Hitting the right notes is only the first step, without the right kind of articulation, lip movement, breathing technique...and techniques to bring the voice "forward" into the room and avoid singing with to much air or too nasal, or..or..etc...etc...you will still sound more or less awfull. If you think singing is for you...get a real vocal training with a vocal teacher, but please stop hurting the worlds ears with your "I hit all notes right but do everything else wrong"-singing. Maybe this problem will change if a program comes out that not only analyses pitch but also other important things like timbre, vocalisation, stability of sung notes etc.

Things You Will Need:

• Song with two parts
• Partner with which your voices mesh well
• Disk with vocals included
• Disk without vocals/karaoke disk
• CD player or karaoke machine

If you are using a karaoke machine, you are going to need two microphones, and all cords, speakers and monitors.

Two print outs of lyrics for the song, with their part highlighted Make sure that you really know the song that you are going to perform. Nothing can be more embarrassing than getting up to sing, and not knowing the tune or the words to the song. Listen to it many times, listen to be sure it is in your range. Assuming you have already done so, practice listening to the song while reading through your lyrics with your partner. Say the words along with the song. This helps you make sure you know where to come in and leave off with each word.

Once you know that you both know the pitch and rate the song will be in, you should start to warm up your voice. Many professionals suggest not drinking any ice cold drinks, alcohol or dairy before performing because of it's limits on the vocal chords. Drinking room temp water is the recommendation for quenching thirst. Start by vocalizing the correct pronunciation of words that need a very high or low tone, because the difficulty of vowels in these areas. Do this as quite a few times, as many as necessary to have the right pronunciation of all the words in both vocal parts. Remember, to get those high or low notes, it is best to breathe from your diaphragm for support to stretch out the vocal chords to accommodate the note. Practice the highest and lowest notes and their words, to ensure the correct sound.

Once you both have warmed up your voice and practiced placement of lyrics, you should start to sing with the disk that has the vocals included. Do this as many times as you need to, to ensure both of you are hitting correct notes and beginning and ending on the notes at the correct time. Nothing's worse than hearing someone perform a song, singing two beats behind the music. Timing is essential when singing with someone else. To ensure coming in together, you could use a hand gesture you are comfortablewith to signal the note. Practice this many times, so that you are certain the vocals are together, rather than staggered.

Since we memorized the words, try singing along with the karaoke disk. Begin by counting off the beats until the first singer is supposed to come in. Many songs have a small musical introduction, this will help you find where to come in. Begin by singing alone, and have them listen to you practice your part. If there are any errors, now is the time to fix them, while you can concentrate on your own part. When you are satisfied with how you sound, trade places with your partner. The key to singing together is knowing each others voice, and knowing how your voices sound together. Let your partner sing through their part as many times as they need, to achieve the correct pitch, tone and placement of the notes.

Now that you have sang alone and heard to your partner sing alone, it is time to sing it together. Sing along with the karaoke portion of your disk as many times as you need to, so both voices are coming in and ending at the same time. Make sure that you do not forget to stop the disk and go back if you have a problem with timing.

Once you have practiced your song enough to be comfortable with the disk, try it a Capella. If either one has a problem with your pitch, tone or rate, this will help you to quell it. Begin by counting off your beat, and the first vocalist beginning their part of the song. If this is your first time singing a Capella, it may take a few times to get used to having no music. But if you can sing your duet with no music, and it sounds the way you want it to, then singing with distractions in public will not be a problem. Have fun, and good luck with your karaoke duet.

Check out the K.J. or Karaoke Jockey that will be hosting your show. If you tell them it is your first duet, they can give you tips about their system, and how to enhance your voice. It is generally a good idea to hold the microphone six to eight inches away from your mouth. If you use your own disks, let the K.J. know ahead of time, so that they can do a check with your disk to ensure it will play properly.

I know you are all thinking, how did I capture such desirable prizes? What are my Karaoke secrets? Well at the risk of losing my lucrative free dinner gigs to one of you, I will share my 10 secrets to Karaoke success.

1. Keep It Short

   People in general have low attention spans, if the contest is in a bar even more so. Trust me; "Stairway to Heaven" has never won a Karaoke contest.

2. Keep It Fun
   

   People want to forget their troubles. Don't remind them with sad ballads and angry rock songs.

