Let’s get lyrical
By Meg Rivera
IF ALL the world’s a stage, then the shower cubicle at home is my recording studio. Apparently, the acoustics in there are so good, the next door neighbor knows when I’m having a shower! I also remember spending afternoons singing through whole albums. Shania Twain, the Corrs, none of them were spared from the mangling I gave their music.
CDs didn’t always have lyrics included in their jackets, so I remember sitting down with a pen and paper and writing lyrics down if I didn’t know them. It was a great exercise in listening comprehension, and eventually figuring out what word could possibly be next. That was a great time for misheard lyrics too; Fall Out Boy would never be the same after singing about going down, down in a merry go round.
The neighbors have long since moved away, but with technology now, nobody ever has to sit next to their stereo trying to figure out what the singer was saying. These three apps listen to music and then spit the lyrics out for you, just in time for your next big shower concert. Grab your waterproof phone case, and let the music echo off the tiles!
App name: Metrolyrics
App developer: CBS Interactive
Available on: iTunes, Google Play
Easy to use: Surprisingly, yes. The blurb page on iTunes outlined a whole bunch of special features, so I figured they would take a lot of navigating to use. The main screen of the app takes a lot of the guesswork out, so that’s a definite plus.
Overall comment: I’ll be honest, I was thinking that this was just going to be a lyrics database app. After all, that’s all I know Metrolyrics to be. The song ID function is a plus, though it’s not great if you are trying to identify heavy metal. It also allows you to find lyrics for the music in your device, so you can finally sing to that Rammstein track you only know the chorus to. Four clicks out of five.
App name: MusiXMatch Music Lyrics Player
App developer: musiXmatch srl
Available on: iTunes, Google Play and even Symbian! Good times.
Easy to use: There should be a tutorial when you first boot this app up, because there are so many amazing features here that people should know about right away. But on the whole, it’s the best app of the three, simply for what it does.
Overall comment: MusiXMatch wins for so many reasons. First, it takes your music library and finds lyrics online for you to sing to. Then it allows you to share the music on various platforms and ‘like’ tracks. But the best feature, in my opinion, is the karaoke feature. You pick a song, then tap on the microphone icon. The app eliminates the voice track, and then you can sing along yourself. This takes the shower concert to a whole new level. I’m keeping this app. Four clicks out of five.
App name: Shazam
App developer: Shazam Entertainment Ltd
Available on: iTunes, Google Play, Symbian
Easy to use: An oldie but goodie. Shazam is probably the first music ID app, or at least one of the very firsts. You would think that because it’s been around for so long, it would have developed a few new features. That’s not the case here though. Clearly Shazam believes in doing one thing, and doing that one thing well.
Overall comment: It’s disappointing to see that Shazam hasn’t evolved, but it’s good to see that it’s still the best at identifying music in a crowded room. The tag function isn’t available anymore, so if you identify a song you’ll have to write it down yourself. There’s nothing else to this app, except that it’s done well for what it what is was designed for. Three clicks out of five.
