaoke CDs
Karaoke CDs consist of Karaoke songs also called accompaniment tracks. These CDs are a set of 2 to 3 CDs, with each CD having been developed for a specific purpose. Most of the Karaoke CDs are available in both medium high and medium low voicing format for the ease of the user. Karaoke CDs also include features such as orchestrated recordings on both the accompaniment CD as well as the listening CDs. Some of these CDs also include instrumental tracks of a song, to help the performer give a better ‘Karaoke’ performance. Karaoke music is available in a variety of disc formats; these include CD+G discs (CD plus Graphics) that can be played on a CD+G karaoke player and at the same time display synchronized lyrics on the monitor, or on an ordinary CD player without lyrics.

Apart from these, karaoke DVDs are also available that can be played in any DVD player. The karaoke CDs carry a variety of songs, similar to the ordinary CDs. The Karaoke performer needs to follow the lyrics’ that appear written on the screen of the Karaoke machines to give live performance with or without supportive keyboard accompaniments. Karaoke music is characterized by its live performance, so a variety of songs are available on Karaoke CDs that a person may like to perform live on. These include hip-hop, rock, love ballads, festival, and special occasion songs. Some Karaoke CDs come with assorted songbooks to help the performer sing live while reading the lyrics. Sometimes 2 CD packs are also available for sale, in which one is a full-performance CD and the other one is a practice CD when an accompanist is not available.

Karaoke Machines

Generally karaoke machines includes everything from players, accessories, microphones, wireless mics, mic stand, amplifiers, mixers, software, tote bags, speakers, speaker stands, monitors/TV stands. Older machines allowed suppression of voice of original singer; new karaoke machines come with microphone inputs and audio mixers; display both lyrics and video. These machines allow amateur singers to change the pitch of music themselves, and ‘Karaoke’ at levels they are comfortable at, by just changing the key levels. The karaoke machines that allow suppression of the original voices, often caused performance downfall due to poor audio quality. Music played on these machines resulted in voice and instrument reverberation that further degraded the quality of song played. Such problems forced people to develop better techniques. One such technique, is the Fast Fourier Transform technique provides a better left-right comparison between frequencies, thus allowing users to enjoy songs in moderated manner on the machines.

Karaoke machines allow user to choose from a huge selection of songs as per their own like. They just need to pay the money and ‘Karaoke’ for each song they select. While some low cost machines directly suppress the voice of the original singer affecting the quality of output; CD+G, VCDs, Laser Discs, DVD players with microphone inputs and built in audio mixer, allow karaoke singers to sing along with the visuals, without affecting the output. High end CD+G players encode both lyrics and pictures displayed on screen. In this way, the amateur singers can ‘karaoke’ by just altering a key to match there own vocal capability. Some karaoke machines have also been developed to cater to a specific musical genre.

Karaoke MIDI
MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a protocol established in 1982 that allows musical instruments such as keyboards and related equipment to control, communicate, and synchronize with each other through a computer. MIDI electronic protocol allows a computer to control the drum and synthesizers by simply transmitting the pitches and musical notes’ that set up the tempo. The Karaoke songs are now generally based on MIDI protocols, because the MIDI file formats allow storing of lot of music at one place.

The Karaoke MIDI files allow proper organization of sounds independently, using a computer sequencing software or a MIDI instrument/workstation. As each track has its own MIDI channel, connecting the instruments and creating a SMF (Standard MIDI File) format is easy. SMF files can be prepared in 3 different formats namely Format-0 that has one single track or a single song performance; Format-1 has number of tracks but adjustments for single song performances can also be done; and Format-2 has number of tracks and each track can be singled for a single performance. These Karaoke MIDI files saved with ‘.kar’ extensions, are used to add lyrics to a standard MIDI file and synchronize the whole song. As these files can be played in a PC, so a PC can be turned into a karaoke machine.

As such MIDI technology is now a days considered as the standard protocol to prepare a Karaoke format song with the help of a computer, where all types of Karaoke instruments can be controlled using a single keyboard.

