A music entertainment system providing prerecorded accompaniment
to popular songs that a performer sings live, usually by following
the words on a video screen.
2.
The performance of such music.
[Japanese : kara, void, empty + oke(sutora), orchestra (from English
orchestra).]
What is Karaoke?:
Karaoke is singing with a pre-existing song, where you
replace the original lead singer. Karaoke songs are reproduced to sound
like the original song, but without lead vocals. The lyrics of the
song are presented to the singer via a video screen, highlighting the
words to be sung, so that the singer can follow along without memorizing
the song lyrics. Karaoke songs are rarely produced by the original
artist or recording studio. They are usually recreated by independent
karaoke manufacturers. Most of these manufacturers use professional
musicians and singers to produce the likeness of the original song.
Karaoke songs may include some vocals. If the original song contains
any background vocals (i.e. chorus, harmonies, back-up singers, etc),
then the karaoke versions will usually contain them as well.
Certain karaoke discs provide the lead vocals as well, for demonstration
purposes. See our Karaoke
Formats section for details about each type of karaoke format.
History of Karaoke:
Karaoke is believed to have orginated in a small bar in Japan. The
in-house band recorded their music onto tape, and if they were not
there the singer would just sing along to the tape. The word Karaoke
was written on the tape, Kara meaning missing and Oke meaning band
or orchestra.
The Fun of Karaoke:
Karaoke is making anyone the singing star they’ve always wanted
to become. In Karaoke, you can have the same music playing in the background
from your favorite professional group, while you sing the lyrics. Don’t
know the words? No problem. Karaoke sound tracks allow the lyrics to
scroll across the screen of a standard TV. Now, anyone can be the star!
Known Mispellings:
Karaoke is not one of the easiest words to spell. Common
mispellings of karaoke include: kareoke, karioke, karoke, and karyoke.
