karaoke

Finding suitable programs to play certain audio and karaoke files can be difficult. While basically functional, QMidi for Mac's dated interface and lack of instructions could make it a less attractive download for all but the most experienced users.

QMidi for Mac comes with a free trial version with a pop-up nag screen. After the installation completed, the user is prompted to purchase the full version, which costs $12. This menu can be dismissed after waiting a few seconds. The program lacks user instructions, but support for updates is available and additional program versions have fixed reported bugs. The … Read more

Heavy audio users and those who like karaoke need specialized programs. MidiCo Karaoke Player and Maker for Mac purports to allow a number of karaoke related features, but its confusing interface and program glitches are problematic.

MidiCo Karaoke Player and Maker for Mac offers a free trial version, but playback is limited to two minutes. Unlocking the full version requires payment of $25.90. The program downloaded and installed quickly, which is expected from a small application. Upon startup, the application loads into a small window, which is difficult to interpret. After searching the drop-down menus, we found a link … Read more

Right when you launch AutoRap, you can get started by tapping your screen and speaking. The app immediately records your speech until you tap the screen again to stop it. After a few seconds of "rappification" (AutoRap's proprietary syllable-mapping technology), the app will replay your recording, autotuned, timing-adjusted, and laid over one of its generic rap beats.

Off the bat, you get two free beats to play with: Turkey Burgers and OneOneOne (I've never heard of them either). You can use these as many times and as often as you like. If you want more beats, … Read more

Having already conquered the world of virtual karaoke, I turned to the unexplored frontier of tablet karaoke. I got out my spandex pants, made the sign of the devil, and tested out the Soulo karaoke mic for iPad.

Rocking the mic Soulo sent along the $69.99 wired mic kit for me to embarrass myself with. A $99.99 Bluetooth mic kit is also available.

The mic itself has a pleasant heft to it and the cord gives you an opportunity to swing it around like Roger Daltrey (though this probably voids the warranty and could leave your iPad in ruins).

The mic works with the free Soulo iPad karaoke app. You can choose between songs in your iTunes collection or songs purchased from the Soulo Music Store.

Soulo has helpfully included a small external speaker to make up for the fact that plugging the mic into your audio jack cancels out the built-in speakers.

You may have to monkey with the iPad's volume switch before singing a song. A patch is on the way to smooth out the volume control.… Read more

Karaoke scares the wits out of me. I can sing in front of a crowd with a guitar and my own songs without batting an eyelash, but something about karaoke makes me want to hide under the nearest table. The only time I've karaoked was in a backwoods bar called The Rose in Cuba, Mo. I barely survived a shaky rendition of "Jumping Jack Flash" just minutes before closing time.

My karaoke phobia has now taken a turn for the better, however, as I've gone virtual. Utherverse, a provider of virtual worlds along the lines of Second Life, has introduced 3D Tunes, the latest place where virtual reality, avatars, and online karaoke collide.

You record a karaoke number through the SingSnap online karaoke service and then jump onto a virtual stage where your avatar shares your earth-shaking talent with a crowd of avatar attendees. No huge bar tab. No awkward dancing. No cab home afterward.

Taking your own turn on-stage requires a little preparation, though. Here's how to do it:… Read more

Some laugh.

They look at Guy Daniel Francis' YouTube videos and can't help themselves. Others can't help thinking this can't be real.

Yet while YouTube has been used by so many to eke out the gory, subjective details of their love lives, Francis, a 31-year-old from the U.K., thought he could use Google's TV for the People to bring something positive to a condition that is sometimes totally debilitating.

Francis has Tourette's syndrome, a condition that has many manifestations. He happens to have the type that causes swear words and weird gestures to emerge … Read more

Best known for its social music- and lyric-finding service, TuneWiki launched a new venture Tuesday in the form of a game with a slightly different take on music discovery. Lyric Legend is a free app that combines aspects of a karaoke and a rhythm game into one visually stimulating package. I downloaded the app onto an iPhone 3GS to give it a spin.

Upon starting, Lyric Legend automatically attempts to connect to a network in order to retrieve high-score and other social info, as well as upload your game data to the scoreboard. However, you don't need a connection … Read more

Remember a few weeks ago when YouTube made a big deal about its new music video page that sorts out every single music video that's hosted on the service? You can now put it to far better use with a new Firefox extension called Scrolling Lyrics Player (SLP) that turns each video page into a honest to goodness karaoke player.

Once installed, SLP will sit just to the right of any YouTube video and do a search for the lyrics of whatever music video or song recording you're watching. It then syncs that up with the timing of … Read more

Credit for today's 404 Podcast show goes to the random madman in The 404 Live chat room this morning, who popped in only to shout "COLLEGE IS EXPENSIVE" before getting booted for using all caps. See you tomorrow, phantom screamer! Today's episode of The 404 takes a closer look at Blackberry's new Torch smartphone, Facebook's ethnicity trend study, regional gadget trends, and why it's never a good idea to sing John Denver at karaoke.

Tech Web site Retrevo recently conducted a gadget survey to find out which states buy up the most consumer … Read more