Karaoke Software
A variety of karaoke software’s are available in the market that are used to not just modify a song, but also to create, burn and play new karaoke songs. The software allows not just a karaoke professional artist, but also an amateur artist to develop a wide range of karaoke song collections. Karaoke software’s allow the creation of karaoke songs; burning and copying karaoke songs into compact discs. Also there are software’s specifically meant to help in playing and recording a variety of karaoke songs. There are software’s that allow a professional karaoke artist to organize a proper karaoke live show to entertain the public.

There are software’s that help in conversion of karaoke songs from CDs to DVDs or any other audible or viewable platform be it iPods, MP3 or videos. Karaoke software’s that allow processing, filtering and segregating of original songs to be played in karaoke format are also available. There are also some software’s available that allow users to directly convert a karaoke song into a karaoke video in MPEG and AVI video format, complete with lyrics and visual track.

Some of these software’s include Karaoke CD+G Creator, Karaoke CD+G Creator Pro for creation; Power CD+G Burner, Karaoke DVD Burner to burn and copy; Siglos Karaoke Player/Recorder, Power CD+G Player Pro, Power CD+G Filter to play and record; Siglos Karaoke Professional to run a professional karaoke show; Karaoke DVD Burner, Power CD+G to Video Karaoke Converter, Power CD+G to iPod Karaoke Converter to convert songs in to other ‘Karaoke’ formats; as well as vanBasco's MIDI Player and EasyKar for Karaoke in Karaoke-MIDI format. Apart from Karaoke software’s available off the shelf, software’s are also available for free download off the internet. All these software’s help a singer to ‘karaoke’ the songs effectively without any problem.
Karaoke Songs
A ‘Karaoke’ song also called accompaniment track is a song chosen by a performer to ‘karaoke’ which are liked by the audience also. A ‘Karaoke’ song is different from a normal song, where instead of a song being played on a machine, a singer sings to a song with the visuals are played on the screen; and lyrics appear as written on the screen of the machine. All the singer has to do is to put a coin in the karaoke machine, and select a song which suits his/her voice pitch. The selected song comes up on the screen, with the original music but without the original vocals, but the backup vocals are left untouched. To sing a Karaoke song, the singer has to carefully read the lyrics that appear on the screen, and sing the song in such a manner that the audience gets feeling that the song has been sung by the artist himself.

If the audiences don’t enjoy a particular song, the singer can always change the ‘karaoke’ songs as per the audience demand, and as such these ‘Karaoke’ performances are always considered live performances. However choosing the right song as per the occasion is the key to a well developed ‘Karaoke’ performance. ‘Karaoke’ song performances are mostly held in lounges, restaurants, and night clubs, where people come to enjoy. Mostly the Karaoke singer’s are joined by individuals or groups on stage for singing. Karaoke song CDs are not just available off the shelf, they are also available for free download from the internet. Some of the major Karaoke song sellers on the internet include www.hitkaraoke.com, www.myindiankaraoke.com, www.loudkaraoke.com, and www.pocketsongs.com. The best part of karaoke songs is that now Karaoke song are available in variety of languages including Hindi, English, Japanese, Chinese and many others.

Karaoke System
A karaoke system is made up of 3 parts; namely microphone, karaoke player and speaker. A karaoke system allows a karaoke singer to easily control the pitch of the music as per their own liking, and even remove the original voice of the singer. Called centre removal, this is not considered a very effective method, so using an audio mixer that takes inputs from vocals of the live singer and mixes it with the music is ideal. These audio mixers include systems such as MP3 players that display only audio; others like CD+Gs (CD plus Graphics) have embedded lyrics and graphics; while the rest are equipped with audio and video encoding facility to meet user needs.

The Karaoke systems can be customized later on after purchase or can also be designed specifically so as to meet the performers’ requirement. As Karaoke is basically centered around the ability of performers’ to sing live, so its’ important that pitch of music is altered as per vocal range of the singer, so that live performance does not suffer. As no two voices are same, so most of the times a customized Karaoke system is used. A portable Karaoke system is sometimes called singing machine that usually have a built-in audio mixer. These portable Karaoke systems are also available in the form of Personal Karaoke System. The Personal Karaoke Systems are well equipped to play CDs, CD+Gs as well as display lyrics on a monitor to help the performers read the lyrics.
Karaoke-Box

Karaoke-Box! is the name, given in Southeast Asia to a place or venue where people go to perform or enjoy a Karaoke gathering. These places called karaoke boxes are generally a huge auditorium or hall like place, divided into small/medium-sized private rooms with multiple floors. These rooms are available at a fixed rent for a particular time for people to enjoy Karaoke night privately. These private rooms allow people to perform and enjoy Karaoke by themselves, if they are uncomfortable performing in front of large gathering. These Karaoke venues are fully equipped with all types of modern karaoke equipment, and are made specifically to be sound proof, so that noises do not cause problems for others. Most of the times these places have dedicated space meant for other businesses such as food service counters, and other entertainment facilities so as to be able to handle a large gathering of people.

