Home Karaoke - Some Technical Terms You Should Get To Know

Home Karaoke can be a fun pass-time or an exciting party activity everyone can have a good time with. It takes a short time and effort to set-up. And all ages can participate, kids and adults. While most home karaoke machines are simple to use, it is always helpful to know a little about your machine and how it works. Just to make sure everything goes smoothly and you have the best karaoke experience as you can. Here are a few terms that should help you better understand the world of Karaoke.

All-In-One karaoke systems:
All-In-One karaoke systems are the most common type of home karaoke machines on the market. All the vital components are built into the machine. You have the amplifier, mixer, player and speakers all a part of the machine. All you need to do is connection the karaoke machine to a TV and a power supply, then plug-in your microphone and you are ready to go. Some all-in-one systems have a built-in display monitor to view lyrics if you need them, so even a TV is not always necessary.  

CDG or CG+Graphics:
Like the All-In-One machine, the CDG is the most common karaoke media type on the market. You can find a wide selection of Karaoke CDs with your favorite songs and lyrics. (Be aware, very few CDGs will have original artists recordings of the song.) CDGs are used for karaoke media and are the same size of a normal 53 CD (standard CD size) but with TV graphics or lyrics. Words to the songs appear on the TV screen when the disc is played on a CD+G player and connected to a monitor. CDGs are also compatible with standard audio players, however graphics will not be displayed

Auto Voice Control or Automatic Vocal Cancel:
When a singer is listening to the lead vocal on a multiplex disc and begins singing into the microphone, the lead vocals on the disc stops; when the singer stop singing into the microphone the lead vocals return. There is no way to eliminate background vocals. This feature is found on most home karaoke machines and can be a very useful tool when trying to learn a new song.

Multiplex CDGs:
Multiplex CDGs are a certain type of CD that has the lead vocals on them which can be removed. The CDs are recorded in such a way that the vocals can be separated from the music. These Multiplex CDGs typically have about 8 songs on each disc and come with the lead singer's voice. The lead singer's voice can be removed via the balance control or Auto Voice Control. Most times these discs will have each song track appearing twice on the disc. Once with lead vocals and once without lead vocals. The song tracks should be clearly labeled if it has and lead vocals.

MP3+G files:
Online downloading of karaoke songs are becoming more prevalent. And manufactures are aware of this and have been making machines that are capable of playing digital files.  A MP3+G is such a file. It actually consists of 2 files – a music file in MP3 format and a graphics file – they are played together to produce the music and on-screen lyrics. The name of each file must be the same. It you want to play MP3+G files on your computer, you will have to install the necessary software.

These are just a few terms and features dealing with karaoke. There are many others that you will surely cross your path. The few terms above should just be a starting point for you, as you begin learning about all the wonderful options and experiences karaoke will bring you.