What Makes Amateur Singers Shine?

Ever since ancient times, wherever people have congregated for social gatherings, singing and accompanying hand-clapping have been a part of the festivities. Even if a person’s voice was not good, his rendition of a song would lead to laughter from the other guests and would still enliven the party. It was therefore inevitable that karaoke songs would develop. The karaoke phenomenon got its start in Japan, a country known for its boisterous bar parties. Legend has it that a musical group was supposed to perform at a snack bar in Kobe City, but when the guitarists failed to show up, the bar owner played tapes of accompanying music and let the vocalist sing to it. Enjoying the spectacle, bar goers also started to contribute and sing along. Thus, karaoke-- an abbreviated Japanese compound word taken from “karappo” meaning empty and “okesutura” meaning orchestra—was born.

The original karaoke machine was simply a tape of the accompanying music. This evolved into a CD with an accompanying video screen where the words to a particular song appear. The Japanese also invented something called a karaoke box, a roadside attraction where people could pull off the road and perform karaoke without disturbing their neighbors. The first karaoke box appeared in 1984 in a rice field in the countryside just west of Kansai. Soon, soundproofed karaoke boxes were popping up all over Japan, and the karaoke song phenomenon spread from a diversion for businessmen in a bar to all sectors of the Japanese culture. It seemed that holding a microphone and singing a song to musical accompaniment made everyone from housewives to students feel like professional singers. If the crowd they were singing in front of gave them a hand, these amateur singers felt even more invincible.

In the 1990s, karaoke songs spread to the rest of Asia and to the United States, where the compact discs were ultimately replaced by DVDs and other enhanced technology. Most karaoke machines now have technology that electronically changes the pitch of music so that amateur singers can sing along to any music source by choosing a key that is appropriate for their vocal range, while maintaining the original tempo of the song. There are different karaoke games that participants can engage in. In “Kamikaze Karaoke,” for instance, a random song is selected and all the singers must do their best to sing along. The popularity of karaoke in the United States has also led to the development of karaoke video games. Karaoke Revolution, released 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.

Some people have maintained that karaoke songs are too “hokey” to take seriously, but for many others in the business of providing entertainment they have become a viable entertainment alternative for night clubs and lounges. With the explosion in the number of songs recorded and the availability of free karaoke music downloads, it appears that this cultural phenomenon has legs. What started out as a diversion for Japanese businessmen has turned into a viable way for all types of Westerners to relax and unwind after a tough week at the office.

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