How Online Karaoke Music Has Changed Karaoke For The Better

Online karaoke music has changed karaoke for the better. No longer do you have to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and perform a song you aren't completely prepared to play. With the advent of online karaoke music, the stressful part of karaoke has been removed. Now, you can practice as much as you want and just record or stream yourself and your performance to thousands of people when you feel ready. To achieve this dream of stress-free karaoke, you need to follow a couple steps.

The first step is to find karaoke music. You can do this for free at many websites, but I recommend the following: Love To Know, EZ Tracks, Free Karaoke, and My Music Tools. These websites allow you to try the online karaoke scene for free. If you cannot find what you are looking for available for free, the next step is to move on to paying for karaoke songs.

There are a couple options available to those who want to buy karaoke music. The first is to buy CD+G discs, a common format employed by many karaoke machines. These CD+G discs come equipped with instrumentals, lyrics, and even videos to the songs you're singing.

Another option is using an internet karaoke MP3 distribution service. There are a couple options available to consider for those who want to karaoke. The Singing Station has many high-quality songs and is available 24 hours a day. It is used by many professionals. Another option is Karaoke Island, which has MP3s available that come with instrumentals, background vocals, and lyrics. One plus of Karaoke Island is that they will turn your computer into a karaoke machine if you choose not to purchase one. Yet another service is StreamKaraoke, which has over 15,000 songs available and full-screen lyric streaming available 24 hours a day.

Once you have the songs that you want and feel confident that you want to pursue internet karaoke, the next step is to buy a karaoke machine. There are many options here, of course, and it all depends on your budget. Do you want to spend a lot of money and buy a professional machine with thousands of songs and pitch-correction technology, or do you want a budgeted machine lacking some features? The choice is yours to make depending on budgetary factors, but I would personally recommend any portable karaoke machine made by Emerson or Singing Machine. They both make quality products and you cannot go wrong buying any of the models of karaoke machines they sell.

After all these steps, you are well on your way to being an internet sensation with your karaoke skills.

Gary is a freelance graphic designer and has worked with several companies in the past. In his spare time, he likes to unwind by belting out a few tunes with his friends with some online karaoke. For more information on the topics raised, visit Sing To The World.

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I Can Write Better Than That!

Remember that the recording artist took the best songs of the 20 previous years of writing to make his first album. His second album got what's left and what he's been writing on the road. While it might be mega-hit stuff, it also might be left-overs.

What is the song that made him or her famous? What song was so good that the song itself carried the guy or gal to stardom? That's the one you should be using as your example.

"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" was written by Jimmie Webb, but it put Glen Campbell in the spotlight. So Glen went back to Jimmie for "Wichita Lineman."

"But You Know I Love You" made Kenny Rogers a household name. When he started to lose audience, he came back with "The Gambler" and we were hooked for another decade. Those are good songs. "The Gambler" is so good, it breaks several "rules" of songwriting, but we don't care. It's good.

If the artist is collaborating or is using the material of other songwriters, the material that comes after his hit might be as good or better, so check to see if the songs he is singing are his own or of other writers. If other writers, there's a shot for you to get yours in there by sending them to the publisher; just make sure they are of the quality that the artist is used to. Any less will not make it to the studio.

It could be, however, that his breakthrough song was written by someone else and then his subsequent albums were full of his own songs. If he is not the songwriter he wishes he was, his own songs might just be less than you want to emulate. The rule applies: his second album might not be as good as the first.

So the next time you hear something on the radio that sounds like something you wrote, only yours was better, stop and think. Is that the breakthrough hit, or the follow-up song that gets airplay because it was by that artist? Is it his tired, old follow-up, or is it something written by another writer, all or in part?

The music business is littered with "one-hit-wonders," people who had one hit song and nothing else they recorded made it to the charts. That's not to say that they didn't record their later work, it's just that it didn't come up to that first, great hit.

It's probably best not to compare your song to anyone or anything at all, but if you must, take the best and compare it to that. If you aren't as good as the breakout hit, you have work to do.

Jon Batson is a member of North Carolina Songwriters and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) with five Hollywood produced musicals, two CDs and a collectible vinyl record to his credit. Jon is the author of The Songwriter's Hook Book, found at http://amzn.to/lLWNSE.

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Synthetic or Real: Which Makes for a Better Djembe?

After catching a beat from a djembe drum one time, the urge to purchase one for oneself is hard to resist. Once the urge has matured into solid purpose, that is, it's time buy a drum, an important decision between synthetic djembes vs. wooden djembes needs to be made. This article aims to help with that choice.

Unsurprisingly, each drum material has its particular sets of strengths and weakens. The trick is for prospective djembe players is to decide what features are most important to them. For example, if durability is important, because, say, the drum will be played outdoors a lot, synthetic, fibreglass djembes may be the best bet. Synthetic djembes are also a little more user friendly than wood because they produce a solid drum tone easily, allowing far more wiggle room in regards to miss-hits.

For players more strictly concerned with sound, it's important to know that fibreglass djembes produce a bright, clear sound, whereas a wooden drum has a warmer, full-bodied tone. Players who play in small circles or with just a few other instruments, like acoustic guitars or banjos, may prefer the more organic, earthy warmth of the wooden drum, while a player in a large circle or ensemble will want to be heard, preferring the sound of synthetics. All of these choices depend on the purpose that a player has for the instrument - Is it going to be played in ensemble or solo? Indoors or out? Is the drum going to need to travel a lot? Answering these questions will aid in deciding whether fibreglass or wood is the better material for a djembe.

