Shop for a Karaoke Machine

Establish a Karaoke Machine Budget

• Step 1:
  Decide how you will use your karaoke machine. You will want to allocate a lower budget for your karaoke machine if you plan to just sing once in a while at parties.
• Step 2:
  Consider setting aside more money for a karaoke machine that you plan to use frequently. A more expensive system will offer better sound quality and allow you to practice your singing with a higher level of accuracy than a lower end model would.

Choose a Portable Karaoke Machine

• Step 1:
  Shop for portable karaoke machines for the most ease of use. Portable machines are usually moderately priced.
• Step 2:
  Take advantage of the portable karaoke machine to host karaoke parties. Portable machines combine the microphone, CD player, speakers and even a video monitor into one machine. This way you can simply plug the machine in anywhere and begin the singing competition.

Shop for a Microphone Karaoke Machine

• Step 1:
  Save money by choosing to purchase a microphone type karaoke machine. These simple systems are perhaps the least expensive way to enjoy karaoke at home.
• Step 2:
  Expect lower quality sound and a smaller selection of songs with a microphone only karaoke system. These karaoke machines are just a microphone with some digital songs programmed into it. This type of karaoke machine is best for those who wish to dabble occasionally in karaoke.

Shop for a Karaoke DVD Player

• Step 1:
  Opt for a DVD player style karaoke machine as an addition to your entertainment system.
• Step 2:
  Integrate your DVD karaoke machine into your home surround sound speakers. DVD karaoke machines do not come with speakers, so the sound is channeled through your existing home speakers.
• Step 3:
  Connect your DVD karaoke player to your television. DVD karaoke players use your TV monitor to display the lyrics.

Buy a Children's Karaoke Machine

• Step 1:
  Purchase one of the karaoke machine models created especially for kids who love to sing along. These models tend to be stand alone machines, which feature stronger construction and battery operated options.
• Step 2:
  Use a kid's model yourself to save the most money. Since they are considered toys, many kid's karaoke machines are quite inexpensive.

From: www.answerbag.com

Karaoke in film

Karaoke has been depicted in a variety of movies and television shows, including the 1996 comedy The Cable Guy, the 1997 romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding, the 2006 Disney film High School Musical, the 2003 film Lost in Translation, the TV show Desperate Housewives, and the 1997 Korean Gangster comedy No.3 Rush Hour 2 includes a karaoke performance by Chris Tucker, where he upstages one of the tone-deaf locals by singing Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".
Karaoke is central to the 2000 movie Duets, which features a father and daughter competing in karaoke contests. It is also integral to the 2001 film Jackpot, in which an aspiring singer tours karaoke bars hoping to catch his big break as a country star. Several episodes of Angel feature the demonic karaoke bar Caritas, whose proprietor Lorne (Andy Hallett) can tell fortunes based on the songs he hears. All of American actor David Boreanaz's major television roles have involved his character being assaulted in a karaoke bar particularly, being shot at. Karaoke is the central theme of The Karaoke King, an independent film released in 2006.


From: Wikipedia.org

Karaoke in Korean Culture

In July 2007, the nation of North Korea issued an edict banning, among other similar establishments, karaoke bars from operating in the country. The Ministry of Security officially stated that the ban was enacted to "crush enemy scheming and to squarely confront those who threaten the maintenance of the socialist system."

There have been expressions of dissatisfaction in South Korea with respect to the circulation of Japanese music and songs via karaoke.


From: Wikipedia.org

Public places for karaoke

In Asia, a karaoke box karaoke box is the most popular type of karaoke venue. A karaoke box is a small or medium-sized room containing karaoke equipment rented by the hour or half-hour, providing for a more intimate and less public atmosphere. Karaoke venues of this type are often dedicated businesses, some with multiple floors and a variety of amenities including food service, but hotels and business facilities sometimes provide karaoke boxes as well.

