| Karaoke, a portmanteau of the Japanese words “kara” meaning “empty” and “oke” derived from okesutora for orchestra, originated in Japan during the early 1980s as an early form of entertainment. It means an orchestra without a singer; empty orchestra. An amateur singer performed live in front of an audience, usually in local bars or pubs, with the original score or song playing in the background. The voice of the singer or singers from an original popular song is either entirely removed or reduced in volume to an effect that lets the live performer be heard. The singer, a part of an entertainment group or a group of commoners, can view displayed lyrics as a sing-along guide. The first instances of karaoke performances originated with singer Daisuke Inoue catering to customers’ requests in the Utagoe Kissa in Japan during the early 70s. His famous performances were demanded by customers as recordings to practice by themselves. Inoue realized this opportunity and devised the first “karaoke” tape recorder that played songs using a 100-yen coin. This spawned an entire industry with the later introduction of the Karaoke Boxes available for personal entertainment in room compartments. These boxes were referred to as karaoke bars or "KTV boxes". The music industry saw early karaoke machines based on cassette tapes, with the modern times witnessing the implementation of CDs, VCDs, and DVDs in late 90s. Basic players comprise of an audio input via a microphone, with the playback mechanism altering the music pitch and an audio output, usually the speakers. Another technique relies on lowering the voice over emphasis or reduction in singers’ volume to achieve music without any lyrical voice-overs. Since the advent of multi-channel surround sound, karaoke has become a standard offering in special movie sets or volumes. These standards rely on completely eliminating the center channel, usually the channel for dialogs and/or songs, to achieve karaoke effect; hence, empty dialogs during the movie too. Taito Company launched the X2000 in 1992 that delivered karaoke music over the dial-up telephone network the first time in the world. Latest developments in technology have seen the introduction of karaoke machines providing high-quality video/music using fiber-optic cables. Popular console game series, Karaoke Revolution and its sequels Karaoke Revolution Vol. 2, Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3, and Karaoke Revolution Party Edition feature the player singing along with the on-screen guided lyrics, achieving scores depending on the pitch, timing and rhythm in the voice. The games were launched for the XBOX platform with the latest versions sporting a download featuring using the XBOX Live service. |
