Why do you think rock stars, opera artists, pop divas, and balladeers have such promising careers when in fact, all they seem to do is sing their hearts out?
Well, it’s a no-brainer: singing is a way of life; an indispensable form of art present in whatever culture or race; has transcended across generations–and it’s evolving! It’s surprising how many musical notes there could ever be.
Art and passion it is, singing has become a way to express one’s self, to kill idle time, or to plainly have fun. Check your grade school slum book (what is your hobby? singing.) or reminisce your good ‘ol high school days and there’ll be surely plenty of ‘singing’ memories.
In most Filipino rituals, singing is as well present. Name it: wedding, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, even burials! There’s a song to sing for every occasion, for every emotion, and for practically every reason.
Singing in turn became almost a necessity, paving the way for the creation of instruments that would make the art easier. From archaic instruments like mandolins, time and technology gave birth to radio, cassette tapes, compact discs then the Karaoke.
Wikipedia defines Karaoke as a form “of entertainment in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music (and/or a music video) using a microphone and public address system” with the voice of the original singer removed or reduced in volume.
But first generation karaoke systems were very expensive and huge in size, making it impossible to sing anywhere you like it. Lyrics were still printed in a paper and if you don’t know the song’s lyrical timing, you have to play it by ear. Thankfully, this evolved into KTV (Karaoke TV) and all you had to do is follow the highlighted prompt on the lyrics.
The Karaoke phenomenon also spurred the rise of KTV bars but public singing areas can be not as fun to those who are shy and not confident with their singing prowess. Besides, there would be a lot of competition in public KTV bars!
All these apparently prompted the creation of Microphone Karaoke. But the Mic Karaoke is a hundred times better! Easy to carry, with a choice of a thousand songs, and just as easy as 1-2-3. Plug and play, the mic karaoke can be used at home (now that is where you can really sing your heart out) or can be brought anywhere you want to. And the good news? The possibilities of this magic microphone is endless. Let me tell you about this more in the future posts.
For now, exercise those vocal cords. Who knows? It might come handy soon.