A karaoke bar, restaurant, club or lounge is a bar or restaurant that provides karaoke equipment so that people can sing publicly, sometimes on a small stage. This is the most common arrangement in North America and Europe. Many establishments offer karaoke on a weekly schedule, while some have shows every night. Such establishments commonly invest more in both equipment and song discs, and are often extremely popular, with an hour or more wait between a singer's opportunities to take the stage (called the rotation). East Asian, North American and other Western karaoke arrangements are usually add-ons to an existing bar or social lounge. Most of these establishments allow patrons to sing for free, with the expectation that sufficient revenue will be made selling food and drink to the singers. Less commonly, the patron wishing to sing must pay a small fee for each song they sing.

In some traditional Chinese restaurants, there are so-called "mahjong-karaoke rooms" where the elderly can play mahjong and teenagers can enjoy karaoke. The result is fewer complaints about boredom but more noise.

Noise regulations must be always considered, especially by those intent on bringing karaoke into residential areas.

From: Wikipedia.org

History of Karaoke Machines

AudioSyn Trac and Numark Electronics were the first companies that combined to offer sing-along tapes and audio equipment to the rest of the world. The president of AudioSynTrac, Scott Ebright was a California music promoter and talent agent who booked singers at resorts and hotels across the U.S. Japanese electronics companies saw the AudioSynTrac products introduced at CES shows in the 1970's and immediately copied the concept, calling it "karaoke". The first karaoke machine was invented by Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue in Kobe, Japan in the early 1970s. After becoming popular in Japan, karaoke spread to East and Southeast Asia during the 1980s and subsequently to other parts of the world in its modern state.

In Japan, it has long been common to provide musical entertainment at a dinner or a party. Japanese drummer Daisuke Inoue was asked by frequent guests in the Utagoe Kissa, where he performed, to provide a recording of his performance so that they could sing along on a company-sponsored vacation. Realizing the potential for the market, Inoue made a tape recorder that played a song for a 100-yen coin.

Instead of giving his karaoke machines away, he leased them out, so that stores did not have to buy new songs on their own. Originally, it was considered a somewhat expensive fad, as it lacked the live atmosphere of a real performance and 500 yen in the 1970s was the price of two typical lunches, but it caught on as a popular entertainment. Karaoke machines were initially placed in restaurants and hotel rooms; soon, new businesses called karaoke boxes, with compartmented rooms, became popular. In 2004, Daisuke Inoue was awarded the tongue-in-cheek Ig Nobel Peace Prize for inventing karaoke, "thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other."

Inoue never bothered to Patent his invention, losing his chance to become one of Japan's richest men. Roberto del Rosario, a Filipino inventor who called his sing-along system "Minus-One", now holds the patent for the device now commonly known as the "karaoke machine". Following a court battle with a Japanese company which claimed to have invented the system, del Rosario's patents were issued in 1983 and 1986, more than a decade after Inoue's original unpatented invention of the device in 1971.

Early karaoke machines used cassette tapes, but technological advances replaced this with CDs, VCDs, laserdiscs and, currently, DVDs. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Pioneer Electronics dominated the international karaoke music video market, producing high quality karaoke music videos (inspired by the music videos featured on MTV). In 1992, Taito introduced the X2000, which fetched music via a dial-up telephone network. Its repertoire of music and graphics was limited, but its smaller size and the advantage of continuous updates saw it gradually replace traditional machines. Karaoke machines connected via fiber-optic links to provide instant high-quality music and video are becoming increasingly popular.

Karaoke soon spread to the rest of Asia and then to the United States in the 1990s, as well as to Canada and other Western countries. In-home karaoke machines soon followed but lacked success in the US and Canadian markets. When creators became aware of this problem, karaoke machines were no longer being sold strictly for the purpose of karaoke but as home theater systems to enhance television watching to "movie theater like quality". Home theater systems took off, and karaoke went from being the main purpose of the stereo system, to being a side feature.

As the available selection of music has increased for karaoke machines, more and more people within the industry saw karaoke as a very profitable form of lounge and nightclub entertainment. It is not uncommon for some bars to have karaoke performances seven nights a week, commonly with much more high-end sound equipment than the small, stand-alone machines noted above. Dance floors and lighting effects are also becoming common sights in karaoke bars. Lyrics are often displayed on multiple TV sets around the bar, including big screens.

From: Wikipedia.org