In this installment of Karaoke Tips, we're going to cover actually creating your own Karaoke tracks. There is a lot to cover here so grab yourself a cup of your favorite beverage and then we can get started.
There are many ways to create your own karaoke tracks. Some easy, and some not so easy. Some can be done cheaply and other ways cost a pretty penny. What you choose will depend on your tolerance for suffering and your bank account. In this case, there is no free lunch. You get what you pay for.
The ideal way is to get the actual recording of the song you want to sing and then have the vocals ripped from it. The problem with this method is that not all vocal rippers are the same. Some are downright awful. And the really good ones, don't even ask about the price.
Another way is to purchase specially made audio tracks of these songs where the person who made them has this really expensive professional vocal ripper and then charges you an arm and a leg for these songs. One of the problem with this method is piracy. Truth is, you really don't know if the person offering these tracks has the right to do so. A lot of copyright infringement goes on in this business.
Still yet another way is to by a specially made arrangement of the song. It may not sound exactly like the record, but in most cases, it will be close enough. In this case, what you want to do is listen to the song before you make the decision to buy to make sure it sounds good enough for your liking.
Another way to create a karaoke track is from a MIDI file of the song in question. There are plenty of folks out there who actually perform these songs using MIDI instruments and make their own arrangements. Problem with these MIDI files is two fold.
For starters, you have no idea how good the arrangement is going to be until you hear it. And let me tell you, some of them are downright awful.
Another problem is that there is MIDI format 0 and MIDI format 1. You want to look for format 1 because those files have all the tracks separated so that you can remove the melody line if need be. With format 0, you can't do this. Problem here is that not every MIDI creator states what format the file is in, so you have to ask.
As you can see, there are problems with all these methods, either in quality or in the cost to obtain the songs.
I have found the best solution hands down and you can see an overview by following the link in the resource box. Singing Superstar is a fully fledged Karaoke system that harnesses the power of your PC. You can test your skills with real time golden notes, line bonus' and popup's as you sing along with your favorite song.It's affordable, easy and reliable. I highly recommend it.
To YOUR Karaoke success
Manuel Boissiere
Karaoke Tips - Creating Karaoke Tracks
By: Manuel Boissiere