Drum heads can also be synthetic or natural. Natural heads are goatskins. Goatskins can produce a vast variety of tones and effects depending on the quality of the hide and the way it has been treated. A helpful hint for players heart-set on a goatskin drum head is "look for the stripe!" A stripe down the centre of the skin is normally an indicator of high quality and strength.

Synthetic drumheads were created to mimic the sounds of goatskin, while providing more sturdiness. Like with the fibreglass mentioned above, synthetic heads are also more beginner-friendly, producing solid tones even if hit goofily.

The base materials and drum heads can be mixed and matched. Some players prefer synthetic drum bodies and natural goatskin heads, others prefer to go all natural, or completely synthetic. The important thing to remember is that it's a matter of individual preference rather than objective superiority. With djembes, it's hard to go drastically wrong. Once the decision is made, then the real fun starts, with drum circles, collaborations and solo jams ready to be enjoyed.

Are you looking to purchase an African instrument, such as djembe drums, then visit the Djembe Drum Shop for a great selection.

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Tips for Writing Songs - Get Better One Day at A Time

If you are like most songwriters I know, you are probably familiar with the frustrating feeling of being stuck in a rut. You know in yourself that it's vital to write something, anything daily; however, there are times when songwriting just seems impossible. Perhaps you don't have enough energy to do it, you could be missing out on the muse, you fail to internalize the essential tips for writing songs, or you are overly critical during your first few attempts. Whatever your reason is, there's still hope. It's still possible for you to get your everyday writing done in a productive way if you only incorporate some brand new exercises to your routine.

So the next chance you get, introduce some great tips for writing songs - a 5-day songwriting exercise. It's one of the perfect ways to start successful songwriting!

Day 1 - Do the research mash-up. First, it's important to give yourself some interesting material to work with. Go online, look for interesting reports, read the papers and go through stories that grab your attention, look for words and phrases that catch your attention. Notice the graphics that accompany those stories and get your descriptive skills to work. Jot down what the pictures are telling you. Get something that grab your imagination and allow some time for you to think about the topic till your next songwriting session.

Day 2 - Brainstorming. Get in touch with a friend, then send each other a list of at least 30 nouns with creative descriptors, like "sweet lies," or "golden keys." Go over your lists for combos that strike you. Then practice merging adjectives from one list to nouns from the other, combining new meanings and new phrases. Take note of the ones that make you want to write more.

Day 3 - Nuggets and Titles. Based from your brainstorming results, create some potential song titles. Remember that they can be anywhere from a single word to five, and should be original, interesting, universal and evocative. Don't try to hard to make it perfect, just use the phrase + word combo that appeals to you.

Day 4 - Surgery. Now, choose a well-known song that you like and rewrite the lyrics. Replace the title with your favourite phrase from your day 3 session, then forget all that you know about the song's original lyrics. Just make sure that the words that you use fit the melody of the song. Now you have a foundation.

Day 5 - Open season. Create your own work of art based on the lyrics that you wrote for the popular song. Next, separate the melody from the lyrics of the song and write your own music, editing your words as needed so as to conform to your own melody. Allow yourself to change the words as the lyrics and melody come together.

Here you go -- great tips for writing songs plus good entries that will help inspire future songwriting.

Jim Byrne is a musician and recording artist who has been writing songs for over 30 years. As well as writing songs for his own Folk and Country Blues albums he has written songs with other people including the pop star Marti Pellow of Wet Wet Wet and Jazz singer Carol Kidd MBE.

Visit Jim's website for more tips and to download two of Jim's latest songs for free: http://www.songsbyjimbyrne.com/freemp3music/index.html

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Voice Lesson and Singing Tips: How to Be a Better Singer

Many people sing for personal enjoyment and want to know how to improve their singing. Still others sing as their vocation and find themselves struggling at times to create the sounds they want and want to learn to sing better. There are some key things one can do to improve their singing voice regardless of whether you are a beginner or advanced singer.

1. Breathing techniques- Strong breathing techniques lay the foundation for vocal endurance and vocal control. Being aware of when and how you inhale and exhale will enhance any singer's skill. There are several exercises one can do to achieve great breath control. The first being bending over and taking in a deep breath to feel the pressure in your back and against your belt area. If you practice this breathing technique, you will begin to teach your body how to expand while breathing to sing.

2. Projection techniques- This explores how to make sound, independent of 'singing sounds'. This is where you repeat nonsense syllables. It works great because it takes a singer's mind off of 'singing'. You learn to engage not only your voice but also your body as a total instrument. It frees the voice, because you are learning to free your throat and allowing your voice to sound more natural, as if speaking. One such exercise is doing a surprised sounding 'WOW'. To be surprised, the entire body is engaged and a quick breath is inhaled. There is usually extreme facial movement and maybe even hand and arm movement. The voice is then thrown out. If you start of with a fast 'WOW' then move to a slower 'W-O-O-O-O-W' while keeping the same intensity you are learning to project your voice for singing.

3. Tone control- This is where your singing starts to sound polished. You learn to avoid sounding 'shouty' along with was to attack, sustain and release notes. Many times this can be achieved with something as simple as bringing the corners of your mouth forward. There are several positive side effects of a forward mouth. One is that your voice will sound richer and fuller. The second is that you will inadvertently relax your tongue which will give you a rich natural vibrato as well!

Singers will find that in this process their voice has become stronger and more powerful. They are able to sing more challenging music with ease and find themselves singing more comfortably for longer periods of time. They are, indeed, better singers!

I want to hear from you! If this article was useful, please let me know your comments!
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