In Japan, karaoke (pronounced KAH-raho-kay, the middle syllable has a rolling "r") is one of the most popular public activities. It generates more revenue than movies. Karaoke bars dominate the landscape; in many cities, buildings are made up entirely of tiny apartment-size karaoke clubs.

Karaoke has seeped into the American entertainment consciousness in bars, nightclubs and at home. Karaoke places you in the spotlight. A karaoke machine plays the music, you supply the voice. The lyrics are either on a separate sheet or displayed on a TV screen, depending on the format.

When the lyrics appear on a TV, each of the words is highlighted when it needs to be sung (a variation of "follow the bouncing ball"). Prerecorded karaoke music is available in all major audio and video formats but must be played on karaoke equipment. This equipment also can be used to play back standard recordings.

Features

There are special karaoke tape decks, CD players, VCRs (only in Japan), laserdisc, and DVD players. Each requires a microphone and plugs into your stereo system like any other audio or video source component. Most players have at least one, sometimes two, microphone inputs (for duets). Some players have separate microphone volume controls, additional echo controls to add extra tremolo to an otherwise unprofessional voice, a mixing control to balance vocals with music, and music search controls to find particular tracks.

Higher-end karaoke machines offer a variety of additional features.

• Pitch control allows you to change the key of a song in half steps if it is recorded too high or too low for your vocal range. This control is often on the microphone so you can make changes on the fly.
• Dual mic input allows two performers to sing at the same time.
• Multiplex allows you to sing along with a lead vocal for practice, then eliminate the lead vocal to sing alone with the instrumental music.
• Vocal elimination removes vocal performances from regular cassettes or CD recordings. The feature works best on older performances, when recording techniques were less sophisticated.
• Chorus adds background harmony vocals, like having your own back-up group.
• Digital sound processing creates artificial acoustic environments. It will sound as if you're singing in a nightclub, church, arena or stadium.

Variations

In the United States, karaoke is available in four formats: analog audiocassette, compact disc plus graphics (CD+G), laserdisc and DVD. Karaoke cassettes require you to fast forward or rewind to find particular tracks, whereas CD, laserdisc and DVD karaoke allow instant track access - far more convenient at parties.

For analog cassette, prerecorded karaoke music includes booklets with lyrics. Cassette karaoke often is an all-in-one system, with mic, cassette deck and speakers in one cabinet, basically a large karaoke boombox.

Compact disc plus graphics karaoke must be played in a compact disc player designed to play back CD+G discs. A CD+G karaoke player must be connected to a stereo and your video system, and displays song lyrics with rudimentary graphics, illustrations, or still frames on the TV screen. CD+Gs do not offer full-motion video but they play back standard CDs. Many CD-based games and interactive systems can become karaoke players by adding a mic mixer.

The most fully featured karaoke playback devices are the karaoke laserdisc and DVD. Karaoke songs on disc have fully produced music videos along with the lyrics. A karaoke disc can contain as many as 30 different songs, the largest selection of any format. But disc is the most expensive karaoke format: both the hardware and songs cost twice as much as those on CD+G.