Karaoke country
By Meg Rivera
THE Japanese may have been credited with the karaoke machine, but it was the Filipinos who took the idea and ran with it. As many a foreign national would have observed, we love our karaoke. It’s so hard-wired into our culture now, that no group outing is considered complete without a trip to a videoke bar. It doesn’t even have to be an evening thing: as early as five in the afternoon, you can hear the corner machine start up and “My Heart Will Go On” play.
As much as I love a good singalong, sometimes the urge strikes when there isn’t a microphone around. I figured, that with a decent Internet connection, a good pair of headphones and a locked door you don’t need to go over to Redbox. I took out my singing frustrations out on my smart device, and didn’t have to pay diddly squat for any of it. Best part? I could sing “My Way” without getting a glass bottle thrown at my head. Enjoy!
App name: Karaoke Anywhere
Developer: Joltsoft LLC
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: Not initially. This needs a good fiddle around before using.
Overall comment: This is what you download to satisfy a fleeting singing itch. It’s not very pretty to look at, and the constant stream of ads may put you off. However, the songs you can sing to are fairly recent and you can record your performance. Not a looker, but it gets the job done. Two clicks out of five.
App name: Sing!Karaoke by Smule
Developer: Smule
Available on: iTunes and Google Play
Easy to use: This is why Smule speciali
ses in music apps. They take what you love and know of music and make it fun and easy to use.
Overall comment: This article nearly didn’t get written because of this app, it was so much fun! You need tokens to sing the songs alone, but they’re free if you duet with someone. You can pick a random performance to sing to, and upload the performance for them to check out. This is for the karaoke aficionado, especially if you can get a proper microphone to use. One of the best apps I’ve seen so far, and it guarantees hours of fun. Five clicks out of five.
App name: Starmaker: Karaoke + AutoTune
Developer: Starmaker Interactive, Inc
Available on: iTunes and Google Play
Easy to use: There is a video tutorial for you to play and sing along with. It’s easy to find, right at the top of the song list.
Overall comment: This app is a great mix of Rock Band and the Smule app above. You need to hit the notes right to match an arrow and gain points. The more points you earn, the more tokens you get to ‘buy’ the songs. There is an AutoTune button to help you along, but not entirely necessary. You need to play for a while to access any of the music though, but a good app anyway. Three clicks out of five.