As the craze of Karaoke grows in Southeast Asia some hotels and malls have started providing karaoke box facilities in their lobby as well, however Karaoke machines are also available on rent for use in parties. In China some restaurants are known to keep a separate space called ‘mahjong-karaoke rooms’ where elder people play ‘mahjong’ a musical instrument and teenagers perform ‘Karaoke’ on their favorite song. In Europe bars/restaurants, club/lounges have separate ‘Karaoke’ sections called ‘private rooms’, where people perform. Generally performers are allowed to use the rooms for free, with revenues being generated through sale of other amenities. These places equipped with some of the best Karaoke equipment, generally organize Karaoke performance on a weekly or daily basis. One of the most famous Karaoke center in Europe is ‘Karaoke!Me’ in Bristol, UK. ‘Karaoke!Me’ has 7 private, soundproof, waiter-serviced Karaoke rooms for people to perform Karaoke on any occasion.

Technology and Karaoke
Music and technology go hand in hand now a days’. New technologies have allowed the user to get hold of any type of songs in any format. As such people now can listen to music and watch videos of any song on any type of device they like. Technology has allowed development of devices that are not just small and compact but can store and play music, earlier it was only cumbersome equipments Long Playing (LP) records or audio tapes. Now people can choose from a variety compact devices such as VCDs and DVDs as well as audio CDs, MP3 players, mobile phones, and iPods that are not just small in size but also store much more music than the previously used instruments. Even CDs are slowly becoming redundant.

Use of technology in karaoke has increased since karaoke came into being. Earlier basic karaoke machines included a music player, microphone, a device to change pitch of music, and an output device. But with the advent of new technology has allowed karaoke/amateur singers’ to get the same feel of a professional singer in real life. Compared to older karaoke machines that used audio cassettes as data feed and where change of pitch was done manually; the new age advanced karaoke machines use MIDI technology that allows user to change the pitch of the music electronically without disturbing the flow of original song. Use of modern technology has allowed users to download karaoke and MIDI songs from internet. This has allowed downloading the songs directly onto special Karaoke iPods.

What is Karaoke?
Karaoke is popular type of entertainment that’s mostly witnessed in bars, night clubs and lounges. Karaoke which originated in Japan, is a merger of Japanese words’ ‘kara’ meaning "empty" and ‘ōkesutora’ meaning "orchestra". Karaoke sometimes mis-spelled "kareoke", should not to be confused with "lip syncing" in which performers mime to a previously recorded song with lead vocals intact. In Karaoke an amateur singer takes the help of recorded music or video to sing a song, but without the original vocals. Its’ said that Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue installed ‘Karaoke’ machines in Kobe, Japan in 1971. The machines were an instant craze and soon spread to other parts of Asia and world.

At the center of Karaoke are machines fitted with variety of equipments like Laser Discs, VCD/DVD players with microphone and audio mixers. In Karaoke, the song lyrics are usually displayed on a screen, along with a moving symbol and/or video images, in order to help the singer to sing in a proper manner. The Karaoke singers generally sing a song using a microphone and public address system. ‘Karaoke’ includes Karaoke songs and Karaoke instrumental music. However for copyright issues, the makers create the songs and music in such a way that they don’t have to pay royalty to the original producer of the song. The advent of technology has had an impact on Karaoke music. Of special mention is ‘Karaoke music videos’, where technology has allowed lyrics to be displayed on screen with an option to disable the original voice track. This type of arrangement is called ‘KTV’. Karaoke machines were initially placed in restaurants and hotels; but have now become an essential part of entertainment in lounges, bars and nightclubs.

* You are paying for rthe bandwidth/cd and postage and handling, not the songs.Songs are (C ) of respective autor.