KARAOKE SOFTWARE
There are four
recommended software applications for playing karaoke song files on a Windows
computer:
GoSing
vanBasco's
Karaoke Player,
Karafun,
and
Plarpebu
The first
three software applications only run on Windows computers.
"Plarpebu"
runs on both Windows and Macintosh computers.
"GOSING"
FREEWARE APPLICATION
Of the
three freeware karaoke applications, "GoSing" is the simplest to use.
"GoSing.exe" runs from any local drive and does not need
to be installed into your computer. It is great for testing the capability of a
computer to play karaoke. However, it fails to display the lyrics of some
karaoke files.
"GoSing"
is a free software application that runs in any version of Windows from Windows
95 and later.
"GoSing" has a Web site at
GoSing has many strange and wonderful
characteristics.
GoSing was created by a Brazilian company called
i.Tech tecnologia da Informacao Ltda.
All information about this company appears to be
in Portuguese.
When you download this software, you get a file
called "gosing.exe".
You do not need to install this file into your
computer.
You do not even need to store this file on the
hard drive of your computer. It can be stored on removable media such as a
CD-R, a
If you store it on removable media, you can
insert the media into any computer and run GoSing in any computer that has
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows Vista.
When you double-click on GoSing.exe, it will
take up the entire screen of your computer monitor. In this way, it does not
behave like a normal Windows application.
To run GoSing, locate the gosing.exe file and
perform a double-click on it.
Ignore any error messages that show up in the
"Title bar" at the top of the "Windows Explorer" or
"My Computer" or "Computer" window.
*
Note that GoSing has covered up your entire
desktop with an image.
This image can be changed by downloading other
image files from the GoSing Web site.
Read the information in the middle horizontal
third of the help screen, to learn the optional keyboard shortcuts for
controlling GoSing.
You cannot play any songs while this help screen
is displayed, so click on it's "Close" button.
Now you are left with the image screen of
GoSing.
Use your RIGHT mouse button to perform a single
click anywhere on the image.
Click on "Play" if you want to play
the last or default song that you played earlier.
Click on "Open Song File" if you want
to fish around on the various drives of your computer to select a karaoke song
file.
You can store both gosing.exe and song files on
removable media such as a floppy disk.
Double-click on the desired song file.
In this example, I double-clicked on
"songsungblue.kar".
When it is time for you start singing the words
that are changing from yellow to magenta, the stoplight in the upper left hand
corner changes from red to green.
*
To stop the play of the song, either hit the
"
menu.
After you try GoSing, you will discovered that it
is a most amazing software application !!
"VANBASCO'S
KARAOKE PLAYER" FREEWARE APPLICATION
"vanBasco's
Karaoke Player" is the best freeware application for most Windows
computers.
It will run
in Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP,
and Windows Vista.
"VanBasco's Karaoke Player" has a Web
site at
The current version of this software is 2.53
We are amazed at how good the version is,
compared to prior versions. It provides
you with all of the functions of a karaoke machine that costs thousands of
dollars.
When you start "vanBasco's Karaoke
Player", seven windows opens up and it looks like this.
*
Start off by closing the "Welcome to
vanBasco's Karaoke Player" window.
You are then left with six windows:
The window in the upper left corner is the
"Main Window".
The blue Window that is just below the
"Main Window" is the "Karaoke Window". The window in the
upper right corner is the "Playlist Window". The window that looks
like the keyboard of a piano is the "Piano Window". The window in the
lower left hand corner is the "MIDI Output Window". The window in the
lower right hand corner is the "Control Window".
To add a karaoke song file into the
"Playlist", drag and drop it from
the right side of the "Playlist" window to the left side of
the "Playlist Window". Or, drag and drop it from any "Windows
Explorer" window to the left side of the "Playlist Window".
To start the play of any karaoke song file that
is shown in the left side of the "Playlist Window", perform a
double-click on the desired file.
To adjust tempo, key, or volume, pull the
corresponding slider in the "Control Window".
To make the "Karaoke Window" expand to
the full screen of your monitor, double-click inside it:
To restore the original size of the
"Karaoke Window", perform a double-click anywhere on the full screen.
To get online help, press the F1 key of your
computer keyboard.
"KARAFUN"
FREEWARE APPLICATION
"Karafun"
has a few non-critical features that the other two software applications do not
have.
"Karafun"
runs well in Windows Vista. However, "Karafun" runs marginally with
timing errors and tone/pitch distortion in Windows XP. (Their Website erroneously claims that
"Karafun" will run in Windows 2000 also.) Since it is totally free,
you might wish to try it anyway, even if you have a Windows 2000 or Windows XP
computer.
"Karafun" has a Web site at
http://www.karafun.com/download_en.html
When you start Karafun, it looks like this:
The Karafun player window is actually three
windows that open and move together.
Each is stacked on top of the other. The top window has the main
controls. The middle window is a sound
mixer and the bottom window is a file manager and browser so that you can
locate the karaoke files on your computer's hard drive(s).
According to the Karafun Web site at
the free Karafun software application is
described as follows:
<Start of quote>
Free
Turn your PC into an interactive karaoke machine
with KaraFun free karaoke software for Windows. More than a karaoke player,
KaraFun offers a complete solution for playing and creating your karaoke at
home.
Fun and exciting, it plays nearly every karaoke
file: KFN, KAR, CDG, KOK, LRC,
Based on a powerful and evolutive 3D animation
engine for animated lyrics and background, your karaoke party in full screen
has every chance of being a success!
<End of quote>
"KARAFUN"
PROBLEM WORKAROUND
"Karafun" has one slight annoyance: It
sometimes forgets to play the melody of karaoke files. This is no problem if
you sing for an international opera company or with the Torrance Civic Chorale.
However, some of less-talented folks
need to hear the melody before we can sing along with a karaoke file.
Here is what you can do to bring back the
melody, if "Karafun" forgets to play it:
Start "Karafun".
Then, start playing a karaoke file:
Click on the "Control Window" button.
It is the second button to the left of the lower right hand corner of the
"Player Window". This button looks like three vertical sliders.
A "Control" will pop up.
*
Click on the "No Guide" button.
It will turn into a "Guide Melody"
button.
You should now hear the melody being played by
your speakers.
Close the "Control" window.
Start singing and quit complaining !