3. Keep It Interesting
   

   Don't sing a song that everyone has heard a million times like "Feelings" or "Crazy". Also don't sing anything overly obscure.

4. Keep It Cheese-less
   

   PLEASE do everyone a favour and leave "The Rose" and "Summer Nights" out of your karaoke repertoire.

5. Keep It Solo
   

   Groups never win and even if you did win, what if the prize was a diamond ring how do you share?

6. Keep It Moist
   

   Your throat. The last thing anyone wants to hear is a dry hacking cough magnified by a microphone. So drink plenty of water before going on stage.

7. Keep It Pretty
   

   Dress nice, put some makeup on (girls or drag queens only), comb your hair. Even if it's just in a church basement of your one stoplight town, you ARE performing and people like to have something nice to look at.

8. Keep It Moving
   

   Very few of us can captivate an audience with our voice alone and even American Idols have to move around to keep it interesting. So dance, snap your fingers, bob your head. Anything, just move!

9. Keep It In Tune
   

   Practice a bit and if you can't reach the notes don't sing the song.

10. Keep It Stocked

    The audience that is. Make sure you invite everyone you know who will vote for you. This is the best guarantee for a win.

I promise you, follow these tips and you too will be walking all over the other contestants and dining in style.

PHONOGRAPH

The phonograph was developed by Thomas Alva Edison during the late 1800's. This is the first device to ever record and replay a sound. This device plays cylinder records. Phonographs are also called gramophone since both devices can do similar things about record and sounds.

GRAMOPHONE

The gramophone refers to a wind-up machine which reproduces sound using disc records.

The device was popularized by a US company called Gramophone. The word “Grammy” is now used as the title Grammy Awards as seen in its small trophy representation of a gramophone.

JUKEBOX

Another music playing device is the jukebox wherein it can play selected songs with a few buttons and coin slots. The most famous jukebox of all time is the 1050 Wurlitzer. All we have to do is put coins, select and play. There are already lots of modern jukeboxes having more buttons and newer songs.

TURNTABLE

Using of disc records became more popular and so the turntable was constructed. There's the spindle at the side and on top of the disc. Turntables are popularly used today by disc jockeys and mixers. Buying modern turntables are costly nowadays.

CASSETTE RECORDER

Cassette recorders were designed for vocal dictation, recoding and playing. This portable device is battery-powered and is for portable use. Cassette recorder uses cassette tapes in recording audio. The start of cassette recorders happened 100 years after Thomas Edison's dream (1877) that some day there would be a talking machine in every home. The cassette had begun to challenge the disc as the most popular format and sales of cassettes increased rapidly rather than the discs. My mother' still has this one at home.

SOUNDABOUT CASSETTE PLAYER aka WALKMAN

The Soundabout cassette player was introduced by Sony during 1979. It was later renamed the “Walkman” having the model named as TPS-L2. It launched at Japan 1979 and was not considered a mass marketing product having a price of $200 that time. It can permit two people listening simultaneously using its headphone jacks and stereo playback function though it can't record an audio.

WALKMAN II aka DISCMAN

The Walkman II was introduced during the early 1980's. Officially called “Discman”, it became one of the most successful audio devices considering that Sony dropped its prices to a much affordable one. A compact disc is used in that device. The most successful artist having used these products to help elaborate music and record sales was Michael Jackson and his song Thriller which sold 40 million copies worldwide. Today's walkman models are thinner, more compact and vivid designs.

MINIDISC (MD) by Sony

1992, Sony competed against Philips' Digital Compact Cassette and succeeded over them by the discontinued use of the DCC during 1996. The Sony MiniDisc combines the quality of a CD and ease of recording using an audio cassette. The MiniDisc uses a small-sized cd rather than the normal one.

Year 2001 - present:

Digital Audio Players or commonly known as MP3 player's rise to popularity starting w/.

IPOD

October of 2001, Apple Inc. launched the first generation iPod with 5 gigabyte memory storage. It is not colored yet and the buttons/controls are bigger than present. Also, it has a mechanical scroll wheel. There are already 15 iPod models launched, including the Apple iTouch.

There are really lots of new and high-tech audio devices made by different companies such as Apple, Sony, Samsung and more. I can't even make up my mind choosing from all those players. Have any other audio devices you have had either old or new? You can share it here.